ICMS

Jul 7, 2008 - Jul 11, 2008

ICMS, 14 India Street, Edinburgh

Organisers

Name	Institution
Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni	University of Rome La Sapienza
Kowalski-Glikman, Jerzy	University of Wroclaw
Majid, Shahn	Queen Mary, University of London
Schroers, Bernd	Heriot-Watt University

Copies of the presentations are now available via links within the timetable

The workshop will discuss proposals for modifying special relativity. It will focus on models in which the algebra of spacetime coordinates is non-commutative and/or Poincare symmetry is deformed to a quantum group. The goal of the workshop is to clarify to what extent such models can be derived from considerations in quantum gravity, to extract experimental predictions from these models and to compare these with available experimental or observational evidence.

The number of participants will be limited to a maximum of 40 in the first instance. The registration fee is 50 GBP. Some financial assistance is available to cover travel and accommodation expenses.
If you are interested in participating please e-mail Bernd Schroers

This workshop is financially supported by Quantum Geometry and Quantum Gravity Research Networking Programme of the European Science Foundation, the London Mathematical Society and the Edinburgh Mathematical Society.

Arrangements

Venue
The Workshop will be held at the head-quarters of ICMS at 14 India Street. This house is the birthplace of James Clerk Maxwell and is situated in the historic New Town of Edinburgh, very near the centre. The seminar room is fully equipped with large whiteboards, overhead and data projectors. Other facilities include PCs, wireless network and rooms suitable for small discussion meetings.

House opening times:
Monday 5 May: 08.30 – 18.00
Tuesday 6 May: 08.30 – 18.00
Wednesday 7 May: 08.30 – 18.00
Thursday 8 May: 08.30 – 18.00
Friday 9 May: 08.30 – 16.30

Accommodation
You are asked to reserve your own accommodation. Invited speakers will receive further information in their invitation letter.

A list of Edinburgh accommodation of various sorts and prices is detailed below:

Edinburgh First, The University of Edinburgh, 18 Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh EH16 5AY
0800 028 7118 (UK only) - +44 (0)131 651 2189 - edfirst1.ednet.co.uk

Ardenlee Guesthouse, 9 Eyre Place, Edinburgh EH3 5ES
+44 (0)131 556 2838 - www.ardenlee.co.uk - info@ardenleeguesthouse.com

The Dene, 7 Eyre Place, Edinburgh EH3 5ES
+44 (0)131 556 2700 - www.deneguesthouse.com - deneguesthouse@yahoo.co.uk

The Walton Hotel, 79 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6SD
+44 (0)131 556 1137 - www.waltonhotel.com - enquiries@waltonhotel.com

Ballantrae West End Hotel, 6 Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 5EP
+44 (0) 131 225 7033 - http://www.ballantraewestend.co.uk/ - westend@ballantraehotel.co.uk

Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel, 9 Haddington Place, Off Leith Walk, Edinburgh, EH7 4AL
+44 (0)131 534 2090 - http://www.syha.org.uk/SYHA/Web/Site/Hostels/EdinburghCentral.asp

Other accommodation can be found at this link

Meals and Refreshments
A sandwich lunch will be provided on the first day of the workshop, Monday 7 July. For the remainder of the days, participants are free to go out for lunch and explore the many cafes, restaurants, sandwich shops and bars in the surrounding area. On arrival we will provide you with a ‘welcome’ pack which will contain information about eating places nearby.

Morning and afternoon refreshments will be provided throughout the workshop.

The workshop dinner will take place on the evening of Tuesday 8 July at the Athena Restaurant, Hanover Street, Edinburgh. The workshop grant will cover the cost of this meal.

Registration
Registration will take place between 08.30 - 09.30 on Monday 7 July.

Financial Arrangements
Unless otherwise specified in your invitation letter, the workshop grant will cover the cost of your bed and breakfast accommodation, tea/coffee throughout the workshop, lunch on the first day and the Workshop Dinner on Tuesday evening.

If we have agreed to pay some of your travel costs, you will be informed by email. Reimbursement will take place after the workshop. At Registration you will be given an expenses claim form and this should be submitted to ICMS, with receipts. Your expenses will be paid directly into your bank account so you will need to provide your account details plus IBAN, SWIFT or Routing numbers as applicable. Please note that we cannot reimburse any item without a receipt.

