Related papers: The strong CP problem, general covariance, and hor…
I discuss how anomalies affect classical symmetries and how, in turn, the non-trivial nature of the gauge theory vacuum makes these quantum corrections troublesome. Although no solution seems in sight for the cosmological constant problem,…
We suggest a new solution to the strong CP problem. The solution is based on the proper use of the boundary conditions for the QCD generating functional integral. We expand the perturbative boundary conditions to both perturbative and…
The vacuum of quantum chromodynamics has an incredibly rich structure at the nonperturbative level, which is intimately connected with the topology of gauge fields, and put to a test by the strong CP problem. We investigate the…
In this chapter we introduce the $\theta$-dependence and the topological properties of QCD, features of the strongly interacting sector which give rise to the strong CP problem in the more general context of the Standard Model of particle…
One often hears that the strong $CP$ problem is the one problem which cannot be solved by anthropic reasoning. We argue that this is not so. Due to nonperturbative dynamics, states with a different $CP$ violating paramenter $\theta$ acquire…
In this review we report on how the problem of general covariance is treated within the algebraic approach to quantum field theory by use of concepts from category theory. Some new results on net cohomology and superselection structure…
Quantum gravity introduces a new source of the combined parity (CP) violation in gauge theories. We argue that this new CP violation gets bundled with the strong CP violation through the coloured gravitational instantons. Consequently, the…
The conventional view is that a solution of the strong CP problem lies beyond QCD. A strong argument supporting this view is that the chiral expansion shows that observables depend on theta (unless a quark mass is zero); this eliminates the…
The physical origin of the strong CP problem in QCD, rooted in the structures of the vacuum of the standard model, is reviewed. The chiral solution to this problem, with its accompanying axion, is explained and various characteristics of…
We show that the strong CP problem can, in principle, be solved dynamically by adding extra-dimensions with compact topology. To this aim we consider a toy model for QCD, which contains a vacuum angle and a strong CP like problem. We…
Three possible strategies have been advocated to solve the strong CP problem. The first is the axion, a dynamical mechanism that relaxes any initial value of the CP violating angle $\bar{\theta}$ to zero. The second is the imposition of new…
Solutions of the Strong CP Problem based on the spontaneous breaking of CP must feature a non-generic structure and simultaneously explain a coincidence between a priori unrelated CP-even and CP-odd mass scales. We show that these…
On the basis of allowed local gauge symmetries, the QCD Lagrangian admits a CP-violating term proportional to the topological charge density, commonly referred to as the $\theta$ term. A priori, any value of $\theta$ is consistent with the…
A recent paper "What can solve the strong CP problem?" goes counter to conventional wisdom by arguing that the universe was in an initial state that combines different eigenstates of $\theta$ (of the theta vacuum of QCD), and asserts that…
I describe how the QCD vacuum structure, necessary to resolve the $U(1)_A$ problem, predicts the presence of a P, T and CP violating term proportional to the vacuum angle $\bar{\theta}$. To agree with experimental bounds, however, this…
The strong CP problem is that SU(3) gauge field instantons naturally induce a CP violating term in the QCD Lagrangian which is constrained by experiment to be very small for no obvious reason. We show that this problem disappears if one…
Motivated by recent claims questioning the existence of strong CP violation, we present a pedagogical review of CP violation in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Using fundamental properties of the QCD partition function, we analyze the…
General covariance in quantum gravity is seen once one integrates over all possible metrics. In recent years topological field theories have given us a different route to general covariance without integrating over all possible metrics.…
Three symmetry constraints on the CP violations in QCD are discussed in this paper. In order to generate CP violating observables from QCD, these constraints require: (1) spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, (2) explicit chiral symmetry…
We point out that the long-standing strong CP problem may be resolved by an anthropic argument. The key ideas are: (i) to allow explicit breaking(s) of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry which reduces the strong CP problem to the cosmological…