Questions tagged [quantum-field-theory]

For questions about mathematical problems arising from quantum field theory, the branch of physics which describes subatomic particles and their interactions in terms of perturbations of the corresponding scalar, vector or tensor fields.

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72 votes
2 answers
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The amplituhedron minus the physics

Is it possible to appreciate the geometric/polytopal properties of the amplituhedron without delving into the physics that gave rise to it? All the descriptions I've so far encountered assume ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
68 votes
5 answers
17k views

Mathematics of path integral: state of the art

I was told that one of the most efficient tools (e.g. in terms of computations relevant to physics, but also in terms of guessing heuristically mathematical facts) that physicists use is the so called ...
67 votes
4 answers
9k views

Why hasn't anyone proved that the two standard approaches to quantizing Chern-Simons theory are equivalent?

The two standard approaches to the quantization of Chern-Simons theory are geometric quantization of character varieties, and quantum groups plus skein theory. These two approaches were both first ...
John Pardon's user avatar
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63 votes
10 answers
7k views

Mathematical applications of quantum field theory

I understand that quantum field theories are interesting as physics; however, there is also a large community of mathematicians who are interested in them. For someone who is not at all interested in ...
53 votes
4 answers
8k views

Why is Quantum Field Theory so topological?

I understand that my question suffers from my lack of knowledge about the field, but as a mathematician without much knowledge of physics I have been wondering much about the following and I always ...
A Physical newbie's user avatar
52 votes
6 answers
13k views

Mathematical explanation of the failure to quantize gravity naively

One often hears in popular explanations of the failure to find a "Grand Unified Theory" that "Gravity goes off to infinity, but cutting off the edges gives us wrong answers", and other similar ...
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 "...
49 votes
4 answers
7k views

How undecidable is the spectral gap?

Nature just published a paper by Cubitt, Perez-Garcia and Wolf titled Undecidability of the Spectral Gap, there is an extended version on arxiv which is 146 pages long. Here is from the abstract:"Many ...
Conifold's user avatar
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44 votes
4 answers
15k views

What is Chern-Simons theory?

What is Chern-Simons theory? I have read the wikipedia entry, but it's pretty physics-y and I wasn't really able to get any sense for what Chern-Simons theory really is in terms of mathematics. Chern-...
Kevin H. Lin's user avatar
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37 votes
6 answers
8k views

Doing geometry using Feynman Path Integral?

I have often heard in the folk-lore that Feynman Path Integral can be used to compute geometric invariants of a space. Coming from a background of studying Quantum Field Theory from the books like ...
Anirbit's user avatar
  • 3,453
36 votes
6 answers
4k views

Examples of applications of the Borel-Weil-Bott theorem?

In "Quantum field theory and the Jones polynomial" (Comm. Math. Phys. 1989 vol. 121 (3) pp. 351-399), Witten writes: A representation Ri of a group G should be seen as a quantum object. This ...
Theo Johnson-Freyd's user avatar
34 votes
5 answers
11k views

What mathematical treatment is there on the renormalization group flow in a space of Lagrangians?

What mathematical treatment is there on the renormalization group flow in a space of Lagrangians?
user4's user avatar
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29 votes
4 answers
7k views

Mathematical foundations of Quantum Field Theory

Is there any reasonable approach, essentially different from Wightman's axioms and Algebraic Quantum Field Theory, aimed at obtaining rigorous models for realistic Quantum Field Theories? (such as ...
Sergio A. Yuhjtman's user avatar
28 votes
2 answers
4k views

How do we give mathematical meaning to 'physical dimensions'?

In so-called 'natural unit', it is said that physical quantities are measured in the dimension of 'mass'. For example, $\text{[length]=[mass]}^{-1}$ and so on. In quantum field theory, the dimension ...
Isaac's user avatar
  • 2,727
28 votes
2 answers
4k views

Formal mathematical definition of renormalization group flow

I was watching some lectures by Huisken where he mentioned that one-loop renormalization group flow was in some analogous to mean curvature flow. I have tried reading up the exact definition of what ...
Hollis Williams's user avatar
26 votes
2 answers
4k views

BRST cohomology

I am reading some work on Mirror Symmetry from Physics perspective,the physicists seem to use some aspects of BRST quantization and BRST cohomology. What is BRST Quantization and BRST cohomology, in ...
J Verma's user avatar
  • 3,178
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 ...
Kevin H. Lin's user avatar
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25 votes
1 answer
5k views

What is the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism, and what are its uses in mathematics?

