arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Paul K. Townsend.
The Nambu-Goto string in a 3-dimensional (3D) Minkowski spacetime is quantized preserving Lorentz invariance and parity. The spectrum of massive states contains anyons. An ambiguity in the ground state energy is resolved by the 3D N=1 Green-Schwarz superstring, which has massless ground states describing a dilaton and dilatino, and first-excited states of spin 1/4.
We review some features of three-dimensional (3D) massive gravity theories. In particular, we stress the role of the Schouten tensor, explore an analogy with Lovelock gravity and discuss renormalizabilty.
We construct, at the linearized level, the three-dimensional (3D) N = 4 supersymmetric "general massive supergravity" and the maximally supersymmetric N = 8 "new massive supergravity". We also construct the maximally supersymmetric linearized N = 7 topologically massive supergravity, although we expect N = 6 to be maximal at the non-linear level.
We model the situation in which a photon detector moves with constant velocity in a Minkowski heat-bath by considering an Unruh-DeWitt detector, with variable energy gap $\hbar ω$, moving on a brane, at a non-zero (Unruh) temperature $T$ due to acceleration in an orthogonal direction. We compute the angular response for a 2-brane. At low velocity we find agreement with the standard Doppler shift formula in the limit $\hbarω\gg T$ in which the photon gas is classical; otherwise there is a discrepancy, which we attribute to angular-dependence of the induced emission rate. At relativistic velocities our result disagrees with the standard formula even when $\hbarω\gg T$, and above a critical velocity there is no response from the detector within a `backward' cone. We discuss potential implications for observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
The general second-order massive field equations for arbitrary positive integer spin in three spacetime dimensions, and their "self-dual" limit to first-order equations, are shown to be equivalent to gauge-invariant higher-derivative field equations. We recover most known equivalences for spins 1 and 2, and find some new ones. In particular, we find a non-unitary massive 3D gravity theory with a 5th order term obtained by contraction of the Ricci and Cotton tensors; this term is part of an N=2 super-invariant that includes the "extended Chern-Simons" term of 3D electrodynamics. We also find a new unitary 6th order gauge theory for "self-dual" spin 3.
We construct the N=1 three-dimensional supergravity theory with cosmological, Einstein-Hilbert, Lorentz Chern-Simons, and general curvature squared terms. We determine the general supersymmetric configuration, and find a family of supersymmetric adS vacua with the supersymmetric Minkowski vacuum as a limiting case. Linearizing about the Minkowski vacuum, we find three classes of unitary theories; one is the supersymmetric extension of the recently discovered `massive 3D gravity'. Another is a `new topologically massive supergravity' (with no Einstein-Hilbert term) that propagates a single (2,3/2) helicity supermultiplet.
The relativistic jerk, snap and all higher-order kinematical D-vectors are defined for the motion of a massive particle in a D-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. We illustrate the formalism with stationary motions, for which we provide a new, Lorentz covariant, classification. We generalize some cases to branes, explaining the relevance to uniform motion in a heat bath. We also consider some non-stationary motions, including motion with constant proper jerk, and free fall into a black hole as viewed from a GEMS perspective.
We explore the space of static solutions of the recently discovered three-dimensional `New Massive Gravity' (NMG), allowing for either sign of the Einstein-Hilbert term and a cosmological term parametrized by a dimensionless constant $λ$. For $λ=-1$ we find black hole solutions asymptotic (but not isometric) to the unique (anti) de Sitter vacuum, including extremal black holes that interpolate between this vacuum and (a)dS$_2 \times S^1$. We also investigate unitarity of linearized NMG in (a)dS vacua. We find unitary theories for some dS vacua, but (bulk) unitarity in adS implies negative central charge of the dual CFT, except for $λ=3$ where the central charge vanishes and the bulk gravitons are replaced by `massive photons'. A similar phenomenon is found in the massless limit of NMG, for which the linearized equations become equivalent to Maxwell's equations.
A particular higher-derivative extension of the Einstein-Hilbert action in three spacetime dimensions is shown to be equivalent at the linearized level to the (unitary) Pauli-Fierz action for a massive spin-2 field. A more general model, which also includes `topologically-massive' gravity as a special case, propagates the two spin 2 helicity states with different masses. We discuss the extension to massive ${\cal N}$-extended supergravity, and we present a `cosmological' extension that admits an anti-de Sitter vacuum.
We develop a general formalism for the construction, in $D$-dimensional Minkowski space, of gauge theories for which the gauge group is the infinite-dimensional group SDiff$_n$ of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms of some closed $n$-dimensional manifold. We then focus on the D=3 SDiff$_3$ superconformal gauge theory describing a condensate of M2-branes; in particular, we derive its ${\cal N}=8$ superfield equations from a pure-spinor superspace action, and we describe its relationship to the D=3 SDiff$_2$ super-Yang-Mills theory describing a condensate of D2-branes.
