1,721,008 research outputs found
Optimized renormalization group flows
No full textWe study the optimization of exact renormalization group ~ERG! flows. We explain why the convergence of approximate solutions towards the physical theory is optimized by appropriate choices of the regularization. We consider specific optimized regulators for bosonic and fermionic fields and compare the optimized ERG flows with generic ones. This is done up to second order in the derivative expansion at both vanishing and nonvanishing temperature. We find that optimized flows at finite temperature factorize. This corresponds to the disentangling of thermal and quantum fluctuations. A similar factorization is found at second order in the derivative expansion. The corresponding optimized flow for a ‘‘proper-time renormalization group’’ is also provided to leading order in the derivative expansion
Fixed points of quantum gravity
No full textEuclidean quantum gravity is studied with renormalization group methods. Analytical results for a nontrivial ultraviolet fixed point are found for arbitrary dimensions and gauge fixing parameters in the Einstein-Hilbert truncation. Implications for quantum gravity in four dimensions are discussed
Semi-classical transport theory for non-Abelian plasmas
No full textWe review a semi-classical transport theory for non-Abelian plasmas based on a classical picture of coloured point particles. Within this formalism, kinetic equations for the mean particle distribution, the mean fields and their fluctuations are obtained using an ensemble-average in phase space. The framework permits the integrating-out of fluctuations in a systematic manner. This leads to the derivation of collision integrals, noise sources and fluctuation-induced currents for the effective transport equations of QCD. Consistency with the non-Abelian gauge symmetry is established, and systematic approximation schemes are worked out. In particular,the approach is applicable to both in- and out-of-equilibrium plasmas. The formalism is applied explicitly to a hot and weakly coupled QCD plasma slightly out of equilibrium. The physics related to Debye screening, Landau damping or colour-conductivity is deduced in a very simple manner. Effective transport equations are computed to first and second order in moments of the fluctuations. To first order, they reproduce the seminal hard-thermal-loop effective theory. To second order, the fluctuations induce collisions amongst the quasi-particles, leading to a Langevin type transport equation. A complementary Langevin approach is discussed as well. Finally, we show how the approach can be applied to dense quark matter systems. In the normal phase, the corresponding kinetic equations lead to the hard-dense-loop effective theory. At high density and low temperature diquark condensates are formed, changing the ground state of QCD. In the superconducting phase with two massless quark flavours, a transport equation for coloured excitations is given as well. Possible future applications are outlined
Transport theory for a two-flavour colour superconductor
No full textQCD with two light quark flavors at high baryonic density and low temperature is a color superconductor. The diquark condensate partially breaks the SU(3) gauge symmetry down to an SU(2) subgroup. We study thermal fluctuations of the superconductor for temperatures below the gap. These are described by a simple transport equation, linked to a quasiparticle behavior of the thermal excitations of the condensate. When solved in the collisionless limit and close to equilibrium, it gives rise to the "hard superconducting loop" (HSL) effective theory for the unbroken SU(2) gauge fields with momenta smaller than the gap. This theory describes Debye screening and Landau damping of the gauge fields in the presence of the diquark condensate. We also explain how our effective theory follows to one-loop order from quantum field theory. Our approach provides a convenient starting point for the computation of transport coefficients of the two-flavor color superconductor
Global Wilson–Fisher fixed points
No full textThe Wilson–Fisher fixed point with O(N) universality in three dimensions is studied using the renormalisation group. It is shown how a combination of analytical and numerical techniques determine global fixed points to leading order in the derivative expansion for real or purely imaginary fields with moderate numerical effort. Universal and non-universal quantities such as scaling exponents and mass ratios are computed, for all N, together with local fixed point coordinates, radii of convergence, and parameters which control the asymptotic behaviour of the effective action. We also explain when and why finite-N results do not converge pointwise towards the exact infinite-N limit. In the regime of purely imaginary fields, a new link between singularities of fixed point effective actions and singularities of their counterparts by Polchinski are established. Implications for other theories are indicated
Fixed points in supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model
Get PDFIn this work, we are searching for supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics which are asymptotically safe. Such models are well-defined at all energy scales and provide hints for the scale at which supersymmetry gets broken. The combination of supersymmetry and asymptotic safety hereby turns out to strongly restrict the space of possible models. Within extensions of the minimal supersymmetric SM (MSSM), we perturbatively find candidates which all have a specific field content and low supersymmetry-breaking scales. For extensions of the MSSM with an extended gauge sector, we find models for which these scales appear at much larger energies. We then investigate whether the perturbatively found models are in agreement with non-perturbative results obtained from superconformal field theories. The exact supersymmetric Novikov-Shifman-Vainshtein-Zakharov beta functions suggest that these models are not asymptotically safe beyond perturbation theory. Finally, we present a model for which the non-perturbative results suggests that the SM can be UV-completed by this model. We also study perturbatively whether the fixed point needed for this UV-completion is physical
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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