近日，美国加州大学圣迭戈分校的T. Daniel Brennan及其研究团队取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们成功将宇宙弦耦合到拓扑量子场论。相关研究成果已于2024年3月26日在国际知名学术期刊《高能物理杂志》上发表。
在这项研究中，研究人员开展了一项针对不同设置的定性探索，其中一个核心领域是拓扑量子场论（TQFT）。与粒子不同，TQFT的物理特性在时空拓扑非平凡或存在拓扑缺陷时才得以显现。特别地，他们深入探讨了两种轴子宇宙弦与Zn TQFT相互作用的潜在机制。其一，通过拓展轴子耦合的结构，对宇宙弦的局域自由度进行具体预测，从而影响其演化并产生可观测的信号。其二，通过测量轴子位移对称的离散子群，导致弦谱发生显著变化。
研究人员强调，这里所探讨的场景应被视为新物理学出现的合理途径，因为它可以作为高能量下相当普遍场景的低能量有效场论。为了证实这一观点并进一步揭示其物理意义，他们为两种与TQFTs耦合的情况构建了UV补全。虽然对这种场景下的可观测信号的具体预测还需深入研究，但这项研究成果表明，这一领域蕴含着丰富的新现象，值得进一步探索。
据悉，粒子物理学的一个常见框架内含有两大粒子区：标准模型区和暗区，二者之间存在若干相互作用。
附：英文原文
Title: Coupling a Cosmic String to a TQFT
Author: Brennan, T. Daniel, Hong, Sungwoo, Wang, Lian-Tao
Issue&Volume: 2024-03-26
Abstract: A common framework of particle physics consists of two sectors of particles, such as the Standard Model and a dark sector, with some interaction between them. In this work, we initiate the study of a qualitatively different setup in which one of the sectors is a topological quantum field theory (TQFT). Instead of particles, the physics of a TQFT only manifests itself in non-trivial spacetime topologies or in the presence of topological defects. In particular, we consider two possible ways in which axionic cosmic strings can interact with a Zn TQFT. One of them, by extending the structure of the axion coupling, leads to specific predictions for the localized degrees of freedom on the cosmic string, which can in turn effect their evolution and leave observable signals. The second approach, by gauging a discrete subgroup of the axionic shift symmetry, leads to dramatic changes in the string spectrum. We stress that the scenario considered here should be regarded as a plausible way for new physics to arise since it can be the low energy effective field theory for quite generic scenarios at high energies. To demonstrate this point and further illustrate the physical implications, we construct UV completions for both of the cases of couplings to TQFTs. While detailed predictions for observable signals of such scenarios require further investigation, our results demonstrate that there are rich new phenomena in this scenario.
DOI: 10.1007/JHEP03(2024)145
Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/JHEP03(2024)145