arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Silas R. Beane.
The renormalization group is used to resum leading logarithmic contributions of the form alpha_s^{n+1} beta_0^n log^n (Delta/mu) to the gap equation appropriate for high density QCD. The scale dependence of the strong coupling constant alpha_s increases the gap by a factor of exp(33/16 (pi^2/4 - 1)) ~ 20 in the small coupling limit.
The low-energy effective theories for the two- and three-flavor color-superconductors arising in the high density limit of QCD are discussed. Using an effective field theory to describe quarks near the fermi surface, we compute the masses of the pseudo-Goldstone bosons that dominate the low-momentum dynamics of these systems.
New constraints on resonance saturation in chiral perturbation theory are investigated. These constraints arise because each consistent saturation scheme must map to a representation of the full QCD chiral symmetry group. The low-energy constants of chiral perturbation theory are then related by a set of mixing angles. It is shown that vector meson dominance is a consequence of the fact that nature has chosen the lowest-dimensional nontrivial chiral representation. It is further shown that chiral symmetry places an upper bound on the mass of the lightest scalar in the hadron spectrum.
Sum rules for products of two, three and four QCD currents are derived using chiral symmetry at infinite momentum in the large-N limit. These exact relations among meson decay constants, axialvector couplings and masses determine the asymptotic behavior of an infinite number of QCD correlators. The familiar spectral function sum rules for products of two QCD currents are among the relations derived. With this precise knowledge of asymptotic behavior, an infinite number of large-N QCD correlators can be constructed using dispersion relations. A detailed derivation is given of the exact large-N pion vector form factor and forward pion-pion scattering amplitudes.
We review recent computations of neutral pion photoproduction and Compton scattering on the deuteron in baryon chiral perturbation theory. Progress in extracting the neutron electric dipole amplitude, which is relevant in neutral pion photoproduction, and the neutron polarizabilities, which are relevant in Compton scattering, is discussed.
We discuss a recent computation of Compton scattering on the deuteron at photon energies of order the pion mass. An interaction kernel is computed in baryon chiral perturbation theory and sewn to phenomenological deuteron wave functions. As an appetizer, we consider a computation of the pion-deuteron scattering length using this method.
Sigma models in which the integer coefficient of the Wess-Zumino term vanishes are easy to construct. This is the case if all flavor symmetries are vectorlike. We show that there is a subset of SU(N)XSU(N) vectorlike sigma models in which the Wess-Zumino term vanishes for reasons of symmetry as well. However, there is no chiral sigma model in which the Wess-Zumino term vanishes for reasons of symmetry. This can be understood in the sigma model basis as a consequence of an index theorem for the axialvector coupling matrix. We prove this index theorem directly from the SU(N)XSU(N) algebra.
We construct an asymptotically free gauge theory with an SU(2)xSU(2)xU(1) vectorlike flavor symmetry. We show that this gauge theory has properties which provide insight into aspects of low-energy QCD.
I show that in the large-N limit the ground state baryons with helicity h fall into an ((N-2h)/4,(N+2h)/4) irreducible representation of SU(2)XSU(2). This representation determines the absolute normalization of the ground state baryon axial vector couplings at large-N. Results map precisely to (spin-flavor) SU(4) results. For instance, I find g_A =(N+2)/3. As a consequence of this multiplet structure, chiral symmetry forbids pion transitions between the ground state baryons and other baryon towers in the large-N limit.
I review recent progress in developing a systematic power counting scheme for scattering processes involving more than one nucleon.
An empirically successful mass formula derived long ago from hadronic string models is not explained by symmetries of the QCD lagrangian. Consider that M(rho)^2-M(pi)^2 = M(K*)^2-M(K)^2 to a few percent accuracy. We derive this and other equal spacing relations using chiral symmetry and a novel Z_2 symmetry. We offer an interpretation of this Z_2 symmetry as a manifestation of chiral anomalies in a gauge theory with an intrinsic cutoff.
