Download or read book The Decomposition of Global Conformal Invariants AM 182 written by Spyros Alexakis and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-06 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses a basic question in differential geometry that was first considered by physicists Stanley Deser and Adam Schwimmer in 1993 in their study of conformal anomalies. The question concerns conformally invariant functionals on the space of Riemannian metrics over a given manifold. These functionals act on a metric by first constructing a Riemannian scalar out of it, and then integrating this scalar over the manifold. Suppose this integral remains invariant under conformal re-scalings of the underlying metric. What information can one then deduce about the Riemannian scalar? Deser and Schwimmer asserted that the Riemannian scalar must be a linear combination of three obvious candidates, each of which clearly satisfies the required property: a local conformal invariant, a divergence of a Riemannian vector field, and the Chern-Gauss-Bonnet integrand. This book provides a proof of this conjecture. The result itself sheds light on the algebraic structure of conformal anomalies, which appear in many settings in theoretical physics. It also clarifies the geometric significance of the renormalized volume of asymptotically hyperbolic Einstein manifolds. The methods introduced here make an interesting connection between algebraic properties of local invariants--such as the classical Riemannian invariants and the more recently studied conformal invariants--and the study of global invariants, in this case conformally invariant integrals. Key tools used to establish this connection include the Fefferman-Graham ambient metric and the author's super divergence formula.
Download or read book Conformal Differential Geometry written by Helga Baum and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-01-28 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conformal invariants (conformally invariant tensors, conformally covariant differential operators, conformal holonomy groups etc.) are of central significance in differential geometry and physics. Well-known examples of such operators are the Yamabe-, the Paneitz-, the Dirac- and the twistor operator. The aim of the seminar was to present the basic ideas and some of the recent developments around Q-curvature and conformal holonomy. The part on Q-curvature discusses its origin, its relevance in geometry, spectral theory and physics. Here the influence of ideas which have their origin in the AdS/CFT-correspondence becomes visible. The part on conformal holonomy describes recent classification results, its relation to Einstein metrics and to conformal Killing spinors, and related special geometries.
Download or read book Families of Conformally Covariant Differential Operators Q Curvature and Holography written by Andreas Juhl and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-07-26 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies structural properties of Q-curvature from an extrinsic point of view by regarding it as a derived quantity of certain conformally covariant families of differential operators which are associated to hypersurfaces.
Download or read book Fashion Faith and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe written by Roger Penrose and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2024-10-22 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobel Prize–winning physicist Roger Penrose questions some of the most fashionable ideas in physics today, including string theory What can fashionable ideas, blind faith, or pure fantasy possibly have to do with the scientific quest to understand the universe? Surely, theoretical physicists are immune to mere trends, dogmatic beliefs, or flights of fancy? In fact, acclaimed physicist and bestselling author Roger Penrose argues that researchers working at the extreme frontiers of physics are just as susceptible to these forces as anyone else. In this provocative book, he argues that fashion, faith, and fantasy, while sometimes productive and even essential in physics, may be leading today's researchers astray in three of the field's most important areas—string theory, quantum mechanics, and cosmology. Arguing that string theory has veered away from physical reality by positing six extra hidden dimensions, Penrose cautions that the fashionable nature of a theory can cloud our judgment of its plausibility. In the case of quantum mechanics, its stunning success in explaining the atomic universe has led to an uncritical faith that it must also apply to reasonably massive objects, and Penrose responds by suggesting possible changes in quantum theory. Turning to cosmology, he argues that most of the current fantastical ideas about the origins of the universe cannot be true, but that an even wilder reality may lie behind them. Finally, Penrose describes how fashion, faith, and fantasy have ironically also shaped his own work, from twistor theory, a possible alternative to string theory that is beginning to acquire a fashionable status, to "conformal cyclic cosmology," an idea so fantastic that it could be called "conformal crazy cosmology." The result is an important critique of some of the most significant developments in physics today from one of its most eminent figures.
Download or read book Spaces of PL Manifolds and Categories of Simple Maps written by Friedhelm Waldhausen and published by . This book was released on 1940 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Degenerate Diffusion Operators Arising in Population Biology written by Charles L. Epstein and published by . This book was released on 1940 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Conformal Field Theory written by Philippe Francesco and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 908 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Filling an important gap in the literature, this comprehensive text develops conformal field theory from first principles. The treatment is self-contained, pedagogical, and exhaustive, and includes a great deal of background material on quantum field theory, statistical mechanics, Lie algebras and affine Lie algebras. The many exercises, with a wide spectrum of difficulty and subjects, complement and in many cases extend the text. The text is thus not only an excellent tool for classroom teaching but also for individual study. Intended primarily for graduate students and researchers in theoretical high-energy physics, mathematical physics, condensed matter theory, statistical physics, the book will also be of interest in other areas of theoretical physics and mathematics. It will prepare the reader for original research in this very active field of theoretical and mathematical physics.
