Related papers: Gravity Theories with Background Fields and Spacet…
Type II string theory and M-theory admit flux configurations that break supersymmetry below the Kaluza-Klein scale. These backgrounds play a central role in most models of the string landscape. I argue that the behavior of such backgrounds…
Symmetry breaking solutions are investigated in the $N\to \infty$ limit for the ground state of a system consisting of a Lorentz-scalar, N component ``phantom'' field and an O(N) singlet. The most general form of O(N) x Z_2 invariant…
In this note, we describe how the study of backgrounds for general quantum systems can be formulated in terms of the representation theory of abstract $C^*$ algebras. We illustrate our general framework through two example systems:…
Due to the fact that only matter fields have phase, frequently is believed that the gauge principle can induce gauge fields only in quantum systems. But this is not necessary. This paper, of pedagogical scope, presents a classical system…
I discuss possible implications a symmetry relating gravity with antigravity might have for smoothing out of the cosmological constant puzzle. For this purpose, a very simple model with spontaneous symmetry breaking is explored, that is…
A self-contained method of obtaining effective theories resulting from the spontaneous breakdown of conformal invariance is developed. It allows to demonstrate that the Nambu-Goldstone fields for special conformal transformations always…
In non-Abelian field theories with q-symmetry groups the massive particles have a non-local interpretation with a stringlike spectrum. It is shown that a massless vector similarly acquires a tower of masses by spontaneous symmetry breaking.
We consider a Georgi-Glashow model conformally coupled to gravity. The conformally invariant action includes a triplet of scalar fields and SO(3) non-Abelian gauge fields. However, the usual mass term $\mu^2 \phi^2$ is forbidden by the…
We consider the role that gauge symmetry breaking terms play on the continuum limit of gauge theories in three dimensions. As a paradigmatic example we consider scalar electrodynamics in which $N_f$ complex scalar fields interact with a…
Gauge symmetries indicate redundancies in the description of the relevant degrees of freedom of a given field theory and restrict the nature of observable quantities. One of the problems faced by emergent theories of relativistic fields is…
The Higgs phenomenon occurs in theories of gravity in which the connection is an independent dynamical variable. The role of order parameters is played by the soldering form and a fiber metric. The breaking of the original gauge symmetry is…
The scalar field theory and the scalar electrodynamics quantized in the flat gap are considered. The dynamical effects arising due to the boundary presence with two types of boundary conditions (BC) satisfied by scalar fields are studied.…
We develop a bottom-up holographic model that provides the dual description of a strongly coupled field theory, in which the spontaneous breaking of an approximate global symmetry yields the SO(5)/SO(4) coset relevant to minimal…
A brief recap is given of issues that can occur when fixed nondynamical backgrounds that explicitly break diffeomorphism invariance are included in gravity theories. Implications for the Standard-Model Extension (SME) are summarized,…
In expanding FRW spacetimes, it is usually the case that homogeneous scalar fields redshift and their amplitudes approach limiting values: Hubble friction usually ensures that the field relaxes to its minimum energy configuration, which is…
We consider symmetry breaking of arbitrary gauge groups on a six-dimensional space-time which consists of a four-dimensional Minkowski space-time $M^4$ and a two-dimensional sphere $S^2$. We expand the gauge fields in the presence of a…
The dynamics of symmetry breaking is an important issue in many branches of physics including the real time onset of the Higgs-effect. In this thesis I examine the linear and non-linear evolution of different systems in the broken symmetric…
The behavior of fundamental fields in strong gravity or nontrivial environments is important for our understanding of nature. This problem has interesting applications in the context of dark matter, of dark energy physics or of quantum…
Conditions under which gravity coupled to self interacting scalar field determines singularity formation are found and discussed. It is shown that, under a suitable matching with an external space, the boundary, if collapses completely, may…
On the example of a real scalar field, an approach to quantization of non-linear fields and construction of the perturbation theory with account of spontaneous symmetry breaking is proposed. The method is based on using as the main…