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Bosonic String Theory
Bosonic string theory is the original version of string theory, developed in the late 1960s. It is so called because it contains only bosons in the spectrum. In the 1980s, supersymmetry was discovered in the context of string theory, and a new version of string theory called superstring theory (supersymmetric string theory) became the real focus. Nevertheless, bosonic string theory remains a very useful model to understand many general features of perturbative string theory, and many theoretical difficulties of superstrings can actually already be found in the context of bosonic strings. Problems Although bosonic string theory has many attractive features, it falls short as a viable physical model in two significant areas. First, it predicts only the existence of bosons whereas many physical particles are fermions. Second, it predicts the existence of a mode of the string with imaginary mass, implying that the theory has an instability to a process known as "tachyon conde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Theory
In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string acts like a particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory, one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton, a quantum mechanical particle that carries the gravitational force. Thus, string theory is a theory of quantum gravity. String theory is a broad and varied subject that attempts to address a number of deep questions of fundamental physics. String theory has contributed a number of advances to mathematical physics, which have been applied to a variety of problems in black hole physics, early universe cosmology, nuclear physics, and condensed matter ph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Worldsheet
In string theory, a worldsheet is a two-dimensional manifold which describes the embedding of a string in spacetime. The term was coined by Leonard Susskind as a direct generalization of the world line concept for a point particle in special and general relativity. The type of string, the geometry of the spacetime in which it propagates, and the presence of long-range background fields (such as gauge fields) are encoded in a two-dimensional conformal field theory defined on the worldsheet. For example, the bosonic string in 26 dimensions has a worldsheet conformal field theory consisting of 26 free scalar bosons. Meanwhile, a superstring worldsheet theory in 10 dimensions consists of 10 free scalar fields and their fermionic superpartners. Mathematical formulation Bosonic string We begin with the classical formulation of the bosonic string. First fix a d-dimensional flat spacetime (d-dimensional Minkowski space), M, which serves as the ambient space for the string. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euler Characteristic
In mathematics, and more specifically in algebraic topology and polyhedral combinatorics, the Euler characteristic (or Euler number, or Euler–Poincaré characteristic) is a topological invariant, a number that describes a topological space's shape or structure regardless of the way it is bent. It is commonly denoted by \chi (Greek alphabet, Greek lower-case letter chi (letter), chi). The Euler characteristic was originally defined for polyhedron, polyhedra and used to prove various theorems about them, including the classification of the Platonic solids. It was stated for Platonic solids in 1537 in an unpublished manuscript by Francesco Maurolico. Leonhard Euler, for whom the concept is named, introduced it for convex polyhedra more generally but failed to rigorously prove that it is an invariant. In modern mathematics, the Euler characteristic arises from homology (mathematics), homology and, more abstractly, homological algebra. Polyhedra The Euler characteristic was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conformal Anomaly
A conformal anomaly, scale anomaly, trace anomaly or Weyl anomaly is an anomaly, i.e. a quantum phenomenon that breaks the conformal symmetry of the classical theory. In quantum field theory when we set Planck constant \hbar to zero we have only Feynman tree diagrams, which is a "classical" theory (equivalent to the Fredholm theory of a classical field theory). One-loop (''N''-loop) Feynman diagrams are proportional to \hbar (\hbar^N). If a current is conserved classically (\hbar=0) but develops a divergence at loop level in quantum field theory (\propto \hbar), we say there is an anomaly. A famous example is the axial current anomaly where massless fermions will have a classically conserved axial current, but which develops a nonzero divergence in the presence of gauge fields. A scale invariant theory, one in which there are no mass scales, will have a conserved Noether current called the "scale current." This is derived by performing scale transformations on the coordina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weyl Transformation
In theoretical physics, the Weyl transformation, named after German mathematician Hermann Weyl, is a local rescaling of the metric tensor: g_ \rightarrow e^ g_ which produces another metric in the same conformal class. A theory or an expression invariant under this transformation is called conformally invariant, or is said to possess Weyl invariance or Weyl symmetry. The Weyl symmetry is an important symmetry in conformal field theory. It is, for example, a symmetry of the Polyakov action. When quantum mechanical effects break the conformal invariance of a theory, it is said to exhibit a conformal anomaly or Weyl anomaly. The ordinary Levi-Civita connection and associated spin connections are not invariant under Weyl transformations. Weyl connections are a class of affine connections that is invariant, although no Weyl connection is individual invariant under Weyl transformations. Conformal weight A quantity \varphi has conformal weight k if, under the Weyl transforma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diffeomorphism Invariance
In theoretical physics, general covariance, also known as diffeomorphism covariance or general invariance, consists of the invariance of the ''form'' of physical laws under arbitrary differentiable coordinate transformations. The essential idea is that coordinates do not exist ''a priori'' in nature, but are only artifices used in describing nature, and hence should play no role in the formulation of fundamental physical laws. While this concept is exhibited by general relativity, which describes the dynamics of spacetime, one should not expect it to hold in less fundamental theories. For matter fields taken to exist independently of the background, it is almost never the case that their equations of motion will take the same form in curved space that they do in flat space. Overview A physical law expressed in a generally covariant fashion takes the same mathematical form in all coordinate systems, and is usually expressed in terms of tensor fields. The classical (non-quantum) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topological Manifold
