Points, Lines, and Surfaces at Criticality

Points, Lines, and Surfaces at Criticality

Author: Edoardo Lauria

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-07-30

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 3030257304

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This thesis offers a fascinating journey through various non-perturbative aspects of Conformal Theories, in particular focusing on the Conformal Bootstrap Programme and its extensions to theories with various degrees of symmetry. Because of the preeminent role of Conformal Theories in Nature, as well as the great generality of the results here obtained, this analysis directly applies to many different areas of research. The content of this thesis is certainly relevant for the physics community as a whole and this relevance is well motivated and discussed along the various chapters of this work. The work is self-contained and starts with an original introduction to conformal theories, defects in such theories and how they lead to constraints on data and an extension of the bootstrap programme. This situation is often realized by critical systems with impurities, topological insulators, or – in the high-energy context – by Wilson and 't Hooft operators. The thesis continues with original research results of the author, including supersymmetric extensions. These results may be relevant non only in the high energy physics context - where supersymmetry is required for the theory to be consistent - but also for condensed matter systems that enjoy supersymmetry emergence at long distances.


Quarks, Leptons, and Their Constituents

Quarks, Leptons, and Their Constituents

Author: Antonino Zichichi

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 611

ISBN-13: 1461308895

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From 5 to 15 August 1984, a group of 79 physicists from 61 laboratories in 26 countries met in Erice for the 22nd Course of the International School of Subnuclear Physics. The countries represented were Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, People's Republic of China, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America. The School was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Public Education (MPI), the Italian Ministry of Scientific and Technologi cal Research (MRST), the Regional Sicilian Government (ERS), and the Weizmann Institute of Science. The programme of the School was devoted to a review of the most significant results in theoretical and experimental research work on the interactions between what we believe today are the point like constituents of the world: quarks and leptons. It should however not be forgotten that many problems are still to be understood: especially in the forefront of the correla tion between quarks and leptons. This game started in 1966 with the proposal for "leptonic quarks" and went on with "preons" and "rishons" just to quote the most famous attempts to unify these two worlds.


Complexity and Criticality

Complexity and Criticality

Author: Kim Christensen

Publisher: Imperial College Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 186094504X

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This book provides a challenging and stimulating introduction to the contemporary topics of complexity and criticality, and explores their common basis of scale invariance, a central unifying theme of the book.Criticality refers to the behaviour of extended systems at a phase transition where scale invariance prevails. The many constituent microscopic parts bring about macroscopic phenomena that cannot be understood by considering a single part alone. The phenomenology of phase transitions is introduced by considering percolation, a simple model with a purely geometrical phase transition, thus enabling the reader to become intuitively familiar with concepts such as scale invariance and renormalisation. The Ising model is then introduced, which captures a thermodynamic phase transition from a disordered to an ordered system as the temperature is lowered in zero external field. By emphasising analogies between percolation and the Ising model, the reader's intuition of phase transitions is developed so that the underlying theoretical formalism may be appreciated fully. These equilibrium systems undergo a phase transition only if an external agent finely tunes certain external parameters to particular values.Besides fractals and phase transitions, there are many examples in Nature of the emergence of such complex behaviour in slowly driven non-equilibrium systems: earthquakes in seismic systems, avalanches in granular media and rainfall in the atmosphere. A class of non-equilibrium systems, not constrained by having to tune external parameters to obtain critical behaviour, is addressed in the framework of simple models, revealing that the repeated application of simple rules may spontaneously give rise to emergent complex behaviour not encoded in the rules themselves. The common basis of complexity and criticality is identified and applied to a range of non-equilibrium systems. Finally, the reader is invited to speculate whether self-organisation in non-equilibrium systems might be a unifying concept for disparate fields such as statistical mechanics, geophysics and atmospheric physics.Visit http: //www.complexityandcriticality.com for animations for the models in the book (available for Windows and Linux), solutions to exercises, as well as a list with corrections.


Conformal Invariance: an Introduction to Loops, Interfaces and Stochastic Loewner Evolution

Conformal Invariance: an Introduction to Loops, Interfaces and Stochastic Loewner Evolution

Author: Malte Henkel

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-04-04

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 3642279333

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Conformal invariance has been a spectacularly successful tool in advancing our understanding of the two-dimensional phase transitions found in classical systems at equilibrium. This volume sharpens our picture of the applications of conformal invariance, introducing non-local observables such as loops and interfaces before explaining how they arise in specific physical contexts. It then shows how to use conformal invariance to determine their properties. Moving on to cover key conceptual developments in conformal invariance, the book devotes much of its space to stochastic Loewner evolution (SLE), detailing SLE’s conceptual foundations as well as extensive numerical tests. The chapters then elucidate SLE’s use in geometric phase transitions such as percolation or polymer systems, paying particular attention to surface effects. As clear and accessible as it is authoritative, this publication is as suitable for non-specialist readers and graduate students alike.


Phase Transition Dynamics

Phase Transition Dynamics

Author: Akira Onuki

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2002-06-06

Total Pages: 726

ISBN-13: 1139433164

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Phase Transition Dynamics, first published in 2002, provides a fully comprehensive treatment of the study of phase transitions. Building on the statistical mechanics of phase transitions, covered in many introductory textbooks, it will be essential reading for researchers and advanced graduate students in physics, chemistry, metallurgy and polymer science.


Shape Analysis and Structuring

Shape Analysis and Structuring

Author: Leila de Floriani

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-12-24

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 3540332650

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With a lot of recent developments in the field, this much-needed book has come at just the right time. It covers a variety of topics related to preserving and enhancing shape information at a geometric level. The contributors also cover subjects that are relevant to effectively capturing the structure of a shape by identifying relevant shape components and their mutual relationships.


Condensed Matter Field Theory

Condensed Matter Field Theory

Author: Alexander Altland

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2023-09-14

Total Pages: 826

ISBN-13: 1108786693

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Building on the success of prior editions, this graduate text provides a comprehensive introduction to core concepts and methods of quantum field theory in condensed matter. It covers modern advances, from condensation phenomena and superfluidity to gauge theory, non-equilibrium phenomena and topological quantum matter.


Perspectives On Solvable Models

Perspectives On Solvable Models

Author: Michael Baake

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 1995-01-23

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 9814501042

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This volume consists of a collection of recent research articles dedicated to Vladimir Rittenberg on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Various aspects of solvable models in different areas of theoretical and mathematical physics are covered. Particular topics include diffusion, self-organized criticality, classical and quantum spin chains, two-dimensional lattice models, quantum algebras, and conformal field theory. The list of contributing authors contains altogether 34 names, including among others, Baxter, Cardy, Itzykson, Martin, McCoy, Nahm, Pearce and de Vega.


Dictionary of Space Technology

Dictionary of Space Technology

Author: Joseph Angelo

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-31

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 1135944024

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Originally published in 1981, the completely revised and updated second edition of the Dictionary of Space Technology illustrates the advances of the last 20 years and makes accessible nearly every word, concept, and event relating to this branch of science. It guides lay persons and professionals alike through humankind's activities in space, the beginnings of our extraterrestrial society, and the increasingly important role of space sciences in everyday life. Defines more than 1,500 terms, including: science basics; historic events; defence and armed forces terminology; and planetary sciences. Enhanced by more than 175 photographs and drawings, this Dictionary covers the past, the present and the future of space, space flight, and space technology.