Universal Deformations

TL;DR

This paper explores how certain quantum field theories with topological operators can be deformed to precisely control vacuum energies, impacting confinement and naturalness principles.

Contribution

It introduces exactly-calculable relevant deformations in theories with universes, enabling vacuum energy tuning and revealing novel physical phenomena.

Findings

Deformations allow tuning of vacuum energy densities.

Application to confinement in 2d gauge theories.

Discovery of a violation of naturalness principles.

Abstract

QFTs with local topological operators feature unusual sectors called "universes," which are separated by infinite-tension domain walls. We show that such systems have relevant deformations with exactly-calculable effects. These deformations allow one to dial the vacuum energy densities of the universes. We describe applications of these deformations to confinement in 2d gauge theories, as well as a curious violation of the effective field theory naturalness principle.