We examine several zero-range potentials in non-relativistic quantum mechanics. The study of such potentials requires regularization and renormalization. We contrast physical results obtained using dimensional regularization and cutoff schemes and show explicitly that in certain cases dimensional regularization fails to reproduce the results obtained using cutoff regularization. First we consider a delta-function potential in arbitrary space dimensions. Using cutoff regularization we show that for $d \ge 4$ the renormalized scattering amplitude is trivial. In contrast, dimensional regularization can yield a nontrivial scattering amplitude for odd dimensions greater than or equal to five. We also consider a potential consisting of a delta function plus the derivative-squared of a delta function in three dimensions. We show that the renormalized scattering amplitudes obtained using the two regularization schemes are different. Moreover we find that in the cutoff-regulated calculation the effective range is necessarily negative in the limit that the cutoff is taken to infinity. In contrast, in dimensional regularization the effective range is unconstrained. We discuss how these discrepancies arise from the dimensional regularization prescription that all power-law divergences vanish. We argue that these results demonstrate that dimensional regularization can fail in a non-perturbative setting.
We study a 2N-flavor effective theory of N-flavor QCD. With the axial anomaly accounted for in the effective theory by a 't Hooft interaction, only QCD conserved currents survive. However, there is a residual discrete symmetry with interesting properties. With non-vanishing quark masses, this S_2 symmetry is broken unless \barθ=0 or pi. We further show that there is a sense in which hadrons in the effective theory fall into S_2 multiplets. Surprisingly, predictions of this multiplet structure in the four-flavor effective theory are in good agreement with experiment and have been found previously by imposing Regge asymptotic constraints on pion-hadron scattering amplitudes.
We consider the possibility that QCD with N flavors has a useful low-energy description with 2N flavors. Specifically, we investigate a free theory of 2N quarks. Although the free theory is U(N)_L X U(N)_R invariant, it admits a larger U(2N) invariance. However, when the axial anomaly is accounted for in the effective theory by a 't Hooft interaction, only SU(N)_L X SU(N)_R X U(1)_B \subset U(2N) survives. There is however a residual discrete symmetry that is not a symmetry of the QCD lagrangian. This S_2 subgroup of U(2N) has many interesting properties. For instance, when explicit chiral symmetry breaking effects are present, S_2 is broken unless \barθ=0 or pi. By expressing the free theory on the light-front, we show that flavor doubling implies several superconvergence relations in pion-hadron scattering. Implicit in the 2N-flavor effective theory is a Regge trajectory with vacuum quantum numbers and unit intercept whose behavior is constrained by S_2. In particular, S_2 implies that forward pion-hadron scattering becomes purely elastic at high-energies, in good agreement with experiment.
If the mechanism responsible for the smallness of the vacuum energy is consistent with local quantum field theory, general arguments suggest the existence of at least one unobserved scalar particle with Compton wavelength bounded from below by one tenth of a millimeter. We show that this bound is saturated if vacuum energy is a substantial component of the energy density of the universe. Therefore, the success of cosmological models with a significant vacuum energy component suggests the existence of new macroscopic forces with range in the sub-millimeter region. There are virtually no experimental constraints on the existence of quanta with this range of interaction.
Phenomenologically motivated Lie-algebraic sum rules determine the representations of unbroken SU(2)_L X SU(2)_R filled out by mesons containing a single heavy quark, in the limit that the heavy quark mass goes to infinity. This representation content determines the strong single-pion transition amplitudes of all heavy meson states in the chiral limit. Predictions are found to be in agreement with experiment, and provide insight into the spectroscopy of heavy mesons.
A general no-go theorem dampens hope that the cosmological constant problem can be solved by a local symmetry mechanism. The possibility is considered here that this no-go theorem can be avoided by a pseudo-symmetry. A simple macroscopic effective field theory is constructed which admits an enhanced pseudo-symmetry in the absence of a cosmological term. It is pointed out that this pseudo-symmetry is an exact classical invariance of superstrings. The conjecture that this pseudo-symmetry survives in the quantum theory has several interesting consequences.
By employing the dictum that axiomatic principles are devoid of predictive power, we find that the elastic unitarity constraint, applied to strong W$_L$W$_L$ scattering, does not alter the assumed spectrum of intermediate states. We consider intermediate states involving a heavy Higgs and heavy fermions of a hypothetical fourth generation doublet. In contrast to recent studies, we find no p-wave resonance, and therefore no violation of the S parameter upper bound. We conclude that the elastic unitarity constraint sheds no light on the existence of a heavy fourth generation.