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We analyze the R + R2 model of quantum gravity where terms quadratic in the curvature tensor are added to the General Relativity action. This model was recently proved to be a self-consistent quantum theory of gravitation, being both renormalizable and unitary. The model can be made practically indistinguishable from General Relativity at astrophysical and cosmological scales by the proper choice of parameters., Comment: 12 pages

We consider the unitary Abelian Higgs model and investigate its spectral functions at one-loop order. This analysis allows to disentangle what is physical and what is not at the level of the elementary particle propagators, in conjunction with the Nielsen identities. We highlight the role of the tadpole graphs and the gauge choices to get sensible results. We also introduce an Abelian Curci-Ferrari action coupled to a scalar field to model a massive photon which, like the non-Abelian Curci-Ferarri model, is left invariant by a modified non-nilpotent BRST symmetry. We clearly illustrate its non-unitary nature directly from the spectral function viewpoint. This provides a functional analogue of the Ojima observation in the canonical formalism: there are ghost states with nonzero norm in the BRST-invariant states of the Curci-Ferrari model., 32 pages, 12 figures

We consider R + R 2 relativistic quantum gravity with the action where all possible terms quadratic in the curvature tensor are added to the Einstein-Hilbert term. This model was shown to be renormalizable in the work by K.S. Stelle. In this paper, we demonstrate that the R + R 2 model is also unitary contrary to the statements made in the literature, in particular in the work by Stelle. New expressions for the R + R 2 Lagrangian within dimensional regularization and the graviton propagator are derived. We demonstrate that the R + R 2 model is a good candidate for the fundamental quantum theory of gravity.

Quantum theory of Lorentz invariant local scalar fields without restrictions on 4-momentum spectrum is considered. The mass spectrum may be both discrete and continues and the square of mass as well as the energy may be positive or negative. Such fields can exist as part of a hidden matter in the Universe if they interact with ordinary fields very weakly. Generalization of Kallen-Lehmann representation for propagators of these fields is found. The considered generalized fields may violate CPT- invariance. Restrictions on mass-spectrum of CPT-violating fields are found. Local fields that annihilate vacuum state and violate CPT- invariance are constructed in this scope. Correct local relativistic generalization of Lindblad equation for density matrix is written for such fields. This generalization is particulary needed to describe the evolution of quantum system and measurement process in a unique way. Difficulties arising when the field annihilating the vacuum interacts with ordinary fields are discussed., Comment: Latex 23 pages, sent to "Foundations of Physics"

We analyze quantization of noncommutative chiral electrodynamics in the enveloping algebra formalism in linear order in noncommutativity parameter $\theta$. Calculations show that divergences exist and cannot be removed by ordinary renormalization, however they can be removed by the Seiberg-Witten redefinition of fields. Performing the redefinitions explicitly, we obtain renormalizable lagrangian and discuss the influence of noncommutativity on field propagation. Noncommutativity affects the propagation of chiral fermions only: half of the fermionic modes become massive and birefringent., Comment: 16 pages, Version published in Phys. Rev. D

Finite Unified Theories (FUTs) are N=1 supersymmetric Grand Unified Theories, which can be made all-loop finite, both in the dimensionless (gauge and Yukawa couplings) and dimensionful (soft supersymmetry breaking terms) sectors. This remarkable property, based on the reduction of couplings at the quantum level, provides a drastic reduction in the number of free parameters, which in turn leads to an accurate prediction of the top quark mass in the dimensionless sector, and predictions for the Higgs boson mass and the supersymmetric spectrum in the dimensionful sector. Here we examine the predictions of two such FUTs. Next we consider gauge theories defined in higher dimensions, where the extra dimensions form a fuzzy space (a finite matrix manifold). We reinterpret these gauge theories as four-dimensional theories with Kaluza-Klein modes. We then perform a generalized a la Forgacs-Manton dimensional reduction. We emphasize some striking features emerging such as (i)the appearance of non-Abelian gauge theories in four dimensions starting from an Abelian gauge theory in higher dimensions, (ii) the fact that the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the theory takes place entirely in the extra dimensions and (iii) the renormalizability of the theory both in higher as well as in four dimensions. Then reversing the above approach we present a renormalizable four dimensional SU(N) gauge theory with a suitable multiplet of scalar fields, which via spontaneous symmetry breaking dynamically develops extra dimensions in the form of a fuzzy sphere $S^2_N$., This is a contribution to the Proc. of the Seventh International Conference ''Symmetry in Nonlinear Mathematical Physics'' (June 24-30, 2007, Kyiv, Ukraine), published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGMA/

In previous work done by us and coworkers, we have been able to construct a local, non-Abelian gauge invariant action with a mass parameter, based on the nonlocal gauge invariant mass dimension two operator F1/D^2F. The renormalizability of the resulting action was proven to all orders of perturbation theory, in the class of linear covariant gauges. We also discussed the perturbative equivalence of the model with ordinary massless Yang-Mills gauge theories when the mass is identically zero. Furthermore, we pointed out the existence of a BRST symmetry with corresponding nilpotent charge. In this paper, we study the issue of unitarity of this massive gauge model. Firstly, we provide a short review how to discuss the unitarity making use of the BRST charge. Afterwards we make a detailed study of the most general version of our action, and we come to the conclusion that the model is not unitary, as we are unable to remove all the negative norm states from the physical spectrum in a consistent way., Comment: 36 pages

We show the renormalizability of a Lagrangian of nucleons and pions interacting via a pseudoscalar coupling in the presence of a medium. We extend the proof to the effective Lagrangian obtained from the previous one through the functional integration over the fermionic fields. Notably in the latter case the renormalization takes place within each order of the corresponding loop expansion. This result is of significance in view of the connection between the loop expansion and the conventional many-body approximation methods.

The invariants in half-maximal supergravity theories in D=4,5 are discussed in detail up to dimension eight (e.g. R^4). In D=4, owing to the anomaly in the rigid SL(2,R) duality symmetry, the restrictions on divergences need careful treatment. In pure N=4 supergravity, this anomalous symmetry still implies duality invariance of candidate counterterms at three loops. Provided one makes the additional assumption that there exists a full 16-supercharge off-shell formulation of the theory, counterterms at L>1 loops would also have to be writable as full-superspace integrals. At the three-loop order such a duality-invariant full-superspace integral candidate counterterm exists, but its duality invariance is marginal in the sense that the full-superspace counter-Lagrangian is not itself duality-invariant. We show that such marginal invariants are not allowable as counterterms in a 16-supercharge off-shell formalism. It is not possible to draw the same conclusion when vector multiplets are present because of the appearance of F^4 terms in the SL(2,R) anomaly. In D=5 there is no one-loop anomaly in the shift invariance of the dilaton, and we argue that this implies finiteness at two loops, again subject to the assumption that 16 supercharges can be preserved off-shell., 81 pages

In this note, we consider the Landau gauge in the continuum formulation. Our purposes are twofold. Firstly, we try to work out the consequences of the recently derived Cucchieri-Mendes bounds on the inverse Faddeev-Popov operator at the level of the path integral quantization. Secondly, we give an explicit renormalizable prescription to implement the so-called Landau B-gauges as introduced by Maas., 17 pages; 2 .pdf figures. v2: version accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. J. C