Factorization Algebras In Quantum Field Theory Volume 1

This first volume develops factorization algebras with a focus upon examples exhibiting their use in field theory, which will be useful for researchers and graduates.

This second volume shows how factorization algebras arise from interacting field theories, both classical and quantum.

Factorization algebras are local-to-global objects that play a role in classical and quantum field theory which is similar to the role of sheaves in geometry: they conveniently organize complicated information. Their local structure encompasses examples like associative and vertex algebras; in these examples, their global structure encompasses Hochschild homology and conformal blocks. In this first volume, the authors develop the theory of factorization algebras in depth, but with a focus upon examples exhibiting their use in field theory, such as the recovery of a vertex algebra from a chiral conformal field theory and a quantum group from Abelian Chern-Simons theory. Expositions of the relevant background in homological algebra, sheaves and functional analysis are also included, thus making this book ideal for researchers and graduates working at the interface between mathematics and physics.

Factorization algebras are local-to-global objects that play a role in classical and quantum field theory which is similar to the role of sheaves in geometry: they conveniently organize complicated information. Their local structure encompasses examples like associative and vertex algebras; in these examples, their global structure encompasses Hochschild homology and conformal blocks. In this first volume, the authors develop the theory of factorization algebras in depth, but with a focus upon examples exhibiting their use in field theory, such as the recovery of a vertex algebra from a chiral conformal field theory and a quantum group from Abelian Chern-Simons theory. Expositions of the relevant background in homological algebra, sheaves and functional analysis are also included, thus making this book ideal for researchers and graduates working at the interface between mathematics and physics.

Factorization algebras are local-to-global objects that play a role in classical and quantum field theory that is similar to the role of sheaves in geometry: they conveniently organize complicated information. Their local structure encompasses examples like associative and vertex algebras; in these examples, their global structure encompasses Hochschild homology and conformal blocks. In this second volume, the authors show how factorization algebras arise from interacting field theories, both classical and quantum, and how they encode essential information such as operator product expansions, Noether currents, and anomalies. Along with a systematic reworking of the Batalin–Vilkovisky formalism via derived geometry and factorization algebras, this book offers concrete examples from physics, ranging from angular momentum and Virasoro symmetries to a five-dimensional gauge theory.

'Et moi ..., si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the human race. It has put common sense back je n'y serais point aile.' Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shel.f next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non The series is divergent; therefore we may be sense'. Eric T. Bell able to do something with it. o. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics .. .'; 'One service logic has rendered com puter science .. .'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics .. .'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

Quantum field theory has had a profound influence on mathematics, and on geometry in particular. However, the notorious difficulties of renormalization have made quantum field theory very inaccessible for mathematicians. This provides complete mathematical foundations for the theory of perturbative quantum field theory, based on Wilson's ideas of low-energy effective field theory and on the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism.

This book provides an informal and geodesic introduction to factorization homology, focusing on providing intuition through simple examples. Along the way, the reader is also introduced to modern ideas in homotopy theory and category theory, particularly as it relates to the use of infinity-categories. As with the original lectures, the text is meant to be a leisurely read suitable for advanced graduate students and interested researchers in topology and adjacent fields.

This text focuses on the algebraic formulation of quantum field theory, from the introductory aspects to the applications to concrete problems of physical interest. The book is divided in thematic chapters covering both introductory and more advanced topics. These include the algebraic, perturbative approach to interacting quantum field theories, algebraic quantum field theory on curved spacetimes (from its structural aspects to the applications in cosmology and to the role of quantum spacetimes), algebraic conformal field theory, the Kitaev's quantum double model from the point of view of local quantum physics and constructive aspects in relation to integrable models and deformation techniques. The book is addressed to master and graduate students both in mathematics and in physics, who are interested in learning the structural aspects and the applications of algebraic quantum field theory.