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Abstract We derive a systematic perturbative expansion for the finite-volume energy spectrum of the non-linear O(N) σ-model in the δ-regime. The violation of the power-counting rules that emerges after the separation of the fast and slow modes is dealt with to all orders by use of the threshold expansion. The known result for the rest-frame energy spectrum up-to-and-including next-to-next-to-leading order is reproduced.

Abstract It was recently suggested — based on general self-consistency arguments as well as results from the bootstrap [1–3] — that the CFT describing the Q-state Potts model is logarithmic for generic values of Q, with rank-two Jordan blocks for L 0 and L ¯ 0 $$ {\overline{L}}_0 $$ in many sectors of the theory. This is despite the well-known fact that the lattice transfer matrix (or Hamiltonian) is diagonalizable in (arbitrary) finite size. While the emergence of Jordan blocks only in the limit L → ∞ is perfectly possible conceptually, diagonalizability in finite size makes the measurement of logarithmic couplings (whose values are analytically predicted in [2, 3]) very challenging. This problem is solved in the present paper (which can be considered a companion to [2]), and the conjectured logarithmic structure of the CFT confirmed in detail by the study of the lattice model and associated “emerging Jordan blocks.”

Abstract We present a novel strategy to strongly reduce the severity of the sign problem, using line integrals along paths of changing imaginary action. Highly oscillating regions along these paths cancel out, decreasing their contributions. As a result, sampling with standard Monte-Carlo techniques becomes possible in cases that otherwise require methods taking advantage of complex analysis, such as Lefschetz-thimbles or Complex Langevin. We lay out how to write down an ordinary differential equation for the line integrals. As an example of its usage, we apply the results to a 1d quantum mechanical anharmonic oscillator with a x 4 potential in real time, finite temperature.

Abstract In this work we provide a non-perturbative solution to the theoretical problem of extracting scattering amplitudes from Euclidean correlators in infinite volume. We work within the solid axiomatic framework of the Haag-Ruelle scattering theory and derive formulae which can be used to approximate scattering amplitudes arbitrarily well in terms of linear combinations of Euclidean correlators at discrete time separations. Our result generalizes and extends the range of applicability of a result previously obtained by Barata and Fredenhagen [1]. We provide a concrete procedure to construct such approximations, making our formulae ready to be used in numerical calculations of non-perturbative QCD scattering amplitudes. A detailed numerical investigation is needed to assess whether the proposed strategy can lead to the calculation of scattering amplitudes with phenomenologically satisfactory precision with presently available lattice QCD data. This will be the subject of future work. Nevertheless, the numerical accuracy and precision of lattice simulations is systematically improvable, and we have little doubts that our approach will become useful in the future.

Abstract We present the first determination of the topological susceptibility from lattice QCD in the presence of strong background magnetic fields. Our simulations employ 2+1 flavours of stout-improved staggered quarks with physical masses and cover a broad range of temperatures and magnetic field values. The results are extrapolated to the continuum limit using four different lattice spacings and an eigenvalue reweighting technique to reduce discretisation errors. For low temperatures, our calculations show an enhancement of the topological susceptibility due to the magnetic field, compatible with predictions from chiral perturbation theory. At high temperatures, we observe the impact of inverse magnetic catalysis on the susceptibility.

Abstract We discuss the canonical quantization of U(1) k Chern-Simons theory on a spatial lattice. In addition to the usual local Gauss law constraints, the physical Hilbert space is defined by 1-form gauge constraints implementing the compactness of the U(1) gauge group, and (depending on the details of the spatial lattice) non-local constraints which project out unframed Wilson loops. Though the ingredients of the lattice model are bosonic, the physical Hilbert space is finite-dimensional, with exactly k ground states on a spatial torus. We quantize both the bosonic (even level) and fermionic (odd level) theories, describing in detail how the latter depends on a choice of spin structure.

Abstract Metastable ‘false’ vacuum states are an important feature of the Standard Model of particle physics and many theories beyond it. Describing the dynamics of a phase transition out of a false vacuum via the nucleation of bubbles is essential for understanding the cosmology of vacuum decay and the full spectrum of observables. In this paper, we study vacuum decay by numerically evolving ensembles of field theories in 1+1 dimensions from a metastable state. We demonstrate that for an initial Bose-Einstein distribution of fluctuations, bubbles form with a Gaussian spread of center-of-mass velocities and that bubble nucleation events are preceded by an oscillon — a long-lived, time-dependent, pseudo-stable configuration of the field. Defining an effective temperature from the long-wavelength amplitude of fluctuations in the ensemble of simulations, we find good agreement between theoretical finite temperature predictions and empirical measurements of the decay rate, velocity distribution and critical bubble solution. We comment on the generalization of our results and the implications for cosmological observables.

