Self-dual super-Yang-Mills as a string theory in (x, θ) space

Different string theories in twistor space have recently been proposed for describing N = 4 super-Yang-Mills. In this paper, a string theory in (x, θ) space is constructed for self-dual N = 4 super-Yang-Mills. It is hoped that these results will be useful for understanding the twistor-string proposals and their possible relation with the pure spinor formalism of the D = 10 superstring. © SISSA/ISAS 2004.

Conformal supergravity in twistor-string theory

Conformal supergravity arises in presently known formulations of twistor-string theory either via closed strings or via gauge-singlet open strings. We explore this sector of twistor-string theory, relating the relevant string modes to the particles and fields of conformal supergravity. We use the twistor-string theory to compute some tree level scattering amplitudes with supergravitons. Since the supergravitons interact with the same coupling constant as the Yang-Mills fields, conformal supergravity states will contribute to loop amplitudes of Yang-Mills gluons in these theories. Those loop amplitudes will therefore not coincide with the loop amplitudes of pure super Yang-Mills theory. © SISSA/ISAS 2004.

A dynamical gluon mass solution in a coupled system of the Schwinger-Dyson equations

We study numerically the Schwinger-Dyson equations for the coupled system of gluon and ghost propagators in the Landau gauge and in the case of pure gauge QCD. We show that a dynamical mass for the gluon propagator arises as a solution while the ghost propagator develops an enhanced behavior in the infrared regime of QCD. Simple analytical expressions are proposed for the propagators, and the mass dependency on the ΛQCD scale and its perturbative scaling are studied. We discuss the implications of our results for the infrared behavior of the coupling constant, which, according to fits for the propagators infrared behavior, seems to indicate that α s(q2) → 0 as q2 → 0. © SISSA/ISAS 2004.

Multiloop amplitudes and vanishing theorems using the pure spinor formalism for the superstring

A ten-dimensional super-Poincaré covariant formalism for the superstring was recently developed which involves a BRST operator constructed from superspace matter variables and a pure spinor ghost variable. A super-Poincaré covariant prescription was defined for computing tree amplitudes and was shown to coincide with the standard RNS prescription. In this paper, picture-changing operators are used to define functional integration over the pure spinor ghosts and and to construct a suitable b ghost. A super-Poincaré covariant prescription is then given for the computation of N-point multiloop amplitudes. One can easily prove that massless N-point multiloop amplitudes vanish for N < 4, confirming the perturbative finiteness of superstring theory. One can also prove the Type IIB S-duality conjecture that R4 terms in the effective action receive no perturbative contributions above one loop. © SISSA/ISAS 2004.

Quantum topology change and large-N gauge theories

We study a model for dynamical localization of topology using ideas from non-commutative geometry and topology in quantum mechanics. We consider a collection X of N one-dimensional manifolds and the corresponding set of boundary conditions (self-adjoint extensions) of the Dirac operator D. The set of boundary conditions encodes the topology and is parameterized by unitary matrices g. A particular geometry is described by a spectral triple x(g) = (A X, script H sign X, D(g)). We define a partition function for the sum over all g. In this model topology fluctuates but the dimension is kept fixed. We use the spectral principle to obtain an action for the set of boundary conditions. Together with invariance principles the procedure fixes the partition function for fluctuating topologies. The model has one free-parameter β and it is equivalent to a one plaquette gauge theory. We argue that topology becomes localized at β = ∞ for any value of N. Moreover, the system undergoes a third-order phase transition at β = 1 for large-N. We give a topological interpretation of the phase transition by looking how it affects the topology. © SISSA/ISAS 2004.

WZW-like action for heterotic string field theory

We complete the construction of the Neveu-Schwarz sector of heterotic string field theory begun in [9] by giving a closed-form expression for the action and gauge transformations. Just as the Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) action for open superstring field theory can be constructed from pure-gauge fields in bosonic open string field theory, our heterotic string field theory action is constructed from pure-gauge fields in bosonic closed string field theory. The construction involves a simple alternative form of the WZW action which is consistent with the algebraic structures of closed string field theory. © SISSA/ISAS 2004.

Higher-dimensional twistor transforms using pure spinors

Hughston has shown that projective pure spinors can be used to construct massless solutions in higher dimensions, generalizing the four-dimensional twistor transform of Penrose. In any even (euclidean) dimension d = 2n, projective pure spinors parameterize the coset space SO(2n)/U(n), which is the space of all complex structures on ℝ2n. For d = 4 and d = 6, these spaces are ℂℙ1 and ℂℙ3 and the appropriate twistor transforms can easily be constructed. In this paper, we show how to construct the twistor transform for d > 6 when the pure spinor satisfies nonlinear constraints, and present explicit formulas for solutions of the massless field equations. © SISSA/ISAS 2005.

