Fermionic vacuum polarization around a cosmic string in compactified AdS spacetime

We investigate topological effects of a cosmic string and compactification of a spatial dimension on the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the energy-momentum tensor for a fermionic field in (4+1)-dimensional locally AdS spacetime. The contribution induced by the compactification is explicitly extracted by using the Abel-Plana summation formula. The mean energy-momentum tensor is diagonal and the vacuum stresses along the direction perpendicular to the AdS boundary and along the cosmic string are equal to the energy density. All the components are even periodic functions of the magnetic fluxes inside the string core and enclosed by compact dimension, with the period equal to the flux quantum. The vacuum energy density can be either positive or negative, depending on the values of the parameters and the distance from the string. The topological contributions in the VEV of the energy-momentum tensor vanish on the AdS boundary. Near the string the effects of compactification and gravitational field are weak and the leading term in the asymptotic expansion coincides with the corresponding VEV in (4+1)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. At large distances, the decay of the cosmic string induced contribution in the vacuum energy-momentum tensor, as a function of the proper distance from the string, follows a power law. For a cosmic string in the Minkowski bulk and for massive fields the corresponding fall off is exponential. Within the framework of the AdS/CFT correspondence, the geometry for conformal field theory on the AdS boundary corresponds to the standard cosmic string in (3+1)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime compactified along its axis.

Scale-invariance, dynamically induced Planck scale and inflation in the Palatini formulation

We present two scale invariant models of inflation in which the addition of quadratic in curvature terms in the usual Einstein-Hilbert action, in the context of Palatini formulation of gravity, manages to reduce the value of the tensor-to-scalar ratio. In both models the Planck scale is dynamically generated via the vacuum expectation value of the scalar fields.

Phase transitions in the logarithmic Maxwell O(3)-sigma model

We investigate the presence of topological structures and multiple phase transitions in the O(3)-sigma model with the gauge field governed by Maxwell’s term and subject to a so-called Gausson’s self-dual potential. To carry out this study, it is numerically shown that this model supports topological solutions in 3-dimensional spacetime. In fact, to obtain the topological solutions, we assume a spherically symmetrical ansatz to find the solutions, as well as some physical behaviors of the vortex, as energy and magnetic field. It is presented a planar view of the magnetic field as an interesting configuration of a ring-like profile. To calculate the differential configurational complexity (DCC) of structures, the spatial energy density of the vortex is used. In fact, the DCC is important because it provides us with information about the possible phase transitions associated with the structures located in the Maxwell–Gausson model in 3D. Finally, we note from the DCC profile an infinite set of kink-like solutions associated with the parameter that controls the vacuum expectation value.

Linearized supergravity with a dynamical preferred frame

We study supersymmetric extension of the Einstein-aether gravitational model where local Lorentz invariance is broken down to the subgroup of spatial rotations by a vacuum expectation value of a timelike vector field called aether. Embedding aether into a chiral vector superfield, we construct the most general action which describes dynamics of linear perturbations around the Lorentz-violating vacuum and is invariant under the linearized supergravity transformations. The analysis is performed both in the off-shell non-minimal superfield formulation of supergravity and in the “on-shell” approach invoking only physical component fields. The resulting model contains a single free coupling, in addition to the standard supergravity parameters. The spectrum of physical excitations features an enhanced on-shell gravity multiplet comprising four states with helicities 2, 3/2, 3/2 and 1 propagating with superluminal velocity. The remaining excitations propagate with the speed of light. We outline the observational constraints on the model following from its low-energy phenomenology.

Exploring multi-Higgs models with softly broken large discrete symmetry groups

We develop methods to study the scalar sector of multi-Higgs models with large discrete symmetry groups that are softly broken. While in the exact symmetry limit, the model has very few parameters and can be studied analytically, proliferation of quadratic couplings in the most general softly broken case makes the analysis cumbersome. We identify two sets of soft breaking terms which play different roles: those which preserve the symmetric vacuum expectation value alignment, and the remaining terms which shift it. Focusing on alignment preserving terms, we check which structural features of the symmetric parent model are conserved and which are modified. We find remarkable examples of structural features which are inherited from the parent symmetric model and which persist even when no exact symmetry is left. The general procedure is illustrated with the example of the three-Higgs-doublet model with the softly broken symmetry group $$\Sigma (36)$$ Σ ( 36 ) .