A Hilbert space metric is found for the SU(2|1)-invariant `superflag' Landau models, parametrized by integer 2N' and real number M, such that the Hilbert space norm is positive definite. The spectrum of these unitary super-Landau models is determined. The M=0 case yields a unitary Landau model on the supersphere SU(2|1)/U(1|1) with U(1) charge 2N=2N'+1. For the generic unitary superflag model, the manifest SU(2|1) symmetry is dynamically enhanced to SU(2|2); this is the `spherical' analog of the hidden worldline supersymmetry found previously in the planar limit.
The number $N(E)$ of complex zeros of the Riemann zeta function with positive imaginary part less than $E$ is the sum of a `smooth' function $\bar N(E)$ and a `fluctuation'. Berry and Keating have shown that the asymptotic expansion of $\bar N(E)$ counts states of positive energy less than $E$ in a `regularized' semi-classical model with classical Hamiltonian $H=xp$. For a different regularization, Connes has shown that it counts states `missing' from a continuum. Here we show how the `absorption spectrum' model of Connes emerges as the lowest Landau level limit of a specific quantum mechanical model for a charged particle on a planar surface in an electric potential and uniform magnetic field. We suggest a role for the higher Landau levels in the fluctuation part of $N(E)$.
We present the light-cone gauge fixed Lagrangian for the M5-brane; it has a residual `exotic' gauge invariance with the group of 5-volume preserving diffeomorphisms, SDiff(5), as gauge group. For an M5-brane of topology R2 x M3, for closed 3-manifold M3, we find an infinite tension limit that yields an SO(8)-invariant (1+2)-dimensional field theory with `exotic' SDiff(3) gauge invariance. We show that this field theory is the Carrollian limit of the Nambu bracket realization of the `BLG' model for multiple M2-branes.
The `Wave Geometry' equation of the pre-WWII Hiroshima program is also the key equation of the current `fake supergravity' program. I review the status of (fake) supersymmetric domain walls and (fake) pseudo-supersymmetric cosmologies. An extension of the domain-wall/cosmology correspondence to a triple correspondence with instantons shows that `pseudo-supersymmetry' has another interpretation as Euclidean supersymmetry.
For a general mechanical system, it is shown that each solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation defines an N=2 pseudo-supersymmetric extension of the system, such that the usual relation of the momenta to Hamilton's principal function is the `BPS' condition for preservation of 1/2 pseudo-supersymmetry. The examples of the relativistic and non-relativistic particle, in a general potential, are worked through in detail, and used to discuss the relation to cosmology and to supersymmetric quantum mechanics.
We realize the domain-wall/cosmology correspondence for (pseudo)supersymmetric domain walls (cosmologies) in the context of four-dimensional supergravity. The OSp(2|4)-invariant anti-de Sitter (adS) vacuum of a particular N=2 Maxwell-Einstein supergravity theory is shown to correspond to the OSp(2^*|2,2)-invariant de Sitter (dS) vacuum of a particular pseudo-supergravity model, with `twisted' reality conditions on spinors. More generally, supersymmetric domain walls of the former model correspond to pseudo-supersymmetric cosmologies of the latter model, with time-dependent pseudo-Killing spinors that we give explicitly.
Dynamical systems methods are used to investigate domain-wall solutions of a two-parameter family of models in which gravity is coupled to an axion, and to a dilaton with an exponential potential of either sign. A complete global analysis is presented for (i) constant axion and (ii) flat walls, including a study of bifurcations and a new exact domain-wall solution with non-constant axion. We reconsider `fake supergravity' issues in light of these results. We show, by example, how domain walls determine multi-valued superpotentials that branch at stationary points that are not stationary points of the potential, and we apply this result to potentials with anti-de Sitter vacua. We also show by example that `adapted' truncation to a single-scalar model is sometimes inconsistent, and we propose a `generalized' fake supergravity formalism that applies in some such cases.
We use the methods of PT-symmetric quantum theory to find a one-parameter family of ISU(1|1)-invariant planar super-Landau models with positive norm, uncovering an `accidental', and generically spontaneously-broken, worldline supersymmetry, with charges that have a Sugawara-type representation in terms of the ISU(1|1) charges. In contrast to standard models of supersymmetric quantum mechanics, it is the norms of states rather than their energies that are parameter-dependent, and the spectrum changes discontinuously in the limit that worldline supersymmetry is restored.