I checked Wikipedia, I know it is a powerful quantization in physics, but I am wondering what is its relation in mathematics (like mirror symmetry as in wikipedia). A related thing is quantum master ...
mathphysics's user avatar
25 votes
1 answer
2k views

Definition of an n-category

What's the standard definition, if any, of an $n$-category as of 2020? The literature I can tap into is quite limited, but I'll try my best to list what I had so far. In [Lei2001], Leinster ...
Student's user avatar
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25 votes
1 answer
2k views

Reading list recommendation for a hep-ph student to start studying QFT at a more mathematically rigorous level?

Edition On July 15 2021, the description of the question has been considerably modified to meet the requirement of making this question more OP-independent and thus more useful for general readers. ...
Qi Tianluo's user avatar
24 votes
6 answers
3k views

Quantum fields and infinite tensor products

As I understand it, a naive interpretation of the state space of a quantum field theory is an infinite tensor product $$\otimes_{x\in M} H_x,$$ where $x$ runs over the points of space. This ...
Minhyong Kim's user avatar
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24 votes
0 answers
1k views

p-Adic String Theory and the String-orientation of Topological Modular Forms (tmf)

I am going to ask a question, at the end below, on whether anyone has tried to make more explicit what should be, it seems to me, a close relation between p-adic string theory and the refinement of ...
Urs Schreiber's user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
8k views

How to learn QFT from mathematical perspective?

I want to learn QFT, because I have heard of its applications in mathematics, I am not interested in scattering cross sections and such. Where can I start to learn? Only books I found are either way ...
badmf's user avatar
  • 542
22 votes
2 answers
4k views

2d Ising model in conformal fields theory and statistical mechanics

I am not completely sure that this question is appropriate for this mathematical site. But since in the past I did get on MO couple of times nice answers to rather physical questions, I will try. ...
asv's user avatar
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22 votes
1 answer
2k views

Current status of axiomatic quantum field theory research

Axiomatic quantum field theory (e.g. the wightman formalism and constructive quantum field theory) is an important subject. When I look into textbooks and papers, I mostly find that the basic ...
Physicsstudent000's user avatar
22 votes
1 answer
1k views

Classical and Quantum Chern-Simons Theory

Please excuse a sloppy question from an old user who hasn't been here in a long time. I think the expertise here is such that it can be answered anyway. Let $\Sigma$ be a two-manifold and $M$ a ...
Minhyong Kim's user avatar
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21 votes
3 answers
22k views

How to count symmetry factors of Feynman diagrams?

I have enough fears that this question might get struck down. Still let me try. I shall restrict myself to $\frac{\lambda \phi^4}{4!}$ perturbed real scalar quantum field theory and call as "...
Anirbit's user avatar
  • 3,453
21 votes
5 answers
5k views

What do mathematicians currently do in conformal field theory (or more general field theory)

I am wondering what currently our mathematicians do related to conformal field theory, (I know currently it is a central topic, but I have only a vague idea what mathematicians do in there), or more ...
Hao's user avatar
  • 211
20 votes
1 answer
2k views

Gauss linking integral and quadratic reciprocity

In the setting of Mazur's "primes and knots" analogy, prime ideals $\mathfrak p\subset\mathcal O_K$ correspond to "knots" $\operatorname{Spec}\mathcal O_K/\mathfrak p$ inside a "3-manifold" $\...
John Pardon's user avatar
  • 18.3k
19 votes
3 answers
2k views

4D TQFT from a modular tensor category

I know the construction of a 3D topological quantum field theory (TQFT) from a modular tensor category. I heard that we can even (mathematically) construct 4D TQFT from a modular tensor category. I ...
user avatar
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 ...
annie marie cœur's user avatar
18 votes
8 answers
4k views

Path integrals outside QFT

The main application of Feynman path integrals (and the primary motivation behind them) is in Quantum Field Theory - currently this is something standard for physicists, if even the mathematical ...
Michal Kotowski's user avatar
18 votes
4 answers
3k views

What are the "hot" topics in mathematical QFT at the time?

I am currently finishing my Master's studies in mathematical physics. One topic which always interested me a lot were modern mathematical approaches to Quantum Field Theory (QFT) as well as the ...
18 votes
1 answer
1k views

Do all $\mathcal{N}=2$ Gauge Theories "Descend" from String Theory?