Abstract Carrollian field theories have recently emerged as a candidate dual to flat space quantum gravity. We carefully quantize simple two-derivative Carrollian theories, revealing a strong sensitivity to the ultraviolet. They can be regulated upon being placed on a spatial lattice and working at finite inverse temperature. Unlike in conventional field theories, the details of the lattice-regulated Carrollian theories remain important at long distances even in the limit that the lattice spacing is sent to zero. We use that limit to define interacting continuum models with a tractable perturbative expansion. The ensuing theories are those of generalized free fields, with non-Gaussian correlations suppressed by positive powers of the lattice spacing, and an unbroken supertranslation symmetry.

Abstract We study the entanglement entropy within a spherical region for a free scalar field in a squeezed state in 3 + 1 dimensions. We show that, even for small squeezing, a volume term appears, whose coefficient is essentially independent of the field mass. This is in line with Page’s argument that the entanglement entropy in an arbitrary quantum state is proportional to the number of degrees of freedom of the smaller subsystem. It follows that squeezed states can be considered as arbitrary quantum states, in contrast to the ground or coherent states that give rise to entanglement entropy dominated by a term proportional to the area of the entangling surface.

We present the first determination of the topological susceptibility from lattice QCD in the presence of strong background magnetic fields. Our simulations employ 2+1 flavours of stout-improved staggered quarks with physical masses and cover a broad range of temperatures and magnetic field values. The results are extrapolated to the continuum limit using four different lattice spacings and an eigenvalue reweighting technique to reduce discretisation errors. For low temperatures, our calculations show an enhancement of the topological susceptibility due to the magnetic field, compatible with predictions from chiral perturbation theory. At high temperatures, we observe the impact of inverse magnetic catalysis on the susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the canonical quantization of U(1)k Chern-Simons theory on a spatial lattice. In addition to the usual local Gauss law constraints, the physical Hilbert space is defined by 1-form gauge constraints implementing the compactness of the U(1) gauge group, and (depending on the details of the spatial lattice) non-local constraints which project out unframed Wilson loops. Though the ingredients of the lattice model are bosonic, the physical Hilbert space is finite-dimensional, with exactly k ground states on a spatial torus. We quantize both the bosonic (even level) and fermionic (odd level) theories, describing in detail how the latter depends on a choice of spin structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastable ‘false’ vacuum states are an important feature of the Standard Model of particle physics and many theories beyond it. Describing the dynamics of a phase transition out of a false vacuum via the nucleation of bubbles is essential for understanding the cosmology of vacuum decay and the full spectrum of observables. In this paper, we study vacuum decay by numerically evolving ensembles of field theories in 1+1 dimensions from a metastable state. We demonstrate that for an initial Bose-Einstein distribution of fluctuations, bubbles form with a Gaussian spread of center-of-mass velocities and that bubble nucleation events are preceded by an oscillon — a long-lived, time-dependent, pseudo-stable configuration of the field. Defining an effective temperature from the long-wavelength amplitude of fluctuations in the ensemble of simulations, we find good agreement between theoretical finite temperature predictions and empirical measurements of the decay rate, velocity distribution and critical bubble solution. We comment on the generalization of our results and the implications for cosmological observables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the entanglement entropy within a spherical region for a free scalar field in a squeezed state in 3 + 1 dimensions. We show that, even for small squeezing, a volume term appears, whose coefficient is essentially independent of the field mass. This is in line with Page’s argument that the entanglement entropy in an arbitrary quantum state is proportional to the number of degrees of freedom of the smaller subsystem. It follows that squeezed states can be considered as arbitrary quantum states, in contrast to the ground or coherent states that give rise to entanglement entropy dominated by a term proportional to the area of the entangling surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrollian field theories have recently emerged as a candidate dual to flat space quantum gravity. We carefully quantize simple two-derivative Carrollian theories, revealing a strong sensitivity to the ultraviolet. They can be regulated upon being placed on a spatial lattice and working at finite inverse temperature. Unlike in conventional field theories, the details of the lattice-regulated Carrollian theories remain important at long distances even in the limit that the lattice spacing is sent to zero. We use that limit to define interacting continuum models with a tractable perturbative expansion. The ensuing theories are those of generalized free fields, with non-Gaussian correlations suppressed by positive powers of the lattice spacing, and an unbroken supertranslation symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In accordance with recent progress of fracton topological phases, unusual topological phases of matter hosting fractionalized quasiparticle excitations with mobility constraints, new type of symmetry is studied — multipole symmetry, associated with conservation of multipoles. Based on algebraic relation between dipole and global charges, we introduce a series of (d + 1)-dimensional BF theories with p-form gauge fields, which admit dipole of spatially extended excitations, and study their physical properties. We elucidate that gauge invariant loops have unusual form, containing linear function of the spatial coordinate, which leads to the position dependent braiding statistics and unusual ground state degeneracy dependence on the system size. We also show that the theories exhibit a mixed ’t Hooft anomaly between p-form and (d − p)-form dipole symmetries, which is canceled by an invertible theory defined in one dimensional higher via anomaly inflow mechanism.