 

 

Programme

Monday 7 July

08.30 - 09.30	Registration and coffee
09.30 - 10.45	Giovanni Amelino-Camelia (University of Rome La Sapienza) (PDF file) Doubly-special theories of NOT everything as treatment for the anthropic-principle syndrome
10.45 - 11.15	Coffee/Tea
11.15 - 12.30	Aurelio Grillo (Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, INFN) (PDF file) The Pierre Auger Observatory confronts Planck scale phenomenology: a review of results
12.30 - 14.00	Lunch break
14.00 - 14.45	Catherine Meusburger (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics) (PDF file) kappa-Poincare symmetries in (2+1)-gravity and Chern-Simons theory
14.45 - 15.30	Charles Young (Durham University) (PDF file) Identical particles in kappa-deformed quantum field theory
15.30 - 16.00	Coffee/Tea
16.00 - 17.00	Shahn Majid (Queen Mary, University of London) (PDF file) Understanding the physics of noncommutative waves and quantum symmetries

 

Tuesday 8 July

09.30 - 10.45	Joao Magueijo (Imperial College London) Explaining the structure of the universe
10.45 - 11.15	Coffee/Tea
11.15 - 12.30	Aldo Morselli (INFN Roma Tor Vergata) (PDF file) QG phenomenology constraints potentialities of next space gamma-ray experiments
12.30 - 14.00	Lunch break
14.00 - 14.45	Michele Arzano (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics) (PDF file) Non-locality, quantum symmetries and k-quantum fields
14.45 - 15.30	Florian Girelli (SISSA, Trieste) (PDF file) TBA
15.30 - 16.00	Coffee/Tea
16.00 - 17.00	John Barrett (University of Nottingham) State sum models and quantum field theory
19.30	Workshop dinner

 

Wednesday 9 July

09.30 - 10.30	Laurent Freidel (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics) (PDF file) Field theory on kappa Minkowski space; the issue of Lorentz invariance
10.30 - 11.00	Coffee/Tea
11.00 - 12.00	Etera Livine (ENS Lyon) Non-commutative field theories from 3d and 4d spin foam models
12.00 - 12.45	Jerzy Lukierski (University of Wroclaw) (PDF file) Kappa-deformed field oscillators and quantum kappa-deformed field theory
12.45 - 14.00	Lunch break
14.00	Free afternoon

 

Thursday 10 July

09.30 - 10.45	Francisco J Herranz (University of Burgos) (PDF file) Quantum (anti)de Sitter deformations: spatial isotropy, non-commutative spacetimes and zero-curvature limit
10.45 - 11.15	Coffee/Tea
11.15 - 12.00	Dario Benedetti (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics) (PDF file) Kappa-deformed statistics
12.00 - 12.30	Giulia Gubitosi (University of Rome La Sapienza and INFN Roma 1) (PDF file) Noether analysis for theories with canonincal spacetime noncommutativity
12.30 - 14.00	Lunch break
14.00 - 14.45	Sachindeo Vaidya (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) (PDF file) Signatures of spin-statistics violation in noncommutative QFTs
14.45 - 15.15	Flavio Mercati (University of Rome La Sapienza) (PDF file) A no-pure-boost uncertainty principle for k-Minkowski noncommutative spacetime
15.15 - 16.00	Coffee/Tea
16.00 - 16.30	Yuya Sasai (Kyoto University) (PDF file) Domain wall solitons and Hopf algebraic translational symmetries in noncommutative field theories
16.30 - 17.00	Stephen Low (University of Texas, alumni) (PDF file) Noninertial relativity groups consistent with Heisenberg commutation relations

 

Friday 11 July

09.30 - 10.45	Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman (University of Wroclaw) (PDF file) Deformed particle dynamics from (quantum) gravity?
10.45 - 11.15	Coffee/Tea
11.15 - 12.15	Artem Starodubtsev (Centre de Physique Theorique, Marseille) Gravitational interaction of particles in a spinfoam model
12.30 - 14.00	Lunch break
14.00 - 15.00	Angel Ballesteros (Universidad de Burgos) (PDF file) Curvature from quantum deformations
15.00 - 15.30	Coffee/Tea and close of workshop

 

Presentations:

Presentation Details
Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni
Doubly-special theories of NOT everything as treatment for the anthropic-principle syndrome
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This appears to be a time of transition for theory research in fundamental physics. The weaknesses of the myth of a "theory of everything", to be adopted exclusively on the basis of its conceptual compellingness, finally start to be widely acknowledged. Research on "doubly-special relativity" can play a key role in this transition period, if we stay focused on the basic physical ingredients, which I shall briefly review. I shall also illustrate the use of DSR as a "theory microscope" through the example of field theories with canonical spacetime noncommutativity.
Arzano, Michele
Non-locality, quantum symmetries and k-quantum fields
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We start by reviewing a general argument showing how non-local effects in quantum field theory can lead to a description of space-time symmetries in terms of quantum algebras rather than ordinary Lie algebras. We then focus on a particular example of such quantum algebras, the kappa-Poincare' Hopf algebra, discuss its relation to noncommutative spacetime and present the salient properties of classical fields enjoying these symmetries. A novel approach to the canonical quantization of a linear scalar field with such Hopf algebra symmetries will be then outlined and we will show how kappa-quantum fields exhibit a natural mode cutoff at the Planck scale and a deformed energy-momentum dispersion relation. Finally we will discuss work in progress in the understanding the rich structure emerging in the multiparticle sector of the theory, in particular the "momentum dependent" statistics of kappa-bosons and the emergence of entanglement for the free field modes.
Ballesteros, Angel
Curvature from quantum deformations
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The role of quantum deformations as the generating symmetries of a wide family of ND curved spaces is presented. Namely, a deformation of the sphere, hyperbolic and (anti-)de Sitter spaces is constructed through geodesic flow Hamiltonians defined on the non-standard quantum deformation of an sl(2) Poisson coalgebra. All these spaces have a (in general, non-constant) curvature that depends on the deformation parameter z, and the flat case is recovered in the limit when z goes to zero. Therefore, the quantum deformation parameter plays the role of the control parameter for the curvature on such `quantum' Poisson spaces. Moreover, the quantum coproduct ensures both the complete integrability of the geodesic flows and the generalization of this construction to arbitrary dimension.
Barrett, John
State sum models and quantum field theory
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I will give a general relation between a state sum model for a topological quantum field theory determined by a quantum group and a quantum field theory with a BF Lagrangian. Examples include Lie groups, q-deformations of Lie groups, and quantum doubles.
Benedetti, Dario
k-deformed statistics
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In the construction of a quantum field theory based on a non-cocommutative deformation of the Poincare' algebra, such as k-Poincare', it is necessary to deform in an appropriate way the symmetrization of Fock space. I will show a possible construction of such a deformed symmetrization highlighting connections with the star-product on k-Minkowski and similarities with QFT on the Moyal plane.
Freidel, Laurent
Field theory on kappa minkowskispace; the issue of Lorentz invariance
View Abstract Hide Abstract
To follow
Girelli, Florian
To follow
View Abstract Hide Abstract
To follow
Grillo, Aurelio
The Pierre Auger Observatory confronts Planck scale phenomenology: a review of results
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I discuss the accessibility of Planck Scale Phenomenology by Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray detectors, the open possibilities and some caveats that should be used in interpreting the experimental results. This is exemplified by the most recent results from the Pierre Auger Observatory.
Gubitosi, Giulia
Noether analysis for theories with canonincal spacetime noncommutativity
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A generalization of the Noether analysis is reported, thanks to which it is possible to analyze the symmetries of a scalar massless theory in canonical noncommutative spacetime, characterized by commutators between the coordinates of the form: [x_mu, x_nu]=i theta_{mu nu}, where theta_{mu nu} is observer-independent. The algebra of symmetries of this spacetime results to be a twisted Hopf algebra deformation of the classical Poincaré algebra. On the basis of the properties of the generators of this algebra it is shown to be necessary to introduce nontrivial commutators between transformation parameters and spacetime coordinates, implying that all symmetry transformations must include a translation component. With these noncommutative transformation parameters the Noether analysis of the symmetries can be performed, and leads to the identification of a set of conserved charges.
Herranz, Francisco J
Quantum (anti)de Sitter deformations: spatial isotropy, non-commutative spacetimes and zero-curvature limit
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Firstly, a quantum deformation of the (2+1)D (anti)de Sitter algebras is revisited and some of its properties are commented. This precise deformation has been shown to be related with transformations of the vacuum state of a Chern-Simons quantum gravity theory with cosmological constant. The corresponding non-commutative (2+1)D (anti)de Sitter spacetimes are also presented. Secondly, we analyze the (3+1)D quantum (anti)de Sitter algebras that could generalize the previous (2+1)D case. We show that there are only two possible quantum (anti)de Sitter algebras of this type and both depend on two generic deformation parameters. Their zero-curvature limit is also analyzed, finding a generalized kappa-Poincare algebra (as this depends on two deformation parameters). Furthermore, in spite of the apparently asymmetric expressions firstly obtained, we prove that spatial isotropy is in fact preserved through a suitable change of generators. Finally we explicitly show that there does not exist any quantum (anti)de Sitter deformation keeping the rotation subalgebra non-deformed.
Kowalski-Glikman, Jerzy
Deformed particle dynamics from (quantum) gravity?
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In my talk I will first argue that ''no gravity limit'' of 4d quantum gravity coupled to point particles can be described by Chern-Simons theory with SO(4,1) gauge group on boundary of space-time, being a product of two-sphere and real time axis. The particles are represented by charged punctures on the sphere. Then by using Alekseev-Malkin construction I will derive the effective symplectic structure of the particles. This symplectic structure happens to be very mildly deformed by the presence of gravity. In particular there seem to be no obvious traces of kappa-Poincare structure. I will speculate in which circumstances kappa-Poincare may arise.
Livine, Etera
Non-commutative field theories from 3d and 4d spin foam models
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Field theories in Deformed Special Relativity can usually be formulated as living on a curved momentum space provided with a group structure. It turns that such non-commutative field theories can be generally derived from spin foam models for gravity (as a BF theory) through their reformulation in term of "group field theories".
Low, Stephen
Noninertial relativity groups consistent with Heisenberg commutation relations
