We reinterpret the chiral
U(N) Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW) model at level
k>1 in
(1+1) dimensions as an interacting chiral metal in two space dimensions. In this reinterpretation, spatial translations along one of the spatial dimensions in the two-dimensional chiral metal arise from a generator of the
U(N) symmetry of the WZW model. The WZW model at
k=1 is equivalent to Balents and Fisher's free chiral metal [L. Balents and M. P. A. Fisher, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2782 (1996)]. Here, the
U(N) symmetry corresponds to the IR symmetry of a chiral Fermi gas with (half of a) Fermi surface, with
N equal to the number of points on the Fermi surface. We argue that exactly solvable interacting generalizations occur for levels
k>1. Importantly, these interacting chiral metals maintain the
U(N) symmetry of the free system. We calculate two-point correlation functions of the single-particle fermion operator, the
U(1) number density, and current operators in these theories for general
k. We find that interactions (
k>1) produce
1/N corrections to scaling of the single-particle fermion operator as $N\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$ and renormalize the amplitudes of the density and current two-point functions. This construction illustrates the ersatz Fermi liquid proposal of Else et al. [Phys. Rev. X 11, 021005 (2021)].
In integrable models of quantum field theory, local fields are normally constructed by means of the bootstrap-formfactor program. However, the convergence of their n-point functions is unclear in this setting. An alternative approach uses fully convergent expressions for fields with weaker localization properties in spacelike wedges, and deduces existence of observables in bounded regions from there, but yields little information about their explicit form. We propose a new, hybrid construction: We aim to describe pointlike local quantum fields; but rather than exhibiting their n-point functions and verifying the Wightman axioms, we establish them as closed operators affiliated with a net of local von Neumann algebras that is known from the wedge-local approach. This is shown to work at least in the Ising model.
Abstract In integrable models of quantum field theory, local fields are normally constructed by means of the bootstrap-formfactor program. However, the convergence of their n-point functions is unclear in this setting. An alternative approach uses fully convergent expressions for fields with weaker localization properties in spacelike wedges, and deduces existence of observables in bounded regions from there, but yields little information about their explicit form. We propose a new, hybrid construction: We aim to describe pointlike local quantum fields; but rather than exhibiting their n-point functions and verifying the Wightman axioms, we establish them as closed operators affiliated with a net of local von Neumann algebras that is known from the wedge-local approach. This is shown to work at least in the Ising model.
A central problem in modern mathematical physics is to study interacting systems beyond the reach of perturbation theory. This thesis studies interacting quantum systems using the mathematical theory of operator algebras. In the first part of this thesis, we consider how to construct quantum many-body systems from one-particle systems. This problem has a well-established solution - namely, the second quantization (or the Gaussian functor). However, it seems difficult for the second quantization to go beyond generalized free field constructions without the help of perturbation theory. The second quantization takes real Hilbert spaces as inputs. Using only information from one-particle Hilbert spaces, it is mathematically impossible for the second quantization to produce connected higher-point correlation functions. Moreover, from the perspectives of mathematical quantization and operator algebra theory, it is more natural to have a quantization procedure that takes an algebra along with a functional as the input. Such a pair of mathematical objects contains more information about the underlying one-particle system and includes the Hilbert space of states (via the GNS construction) as part of the data. Inspired by quantum probability theory, we introduce an alternative approach to construct quantum many-body systems. This approach is based on a noncommutative generalization of the classical Poisson random measure. We call this construction Poissonization. Mathematically, Poissonization is a functor from the category of von Neumann algebras with normal semi nite faithful weights to the category of von Neumann algebras with normal faithful states. It is a natural adaptation of the second quantization to the context of von Neumann algebras. This thesis discusses several properties of Poissonization, and uses Poissonization as a tool to construct various toy models of algebraic quantum field theories relevant to high energy physics. This collection of examples aims at demonstrating the versatility of Poissonization. In the second part of this thesis, we study the noisy interactions between an open quantum system and its environment. One of the challenges in quantum information science is to control open quantum systems with a large number of qubits. An important aspect of many-body systems is the emergence of collective phenomena. One collective noise model is an open atomic system in an electromagnetic environment. This model was considered by Dicke in the 50's. In this thesis, we study the entropic decay in Dicke's model and other related collective noise models. Specifically, we develop a general framework to estimate the spectral gap and modified logarithmic Sobolev constant of these collective noise models. In addition, we study the necessary mixing conditions a general Dicke's model must satisfy in order to have a unique equilibrium state.
The subfactor theory provides a tool to analyze and construct extensions of Quantum Field Theories, once the latter are formulated as local nets of von Neumann algebras. We generalize some of the results of [62] to the case of extensions with infinite Jones index. This case naturally arises in physics, the canonical examples are given by global gauge theories with respect to a compact (non-finite) group of internal symmetries. Building on the works of Izumi–Longo–Popa [44] and Fidaleo–Isola [30], we consider generalized Q-systems (of intertwiners) for a semidiscrete inclusion of properly infinite von Neumann algebras, which generalize ordinary Q-systems introduced by Longo [58] to the infinite index case. We characterize inclusions which admit generalized Q-systems of intertwiners and define a braided product among the latter, hence we construct examples of QFTs with defects (phase boundaries) of infinite index, extending the family of boundaries in the grasp of [7].