Abstract We investigate various aspects of capacity of entanglement in certain setups whose entanglement entropy becomes extensive and obeys a volume law. In particular, considering geometric decomposition of the Hilbert space, we study this measure both in the vacuum state of a family of non-local scalar theories and also in the squeezed states of a local scalar theory. We also evaluate field space capacity of entanglement between interacting scalar field theories. We present both analytical and numerical evidences for the volume law scaling of this quantity in different setups and discuss how these results are consistent with the behavior of other entanglement measures including Renyi entropies. Our study reveals some generic properties of the capacity of entanglement and the corresponding reduced density matrix in the specific regimes of the parameter space. Finally, by comparing entanglement entropy and capacity of entanglement, we discuss some implications of our results on the existence of consistent holographic duals for the models in question.

Abstract We study the static entanglement structure in (1+1)-dimensional free Dirac-fermion theory with Lifshitz symmetry and arbitrary integer dynamical critical exponent. This model is different from the one introduced in [Hartmann et al., SciPost Phys. 11 (2021) 031] due to a proper treatment of the square Laplace operator. Dirac fermion Lifshitz theory is local as opposed to its scalar counterpart which strongly affects its entanglement structure. We show that there is quantum entanglement across arbitrary subregions in various pure (including the vacuum) and mixed states of this theory for arbitrary integer values of the dynamical critical exponent. Our numerical investigations show that quantum entanglement in this theory is tightly bounded from above. Such a bound and other physical properties of quantum entanglement are carefully explained from the correlation structure in these theories. A generalization to (2+1)-dimensions where the entanglement structure is seriously different is addressed.

Abstract In this paper we investigate the chiral magnetic effect (CME): the generation of an electric current due to a homogeneous background magnetic field and a homogeneous chiral imbalance in QCD. We demonstrate that the leading coefficient describing the CME vanishes in equilibrium, both for free fermions as well as in full QCD. Our full QCD results are based on continuum extrapolated lattice simulations using dynamical staggered quarks with physical masses as well as quenched Wilson quarks. We show that it is crucial that a gauge invariant ultraviolet regularization is used to compute the CME and elaborate on why some of the existing in-equilibrium calculations of this effect gave a nonzero result. We stress that our findings imply the absence of a time-independent CME current flowing in equilibrium QCD, but do not concern the CME as an out-of-equilibrium, time-dependent effect.

Abstract We study the θ-dependent mass spectrum of the massive 2-flavor Schwinger model in the Hamiltonian formalism using the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG). The masses of the composite particles, the pion and sigma meson, are computed by two independent methods. One is the improved one-point-function scheme, where we measure the local meson operator coupled to the boundary state and extract the mass from its exponential decay. Since the θ term causes a nontrivial operator mixing, we unravel it by diagonalizing the correlation matrix to define the meson operator. The other is the dispersion-relation scheme, a heuristic approach specific to Hamiltonian formalism. We obtain the dispersion relation directly by measuring the energy and momentum of the excited states. The sign problem is circumvented in these methods, and their results agree with each other even for large θ. We reveal that the θ-dependence of the pion mass at m/g = 0.1 is consistent with the prediction by the bosonized model. We also find that the mass of the sigma meson satisfies the semi-classical formula, M σ /M π = 3 $$ \sqrt{3} $$ , for almost all region of θ. While the sigma meson is a stable particle thanks to this relation, the eta meson is no longer protected by the G-parity and becomes unstable for θ ≠ 0.

Abstract We introduce a Hamiltonian lattice model for the (1 + 1)-dimensional SU(N c ) gauge theory coupled to one adjoint Majorana fermion of mass m. The discretization of the continuum theory uses staggered Majorana fermions. We analyze the symmetries of the lattice model and find lattice analogs of the anomalies of the corresponding continuum theory. An important role is played by the lattice translation by one lattice site, which in the continuum limit involves a discrete axial transformation. On a lattice with periodic boundary conditions, the Hilbert space breaks up into sectors labeled by the N c -ality p = 0, … N c − 1. Our symmetry analysis implies various exact degeneracies in the spectrum of the lattice model. In particular, it shows that, for m = 0 and even N c , the sectors p and p′ are degenerate if |p − p′| = N c /2. In the N c = 2 case, we explicitly construct the action of the Hamiltonian on a basis of gauge-invariant states, and we perform both a strong coupling expansion and exact diagonalization for lattices of up to 12 lattice sites. Upon extrapolation of these results, we find good agreement with the spectrum computed previously using discretized light-cone quantization. One of our new results is the first numerical calculation of the fermion bilinear condensate.

