arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P. A. Grassi.
We present an analysis of the two-loop amplitude of the muon decay in the Standard Model (SM) using algebraic renormalization techniques. In addition, we discuss a manifestly BRST invariant IR regulator for the photon within the SM.
Adding explicit mass terms for the spin 2 and spin 3/2 field of N=1 anti-de Sitter supergravity, the limit M --> 0 for these mass terms is smooth: there is no van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov mass discontinuity in the propagators when the cosmological constant is non-vanishing.
A gauge theory with 4 physical dimensions can be consistently expressed as a renormalizable topological quantum field theory in 5 dimensions. We extend the symmetries in the 5-dimensional framework to include not only a topological BRST operator S that encodes the invisibility of the "bulk" (the fifth dimension), but also a gauge BRST operator W that encodes gauge-invariance and selects observables. These symmetries provide a rich structure of Ward identities which assure the renormalizability of the theory, including non-renormalization theorems. The 5-dimensional approach considerably simplifies conceptual questions such as for instance the Gribov phenomenon and fermion doubling. A confinement scenario in the 5-dimensional framework is sketched. We detail the five-dimensional mechanism of anomalies, and we exhibit a natural lattice discretization that is free of fermion doubling.
The quantization of the complex linear superfield requires an infinite tower of ghosts. Using the Batalin-Vilkovisky technique, Grisaru, Van Proeyen, and Zanon have been able to define a correct procedure to construct a gauge-fixed action. We generalize their technique by introducing the Lagrange multipliers into the non-minimal sector and we study the characteristic BRST cohomology. We show how the physical subspace is singled out. Finally, we quantize the model in the presence of a background and of a quantum gauge superfield.
Some practical applications of algebraic renormalization are discussed. In particular we consider the two-loop QCD corrections to the three-gauge-boson vertices involving photons, Z and W bosons. For this purpose also the corresponding two-point functions have to be discussed. A recently developed procedure is used to analyze the breaking terms of the functional identities and explicit formulae for the universal counterterms are provided. Special attention is devoted to the treatment of infra-red divergences.
A practical approach is presented which allows the use of a non-invariant regularization scheme for the computation of quantum corrections in perturbative quantum field theory. The theoretical control of algebraic renormalization over non-invariant counterterms is translated into a practical computational method. We provide a detailed introduction into the handling of the Slavnov-Taylor and Ward-Takahashi identities in the Standard Model both in the conventional and the background gauge. Explicit examples for their practical derivation are presented. After a brief introduction into the Quantum Action Principle the conventional algebraic method which allows for the restoration of the functional identities is discussed. The main point of our approach is the optimization of this procedure which results in an enormous reduction of the calculational effort. The counterterms which have to be computed are universal in the sense that they are independent of the regularization scheme. The method is explicitly illustrated for two processes of phenomenological interest: QCD corrections to the decay of the Higgs boson into two photons and two-loop electroweak corrections to the process $B \to X_s γ$.
The quantization of the Brink-Schwarz-Casalbuoni superparticle is performed in an explicitly covariant way using the antibracket formalism. Since an infinite number of ghost fields are required, within a suitable off-shell twistor-like formalism, we are able to fix the gauge of each ghost sector without modifying the physical content of the theory. The computation reveals that the antibracket cohomology contains only the physical degrees of freedom.
In the gauge theory context, a definition of branching ratios and partial widths of unstable particles is proposed that satisfies the basic principles of additivity and gauge independence. A simpler definition, similar to the conventional one, is examined in the Z^0-boson case. In order to establish contact with experiment, we show that it leads to a peak cross section that justifies the expression used by the LEP Electroweak Working Group through next-to-next-to-leading order, provided that the pole rather than the on-shell mass and width of the Z^0 boson are employed.
The Caswell-Wilczek analysis on the gauge dependence of the effective action and the renormalization group functions in Yang-Mills theories is generalized to generic, possibly power counting non renormalizable gauge theories. It is shown that the physical coupling constants of the classical theory can be redefined by gauge parameter dependent contributions of higher orders in $\hbar$ in such a way that the effective action depends trivially on the gauge parameters, while suitably defined physical beta functions do not depend on those parameters.
We study the renormalization of the fermion mixing matrix in the Standard Model and derive the constraints that must be satisfied to respect gauge invariance to all orders. We demonstrate that the prescription based on the {\it on-shell} renormalization conditions is not consistent with the Ward-Takahashi Identities and leads to gauge dependent physical amplitudes. A simple scheme is proposed that satisfies all theoretical requirements and is very convenient for practical calculations.
We propose an algorithm, based on Algebraic Renormalization, that allows the restoration of Slavnov-Taylor invariance at every order of perturbation expansion for an anomaly-free BRS invariant gauge theory. The counterterms are explicitly constructed in terms of a set of one-particle-irreducible Feynman amplitudes evaluated at zero momentum (and derivatives of them). The approach is here discussed in the case of the abelian Higgs-Kibble model, where the zero momentum limit can be safely performed. The normalization conditions are imposed by means of the Slavnov-Taylor invariants and are chosen in order to simplify the calculation of the counterterms. In particular within this model all counterterms involving BRS external sources (anti-fields) can be put to zero with the exception of the fermion sector.