All Questions
16 questions
51
votes
9
answers
9k
views
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Physics in Mathematics. Why ? What/how to catch?
Starting from 80-ies the ideas either coming from physics, or by physicists themselves (e.g. Witten) are shaping many directions in mathematics. It is tempting to paraphrase E. Wigner, saying about "...
25
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What are Gromov-Witten invariants in terms of physics?
What do Gromov-Witten invariants (of say a Calabi-Yau 3-fold) represent, or what are they supposed to represent, in terms of string theory? When I compute GW invariants, am I actually computing some ...
- 21k
19
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Anomaly in QFT physics v.s. determinant line bundle
In a quantum field theory (QFT) lecture, a math-physics professor explains the anomaly in physics, say the non-invariance of the partition function of an anomalous theory under background field ...
- 2,147
18
votes
0
answers
549
views
Donaldson-Thomas Theory and "Quantum Foam" for Mathematicians
Let $X$ be a smooth, projective Calabi-Yau threefold. From an algebro-geometric perspective, the Donaldson-Thomas invariants $\text{DT}_{\beta, n}(X)$ are virtual counts of ideal sheaves on $X$ with ...
- 1,701
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Vafa-Witten invariants for mathematicians
As Richard Thomas has written (we paraphrase just slightly), mathematical physicists Vafa and Witten introduced new "invariants" of four-dimensional spaces in a paper:
A Strong Coupling Test of S-...
- 10.5k
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What does it mean to take the diagonal of the group $SU(2) \times SU(2) $?
I am reading Witten's paper on topological field theories, in specific the topological twist in page 359. In order to perform the twist he takes the diagonal subgroup of $K = SU(2)_{\text{Right}} \...
- 587
7
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is the relation between BRST quantization and gauge fixing quantization
To quantize gauge field, one usually use gauge-fixing procedure and then plus ghost field, my question is what the relation between BRST quantization and gauge fixing quantization is? Because it seems ...
- 781
7
votes
1
answer
297
views
Affine Kac-Moody algebra from quantum group exchange algebra
In `Hidden Quantum Groups Inside Kac-Moody Algebra', by Alekseev, Faddeev, and Semenov-Tian-Shansky, a relationship between quantum groups and affine Kac-Moody algebras is shown for the WZW model.
...
- 1,155
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Advice on doing physics under the umbrella of mathematics and the converse
Note: This is a question directly copied from Theoretical Physics SE primarily to get the advice of people indulged in mathematics.
In the current scenario of research in QFT and string theory (and ...
5
votes
2
answers
847
views
CFTs corresponding to affine Lie algebras
I want to know how one can write down a CFT such that its conserved currents will satisfy some chosen (affine) Lie algebra $G$.
On the few pages leading up to page 192 in here one can see see the ...
- 3,541
5
votes
1
answer
664
views
AKSZ sigma models for higher spin
The AKSZ framework constructs 2D sigma models in the BV formalism. Is there a generalization of the AKSZ approach to higher spin?
- 3,880
5
votes
0
answers
156
views
Associating noncommutative geometries to 2D conformal field theories
I have recently been reading a bit about noncommutative geometry and string theory and it looked to be an open question (or at least this was open two decades ago) whether there are constructions ...
- 5,146
4
votes
1
answer
185
views
reference for higher spin - not gravitational nor stringy
Other than the papers of Berends, Burgers and van Dam, are there any papers that study the general case of deforming a free field theory with higher spin fields to be interactive?
- 3,880
4
votes
0
answers
211
views
Bridgeland stability for restricted Kahler moduli?
Let $X$ be a simply-connected, smooth, projective Calabi-Yau threefold. To my understanding, Bridgeland introduced stability conditions on triangulated categories to give a proper mathematical ...
- 1,701
3
votes
1
answer
258
views
Supersymmetry charge $Q$ as anti-linear and anti-unitary operator
We know the supersymmetry (SUSY) charge $Q$ satisfies the following relation respect to fermion parity operator $(-1)^F$:
$$
(-1)^F Q + Q (-1)^F :=\{Q, (-1)^F \} =0
$$
which defines the anti-...
- 10.5k
0
votes
1
answer
280
views
Anti-symmetric operators for the Dirac or Majorana spinors
In a Zoom lecture given by a mathematical physics professor, if I recalled correctly, he explained that the in 1+1 dimensional spacetime (or 2 dimensions in short), the "action" of fermions (spinors) ...
- 2,147