Abstract It is believed that the large-scale geometric properties of two-dimensional critical percolation are described by a logarithmic conformal field theory, but it has been challenging to exhibit concrete examples of logarithmic singularities and to find an explanation and a physical interpretation, in terms of lattice observables, for their appearance. We show that certain percolation correlation functions receive independent contributions from a large number of similar connectivity events happening at different scales. Combined with scale invariance, this leads to logarithmic divergences. We study several logarithmic correlation functions for critical percolation in the bulk and in the presence of a boundary, including the four-point function of the density (spin) field. Our analysis confirms previous findings, provides new explicit calculations and explains, in terms of lattice observables, the physical mechanism that leads to the logarithmic singularities we discover. Although we adopt conformal field theory (CFT) terminology to present our results, the core of our analysis relies on probabilistic arguments and recent rigorous results on the scaling limit of critical percolation and does not assume a priori the existence of a percolation CFT. As a consequence, our results provide strong support for the validity of a CFT description of critical percolation and a step in the direction of a mathematically rigorous formulation of a logarithmic CFT of two-dimensional critical percolation.

Abstract A well-known difficulty of perturbative approaches to quantum field theory at finite temperature is the necessity to address theoretical constraints that are not present in the vacuum theory. In this work, we use lattice simulations of scalar correlation functions in massive ϕ 4 theory to analyse the extent to which these constraints affect the perturbative predictions. We find that the standard perturbative predictions deteriorate even in the absence of infrared divergences at relatively low temperatures, and that this is directly connected to the analytic structure of the propagators used in the expansion. This suggests that the incorporation of non-perturbative thermal effects in the propagators is essential for a consistent perturbative formulation of scalar quantum field theories at finite temperature. By utilising the spectral constraints imposed on finite-temperature correlation functions, we explore how these effects manifest themselves in the lattice data, and discuss why the presence of distinct thermoparticle excitations provides a potential resolution to these issues.

Abstract We study the ℤ2 and U(1) Abelian lattice gauge theories using a bootstrap method, in which the loop equations and positivity conditions are employed for Wilson loops with lengths L ⩽ L max to derive two-sided bounds on the Wilson loop averages. We address a fundamental question that whether the constraints from loop equations and positivity are strong enough to solve lattice gauge theories. We answer this question by bootstrapping the 2D U(1) lattice gauge theory. We show that with sufficiently large L max = 60, the two-sided bounds provide estimates for the plaquette averages with precision near 10 −8 or even higher, suggesting the bootstrap constraints are sufficient to numerically pin down this theory. We compute the bootstrap bounds on the plaquette averages in the 3D ℤ2 and U(1) lattice gauge theories with L max = 16. In the regions with weak or strong coupling, the two-sided bootstrap bounds converge quickly and coincide with the perturbative results to high precision. The bootstrap bounds are well consistent with the Monte Carlo results in the nonperturbative region. We observe interesting connections between the bounds generated by the bootstrap computations and the Griffiths’ inequalities. We present results towards bootstrapping the string tension and glueball mass in Abelian lattice gauge theories.

Abstract We carry out a systematic study of the effective bosonic string describing confining flux tubes in SU(N) Yang-Mills theories in three spacetime dimensions. While their low-energy properties are known to be universal and are described well by the Nambu-Gotō action, a non-trivial dependence on the gauge group is encoded in a series of undetermined subleading corrections in an expansion around the limit of an arbitrarily long string. We quantify the first two of these corrections by means of high-precision Monte Carlo simulations of Polyakov-loop correlators in the lattice regularization. We compare the results of novel lattice simulations for theories with N = 3 and 6 color charges, and report an improved estimate for the N = 2 case, discussing the approach to the large-N limit. Our results are compatible with analytical bounds derived from the S-matrix bootstrap approach. In addition, we also present a new test of the Svetitsky-Yaffe conjecture for the SU(3) theory in three dimensions, finding that the lattice results for the Polyakov-loop correlation function are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the Svetitsky-Yaffe mapping, which are worked out quantitatively applying conformal perturbation theory to the three-state Potts model in two dimensions. The implications of these results are discussed.

Abstract We present our investigations of SU(N) adjoint QCD in two dimensions with one Majorana fermion on the lattice. We determine the relevant parameter range for the simulations with Wilson fermions and present results for Polyakov loop, chiral condensate, and string tension. In the theory with massive fermions, all observables we checked show qualitative agreement between numerical lattice data and theory, while the massless limit is more subtle since chiral and non-invertible symmetry of the continuum theory are explicitly broken by lattice regularization. In thermal compactification, we observe N perturbative vacua for the holonomy potential at high-T with instanton events connecting them, and a unique vacuum at low-T. At finite-N, this is a cross-over and it turns to a phase transition at large-N thermodynamic limit. In circle compactification with periodic boundary conditions, we observe a unique center-symmetric minimum at any radius. In continuum, the instantons in the thermal case carry zero modes (for even N) and indeed, in the lattice simulations, we observe that chiral condensate is dominated by instanton centers, where zero modes are localized. We present lattice results on the issue of confinement vs. screening in the theory and comment on the roles of chiral symmetry and non-invertible symmetry.

