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Unanswered Questions

2,618 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
69 votes
1 answer
4k views

On the Coulomb branch of ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theory

The chiral ring of the Coulomb branch of a 4D ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theory is given by the Casimirs of the vector multiplet scalars, and they don't have non-trivial relations; the Casimirs ...
63 votes
0 answers
4k views

How to apply the Faddeev-Popov method to a simple integral

Some time ago I was reviewing my knowledge on QFT and I came across the question of Faddeev-Popov ghosts. At the time I was studying thеse matters, I used the book of Faddeev and Slavnov, but the ...
57 votes
0 answers
1k views

Systematic approach to deriving equations of collective field theory to any order

The collective field theory (see nLab for a list of main historical references) which came up as a generalization of the Bohm-Pines method in treating plasma oscillations often used in the study of ...
29 votes
0 answers
745 views

Extended Born relativity, Nambu 3-form and ternary ($n$-ary) symmetry

Background: Classical Mechanics is based on the Poincare-Cartan two-form $$\omega_2=dx\wedge dp$$ where $p=\dot{x}$. Quantum mechanics is secretly a subtle modification of this. On the other hand, the ...
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to show the Gauss-Bonnet term is a total derivative?

It is well-known that the Gauss-Bonnet term $$\mathcal L_G =R^2 -4 R_{\mu\nu}R^{\mu\nu}+R_{\mu\nu\rho\sigma}R^{\mu\nu\rho\sigma}\tag 1$$ does not contribute to the equations of motion when adding it ...
15 votes
0 answers
271 views

Is it known what the necessary and sufficient conditions are for the existence of a "3+1 split" (by means of a foliation) of a (Lorentzian) manifold?

When trying to do physics on a more general pseudo-Riemannian manifold we want to require that there is a foliation of this manifold into three-dimensional subspaces. By this I mean we would like to ...
15 votes
1 answer
350 views

What is the full algebra of BRST-invariant observables for general relativity?

The Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity - either in the ADM formalism or in Ashtekar variables - is straightforwardly a gauge theory. While the BRST formalism has primarily been developed to ...
14 votes
0 answers
311 views

What is the stringy interpretation of the cohomology classes arising from the Kähler class?

In superstring theory, one usually considers compactifications on Calabi-Yau 3-manifolds. These manifolds are in particular compact Kähler, hence possess a Kähler class which gives rise to nontrivial ...
12 votes
0 answers
357 views

Intuition for Homological Mirror Symmetry

first of all, I need to confess my ignorance concerning physics since I'm a mathematician. I'm interested in the physical intuition of the Langlands program, therefore I need to understand what ...
12 votes
1 answer
397 views

Why does strong interaction increase with distance?

I read numerous times that strong interaction increases with distance. But how can one actually derive the force-distance relation from the lagrangian (quark field + gluon field + gauge coupling)? ...
11 votes
0 answers
445 views

Is the QCD Lagrangian without a $\theta$-term invariant under large gauge transformations?

In his book "Quantum field theory", Kerson Huang states that we need to add the term $$\frac{i\theta}{32\pi^2}G_{\mu\nu}^a \tilde{G}_{\mu\nu}^a$$ to the Lagrangian, to make it invariant under large ...
11 votes
0 answers
445 views

View of the sky from inside a black hole

Consider an observer located at radius $r_o$ from a Schwarzschild black hole of radius $r_s$. The observer may be inside the event horizon ($r_o < r_s$). Suppose the observer receives a light ray ...
11 votes
0 answers
365 views

Significance for LQG of Sen's result on entropy of black holes?

Sen 2013 says, ...we apply Euclidean gravity to compute logarithmic corrections to the entropy of various non-extremal black holes in different dimensions [...] For Schwarzschild black holes in ...
11 votes
1 answer
457 views

Aren't black holes required to exist forever in our frame of reference instead of evaporating?

I know that for an observer far away, nothing ever crosses a black hole horizon (due to time dilation), while in the frame of reference of a falling observer the horizon is nothing special on its way ...
10 votes
0 answers
271 views

Can you put the Spin Connection in block diagonal form? (to be applied to the Atiyah-Singer theorem)

I'm following the notes by Freed about the Dirac Operator. In section 5.4, equation (5.4.25-27), he makes the following claim about the Dirac operator. In a different notation than what he is using, ...

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