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The inhomogeneous Lorentz group defines the transformations between inertial states. Special relativistic quantum mechanics is defined in terms of its projective representations. Neither special relativity nor general relativity address how the states of a noninertial particles on a flat manifold due to a force other than gravity are related. We study this by starting with a quantum system with physical observables of position, time, energy and momentum that are the Hermitian representation of the generators of the algebra of the Weyl-Heisenberg group. Requiring that this be true for any states related by the projective representation of the relativity group results in a consistency condition that the relativity group must be a subgroup of the group of automorphisms of the Weyl-Heisenberg algebra. We consider the relativity groups that also leaves invariant orthogonal line elements; Newtonian time, Minkowski proper time and the Born-Green line elements. The first defines a group of transformations between noninertial frames that results in Hamilton's equations. Force and velocity are unbounded and there is an absolute inertial rest frame that all observers agree on. The relativity group that leaves invariant the Minkowski proper time line element can also be understood in terms of noninertial transforms where there is no longer and absolute rest frame but there continues to be an absolute inertial frame. Velocity is bounded by c, time is relative and forces are unbounded. Finally, we consider the Born-Green metric of reciprocal relativity that may again be understood as a group of noninertial transformations in a strongly interacting regime. There is neither an absolute inertial frame nor an absolute rest frame. Velocity is bounded by c, forces by b and spacetime itself is relative for noninertial observers. These relativity groups and their relationship through group contraction limits is explored. We explore a reciprocally relativistic quantum theory for noninertial states that can be constructed from the projective representations of the relativity group that follows directly Wigner’s approach to special relativistic quantum mechanics of inertial states.
Lukierski, Jerzy
Kappa-deformed field oscillators and quantum kappa-deformed field theory
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Various kappa-deformed models of field oscillators algebra are presented, defining the class of kappa-deformed statistics. Two possible ways of introducing quantum kappa-deformed free field theory is presented - one with the oscillators on-shell and q-number commutator, and second one with the free field theory modified by kappa-deformation in such a way that the commutator remains a c- number.
Magueijo, Joao
Explaining the structure of the universe
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I'll present a new mechanism for generating scale invariant fluctuations, based on a decaying speed of sound in the early universe. I then show how it can be realized in varying speed of light theories, including those that result from non-linear relativity and deformed dispersion relations.
Majid, Shahn
Understanding the physics of noncommutative waves and quantum symmetries
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I will explain the mathematical or theoretical background and the issues as I see it that have to be addressed for a physical and eventually experimental understanding. What is the interpretation of noncommutative spacetime, notably in the bicrossproduct spacetime model but also more generally?
Mercati, Flavio
A no-pure-boost uncertainty principle for k-Minkowski noncommutative spacetime
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Recent results about the study of boost and space-rotation transformations in kappa-Minkowski noncommutative spacetime are presented, in which the introduction of symmetry transformation parameters that do not commute with the spacetime coordinates allowed to identify some associated conserved charges. Unexpectedly, the form of the commutators between transformation parameters and spacetime coordinates turned out to be incompatible with the possibility of a pure boost (without rotations) transformation.
Meusburger, Catherine
kappa-Poincare symmetries in (2+1)-gravity and Chern-Simons theory
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kappa-Poincare symmetries have been discussed as potential symmetries of classical and quantum gravity as well as Chern-Simons gauge theory. We show that for the three-dimensional version of these theories, it is possible to give a definitive answer to the question if kappa-Poincare symmetries arise in (2+1)-gravity and Chern-Simons theory. In particular, we show that kappa-Poincare symmetries and the associated Poisson-Lie structures are NOT compatible with the Chern-Simons formulation of (2+1)-dimensional gravity. Instead, they are associated with another Chern-Simons theory based on the same gauge group but with a different bilinear form in the action. We explicitly parametrise the associated Poisson-Lie structures and discuss their role in the description of the phase space. We compare the role and physical interpretation of these kappa-Poincare symmetries with the classical and quantum double symmetries arising in (2+1)-gravity.
Morselli, Aldo
QG phenomenology constraints potentialities of next space gamma-ray experiments
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The next space gamma-ray experiments like AGILE and GLAST could in principle give some signals of new physics with the discovery of gamma rays from the annihilation of dark matter particles or Lorentz invariance violation effects in transient sources. Here we will give an update of the status of these experiments and these searches.
Sasai, Yuya
Domain wall solitons and Hopf algebraic translational symmetries in noncommutative field theories
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Domain wall solitons are the simplest topological objects in field theories. The conventional translational symmetry in a field theory is the generator of a one-parameter family of domain wall solutions, and induces a massless moduli field which propagates along a domain wall. We study similar issues in braided noncommutative field theories possessing Hopf algebraic translational symmetries. As a concrete example, we discuss a domain wall soliton in the scalar phi^4 braided noncommutative field theory in Lie-algebraic noncommutative spacetime, [x^i,x^j]=2i kappa epsilon^{ijk}x_k(i,j,k=1,2,3), which has a Hopf algebraic translational symmetry. We first discuss the existence of a domain wall soliton in view of Derrick's theorem, and construct explicitly a one-parameter family of solutions in perturbation of the noncommutativity parameter kappa. We then find the massless moduli field which propagates on the domain wall soliton. We further extend our analysis to the general Hopf algebraic translational symmetry.
Starodubtsev, Artem
Gravitational interaction of particles in a spinfoam model
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We consider perturbation theory for General Relativity coupled to particles around the topological sector. We find that in second order of the expansion the interaction includes an exchange of spin 2 particle which in the limit of small cosmological constant becomes massless. In this framework gravitational interaction gets combined with topological interaction which can be described as q-deformation. We discuss how q-deformation could regularize loop divergences of perturbation theory.
Vaidya, Sachindeo
Signatures of spin-statistics violation in noncommutative QFTs
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Quantum Field Theories on the Moyal Plane admit a novel quantization that respects Poincare invariance. A natural consequence of this quantization is the deformation of spin-statistics connection. We discuss possible signatures of this deformation as a violation of the usual spin-statistics connection.
Young, Charles
Identical particles in kappa-deformed quantum field theory
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In seeking to understand quantum field theory with kappa-Poincare symmetry, one important ingredient is a notion of particle exchange, and hence of identical particles. Defining particle exchange in a covariant fashion amounts to finding intertwiners of tensor products of representations of the kappa-Poincare algebra. I will discuss some recent work on this topic, and argue that suitable intertwiners (realizing the symmetric group) do exist in the kappa-deformed case.