Abstract The Hilbert spaces of matrix quantum mechanical systems with N × N matrix degrees of freedom X have been analysed recently in terms of S N symmetric group elements U acting as X → UXU T . Solvable models have been constructed uncovering partition algebras as hidden symmetries of these systems. The solvable models include an 11-dimensional space of matrix harmonic oscillators, the simplest of which is the standard matrix harmonic oscillator with U(N) symmetry. The permutation symmetry is realised as gauge symmetry in a path integral formulation in a companion paper. With the simplest matrix oscillator Hamiltonian subject to gauge permutation symmetry, we use the known result for the micro-canonical partition function to derive the canonical partition function. It is expressed as a sum over partitions of N of products of factors which depend on elementary number-theoretic properties of the partitions, notably the least common multiples and greatest common divisors of pairs of parts appearing in the partition. This formula is recovered using the Molien-Weyl formula, which we review for convenience. The Molien-Weyl formula is then used to generalise the formula for the canonical partition function to the 11-parameter permutation invariant matrix harmonic oscillator.

Abstract Linear confinement with Casimir scaling of the string tension in confining gauge theories is a consequence of a certain property of the Polyakov loop related to random matrices. This mechanism does not depend on the details of the theories (neither the gauge group nor dimensions) and explains approximate Casimir scaling below string-breaking length. In this paper, we study 3d SU(2) pure Yang-Mills theory numerically and find the same random-matrix behavior for rectangular Wilson loops. We conjecture that this is a universal feature of strongly coupled confining gauge theories.

Abstract We propose an adaptation of Entanglement Renormalization for quantum field theories that, through the use of discrete wavelet transforms, strongly parallels the tensor network architecture of the Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (a.k.a. MERA). Our approach, called wMERA, has several advantages of over previous attempts to adapt MERA to continuum systems. In particular, (i) wMERA is formulated directly in position space, hence preserving the quasi-locality and sparsity of entanglers; and (ii) it enables a built-in RG flow in the implementation of real-time evolution and in computations of correlation functions, which is key for efficient numerical implementations. As examples, we describe in detail two concrete implementations of our wMERA algorithm for free scalar and fermionic theories in (1+1) spacetime dimensions. Possible avenues for constructing wMERAs for interacting field theories are also discussed.

