Supersymmetric Quantum Theory and Non-Commutative Geometry

We study general relativity in the framework of non-commutative differential geometry. As a prerequisite we develop the basic notions of non-commutative Riemannian geometry, including analogues of Riemannian metric, curvature and scalar curvature. This enables us to introduce a generalized Einstein-Hilbert action for non-commutative Riemannian spaces. As an example we study a space-time which is the product of a four dimensional manifold by a two-point space, using the tools of non-commutative Riemannian geometry, and derive its generalized Einstein-Hilbert action. In the simplest situation, where the Riemannian metric is taken to be the same on the two copies of the manifold, one obtains a model of a scalar field coupled to Einstein gravity. This field is geometrically interpreted as describing the distance between the two points in the internal space.

We show that tensoriality constraints in noncommutative Riemannian geometry in the two-dimensional bicrossproduct model quantum spacetime algebra [x, t] = λx drastically reduce the moduli of possible metrics g up to normalization to a single real parameter, which we interpret as a time in the past from which all timelike geodesics emerge and a corresponding time in the future at which they all converge. Our analysis also implies a reduction of moduli in n-dimensions and we study a suggested spherically symmetric classical geometry in n = 4 in detail, identifying two one-parameter subcases where the Einstein tensor matches that of a perfect fluid for (a) positive pressure, zero density and (b) negative pressure and positive density with ratio . The classical geometry is conformally flat and its geodesics motivate new coordinates which we extend to the quantum case as a new description of the quantum spacetime model as a quadratic algebra. The noncommutative Riemannian geometry is fully solved for n = 2 and includes the quantum Levi-Civita connection and a second, nonperturbative, Levi-Civita connection which blows up as λ → 0. We also propose a ‘quantum Einstein tensor’ which is identically zero for the main part of the moduli space of connections (as classically in 2D). However, when the quantum Ricci tensor and metric are viewed as deformations of their classical counterparts there would be an O(λ2) correction to the classical Einstein tensor and an O(λ) correction to the classical metric.

Hochschild homology (along with cyclic and periodic cyclic homologies) plays in the non-commutative geometry the role which de Rham cohomology plays in the classical geometry. It is defined for any associative algebra. The Hochschild chains over the algebra \(\mathcal {A}\) are not localised and the operations with the chains over the algebra \(\mathcal {A}\) are not commutative. If the algebra were the algebra of differentiable functions over a topological manifold M, the corresponding Hochschild chains would be differentiable functions over MN. Cyclic/periodic cyclic homology of the \(\mathcal {A}\) were introduced to extend the Chern–Weil characteristic classes to idempotents over \(\mathcal {A}\). Cyclic/periodic cyclic homology represents the minimal algebraic structure for which the Chern–Weil construction works. The cyclic/periodic cyclic homology of the algebra of differentiable functions constitutes the link between the classical differential geometry and non-commutative geometry.

Noncommutative geometry and the BV formalism: Application to a matrix model

The class of a fibre in noncommutative geometry

This is a review of explicit computations of Connes distance in noncommutative geometry, covering finite dimensional spectral triples, almost-commutative geometries, and spectral triples on the algebra of compact operators. Several applications to physics are covered, like the metric interpretation of the Higgs field, and the comparison of Connes distance with the minimal length that emerges in various models of quantum spacetime. Links with other areas of mathematics are studied, in particular the horizontal distance in sub-Riemannian geometry. The interpretation of Connes distance as a noncommutative version of the Monge-Kantorovich metric in optimal transport is also discussed.

Quiver varieties have recently appeared in various different areas of Mathematics such as representation theory of Kac-Moody algebras and quantum groups, instantons on 4-manifolds, and resolutions Kleinian singularities. In this paper, we show that many important affine quiver varieties, e.g., the Calogero-Moser space, can be imbedded as coadjoint orbits in the dual of an appropriate infinite dimensional Lie algebra. In particular, there is an infinitesimally transitive action of the Lie algebra in question on the quiver variety. Our construction is based on an extension of Kontsevich's formalism of `non-commutative Symplectic geometry'. We show that this formalism acquires its most adequate and natural formulation in the much more general framework of P-geometry, a `non-commutative geometry' for an algebra over an arbitrary cyclic Koszul operad.

The principal object in noncommutative geometry is the spectral triple consisting of an algebra , a Hilbert space and a Dirac operator . Field theories are incorporated in this approach by the spectral action principle, which sets the field theory action to , where f is a real function such that the trace exists and Λ is a cutoff scale. In the low-energy (weak-field) limit, the spectral action reproduces reasonably well the known physics including the standard model. However, not much is known about the spectral action beyond the low-energy approximation. In this paper, after an extensive introduction to spectral triples and spectral actions, we study various expansions of the spectral actions (exemplified by the heat kernel). We derive the convergence criteria. For a commutative spectral triple, we compute the heat kernel on the torus up to the second order in gauge connection and consider limiting cases.This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical in honour of Stuart Dowker’s 75th birthday devoted to ‘Applications of zeta functions and other spectral functions in mathematics and physics’.

Metric approximations of spectral triples on the Sierpiński gasket and other fractal curves

Noncommutative geometric spaces with boundary: Spectral action

To a finite, connected, unoriented graph of Betti-number g ≥ 2 and valencies ≥ 3 we associate a finitely summable, commutative spectral triple (in the sense of Connes), whose induced zeta functions encode the graph. This gives another example where non-commutative geometry provides a rigid framework for classification.

In this review we present some of the fundamental mathematical structures\nwhich permit to define noncommutative gauge field theories. In particular, we\nemphasize the theory of noncommutative connections, with the notions of\ncurvatures and gauge transformations. Two different approaches to\nnoncommutative geometry are covered: the one based on derivations and the one\nbased on spectral triples. Examples of noncommutative gauge field theories are\ngiven to illustrate the constructions and to display some of the common\nfeatures.\n

Noncommutative Riemannian geometry on graphs

These notes provide an introduction to the noncommutative matrix geometry which arises within matrix models of Yang-Mills type. Starting from basic examples of compact fuzzy spaces, a general notion of embedded noncommutative spaces (branes) is formulated, and their effective Riemannian geometry is elaborated. This class of configurations is preserved under small deformations, and is therefore appropriate for matrix models. A realization of generic 4-dimensional geometries is sketched, and the relation with spectral geometry and with noncommutative gauge theory is explained. In a second part, dynamical aspects of these matrix geometries are considered. The one-loop effective action for the maximally supersymmetric IKKT or IIB matrix model is discussed, which is well-behaved on 4-dimensional branes.

We study explicit solutions for orientifolds of matrix theory compactified on a noncommutative torus. As quotients of the torus, a cylinder, Klein bottle, and M\"obius strip are applicable as orientifolds. We calculate the solutions using the Connes-Douglas-Schwarz projective module solution, and investigate the twisted gauge bundle on quotient spaces as well. These solutions are of Yang-Mills theory on a noncommutative torus with proper boundary conditions which define the geometry of the dual space.