Branes and quantization

DOI10.4310/ATMP.2009.V13.N5.A5MaRDI QIDQ601689zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 29 October 2010

Published in Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0809.0305, https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.atmp/1282054099

A-branes Chern-Simons theory geometric quantization Hilbert space of strings prequantum line bundle representations of Lie groups symplectic manifold

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Geometry and quantization, symplectic methods (81S10) String and superstring theories; other extended objects (e.g., branes) in quantum field theory (81T30)

Abstract: The problem of quantizing a symplectic manifold (M,omega) can be formulated in terms of the A-model of a complexification of M. This leads to an interesting new perspective on quantization. From this point of view, the Hilbert space obtained by quantization of (M,omega) is the space of (Bcc,B') strings, where Bcc and B' are two A-branes; B' is an ordinary Lagrangian A-brane, and Bcc is a space-filling coisotropic A-brane. B' is supported on M, and the choice of omega is encoded in the choice of Bcc. As an example, we describe from this point of view the representations of the group SL(2,R). Another application is to Chern-Simons gauge theory.

Review text

Quantization, i.e. the passage from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics, is known to be somewhat ambiguous. Geometric quantization is a mathematical tool to solve this problem. It is currently known as the Kostant-Souriau procedure (for a survey see e.g. [\textit{M. Vergne}, Astérisque 282, 249-278, Exp. No. 888 (2002; Zbl 1037.53062)]). Since its initial formulation by \textit{J.-M. Souriau} [Commun. Math. Phys. 1, 374--398 (1966; Zbl 1148.81307)] in 1966 many researchers contributed to geometric quantization, and E. Witten is one of them. Mathematically, the classical phase space is a symplectic manifold \((M,\omega)\). The process of \textit{prequantization} provides a Hermitian line bundle \(L\) over \(M\), equipped with a \(U(1)\) connection with curvature \(i\omega\) and referred to as the \textit{prequantum line bundle}. Further steps are named \textit{polarization} and \textit{metaplectic correction}. The present article opens a new perspective on quantization, based on two-dimensional sigma models, by passing to the a complexification \(Y\) of \(M\). Of great interest here is the fact that \(Y\) is an affine variety. However, it is not clear whether the new perspective helps in concrete cases, e.g. in performing computations and getting new formulas. In this framework, quantization is performed via branes, that is, the Hilbert space of a quantum model is obtained by quantizing \((M,\omega)\) as a space of \((B,B')\) strings, where \(B\) and \(B'\) are two \(A\)-branes. The choice of \(B\) is determined by \(\omega\). As an example, the authors describe in another way the representations of the group \(SL(2,\mathbb{R})\). The new method is also applied to the Chern-Simons gauge theory. The question remains: do we really get a valid systematic theory of quantization this way?

Recommendations

Cited in

(85)

This page was built for publication: Branes and quantization

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q601689)