This book aims to provide advanced students and researchers with the text on a nonperturbative, thermodynamically grounded, and largely analytical approach to four-dimensional Quantum Gauge Theory. The terrestrial, astrophysical, and cosmological applications, mostly within the realm of low-temperature photon physics, are treated.
Sample Chapter(s)
Chapter 1: The Classical Yang-Mills Action (162k)
Contents:
- Theory:
- The Classical Yang–Mills Action:
- Historic Remarks
- The Semisimple Lie Group SU(N) (N ≥ 2)
- Gauge Connection Aμ and its Field Strength Fμν
- Gauge-Invariant Objects
- Spontaneous Gauge-Symmetry Breaking
- Homotopy Groups: Concept and Use
- The Perturbative Approach at Zero Temperature:
- General Remarks
- Gauge Fixing in the Functional Integration
- One-loop Running of the Gauge Coupling
- Aspects of Finte-Temperature Field Theory:
- Free-Particle Partition Function: Real Scalar Field
- Perturbative Loop Expansion in Thermal Gauge Theory
- Electric Center Symmetry
- Selfdual Field Configurations:
- The BPST Instanton and Multiinstanton
- Sketch of the ADHM-Nahm Construction
- SU(2) Calorons with k = ±1
- One-loop Quantum Weights of Calorons
- The Deconfining Phase:
- Deconfining Thermal Ground State
- Free Thermal Quasiparticles
- Effective Radiative Corrections
- Stable, Screened Magnetic Monopoles
- Thermomagnetic Effect
- The Preconfining Phase:
- Condensation of Magnetic Monopole-Antimonopole Pairs
- The Dual Gauge Field
- Abrikosov–Nielsen–Olesen (ANO) Vortex Lines and Center-Vortex Loops
- The Confining Phase:
- Decay of the Preconfining Ground State
- Nonthermal Pressure
- Evolving Center-Vortex Loops
- The Classical Yang–Mills Action:
- Applications:
- The Approach of Thermal Lattice Gauge Theory
- Pressure, Energy Density, and Entropy Density
- Differential versus Integral Method: Thermodynamical Quantities
- Analytical Aspects of Thermal Lattice Gauge Theory
- Black-Body Anomaly:
- Introduction
- The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
- SU(2)CMB and Thermal Photon Propagation
- Determination of Tc
- Laboratory Experiment on Black-Body Anomaly
- Astrophysical and Cosmological Implications of SU(2)CMB:
- Cold and Dilute Clouds of Atomic Hydrogen
- Large-angle Anomalies of the CMB
- Planck-scale Axion and Dark Energy
- The Approach of Thermal Lattice Gauge Theory
Readership: Advanced students of theoretical physics, postdocs and professional researchers.
