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A<sc>bstract</sc> The requirement that particles propagate causally on non-trivial backgrounds implies interesting constraints on higher-derivative operators. This work is part of a systematic study of the positivity bounds derivable from time delays on shockwave backgrounds. First, we discuss shockwaves in field theory, which are infinitely boosted Coulomb-like field configurations. We show how a positive time delay implies positivity of four-derivative operators in scalar field theory and electromagnetism, consistent with the results derived using dispersion relations, and we comment on how additional higher-derivative operators could be included. We then turn to gravitational shockwave backgrounds. We compute the infinite boost limit of Reissner-Nordström black holes to derive charged shockwave backgrounds. We consider photons traveling on these backgrounds and interacting through four-derivative corrections to Einstein-Maxwell theory. The inclusion of gravity introduces a logarithmic term into the time delay that interferes with the straightforward bounds derivable in pure field theory, a fact consistent with CEMZ and with recent results from dispersion relations. We discuss two ways to extract a physically meaningful quantity from the logarithmic time delay — by introducing an IR cutoff, or by considering the derivative of the time delay — and comment on the bounds implied in each case. Finally, we review a number of additional shockwave backgrounds which might be of use in future applications, including spinning shockwaves, those in higher dimensions or with a cosmological constant, and shockwaves from boosted extended objects.
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Mean Field Theories of Quantum Hall Liquids Justified: Variations on the Greiter Wilczek Theme
We present a field theoretic variant of the Wilczek - Greiter adiabatic approach to Quantum Hall liquids. Specifically, we define a Chern-Simons-Maxwell theory such that the flux-attachment mean field theory is exact in a certain limit. This permits a systematic way to justify a variety of useful approximate approaches to these problems as constituting the first term in a (still to be developed) systematic expansion about a solvable limit.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2000987
- PAR ID:
- 10320096
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Wilczek Volume
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811251948_0009
