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Three dimensional Einstein gravity with negative cosmological constant -1/\ell^2 deformed by a gravitational Chern-Simons action with coefficient 1/\mu is studied in an asymptotically AdS_3 spacetime. It is argued to violate unitary or positivity for generic \mu due to negative-energy massive gravitons. However at the critical value \mu\ell=1, the massive gravitons disappear and BTZ black holes all have mass and angular momentum related by \ell M=J. The corresponding chiral quantum theory of gravity is conjectured to exist and be dual to a purely right-moving boundary CFT with central charges (c_L,c_R)=(0,3\ell /G).

We give a new type of Schur-Weyl duality for the representations of a family of quantum subgroups and their centralizer algebra. We define and classify singly-generated, Yang-Baxter relation planar algebras. We present the skein theoretic construction of a new parameterized planar algebra. We construct infinitely many new subfactors and unitary fusion categories, and compute their trace formula as a closed-form expression, in terms of Young diagrams.

We construct two non-semisimple braided ribbon tensor categories of modules for each singlet vertex operator algebra M(p), p≥2. The first category consists of all finite-length M(p)-modules with atypical composition factors, while the second is the subcategory of modules that induce to local modules for the triplet vertex operator algebra W(p). We show that every irreducible module has a projective cover in the second of these categories, although not in the first, and we compute all fusion products involving atypical irreducible modules and their projective covers.

We show that direct limit completions of vertex tensor categories inherit vertex and braided tensor category structures, under conditions that hold for example for all known Virasoro and affine Lie algebra tensor categories. A consequence is that the theory of vertex operator (super)algebra extensions also applies to infinite-order extensions. As an application, we relate rigid and non-degenerate vertex tensor categories of certain modules for both the affine vertex superalgebra of osp(1|2) and the N=1 super Virasoro algebra to categories of Virasoro algebra modules via certain cosets.

Recently Freed and Hopkins [11] proved that there is no parity anomaly in M-theory on pin+ manifolds in the low-energy field theory approximation, and they also developed an algebraic theory of cubic forms. Earlier Witten [33] proved the anomaly cancellation for spin manifolds by introducing the E8-bundle technique. Motivated by the cubic forms and the anomaly cancellation formulas of Witten-Freed-Hopkins, we give some new cubic forms on spin, spinc, spinω2 and orientable 12- manifolds respectively. We relate them to η-invariants when the manifolds are with boundary, and mod 2 indices on 10 dimensional characteristic submanifolds when the manifolds are spinc or spinω2 . Our method of producing these cubic forms is a combination of (generalized) Witten classes and the character of the basic representation of affine E8.

We propose a construction of Kahler and non-Kahler Calabi-Yau manifolds by branched double covers of twistor spaces. In this construction we use the twistor spaces of four-manifolds with self-dual conformal structures, with the examples of connected sum of n P2s. We also construct K3-fibered Calabi-Yau manifolds from the branched double covers of the blow-ups of the twistor spaces. These manifolds can be used in heterotic string compactifications to four dimensions. We also construct stable and polystable vector bundles. Some classes of these vector bundles can give rise to supersymmetric grand unified models with three generations of quarks and leptons in four dimensions.

We show that the Kazhdan-Lusztig category KL_k of level-k finite-length modules with highest-weight composition factors for the affine Lie superalgebra gl(1|1)ˆ has vertex algebraic braided tensor supercategory structure, and that its full subcategory O_k^fin of objects with semisimple Cartan subalgebra actions is a tensor subcategory. We show that every simple gl(1|1)ˆ-module in KL_k has a projective cover in O_k^fin, and we determine all fusion rules involving simple and projective objects in O_k^fin. Then using Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations, we prove that KL_k and O_k^fin are rigid. As an application of the tensor supercategory structure on O_k^fin, we study certain module categories for the affine Lie superalgebra sl(2|1)ˆ at levels 1 and −1/2. In particular, we obtain a tensor category of sl(2|1)ˆ-modules at level −1/2 that includes relaxed highest-weight modules and their images under spectral flow.

We quantize the interaction of gravity with a Yang-Mills and Higgs field using canonical quantization. Similar to the approach in a previous paper we discard the Wheeler-DeWitt equation and express the Hamilton constraint by the evolution equation of the mean curvature of the hypersurfaces in the foliation defined by the Hamiltonian setting. Expressing the time derivative of the mean curvature with the help of the Poisson brackets the canonical quantization of this equation leads to a wave equation in $Q=(0,\infty)\times \so$, where $\so$ is one of the Cauchy hypersurfaces in the Hamiltonian setting. The wave equation describes the interaction of an arbitrary Riemannian metric in $\so$ and a given Yang-Mills and Higgs field. If the metric is complete $Q$ is globally hyperbolic. In case $\so$ is compact we also prove a spectral resolution of the wave equation and establish sufficient conditions guaranteeing a mass gap.