The Abelian Higgs model under a gauge invariant looking glass: exploiting new Ward identities for gauge invariant operators and the Equivalence Theorem

The content of two additional Ward identities exhibited by the U(1) Higgs model is exploited. These novel Ward identities can be derived only when a pair of local composite operators providing a gauge invariant setup for the Higgs particle and the massive vector boson is introduced in the theory from the beginning. Among the results obtained from the above mentioned Ward identities, we underline a new exact relationship between the stationary condition for the vacuum energy, the vanishing of the tadpoles and the vacuum expectation value of the gauge invariant scalar operator. We also present a characterization of the two-point correlation function of the composite operator corresponding to the vector boson in terms of the two-point function of the elementary gauge fields. Finally, a discussion on the connection between the cartesian and the polar parametrization of the complex scalar field is presented in the light of the Equivalence Theorem. The latter can in the current case be understood in the language of a constrained cohomology, which also allows to rewrite the action in terms of the aforementioned gauge invariant operators. We also comment on the diminished role of the global U(1) symmetry and its breaking.

Restricted Weyl symmetry and spontaneous symmetry breakdown of conformal symmetry

In this paper, we elucidate the relation between the restricted Weyl symmetry and spontaneous symmetry breakdown of conformal symmetry. Using a scalar–tensor gravity, we show that the restricted Weyl symmetry leads to spontaneous symmetry breakdown of a global scale symmetry when the vacuum expectation value of a scalar field takes a nonzero value. It is then shown that this spontaneous symmetry breakdown induces spontaneous symmetry breakdown of special conformal symmetry in a flat Minkowski spacetime, but the resultant Nambu–Goldstone boson is not an independent physical mode but expressed in terms of the derivative of the dilaton which is the Nambu–Goldstone boson of the global scale symmetry. In other words, the theories which are invariant under the general coordinate transformation and the restricted Weyl transformation exhibit a Nambu–Goldstone phase where both special conformal transformation and dilatation are spontaneously broken while preserving the Poincaré symmetry.

T $$ \overline{T} $$-flow effects on torus partition functions

In this paper, we investigate the partition functions of conformal field theories (CFTs) with the T$$ \overline{T} $$ T ¯ deformation on a torus in terms of the perturbative QFT approach. In Lagrangian path integral formalism, the first- and second-order deformations to the partition functions of 2D free bosons, free Dirac fermions, and free Majorana fermions on a torus are obtained. The corresponding Lagrangian counterterms in these theories are also discussed. The first two orders of the deformed partition functions and the first-order vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the first quantum KdV charge obtained by the perturbative QFT approach are consistent with results obtained by the Hamiltonian formalism in literature.

A note on commutation relation in conformal field theory

In this note, we explicitly compute the vacuum expectation value of the commutator of scalar fields in a d-dimensional conformal field theory on the cylinder. We find from explicit calculations that we need smearing not only in space but also in time to have finite commutators except for those of free scalar operators. Thus the equal time commutators of the scalar fields are not well-defined for a non-free conformal field theory, even if which is defined from the Lagrangian. We also have the commutator for a conformal field theory on Minkowski space, instead of the cylinder, by taking the small distance limit. For the conformal field theory on Minkowski space, the above statements are also applied.

Unified emergence of energy scales and cosmic inflation

In the quest for unification of the Standard Model with gravity, classical scale invariance can be utilized to dynamically generate the Planck mass MPl. However, the relation of Planck scale physics to the scale of electroweak symmetry breaking μH requires further explanation. In this paper, we propose a model that uses the spontaneous breaking of scale invariance in the scalar sector as a unified origin for dynamical generation of both scales. Using the Gildener-Weinberg approximation, only one scalar acquires a vacuum expectation value of υS ∼ (1016−17) GeV, thus radiatively generating $$ {M}_{\mathrm{P}1}\approx {\beta}_S^{1/2}{\upsilon}_S $$ M P 1 ≈ β S 1 / 2 υ S and μH via the neutrino option with right handed neutrino masses mN = yMυS ∼ 107 GeV. Consequently, active SM neutrinos are given a mass with the inclusion of a type-I seesaw mechanism. Furthermore, we adopt an unbroken Z2 symmetry and a Z2-odd set of right-handed Majorana neutrinos χ that do not take part in the neutrino option and are able to produce the correct dark matter relic abundance (dominantly) via inflaton decay. The model also describes cosmic inflation and the inflationary CMB observables are predicted to interpolate between those of R2 and linear chaotic inflationary model and are thus well within the strongest experimental constraints.