We investigate various aspects of capacity of entanglement in certain setups whose entanglement entropy becomes extensive and obeys a volume law. In particular, considering geometric decomposition of the Hilbert space, we study this measure both in the vacuum state of a family of non-local scalar theories and also in the squeezed states of a local scalar theory. We also evaluate field space capacity of entanglement between interacting scalar field theories. We present both analytical and numerical evidences for the volume law scaling of this quantity in different setups and discuss how these results are consistent with the behavior of other entanglement measures including Renyi entropies. Our study reveals some generic properties of the capacity of entanglement and the corresponding reduced density matrix in the specific regimes of the parameter space. Finally, by comparing entanglement entropy and capacity of entanglement, we discuss some implications of our results on the existence of consistent holographic duals for the models in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the θ-dependent mass spectrum of the massive 2-flavor Schwinger model in the Hamiltonian formalism using the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG). The masses of the composite particles, the pion and sigma meson, are computed by two independent methods. One is the improved one-point-function scheme, where we measure the local meson operator coupled to the boundary state and extract the mass from its exponential decay. Since the θ term causes a nontrivial operator mixing, we unravel it by diagonalizing the correlation matrix to define the meson operator. The other is the dispersion-relation scheme, a heuristic approach specific to Hamiltonian formalism. We obtain the dispersion relation directly by measuring the energy and momentum of the excited states. The sign problem is circumvented in these methods, and their results agree with each other even for large θ. We reveal that the θ-dependence of the pion mass at m/g = 0.1 is consistent with the prediction by the bosonized model. We also find that the mass of the sigma meson satisfies the semi-classical formula, Mσ/Mπ = 3 , for almost all region of θ. While the sigma meson is a stable particle thanks to this relation, the eta meson is no longer protected by the G-parity and becomes unstable for θ ≠ 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the chiral magnetic effect (CME): the generation of an electric current due to a homogeneous background magnetic field and a homogeneous chiral imbalance in QCD. We demonstrate that the leading coefficient describing the CME vanishes in equilibrium, both for free fermions as well as in full QCD. Our full QCD results are based on continuum extrapolated lattice simulations using dynamical staggered quarks with physical masses as well as quenched Wilson quarks. We show that it is crucial that a gauge invariant ultraviolet regularization is used to compute the CME and elaborate on why some of the existing in-equilibrium calculations of this effect gave a nonzero result. We stress that our findings imply the absence of a time-independent CME current flowing in equilibrium QCD, but do not concern the CME as an out-of-equilibrium, time-dependent effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In accordance with recent progress of fracton topological phases, unusual topological phases of matter hosting fractionalized quasiparticle excitations with mobility constraints, new type of symmetry is studied — multipole symmetry, associated with conservation of multipoles. Based on algebraic relation between dipole and global charges, we introduce a series of (d + 1)-dimensional BF theories with p-form gauge fields, which admit dipole of spatially extended excitations, and study their physical properties. We elucidate that gauge invariant loops have unusual form, containing linear function of the spatial coordinate, which leads to the position dependent braiding statistics and unusual ground state degeneracy dependence on the system size. We also show that the theories exhibit a mixed ’t Hooft anomaly between p-form and (d − p)-form dipole symmetries, which is canceled by an invertible theory defined in one dimensional higher via anomaly inflow mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the static entanglement structure in (1+1)-dimensional free Dirac-fermion theory with Lifshitz symmetry and arbitrary integer dynamical critical exponent. This model is different from the one introduced in [Hartmann et al., SciPost Phys.11 (2021) 031] due to a proper treatment of the square Laplace operator. Dirac fermion Lifshitz theory is local as opposed to its scalar counterpart which strongly affects its entanglement structure. We show that there is quantum entanglement across arbitrary subregions in various pure (including the vacuum) and mixed states of this theory for arbitrary integer values of the dynamical critical exponent. Our numerical investigations show that quantum entanglement in this theory is tightly bounded from above. Such a bound and other physical properties of quantum entanglement are carefully explained from the correlation structure in these theories. A generalization to (2+1)-dimensions where the entanglement structure is seriously different is addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is believed that the large-scale geometric properties of two-dimensional critical percolation are described by a logarithmic conformal field theory, but it has been challenging to exhibit concrete examples of logarithmic singularities and to find an explanation and a physical interpretation, in terms of lattice observables, for their appearance. We show that certain percolation correlation functions receive independent contributions from a large number of similar connectivity events happening at different scales. Combined with scale invariance, this leads to logarithmic divergences. We study several logarithmic correlation functions for critical percolation in the bulk and in the presence of a boundary, including the four-point function of the density (spin) field. Our analysis confirms previous findings, provides new explicit calculations and explains, in terms of lattice observables, the physical mechanism that leads to the logarithmic singularities we discover. Although we adopt conformal field theory (CFT) terminology to present our results, the core of our analysis relies on probabilistic arguments and recent rigorous results on the scaling limit of critical percolation and does not assume a priori the existence of a percolation CFT. As a consequence, our results provide strong support for the validity of a CFT description of critical percolation and a step in the direction of a mathematically rigorous formulation of a logarithmic CFT of two-dimensional critical percolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a Hamiltonian lattice model for the (1 + 1)-dimensional SU(Nc) gauge theory coupled to one adjoint Majorana fermion of mass m. The discretization of the continuum theory uses staggered Majorana fermions. We analyze the symmetries of the lattice model and find lattice analogs of the anomalies of the corresponding continuum theory. An important role is played by the lattice translation by one lattice site, which in the continuum limit involves a discrete axial transformation. On a lattice with periodic boundary conditions, the Hilbert space breaks up into sectors labeled by the Nc-ality p = 0, … Nc − 1. Our symmetry analysis implies various exact degeneracies in the spectrum of the lattice model. In particular, it shows that, for m = 0 and even Nc, the sectors p and p′ are degenerate if |p − p′| = Nc/2. In the Nc = 2 case, we explicitly construct the action of the Hamiltonian on a basis of gauge-invariant states, and we perform both a strong coupling expansion and exact diagonalization for lattices of up to 12 lattice sites. Upon extrapolation of these results, we find good agreement with the spectrum computed previously using discretized light-cone quantization. One of our new results is the first numerical calculation of the fermion bilinear condensate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We carry out a systematic study of the effective bosonic string describing confining flux tubes in SU(N) Yang-Mills theories in three spacetime dimensions. While their low-energy properties are known to be universal and are described well by the Nambu-Gotō action, a non-trivial dependence on the gauge group is encoded in a series of undetermined subleading corrections in an