Reflection Positivity and Chern-Simons Functional Integrals

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. Verfasser: Weitsman, Jonathan
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866910491737063424
author Weitsman, Jonathan
author_facet Weitsman, Jonathan
contents We show that a mathematical version of the formal Chern-Simons functional integral of Witten for manifolds equipped with a reflection may be constructed in terms of a reflection positive functional, associated to the quadratic term in the Chern-Simons Lagrangian, on an algebra of functions on a Banach space ${\bf A}$ of connections on the underlying 3-manifold. This construction yields a Hilbert space associated to a surface preserved by the reflection. A version of the cubic Bosonic interaction term in the Chern-Simons Lagrangian gives a self-adjoint operator on this Hilbert space, and by exponentiation, a unitary one parameter subgroup of operators. The vacuum expectation value of this one parameter subgroup is combined with an additional term associated to the ghost fields and their interaction, and an appropriate weak limit gives a partition function for the quantum field theory. This construction is nonperturbative. The theory is finite and does not require renormalization, as may be expected from perturbation theory. It is natural to ask whether the resulting partition function is related to the manifold invariants of Witten and Reshetikhin-Turaev, or whether a more elaborate construction may be needed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_12001
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reflection Positivity and Chern-Simons Functional Integrals
Weitsman, Jonathan
Mathematical Physics
High Energy Physics - Theory
Differential Geometry
Geometric Topology
We show that a mathematical version of the formal Chern-Simons functional integral of Witten for manifolds equipped with a reflection may be constructed in terms of a reflection positive functional, associated to the quadratic term in the Chern-Simons Lagrangian, on an algebra of functions on a Banach space ${\bf A}$ of connections on the underlying 3-manifold. This construction yields a Hilbert space associated to a surface preserved by the reflection. A version of the cubic Bosonic interaction term in the Chern-Simons Lagrangian gives a self-adjoint operator on this Hilbert space, and by exponentiation, a unitary one parameter subgroup of operators. The vacuum expectation value of this one parameter subgroup is combined with an additional term associated to the ghost fields and their interaction, and an appropriate weak limit gives a partition function for the quantum field theory. This construction is nonperturbative. The theory is finite and does not require renormalization, as may be expected from perturbation theory. It is natural to ask whether the resulting partition function is related to the manifold invariants of Witten and Reshetikhin-Turaev, or whether a more elaborate construction may be needed.
title Reflection Positivity and Chern-Simons Functional Integrals
topic Mathematical Physics
High Energy Physics - Theory
Differential Geometry
Geometric Topology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.12001