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We determine exact exponential asymptotics of eigenfunctions and of corresponding transfer matrices of the almost Mathieu operators for all frequencies in the localization regime. This uncovers a universal structure in their behavior, governed by the continued fraction expansion of the frequency, explaining some predictions in physics literature. In addition it proves the arithmetic version of the frequency transition conjecture. Finally, it leads to an explicit description of several non-regularity phenomena in the corresponding non-uniformly hyperbolic cocycles, which is also of interest as both the first natural example of some of those phenomena and, more generally, the first non-artificial model where non-regularity can be explicitly studied.

The internal space of a N = 4 supersymmetric model with WessZumino term has a connection with totally skew-symmetric torsion and holonomy in SP(<i>n</i>). We study the mathematical background of this type of connection. In particular, we relate it to classical Hermitian geometry, construct homogeneous as well as inhomogeneous examples, characterize it in terms of holomorphic data, develop its potential theory and reduction theory.

Loewner’s equation provides a way to encode a simply connected domain or equivalently its uniformizing conformal map via a real-valued driving function of its boundary. The first main result of the present paper is that the Dirichlet energy of this driving function (also known as the Loewner energy) is equal to the Dirichlet energy of the log-derivative of the (appropriately defined) uniformizing conformal map. This description of the Loewner energy then enables to tie direct links with regularized determinants and Teichmüller theory: We show that for smooth simple loops, the Loewner energy can be expressed in terms of the zeta-regularized determinants of a certain Neumann jump operator. We also show that the family of finite Loewner energy loops coincides with the Weil–Petersson class of quasicircles, and that the Loewner energy equals to a multiple of the universal Liouville action introduced by Takhtajan and Teo, which is a Kähler potential for the Weil–Petersson metric on the Weil–Petersson Teichmüller space.

In this note, we study the phase transitions arising in a modified Smoluchowski equation on the sphere with dipolar potential. This equation models the competition between alignment and diffusion, and the modification consists in taking the strength of alignment and the intensity of the diffusion as functions of the order parameter. We characterize the stable and unstable equilibrium states. For stable equilibria, we provide the exponential rate of convergence. We detail special cases, giving rise to second order and first order phase transitions, respectively. We study the hysteresis diagram, and provide numerical illustrations of this phenomena.

We prove a sharp inequality for hypersurfaces in the ndimensional Anti-deSitter-Schwarzschild manifold for general $n \ge  3$. This inequality generalizes the classical Minkowski inequality [19] for surfaces in the three dimensional Euclidean space. The proof relies on a new monotonicity formula for inverse mean curvature flow, and uses a geometric inequality established in [4].

The ``principle of the fermionic projector'' provides a new mathematical framework for the formulation of physical theories and is a promising approach for physics beyond the standard model. The book begins with a brief review of relativity, relativistic quantum mechanics and classical gauge theories, with the emphasis on the basic physical concepts and the mathematical foundations. The external field problem and Klein's paradox are discussed and then resolved by introducing the so-called fermionic projector, a global object in space-time which generalizes the notion of the Dirac sea. The mathematical core of the book is to give a precise definition of the fermionic projector and to employ methods of hyperbolic differential equations for its detailed analysis. The fermionic projector makes it possible to formulate a new type of variational principles in space-time. The mathematical tools for the analysis of the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations are developed. A particular variational principle is proposed which gives rise to an effective interaction showing many similarities to the interactions of the standard model. The main chapters of the book are easily accessible for beginning graduate students in mathematics or physics. Several appendices provide supplementary material which will be useful to the experienced researcher.

We study the effective Batalin-Vilkovisky quantization theory for chiral deformation of two dimensional conformal field theories. We establish an exact correspondence between renormalized quantum master equations for effective functionals and Maurer-Cartan equations for chiral vertex operators. The generating functions are proven to have modular property with mild holo- morphic anomaly. As an application, we construct an exact solution of quan- tum B-model (BCOV theory) in complex one dimension that solves the higher genus mirror symmetry conjecture on elliptic curves.

We revisit some properties of AdS2 Einstein-Maxwell gravity with the aim of reconciling apparently conflicting results in prior literature. We show that the two dimensional theory can be obtained as a dimensional reduction of the three dimensional Einstein gravity with the CSS boundary condition. In general, this theory on AdS2 can be viewed as an effective theory of the near horizon geometry of a (near-)extremal black hole. We provide an interpretation of our results in terms of the microscopic description of an extremal black hole.

We show that the linearization of all exact solutions of classical chiral gravity around the AdS3 vacuum have positive energy. Nonchiral and negative-energy solutions of the linearized equations are infrared divergent at second order, and so are removed from the spectrum. In other words, chirality is confined and the equations of motion have linearization instabilities. We prove that the only stationary, axially symmetric solutions of chiral gravity are BTZ black holes, which have positive energy. It is further shown that classical log gravity—the theory with logarithmically relaxed boundary conditions—has finite asymptotic symmetry generators but is not chiral and hence may be dual at the quantum level to a logarithmic conformal field theories (CFT). Moreover we show that log gravity contains chiral gravity within it as a decoupled charge superselection sector. We formally evaluate the Euclidean sum over geometries of chiral gravity and show that it gives precisely the holomorphic extremal CFT partition function. The modular invariance and integrality of the expansion coefficients of this partition function are consistent with the existence of an exact quantum theory of chiral gravity. We argue that the problem of quantizing chiral gravity is the holographic dual of the problem of constructing an extremal CFT, while quantizing log gravity is dual to the problem of constructing a logarithmic extremal CFT.