In topology, a topological manifold is a topological space that locally resembles real ''n''- dimensional Euclidean space. Topological manifolds are an important class of topological spaces, with applications throughout mathematics. All manifolds are topological manifolds by definition. Other types of manifolds are formed by adding structure to a topological manifold (e.g. differentiable manifolds are topological manifolds equipped with a differential structure). Every manifold has an "underlying" topological manifold, obtained by simply "forgetting" the added structure. However, not every topological manifold can be endowed with a particular additional structure. For example, the E8 manifold is a topological manifold which cannot be endowed with a differentiable structure. Formal definition A topological space ''X'' is called locally Euclidean if there is a non-negative integer ''n'' such that every point in ''X'' has a neighborhood which is homeomorphic to real ''n''-space R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wick Rotation
In physics, Wick rotation, named after Italian physicist Gian Carlo Wick, is a method of finding a solution to a mathematical problem in Minkowski space from a solution to a related problem in Euclidean space by means of a transformation that substitutes an imaginary-number variable for a real-number variable. Wick rotations are useful because of an analogy between two important but seemingly distinct fields of physics: statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics. In this analogy, inverse temperature plays a role in statistical mechanics formally akin to imaginary time in quantum mechanics: that is, , where is time and is the imaginary unit (). More precisely, in statistical mechanics, the Gibbs measure describes the relative probability of the system to be in any given state at temperature , where is a function describing the energy of each state and is the Boltzmann constant. In quantum mechanics, the transformation describes time evolution, where is an operator descri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minkowski Metric
In physics, Minkowski space (or Minkowski spacetime) () is the main mathematical description of spacetime in the absence of general_relativity, gravitation. It combines inertial space and time manifolds into a four-dimensional model. The model helps show how a spacetime interval between any two Event (relativity), events is independent of the inertial frame of reference in which they are recorded. Mathematician Hermann Minkowski developed it from the work of Hendrik Lorentz, Henri Poincaré, and others said it "was grown on experimental physical grounds". Minkowski space is closely associated with Albert Einstein, Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity and is the most common mathematical structure by which special relativity is formalized. While the individual components in Euclidean space and time might differ due to length contraction and time dilation, in Minkowski spacetime, all frames of reference will agree on the total interval in spacetime betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyakov Action
In physics, the Polyakov action is an action of the two-dimensional conformal field theory describing the worldsheet of a string in string theory. It was introduced by Stanley Deser and Bruno Zumino and independently by L. Brink, P. Di Vecchia and P. S. Howe in 1976, and has become associated with Alexander Polyakov after he made use of it in quantizing the string in 1981. The action reads: : \mathcal = \frac \int\mathrm^2\sigma\, \sqrt\,h^ g_(X) \partial_a X^\mu(\sigma) \partial_b X^\nu(\sigma), where T is the string tension, g_ is the metric of the target manifold, h_ is the worldsheet metric, h^ its inverse, and h is the determinant of h_. The metric signature is chosen such that timelike directions are + and the spacelike directions are −. The spacelike worldsheet coordinate is called \sigma, whereas the timelike worldsheet coordinate is called \tau. This is also known as the nonlinear sigma model. The Polyakov action must be supplemented by the Liouville action to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Path Integral Formulation
The path integral formulation is a description in quantum mechanics that generalizes the stationary action principle of classical mechanics. It replaces the classical notion of a single, unique classical trajectory for a system with a sum, or functional integral, over an infinity of quantum-mechanically possible trajectories to compute a quantum amplitude. This formulation has proven crucial to the subsequent development of theoretical physics, because manifest Lorentz covariance (time and space components of quantities enter equations in the same way) is easier to achieve than in the operator formalism of canonical quantization. Unlike previous methods, the path integral allows one to easily change coordinates between very different canonical descriptions of the same quantum system. Another advantage is that it is in practice easier to guess the correct form of the Lagrangian of a theory, which naturally enters the path integrals (for interactions of a certain type, these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Boson
In particle physics, a vector boson is a boson whose spin equals one. Vector bosons that are also elementary particles are gauge bosons, the force carriers of fundamental interactions. Some composite particles are vector bosons, for instance any vector meson (quark and antiquark). During the 1970s and 1980s, intermediate vector bosons (the W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak interaction) drew much attention in particle physics. A pseudovector boson is a vector boson that has even parity, whereas "regular" vector bosons have odd parity. There are no fundamental pseudovector bosons, but there are pseudovector mesons. In relation to the Higgs boson The W and Z particles interact with the Higgs boson as shown in the Feynman diagram. Explanation The name ''vector boson'' arises from quantum field theory. The component of such a particle's spin along any axis has the three eigenvalues −, 0, and + (where is the reduced Planck constant), meaning that any measurement of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