expansion around the limit of an arbitrarily long string. We quantify the first two of these corrections by means of high-precision Monte Carlo simulations of Polyakov-loop correlators in the lattice regularization. We compare the results of novel lattice simulations for theories with N = 3 and 6 color charges, and report an improved estimate for the N = 2 case, discussing the approach to the large-N limit. Our results are compatible with analytical bounds derived from the S-matrix bootstrap approach. In addition, we also present a new test of the Svetitsky-Yaffe conjecture for the SU(3) theory in three dimensions, finding that the lattice results for the Polyakov-loop correlation function are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the Svetitsky-Yaffe mapping, which are worked out quantitatively applying conformal perturbation theory to the three-state Potts model in two dimensions. The implications of these results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A well-known difficulty of perturbative approaches to quantum field theory at finite temperature is the necessity to address theoretical constraints that are not present in the vacuum theory. In this work, we use lattice simulations of scalar correlation functions in massive ϕ4 theory to analyse the extent to which these constraints affect the perturbative predictions. We find that the standard perturbative predictions deteriorate even in the absence of infrared divergences at relatively low temperatures, and that this is directly connected to the analytic structure of the propagators used in the expansion. This suggests that the incorporation of non-perturbative thermal effects in the propagators is essential for a consistent perturbative formulation of scalar quantum field theories at finite temperature. By utilising the spectral constraints imposed on finite-temperature correlation functions, we explore how these effects manifest themselves in the lattice data, and discuss why the presence of distinct thermoparticle excitations provides a potential resolution to these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the ℤ2 and U(1) Abelian lattice gauge theories using a bootstrap method, in which the loop equations and positivity conditions are employed for Wilson loops with lengths L ⩽ Lmax to derive two-sided bounds on the Wilson loop averages. We address a fundamental question that whether the constraints from loop equations and positivity are strong enough to solve lattice gauge theories. We answer this question by bootstrapping the 2D U(1) lattice gauge theory. We show that with sufficiently large Lmax = 60, the two-sided bounds provide estimates for the plaquette averages with precision near 10−8 or even higher, suggesting the bootstrap constraints are sufficient to numerically pin down this theory. We compute the bootstrap bounds on the plaquette averages in the 3D ℤ2 and U(1) lattice gauge theories with Lmax = 16. In the regions with weak or strong coupling, the two-sided bootstrap bounds converge quickly and coincide with the perturbative results to high precision. The bootstrap bounds are well consistent with the Monte Carlo results in the nonperturbative region. We observe interesting connections between the bounds generated by the bootstrap computations and the Griffiths' inequalities. We present results towards bootstrapping the string tension and glueball mass in Abelian lattice gauge theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hilbert spaces of matrix quantum mechanical systems with N × N matrix degrees of freedom X have been analysed recently in terms of SN symmetric group elements U acting as X → UXUT. Solvable models have been constructed uncovering partition algebras as hidden symmetries of these systems. The solvable models include an 11-dimensional space of matrix harmonic oscillators, the simplest of which is the standard matrix harmonic oscillator with U(N) symmetry. The permutation symmetry is realised as gauge symmetry in a path integral formulation in a companion paper. With the simplest matrix oscillator Hamiltonian subject to gauge permutation symmetry, we use the known result for the micro-canonical partition function to derive the canonical partition function. It is expressed as a sum over partitions of N of products of factors which depend on elementary number-theoretic properties of the partitions, notably the least common multiples and greatest common divisors of pairs of parts appearing in the partition. This formula is recovered using the Molien-Weyl formula, which we review for convenience. The Molien-Weyl formula is then used to generalise the formula for the canonical partition function to the 11-parameter permutation invariant matrix harmonic oscillator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an adaptation of Entanglement Renormalization for quantum field theories that, through the use of discrete wavelet transforms, strongly parallels the tensor network architecture of the Multiscale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (a.k.a. MERA). Our approach, called wMERA, has several advantages of over previous attempts to adapt MERA to continuum systems. In particular, (i) wMERA is formulated directly in position space, hence preserving the quasi-locality and sparsity of entanglers; and (ii) it enables a built-in RG flow in the implementation of real-time evolution and in computations of correlation functions, which is key for efficient numerical implementations. As examples, we describe in detail two concrete implementations of our wMERA algorithm for free scalar and fermionic theories in (1+1) spacetime dimensions. Possible avenues for constructing wMERAs for interacting field theories are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present our investigations of SU(N) adjoint QCD in two dimensions with one Majorana fermion on the lattice. We determine the relevant parameter range for the simulations with Wilson fermions and present results for Polyakov loop, chiral condensate, and string tension. In the theory with massive fermions, all observables we checked show qualitative agreement between numerical lattice data and theory, while the massless limit is more subtle since chiral and non-invertible symmetry of the continuum theory are explicitly broken by lattice regularization. In thermal compactification, we observe N perturbative vacua for the holonomy potential at high-T with instanton events connecting them, and a unique vacuum at low-T. At finite-N, this is a cross-over and it turns to a phase transition at large-N thermodynamic limit. In circle compactification with periodic boundary conditions, we observe a unique center-symmetric minimum at any radius. In continuum, the instantons in the thermal case carry zero modes (for even N) and indeed, in the lattice simulations, we observe that chiral condensate is dominated by instanton centers, where zero modes are localized. We present lattice results on the issue of confinement vs. screening in the theory and comment on the roles of chiral symmetry and non-invertible symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear confinement with Casimir scaling of the string tension in confining gauge theories is a consequence of a certain property of the Polyakov loop related to random matrices. This mechanism does not depend on the details of the theories (neither the gauge group nor dimensions) and explains approximate Casimir scaling below string-breaking length. In this paper, we study 3d SU(2) pure Yang-Mills theory numerically and find the same random-matrix behavior for rectangular Wilson loops. We conjecture that this is a universal feature of strongly coupled confining gauge theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The study of entanglement in gauge theories is expected to provide insights into many fundamental phenomena, including confinement. However, calculations of quantities related to entanglement in gauge theories are limited by ambiguities that stem from the non-factorizability of the Hilbert space. In this work we study lattice gauge theories that admit a dual description in terms of spin models, for which the replica trick and Rényi entropies are well defined. In the first part of this work, we explicitly perform the duality transformation in a replica geometry, deriving the structure of a replica space for a gauge theory. Then, in the second part, we calculate, by means of Monte Carlo simulations, the entropic c-function of the ℤ 2 gauge theory in three spacetime dimensions, exploiting its dual description in terms of the three-dimensional Ising model.