We study how conserved quantities such as angular momentum and center of mass evolve with respect to the retarded time at null infinity, which is described in terms of a Bondi-Sachs coordinate system. These evolution formulae complement the classical Bondi mass loss formula for gravitational radiation. They are further expressed in terms of the potentials of the shear and news tensors. The consequences that follow from these formulae are (1) Supertranslation invariance of the fluxes of the CWY conserved quantities. (2) A conservation law of angular momentum \`a la Christodoulou. (3) A duality paradigm for null infinity. In particular, the supertranslation invariance distinguishes the CWY angular momentum and center of mass from the classical definitions.

The authors derive a McShane identity for once-punctured super tori. Relying upon earlier work on super Teichmuller theory by the last two-named authors, they further develop the supergeometry of these surfaces and establish asymptotic growth rate of their length spectra.

String and particle braiding statistics are examined in a class of topological orders described by discrete gauge theories with a gauge group $G$ and a 4-cocycle twist $\omega_4$ of $G$'s cohomology group $\mathcal{H}^4(G,\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z})$ in 3 dimensional space and 1 dimensional time (3+1D). We establish the topological spin and the spin-statistics relation for the closed strings, and their multi-string braiding statistics. The 3+1D twisted gauge theory can be characterized by a representation of a modular transformation group SL$(3,\mathbb{Z})$. We express the SL$(3,\mathbb{Z})$ generators $\mathsf{S}^{xyz}$ and $\mathsf{T}^{xy}$ in terms of the gauge group $G$ and the 4-cocycle $\omega_4$. As we compactify one of the spatial %3D's directions $z$ into a compact circle with a gauge flux $b$ inserted, we can use the generators $\mathsf{S}^{xy}$ and $\mathsf{T}^{xy}$ of an SL$(2,\mathbb{Z})$ subgroup to study the dimensional reduction of the 3D topological order $\mathcal{C}^{3\text{D}}$ to a direct sum of degenerate states of 2D topological orders $\mathcal{C}_b^{2\text{D}}$ in different flux $b$ sectors: $\mathcal{C}^{3\text{D}} = \oplus_b \mathcal{C}_b^{2\text{D}}$. The 2D topological orders $\mathcal{C}_b^{2\text{D}}$ are described by 2D gauge theories of the group $G$ twisted by the 3-cocycles $\omega_{3(b)}$, dimensionally reduced from the 4-cocycle $\omega_4$. We show that the SL$(2,\mathbb{Z})$ generators, $\mathsf{S}^{xy}$ and $\mathsf{T}^{xy}$, fully encode a particular type of three-string braiding statistics with a pattern that is the connected sum of two Hopf links. With certain 4-cocycle twists, we discover that, by threading a third string through two-string unlink into three-string Hopf-link configuration, Abelian two-string braiding statistics is promoted to non-Abelian three-string braiding statistics.

We demonstrate how path integrals often used in problems of theoretical physics can be adapted to provide a machinery for performing Bayesian inference in function spaces. Such inference comes about naturally in the study of inverse problems of recovering continuous (infinite dimensional) coefficient functions from ordinary or partial differential equations, a problem which is typically ill-posed. Regularization of these problems using L2 function spaces (Tikhonov regularization) is equivalent to Bayesian probabilistic inference, using a Gaussian prior. The Bayesian interpretation of inverse problem regularization is useful since it allows one to quantify and characterize error and degree of precision in the solution of inverse problems, as well as examine assumptions made in solving the problem—namely whether the subjective choice of regularization is compatible with prior knowledge. Using path-integral formalism, Bayesian inference can be explored through various perturbative techniques, such as the semiclassical approximation, which we use in this manuscript. Perturbative path-integral approaches, while offering alternatives to computational approaches like Markov-Chain-Monte-Carlo (MCMC), also provide natural starting points for MCMC methods that can be used to refine approximations. In this manuscript, we illustrate a path-integral formulation for inverse problems and demonstrate it on an inverse problem in membrane biophysics as well as inverse problems in potential theories involving the Poisson equation.

We prove the Landau-Ginzburg/Calabi-Yau correspondence between the Gromov-Witten theory of each elliptic orbifold curve and its Fan-Jarvis-Ruan-Witten theory counterpart via modularity. We show that the correlation functions in these two enumerative theories are different representations of the same set of quasi-modular forms, expanded around different points on the upper-half plane. We relate these two representations by the Cayley transform.

In a recent paper we quantized the interaction of gravity with a Yang-Mills and Higgs field and obtained as a result a gravitational wave equation in a globally hyperbolic spacetime. Assuming that the Cauchy hypersurfaces are compact we proved a spectral resolution for the wave equation by applying the method of separation of variables. In this paper we extend the results to the case when the Cauchy hypersurfaces are non-compact by considering a Gelfand triplet and applying the nuclear spectral theorem.