arXiv research

New model calculates Wilson surfaces in higher gauge theory.

Wilson lines in gauge theories admit several path integral descriptions. The first one (due to Alekseev-Faddeev-Shatashvili) uses path integrals over coadjoint orbits. The second one (due to Diakonov-Petrov) replaces a 1-dimensional path integral with a 2-dimensional topological $σ$-model. We show that this $σ$-model i…

Wilson loops in ${\cal N}=4$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory correspond at strong coupling to extremal surfaces in $AdS_5$. We study a class of extremal surfaces known as special Legendrian submanifolds. The "hemisphere" corresponding to the circular Wilson loop is an example of a special Legendrian submanifold, and w…

In the context of non-abelian gerbes we define a cubical version of categorical group 2-bundles with connection over a smooth manifold. We define their two-dimensional parallel transport, study its properties, and define non-abelian Wilson surface functionals.

This paper develops a geometric framework for Wilson surfaces in higher gauge theory.

Wilson lines generate positive Laurent polynomials in decorated triangulations.

We reconsider Chern-Simons gauge theory on a Seifert manifold M, which is the total space of a nontrivial circle bundle over a Riemann surface, possibly with orbifold points. As shown in previous work with Witten, the path integral technique of non-abelian localization can be used to express the partition function of C…

We improve Gross-Wilson's local estimates to global ones. As an application, we study the blow-up limits of the degenerating Calabi-Yau metrics on singular fibers.

An observable for nonabelian, higher-dimensional forms is introduced, its properties are discussed and its expectation value in BF theory is described. This is shown to produce potential and genuine invariants of higher-dimensional knots.

Correspondence found between Askey-Wilson polynomials and genus-two handlebody skein module.

We relate the author's Lie cobracket in the module additively generated by loops on a surface with the Connes-Kreimer Lie bracket in the module additively generated by trees. To this end we introduce a pre-Lie coalgebra and a (commutative) Hopf algebra of pointed loops on a surface. In the last version I added sections…

We study twisted N=2 superconformal gauge theory on a product of two Riemann surfaces Sigma and C. The twisted theory is topological along C and holomorphic along Sigma and does not depend on the gauge coupling or theta-angle. Upon Kaluza-Klein reduction along Sigma, it becomes equivalent to a topological B-model on C …

Motivated by recent developments in the AdS/CFT correspondence, we provide several alternative bulk descriptions of an arbitrary Wilson loop operator in Chern-Simons theory. Wilson loop operators in Chern-Simons theory can be given a description in terms of a configuration of branes or alternatively anti-branes in the …

We show how networks of Wilson lines realize quantum groups U_q(sl(m)), for arbitrary m, in 3d SU(N) Chern-Simons theory. Lifting this construction to foams of surface operators in 4d theory we find that rich structure of junctions is encoded in combinatorics of planar diagrams. For a particular choice of surface opera…

We study junctions of Wilson lines in refined SU(N) Chern-Simons theory and their local relations. We focus on junctions of Wilson lines in antisymmetric and symmetric powers of the fundamental representation and propose a set of local relations which realize one-parameter deformations of quantum groups $\dot{U}_{q}(\m…

Cluster algebras match for specific Lie algebras and surfaces.

An NQ-manifold is a non-negatively graded supermanifold with a degree 1 homological vector field. The focus of this paper is to define the Wilson loops/lines in the context of NQ-manifolds and to study their properties. The Wilson loops/lines, which give the holonomy or parallel transport, are familiar objects in usual…

Researchers compute knot invariants in Seifert manifolds using Wilson loops.

We give, using an explicit expression obtained in [V. Jones, Ann. of Math. 126, 335 (1987)], a basic hypergeometric representation of the HOMFLY polynomial of $(n,m)$ torus knots, and present a number of equivalent expressions, all related by Heine's transformations. Using this result the $(m,n)\leftrightarrow (n,m)$ s…

In this technical paper, we present a new formulation of higher parallel transport in strict higher gauge theory required for the rigorous construction of Wilson lines and surfaces. Our approach is based on an original notion of Lie crossed module cocycle and cocycle 1- and 2-gauge transformation with a non standard do…

We find flat band Hamiltonians and Ginsparg-Wilson relations for symmetry classes.

We introduce and study the Wilson loops in a general 3D topological field theories (TFTs), and show that the expectation value of Wilson loops also gives knot invariants as in Chern-Simons theory. We study the TFTs within the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) and Alexandrov-Kontsevich-Schwarz-Zaboronsky (AKSZ) framework, and the…

The objective of the present paper is to analyse various features of the Smith-Wilson method used for discounting under the EU regulation Solvency II, with special attention to hedging. In particular, we show that all key rate duration hedges of liabilities beyond the Last Liquid Point will be peculiar. Moreover, we sh…

In this article parametric versions of Wilson's plug and Kuperberg's plug are discussed. We show that there is a weak homotopy equivalence induced by the inclusion between the space of non-singular vector fields tangent to a foliation and the subspace of those without closed orbits, as long as the leaves of the foliati…

