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Non-perturbative aspects of Sp(2N) gauge theories / JACK HOLLIGAN

Swansea University Author: JACK HOLLIGAN

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.58291

Abstract

Yang-Mills theories based on the symplectic groups – denoted by Sp(2N) – are inter-esting for both theoretical and phenomenological reasons. Sp(2N) theories with two fundamental Dirac fermions give rise to pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons which can be interpreted as a composite Higgs particle. This fra...

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Published: Swansea 2021
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Lucini, Biagio ; Piai, Maurizio
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58291
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Abstract: Yang-Mills theories based on the symplectic groups – denoted by Sp(2N) – are inter-esting for both theoretical and phenomenological reasons. Sp(2N) theories with two fundamental Dirac fermions give rise to pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons which can be interpreted as a composite Higgs particle. This framework can describe the existing Higgs boson without the need for unnatural fine-tuning. This justifies a programme of wider investigations of Sp(2N) gauge theories aimed at understanding their general behaviour. In this work, we study the glueball mass spectrum for Sp(2N) Yang-Mills theories using the variational method applied to Monte-Carlo generated gauge config-urations. This is carried out both for finite N and in the limit N → ∞. The results are compared to existing results for SU(N) Yang-Mills theories, again, for finite- and large-N. Our glueball analysis is then used to investigate some conjectures related to the behaviour of the spectrum in Yang-Mills theories based on a generic non-Abeliangauge group G. We also find numerical evidence that Sp(2N) groups confine both for finite and large N. As well as studying the glueball spectrum, we examine the quenched-meson spectrum for fermions in the fundamental, antisymmetric and sym-metric representations for N = 2 and N = 3. This study enables us to provide a first account of how the related observables vary with N. The investigations presented in this work contribute to our understanding of the non-perturbative dynamics of Sp(2N) gauge theories in connection with Higgs compositeness and, more in general, with fun-damental open problems in non-Abelian gauge theories such as confinement and global symmetry breaking.
Item Description: ORCiD identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6043-0262
Keywords: Lattice, BSM, Higgs, Symplectic, Glueball, Quenched meson spectrum
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering