Presymplectic AKSZ formulation of Einstein gravity

Any local gauge theory can be represented as an AKSZ sigma model (upon parameterization if necessary). However, for non-topological models in dimension higher than 1 the target space is necessarily infinite-dimensional. The interesting alternative known for some time is to allow for degenerate presymplectic structure in the target space. This leads to a very concise AKSZ-like representation for frame-like Lagrangians of gauge systems. In this work we concentrate on Einstein gravity and show that not only the Lagrangian but also the full-scale Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) formulation is naturally encoded in the presymplectic AKSZ formulation, giving an elegant supergeometrical construction of BV for Cartan-Weyl action. The same applies to the main structures of the respective Hamiltonian BFV formulation.

Singular gauge transformations in geometrodynamics

The new tetrads introduced previously for non-null electromagnetic fields in Einstein–Maxwell spacetimes enable a direct link to the local electromagnetic gauge group of transformations. Due to the peculiar elements in the construction of these new tetrads, a direct connection can be established between the local group of electromagnetic gauge transformations and local groups of tetrad transformations on two different local and orthogonal planes of eigenvectors of the Einstein–Maxwell stress–energy tensor. These tetrad vectors are gauge dependent. It is an interesting and relevant problem to study if there are local gauge transformations that can map on the timelike-spacelike plane, the timelike and the spacelike vectors into the intersection of the local light cone and the plane itself. How many of these local gauge transformations exist and how the mathematics and the geometry of these particular transformations play out. These local gauge transformations would be singular and it is important to identify them.

Gauging the Kitaev chain

We gauge the fermion parity symmetry of the Kitaev chain. While the bulk of the model becomes an Ising chain of gauge-invariant spins in a tilted field, near the boundaries the global fermion parity symmetry survives gauging, leading to local gauge-invariant Majorana operators. In the absence of vortices, the Higgs phase exhibits fermionic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) order distinct from the Kitaev chain. Moreover, the deconfined phase can be stable even in the presence of vortices. We also undertake a comprehensive study of a gently gauged model which interpolates between the ordinary and gauged Kitaev chains. This showcases rich quantum criticality and illuminates the topological nature of the Higgs phase. Even in the absence of superconducting terms, gauging leads to an SPT phase which is intrinsically gapless due to an emergent anomaly.

Compatibility Complex for Black Hole Spacetimes

The set of local gauge invariant quantities for linearized gravity on the Kerr spacetime presented by two of the authors (Aksteiner and Bäckdahl in Phys Rev Lett 121:051104, 2018) is shown to be complete. In particular, any gauge invariant quantity for linearized gravity on Kerr that is local and of finite order in derivatives can be expressed in terms of these gauge invariants and derivatives thereof. The proof is carried out by constructing a complete compatibility complex for the Killing operator, and demonstrating the equivalence of the gauge invariants from Aksteiner and Bäckdahl (Phys Rev Lett 121:051104, 2018) with the first compatibility operator from that complex.

The two-loop contributions to muon MDM in $$U(1)_X$$ SSM

The MSSM is extended to the $$U(1)_X$$ U ( 1 ) X SSM, whose local gauge group is $$SU(3)_C \times SU(2)_L \times U(1)_Y \times U(1)_X$$ S U ( 3 ) C × S U ( 2 ) L × U ( 1 ) Y × U ( 1 ) X . To obtain the $$U(1)_X$$ U ( 1 ) X SSM, we add the new superfields to the MSSM, namely: three Higgs singlets $${\hat{\eta }},~\hat{{\bar{\eta }}},~{\hat{S}}$$ η ^ , η ¯ ^ , S ^ and right-handed neutrinos $${\hat{\nu }}_i$$ ν ^ i . It can give light neutrino tiny mass at the tree level through the seesaw mechanism. The study of the contribution of the two-loop diagrams to the MDM of muon under $$U(1)_X$$ U ( 1 ) X SSM provides the possibility for us to search for new physics. In the analytical calculation of the loop diagrams (one-loop and two-loop diagrams), the effective Lagrangian method is used to derive muon MDM. Here, the considered two-loop diagrams include Barr-Zee type diagrams and rainbow type two-loop diagrams, especially Z–Z rainbow two-loop diagram is taken into account. The obtained numerical results can reach $$7.4\times 10^{-10}$$ 7.4 × 10 - 10 , which can remedy the deviation between SM prediction and experimental data to some extent.

Spectral properties of local gauge invariant composite operators in the SU(2) Yang–Mills–Higgs model

The spectral properties of a set of local gauge (BRST) invariant composite operators are investigated in the SU(2) Yang–Mills–Higgs model with a single Higgs field in the fundamental representation, quantized in the ’t Hooft $$R_{\xi }$$ R ξ -gauge. These operators can be thought of as a BRST invariant version of the elementary fields of the theory, the Higgs and gauge fields, with which they share a gauge independent pole mass. The two-point correlation functions of both BRST invariant composite operators and elementary fields, as well as their spectral functions, are investigated at one-loop order. It is shown that the spectral functions of the elementary fields suffer from a strong unphysical dependence from the gauge parameter $$\xi $$ ξ , and can even exhibit positivity violating behaviour. In contrast, the BRST invariant local operators exhibit a well defined positive spectral density.