Abstract We study the θ-dependence of the string tension and of the lightest glueball mass in four-dimensional SU(N) Yang-Mills theories. More precisely, we focus on the coefficients parametrizing the O θ 2 $$ \mathcal{O}\left({\theta}^2\right) $$ dependence of these quantities, which we investigate by means of numerical simulations of the lattice-discretized theory, carried out using imaginary values of the θ parameter. Topological freezing at large N is avoided using the Parallel Tempering on Boundary Conditions algorithm. We provide controlled continuum extrapolations of such coefficients in the N = 3 case, and we report the results obtained on two fairly fine lattice spacings for N = 6.

Abstract We propose an orbifold lattice formulation of QCD suitable for quantum simulations. We show explicitly how to encode gauge degrees of freedom into qubits using noncompact variables, and how to write down a simple truncated Hamiltonian in the coordinate basis. We show that SU(3) gauge group variables and quarks in the fundamental representation can be implemented straightforwardly on qubits, for arbitrary truncation of the gauge manifold.

Abstract We perform Monte-Carlo measurements of two and three-point functions of charged operators in the critical O(2) model in 3 dimensions. Our results are compatible with the predictions of the large charge superfluid effective field theory. To obtain reliable measurements for large values of the charge, we improved the Worm algorithm and devised a measurement scheme which mitigates the uncertainties due to lattice and finite size effects.

Abstract Lattice gauge theories (LGT) play a central role in modern physics, providing insights into high-energy physics, condensed matter physics, and quantum computation. Due to the nontrivial structure of the Hilbert space of LGT systems, entanglement in such systems is tricky to define. However, when one limits themselves to superselection-resolved entanglement, that is, entanglement corresponding to specific gauge symmetry sectors (commonly denoted as superselection sectors), this problem disappears, and the entanglement becomes well-defined. The study of superselection-resolved entanglement is interesting in LGT for an additional reason: when the gauge symmetry is strictly obeyed, superselection-resolved entanglement becomes the only distillable contribution to the entanglement. In our work, we study the behavior of superselection-resolved entanglement in LGT systems. We employ a tensor network construction for gauge-invariant systems as defined by Zohar and Burrello [1] and find that, in a vast range of cases, the leading term in superselection-resolved entanglement depends on the number of corners in the partition — corner-law entanglement. To our knowledge, this is the first case of such a corner-law being observed in any lattice system.

Abstract The mutual information characterizes correlations between spatially separated regions of a system. Yet, in experiments we often measure dynamical correlations, which involve probing operators that are also separated in time. Here, we introduce a space-time generalization of mutual information which, by construction, satisfies several natural properties of the mutual information and at the same time characterizes correlations across subsystems that are separated in time. In particular, this quantity, that we call the space-time mutual information, bounds all dynamical correlations. We construct this quantity based on the idea of the quantum hypothesis testing. As a by-product, our definition provides a transparent interpretation in terms of an experimentally accessible setup. We draw connections with other notions in quantum information theory, such as quantum channel discrimination. Finally, we study the behavior of the space-time mutual information in several settings and contrast its long-time behavior in many-body localizing and thermalizing systems.

Abstract We present new investigations on the Adjoint Filtering Method (AFM), a proposal for filtering gauge configurations by using adjoint zero modes. This method relies on the existence of the Supersymmetric Zero Mode (SZM), whose density follows the gauge action density for classical configurations. We review how a similar construction on the lattice is implemented based on the overlap operator and test the method against smooth configurations showing a remarkable agreement with the expected densities even when pairs of fractionals instanton/anti-instantons are present and noise is added. Then we explore the application of the method to Monte Carlo generated configurations based on SU(2) gauge group. The tuning of the parameters and quantitative results are explicitly shown for a T 3 × R lattice. We show explicit examples comparing the AFM to the density obtained from the Gradient Flow. The agreement is remarkable for some specific configurations containing fractional instantons with the advantage that the AFM does not modify the underlying structures.

Abstract In this work, we establish a direct connection between generative diffusion models (DMs) and stochastic quantization (SQ). The DM is realized by approximating the reversal of a stochastic process dictated by the Langevin equation, generating samples from a prior distribution to effectively mimic the target distribution. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the DM can serve as a global sampler for generating quantum lattice field configurations in two-dimensional ϕ 4 theory. We demonstrate that DMs can notably reduce autocorrelation times in the Markov chain, especially in the critical region where standard Markov Chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) algorithms experience critical slowing down. The findings can potentially inspire further advancements in lattice field theory simulations, in particular in cases where it is expensive to generate large ensembles.