We extend our previous proof of the positive mass conjecture to allow a more general asymptotic condition proposed by York. Hence we are able to prove that for an isolated physical system, the energy momentum four vector is a future timelike vector unless the system is trivial. Furthermore, we allow singularities of the type of black holes.

Warped conformal field theory (WCFT) is a two dimensional quantum field theory whose local symmetry algebra consists of a Virasoro algebra and a U(1) Kac-Moody algebra. In this paper, we study correlation functions for primary operators in WCFT. Similar to conformal symmetry, warped conformal symmetry is very constraining. The form of the two and three point functions are determined by the global warped conformal symmetry while the four point functions can be determined up to an arbitrary function of the cross ratio. The warped conformal bootstrap equation are constructed by formulating the notion of crossing symmetry. In the large central charge limit, four point functions can be decomposed into global warped conformal blocks, which can be solved exactly. Furthermore, we revisit the scattering problem in warped AdS spacetime (WAdS), and give a prescription on how to match the bulk result to a WCFT retarded Green’s function. Our result is consistent with the conjectured holographic dualities between WCFT and WAdS.

In this article, we study the small sphere limit of the WangYau quasi-local energy defined in Wang and Yau (Phys Rev Lett 102(2):021101, 2009, Commun Math Phys 288(3):919942, 2009). Given a point <i>p</i> in a spacetime <i>N</i>, we consider a canonical family of surfaces approaching <i>p</i> along its future null cone and evaluate the limit of the WangYau quasi-local energy. The evaluation relies on solving an optimal embedding equation whose solutions represent critical points of the quasi-local energy. For a spacetime with matter fields, the scenario is similar to that of the large sphere limit found in Chen etal. (Commun Math Phys 308(3):845863, 2011). Namely, there is a natural solution which is a local minimum, and the limit of its quasi-local energy recovers the stress-energy tensor at <i>p</i>. For a vacuum spacetime, the quasi-local energy vanishes to higher order and the solution of the optimal embedding

We describe the counting of BPS states of Type II on K3 by relating the supersymmetric cycles of genus <i>g</i> to the number of rational curves with <i>g</i> double points on K3. The generating function for the number of such curves is the left-moving partition function of the bosonic string.

The boundary of symmetry-protected topological states (SPTs) can harbor new quantum anomaly phenomena. In this work, we characterize the bosonic anomalies introduced by the 1+1D non-onsite-symmetric gapless edge modes of 2+1D bulk bosonic SPTs with a generic finite Abelian group symmetry (isomorphic to G=∏iZNi=ZN1×ZN2×ZN3×...). We demonstrate that some classes of SPTs (termed "Type II") trap fractional quantum numbers (such as fractional ZN charges) at the 0D kink of the symmetry-breaking domain walls; while some classes of SPTs (termed "Type III") have degenerate zero energy modes (carrying the projective representation protected by the unbroken part of the symmetry), either near the 0D kink of a symmetry-breaking domain wall, or on a symmetry-preserving 1D system dimensionally reduced from a thin 2D tube with a monodromy defect 1D line embedded. More generally, the energy spectrum and conformal dimensions of gapless edge modes under an external gauge flux insertion (or twisted by a branch cut, i.e., a monodromy defect line) through the 1D ring can distinguish many SPT classes. We provide a manifest correspondence from the physical phenomena, the induced fractional quantum number and the zero energy mode degeneracy, to the mathematical concept of cocycles that appears in the group cohomology classification of SPTs, thus achieving a concrete physical materialization of the cocycles. The aforementioned edge properties are formulated in terms of a long wavelength continuum field theory involving scalar chiral bosons, as well as in terms of Matrix Product Operators and discrete quantum lattice models. Our lattice approach yields a regularization with anomalous non-onsite symmetry for the field theory description. We also formulate some bosonic anomalies in terms of the Goldstone-Wilczek formula.