A note on non-degenerate umbilics and the path formulation for bifurcation problems

Path formulation can be used to classify and structure efficiently multiparameter bifurcation problems around fundamental singularities: the cores. The non-degenerate umbilic singularities are the generic cores for four situations in corank 2: the general or gradient problems and the ℤ 2-equivariant (general or gradient) problems. Those categories determine an interesting 'Russian doll' type of structure in the universal unfoldings of the umbilic singularities. One advantage of our approach is that we can handle one, two or more parameters using the same framework (even considering some special parameter structure, for instance, some internal hierarchy). We classify the generic bifurcations that occur in those cases with one or two parameters.

Relating the Green-Schwarz and pure spinor formalisms for the superstring

Although it is not known how to covariantly quantize the Green-Schwarz (GS) superstring, there exists a semi-light-cone gauge choice in which the GS superstring can be quantized in a conformally invariant manner. In this paper, we prove that BRST quantization of the GS superstring in semi-light-cone gauge is equivalent to BRST quantization using the pure spinor formalism for the superstring © SISSA/ISAS 2005.

BRST cohomology and nonlocal conserved charges

A relation is found between nonlocal conserved charges in string theory and certain ghost-number two states in the BRST cohomology. This provides a simple proof that the nonlocal conserved charges for the superstring in an AdS 5 × S5 background are BRST-invariant in the pure spinor formalism and are κ-symmetric in the Green-Schwarz formalism. © SISSA/ISAS 2005.

Quantum consistency of the superstring

Using arguments based on BRST cohomology, the pure spinor formalism for the superstring in an AdS 5×S 5 background is proven to be BRST invariant and conformally invariant at the quantum level to all orders in perturbation theory. Cohomology arguments are also used to prove the existence of an infinite set of non-local BRST-invariant charges at the quantum level. © SISSA 2005.

Fractional polynomial response surface models

Second-order polynomial models have been used extensively to approximate the relationship between a response variable and several continuous factors. However, sometimes polynomial models do not adequately describe the important features of the response surface. This article describes the use of fractional polynomial models. It is shown how the models can be fitted, an appropriate model selected, and inference conducted. Polynomial and fractional polynomial models are fitted to two published datasets, illustrating that sometimes the fractional polynomial can give as good a fit to the data and much more plausible behavior between the design points than the polynomial model. © 2005 American Statistical Association and the International Biometric Society.

Pure spinor formalism as an N ≤ 2 topological string

Following suggestions of Nekrasov and Siegel, a non-minimal set of fields are added to the pure spinor formalism for the superstring. Twisted ĉ ≤ 3 N ≤ 2 generators are then constructed where the pure spinor BRST operator is the fermionic spin-one generator, and the formalism is interpreted as a critical topological string. Three applications of this topological string theory include the super-Poincaré covariant computation of multiloop superstring amplitudes without picture-changing operators, the construction of a cubic open superstring field theory without contact-term problems, and a new four-dimensional version of the pure spinor formalism which computes F-terms in the spacetime action. © SISSA 2005.

Exact time dependent Hopf solitons in 3+1 dimensions

We construct an infinite number of exact time dependent soliton solutions, carrying non-trivial Hopf topological charges, in a 3+1 dimensional Lorentz invariant theory with target space S2. The construction is based on an ansatz which explores the invariance of the model under the conformal group SO(4,2) and the infinite dimensional group of area preserving diffeomorphisms of S2. The model is a rare example of an integrable theory in four dimensions, and the solitons may play a role in the low energy limit of gauge theories. © SISSA 2006.

Spinning Hopf solitons on S3 × ℝ

We consider a field theory with target space being the two dimensional sphere S2 and defined on the space-time S3 × . The Lagrangean is the square of the pull-back of the area form on S2. It is invariant under the conformal group SO(4,2) and the infinite dimensional group of area preserving diffeomorphisms of S2. We construct an infinite number of exact soliton solutions with non-trivial Hopf topological charges. The solutions spin with a frequency which is bounded above by a quantity proportional to the inverse of the radius of S3. The construction of the solutions is made possible by an ansatz which explores the conformal symmetry and a U(1) subgroup of the area preserving diffeomorphism group. © SISSA 2006.