I asked this on PhysicsSE, but I think it also fits here as it's related to algebro-geometric connections to string and gauge theory. I'm thinking about the beautiful story of "geometrical ...
Benighted's user avatar
  • 1,701
18 votes
2 answers
931 views

Infinite dimensional 2-Hilbert spaces

Is there a definition of an infinite dimensional 2-Hilbert space? Finite dimensional 2-Hilbert spaces have been discussed by Baez in http://arxiv.org/abs/q-alg/9609018 In the more recent paper by ...
Samuel Monnier's user avatar
18 votes
0 answers
529 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 ...
Benighted's user avatar
  • 1,701
17 votes
2 answers
2k views

Quantum corrections to geometry

In this video Alain Connes made a comment about the ,,quantum corrections'' of the geometry. I would like to understand this notion in some details since I haven't found anything about this in the ...
truebaran's user avatar
  • 9,140
17 votes
3 answers
4k views

QFT and mathematical rigor

One way to approach QFT in mathematical terms is provided by the so-called Gårding-Wightman axioms, which defines in rigorous mathematical terms what a quantum field theory is supposed to be. If I'm ...
IamWill's user avatar
  • 3,151
17 votes
2 answers
1k views

What are some mathematical consequences of the study of 6D $\mathcal N = (2,0)$ SCFT?

Arguments made in physics apparently predict the existence of a family of six-dimensional $\mathcal N = (2,0)$ superconformal field theories (Wikipedia, nLab, PhysicsOverflow) sometimes called Theory $...
Arun Debray's user avatar
  • 6,756
17 votes
4 answers
1k views

Braided Hopf algebras and Quantum Field Theories

It is well-known, that there are a lot of applications of classical Hopf algebras in QFT, e.g. Connes-Kreimer renormalization, Birkhoff decomposition, Zimmermann formula, properties of Rota-Baxter ...
mikis's user avatar
  • 797
17 votes
0 answers
993 views

"Next steps" after TQFT?

(Disclaimer: I'm rather nervous that this isn't appropriate for MathOverflow, but given the contents of my question I don't really know a better place to ask something like this.) Recently, I've been ...
Nicholas James's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why is a Topological Field Theory equivalent to a Frobenius algebra?

How can a physicist understand a 2-dimensional topological field theory as a Frobenius algebra? Are there some explicit examples in order to understand this relation? The definition (e.g. on ...
Gorbz's user avatar
  • 651
16 votes
1 answer
3k views

Donaldson-Thomas Invariants in Physics

First of all, I am sorry for there are a bunch of questions (though all related)and may not be well framed. What are the DT invariants in physics. When one is computing DT invariants for a Calabi-Yau ...
J Verma's user avatar
  • 3,178
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

Challenge: Non-Gaussian quartic integral and path integral in Quantum field theory

(1) It is well-known that we can get a Gaussian integral of this type, where $x$ is in $\mathbb{R}$: $$ \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} dx e^{-ax^2}=\sqrt{(2\pi)/a}. \tag{i} $$ We can generalize this ...
annie marie cœur's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

Mathematical/Physical uses of $SO(8)$ and Spin(8) triality

Triality is a relationship among three vector spaces. It describes those special features of the Dynkin diagram D4 and the associated Lie group Spin(8), the double cover of 8-dimensional rotation ...
wonderich's user avatar
  • 10.3k
16 votes
0 answers
1k views

"extended TQFT" versus "TQFT with defects"

There are two ways in which higher categories appear in topological field theory: in extended TFTs and in TFTs with defects. How are these appearances related? According to the Atiyah-Segal axioms, a ...
Alex Turzillo's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
2k views

4d Constructive Quantum Field Theory

As a follow up to my previous question (How does Constructive Quantum Field Theory work?), I was wondering what difficulties physicists have had constructing 4d axiomatic qfts. Why has CQFT's success ...
Jimbo's user avatar
  • 225
15 votes
5 answers
2k views

How should I think about B-fields?

So, physicists like to attach a mysterious extra cohomology class in H^2(X;C^*) to a Kahler (or hyperkahler) manifold called a "B-field." The only concrete thing I've seen this B-field do is change ...
Ben Webster's user avatar
  • 43.9k
15 votes
1 answer
674 views

Practical consequences of the geometric cobordism hypothesis

As far as I understand, the cobordism hypothesis provides a construction of all (appropriately defined) fully-extended TQFTs. In particular, given a fully-dualizable object in a certain category, one ...
Confused Physicist's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
520 views

Examples of n+1D TQFT with 1 dimensional Hilbert spaces on n-torus and n-sphere but higher dimensional Hilbert spaces on other n-manifolds

Are there simple examples of $n+1$D TQFT that assign 1-dimensional Hilbert spaces to both $n$-torus and $n$-sphere but higher dimensional Hilbert spaces to some other $n$-manifolds? Here I am assuming ...
Chao-Ming Jian's user avatar

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