Let M be a U(1) bundle over a smooth Riemann surface. I show that for Chern-Simons theory on M, with structure group G, the path integral is an integral over the space of G-connections on the Riemann surface involving characteristic classes as well as a certain 4-dimensional class that comes from a universal bundle. Wh…

We study Wilson-'t Hooft loop operators in a class of N=2 superconformal field theories recently introduced by Gaiotto. In the case that the gauge group is a product of SU(2) groups, we classify all possible loop operators in terms of their electric and magnetic charges subject to the Dirac quantization condition. We t…

We propose two variants of the Smith-Wilson method for practical application in the insurance industry. Our first variant relaxes the Smith-Wilson energy and can be used to incorporate less reliable market data with a certain weight rather than disregarding it completely. This is particularly useful for deriving yield …

We study the supersymmetric Wilson loop as introduced by Caron-Huot, which attaches to lightlike polygons certain edge and vertex operators, whose shape is determined by supersymmetry constraints. We state explicit formulas for the vertex operators to all orders in the Graßmann expansion, thus filling a gap in the lite…

The string bracket introduced by Chas and Sullivan [math.GT/9911159] is reinterpreted from the point of view of topological field theories in the Batalin-Vilkovisky or BRST formalisms. Namely, topological action functionals for gauge fields (generalizing Chern-Simons and BF theories) are considered together with genera…

Math and dance blend in choreographer's research.

We show that the Hopf elements, the Kervaire classes, and the $\barκ$-family in the stable homotopy groups of spheres are detected by the Hurewicz map from the sphere spectrum to the $C_2$-fixed points of the Real Brown-Peterson spectrum. A subset of these families is detected by the $C_2$-fixed points of Real Johnson-…

This paper analyzes in details the Batalin-Vilkovisky quantization procedure for BF theories on n-dimensional manifolds and describes a suitable superformalism to deal with the master equation and the search of observables. In particular, generalized Wilson loops for BF theories with additional polynomial B-interaction…

The classical Wilson loop is the gauge-invariant trace of the parallel transport around a closed path with respect to a connection on a vector bundle over a smooth manifold. We build a precise mathematical model of the super Wilson loop, an extension introduced by Mason-Skinner and Caron-Huot, by endowing the objects o…

Proves a lattice version of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem.

On an affine flat manifold with coordinates x^j and convex local potential function f, we call the affine Kahler metric f_{ij} dx^i dx^j semi-flat Calabi-Yau if it satisfies det f_{ij} = 1. Recently Gross-Wilson have constructed many such metrics on S^2 minus 24 singularities, as degenerate limits of Calabi-Yau metrics…

Study mapping class group actions on cohomology of configuration spaces.

In the previous paper (arXiv:0804.0701), the authors gave criteria for A_{k+1}-type singularities on wave fronts. Using them, we show in this paper that there is a duality between singular points and inflection points on wave fronts in the projective space. As an application, we show that the algebraic sum of 2-inflect…

We study adiabatic limits of Ricci-flat Kahler metrics on a Calabi-Yau manifold which is the total space of a holomorphic fibration when the volume of the fibers goes to zero. By establishing some new a priori estimates for the relevant complex Monge-Ampere equation, we show that the Ricci-flat metrics collapse (away f…

Let $S$ be a closed connected oriented surface of genus $g>0$. We study a Poisson subalgebra $W_1(g)$ of $C^{\infty}(\mathrm{Hom}(π_1(S), \mathrm{GL}(1, \mathbb{R}))/\mathrm{GL}(1, \mathbb{R}))$, the smooth functions on the moduli space of flat $\mathrm{GL}(1, \mathbb{R})$-bundles over $S$. There is a surjective Lie al…

The paper computes group factors and properties of Wilson loops in Chern-Simons theory.

Given a principal bundle on an orientable closed surface with compact connected structure group, we endow the space of based gauge equivalence classes of smooth connections relative to smooth based gauge transformations with the structure of a Fréchet manifold. Using Wilson loop holonomies and a certain characteristic …

L-CNNs learn gauge invariant quantities on lattices.

Gravitational instantons collapse to a punctured plane with a special Kahler metric.

We prove that Wilson loop expectation values for arbitrary simple closed contours obey an area law up to second order in perturbative two-dimensional Yang-Mills theory. Our analysis occurs within a general family of axial-like gauges, which include and interpolate between holomorphic gauge and the Wu-Mandelstam-Liebran…

Study shows asymptotic behavior of metric near singular points of a Monge-Ampère equation.

A hyperlink is a finite set of non-intersecting simple closed curves in $\mathbb{R} \times \mathbb{R}^3$. We compute the Wilson Loop observable using a path integral with an Einstein-Hilbert action. Using axial-gauge fixing, we can write this path integral as the limit of a sequence of Chern-Simons integrals, studied e…

Following P. M. H. Wilson's paper on sectional curvatures of Kahler moduli, we consider a natural Riemannian metric on a hypersurface f=1 in a real vector space, defined using the Hessian of a homogeneous polynomial f. We give examples to answer a question by Wilson about when this metric has nonpositive curvature. Als…

New model explains visual illusions using sub-Riemannian geometry.