Participants

Name	Institution
Amelino-Camelia, Giovanni	University of Rome La Sapienza
Arzano, Michele	Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Ballesteros, Angel	Universidad de Burgos
Barrett, John	University of Nottingham
Benedetti, Dario	Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Freidel, Laurent	Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Girelli, Florian	SISSA, Trieste
Grillo, Aurelio	Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, INFN
Gubitosi, Giulia	University of Rome La Sapienza and INFN Roma 1
Harland, Derek	Durham University
Herranz, Francisco J	University of Burgos
Kowalski-Glikman, Jerzy	University of Wroclaw
Livine, Etera	ENS Lyon
Low, Stephen	University of Texas (alumni)
Lukierski, Jerzy	University of Wroclaw
Magueijo, Joao	Imperial College London
Majid, Shahn	Queen Mary, University of London
Mercati, Flavio	University of Rome La Sapienza
Meusburger, Catherine	Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Morselli, Aldo	INFN Roma Tor Vergata
Ó Buachalla, Réamonn	Queen Mary, University of London
Osei, Prince Koree	University of Ghana
Papageorgiou, Giorgos	Heriot-Watt University
Sasai, Yuya	Kyoto University
Schroers, Bernd	Heriot-Watt University
Sindoni, Lorenzo	SISSA, Trieste
Starodubtsev, Artem	Centre de Physique Theorique, Marseille
Tarantino, Walter	King's College, London
Vaidya, Sachindeo	Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Woronowicz, Mariusz	University of Wroclaw
Yang, Chen	Durham University
Young, Charles	Durham University