Unification of the general non-linear sigma model and the Virasoro master equation
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
The Virasoro master equation describes a large set of conformal field theories known as the affine-Virasoro constructions, in the operator algebra (affinie Lie algebra) of the WZW model, while the einstein equations of the general non-linear sigma model describe another large set of conformal field theories. This talk summarizes recent work which unifies these two sets of conformal field theories, together with a presumable large class of new conformal field theories. The basic idea is to consider spin-two operators of the form L{sub ij}{partial_derivative}x{sup i}{partial_derivative}x{sup j} in the background of a general sigma model. The requirement that these operators satisfy the Virasoro algebra leads to a set of equations called the unified Einstein-Virasoro master equation, in which the spin-two spacetime field L{sub ij} cuples to the usual spacetime fields of the sigma model. The one-loop form of this unified system is presented, and some of its algebraic and geometric properties are discussed.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Physics Div., Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States); National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 674714
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-40648; CONF-9706270-; ON: DE98058247; CNN: Grant NSF PHY-9514797; TRN: 99:000347
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: NATO workshop on new developments in quantum field theory, Zakopane (Poland), 14-20 Jun 1997; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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