Download or read book Encyclopaedia of Mathematics written by Michiel Hazewinkel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 639 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the second supplementary volume to Kluwer's highly acclaimed eleven-volume Encyclopaedia of Mathematics. This additional volume contains nearly 500 new entries written by experts and covers developments and topics not included in the previous volumes. These entries are arranged alphabetically throughout and a detailed index is included. This supplementary volume enhances the existing eleven volumes, and together these twelve volumes represent the most authoritative, comprehensive and up-to-date Encyclopaedia of Mathematics available.
Download or read book Mathematics of Surfaces XIII written by Edwin R. Hancock and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-08-06 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 13th IMA International Conference on the Mathematics of Surfaces held in York, UK in September 2009. The papers in the present volume include seven invited papers, as well as 16 submitted papers. The topics covered include subdivision schemes and their continuity, polar patchworks, compressive algorithms for PDEs, surface invariant functions, swept volume parameterization, Willmore flow, computational conformal geometry, heat kernel embeddings, and self-organizing maps on manifolds, mesh and manifold construction, editing, flattening, morphing and interrogation, dissection of planar shapes, symmetry processing, morphable models, computation of isophotes, point membership classification and vertex blends. Surface types considered encompass polygon meshes as well as parametric and implicit surfaces.
Download or read book Quantum Topology And Global Anomalies written by Randy A Baadhio and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 1996-09-03 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anomalies are ubiquitous features in quantum field theories. They can ruin the consistency of such theories and put significant restrictions on their viability, especially in dimensions higher than four. Global gauge and gravitational anomalies are to date, one of the scant powerful and probing tools available to physicists in the pursuit of uniqueness.This monograph is one of the very few that specializes in the study of global anomalies in quantum field theories. A discussion of various issues associated to three dimensional physics — the Chern-Simons-Witten theories — widen the scope of this book. Topics discussed here comprises: the ongoing quest for three-manifolds invariant, the role of the mapping class groups in (a) the detection and cancellation of global anomalies, (b) formulating three-manifolds invariant; the geometric quantization of Chern-Simons-Witten theories; deformation quantization; study of chiral and gravitational anomalies; anomalies and the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer Index theorem; exotic spheres; global gravitational anomalies in some six and ten dimensional supergravity and superstring theories, with an additional case study of Witten SU(2) Global Gauge Anomalies.In addition, five chapters lay out the mathematical basis for a thorough use of the topics above. One chapter focuses on the relationship between Teichmüller spaces, moduli spaces and mapping class groups. Another chapter is devoted to mapping class groups and arithmetic groups. Gauge theories on Riemann surfaces are studies in well over two chapters, the first one centered on the theory of bundles and the second on connections.Many readers will find this a useful book, especially theoretical physicists and mathematicians. The material presented here will be of interest to both the experts who will find complete, detailed and precise descriptions of important topics of current interest in mathematical physics, and to students and newcomers to the field, who will appreciate the vast amount of information provided here, especially on global anomalies.
Download or read book A Perspective on Canonical Riemannian Metrics written by Giovanni Catino and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-23 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on a selection of special topics, with emphasis on past and present research of the authors on “canonical” Riemannian metrics on smooth manifolds. On the backdrop of the fundamental contributions given by many experts in the field, the volume offers a self-contained view of the wide class of “Curvature Conditions” and “Critical Metrics” of suitable Riemannian functionals. The authors describe the classical examples and the relevant generalizations. This monograph is the winner of the 2020 Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer Prize, a prestigious award for books of expository nature presenting the latest developments in an active area of research in mathematics.
Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 1044 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mathematical Reviews written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 912 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Canadian Journal of Mathematics written by and published by . This book was released on 1988-10 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book W symmetry written by P. Bouwknegt and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 1995 with total page 916 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: W-symmetry is an extension of conformal symmetry in two dimensions. Since its introduction in 1985, W-symmetry has become one of the central notions in the study of two-dimensional conformal field theory. The mathematical structures that underlie W-symmetry are so-called W-algebras, which are higher-spin extensions of the Virasoro algebra. This book contains a collection of papers on W-symmetry, covering the period from 1985 through 1993. Its main focus is the construction of W-algebras and their representation theory. A recurrent theme is the intimate connection between W-algebras and affine Lie algebras. Some of the applications, in particular W-gravity, are also covered.The significance of this reprint volume is that there are no textbooks entirely devoted to the subject.
Download or read book Nuclear Science Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 1142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Foundations of Computational Mathematics Budapest 2011 written by Society for the Foundation of Computational Mathematics and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A diverse collection of articles by leading experts in computational mathematics, written to appeal to established researchers and non-experts.