Self-duality greatly reduces the mathematical difficulties of a theory but it is also a notion of considerable physical significance. The new class of self-dual Chern-Simons theories discussed in detail in this book arise in the context of anyonic quantum field theory and have applications to models such as the quantum Hall effect, anyonic superconductivity, and Aharonov-Bohm scattering. There are also interesting connections with the theory of integrable models. The author presents the abelian and non-abelian models for relativistic and non-relativistic realizations of the self-dual Chern-Simons theories and finishes with some applications in quantum physics. The book is written for advanced students and researchers in mathematical, particle, and condensed matter physics.

This monograph discusses specific examples of selfdual gauge field structures, including the Chern–Simons model, the abelian–Higgs model, and Yang–Mills gauge field theory. The author builds a foundation for gauge theory and selfdual vortices by introducing the basic mathematical language of gauge theory and formulating examples of Chern–Simons–Higgs theories (in both abelian and non-abelian settings). Thereafter, the Electroweak theory and self-gravitating Electroweak strings are examined. The final chapters treat elliptic problems involving Chern–Simmons models, concentration-compactness principles, and Maxwell–Chern–Simons vortices.

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Session LXIX. 7 - 31 July 1998

This volume contains lecture notes on key topics in geometric analysis, a growing mathematical subject which uses analytical techniques, mostly of partial differential equations, to treat problems in differential geometry and mathematical physics.

ICM 2002 Satellite Conference on Nonlinear Analysis was held in the period: August 1418, 2002 at Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China. This conference was organized by Mathematical School of Peking University, Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mathematical school of Nankai University, and Department of Mathematics of Shanxi University, and was sponsored by Shanxi Province Education Committee, Tian Yuan Mathematics Foundation, and Shanxi University. 166 mathematicians from 21 countries and areas in the world attended the conference. 53 invited speakers and 30 contributors presented their lectures. This conference aims at an overview of the recent development in nonlinear analysis. It covers the following topics: variational methods, topological methods, fixed point theory, bifurcations, nonlinear spectral theory, nonlinear Schrvdinger equations, semilinear elliptic equations, Hamiltonian systems, central configuration in N-body problems and variational problems arising in geometry and physics.

This book explains the subtleties of quantum statistical mechanics in lower dimensions and their possible ramifications in quantum theory. The discussion is at a pedagogical level and is addressed to both graduate students and advanced researchers with a reasonable background in quantum and statistical mechanics. Topics in the first part of the book include the flux tube model of anyons, the braid group and a detailed discussion about the various aspects of quantum and statistical mechanics of a noninteracting anyon gas. The second part of the book includes a detailed discussion about fractional statistics from the point of view of ChernOCoSimons theories. Topics covered here include ChernOCoSimons field theories, charged vortices, anyon superconductivity and the fractional quantum Hall effect. Since the publication of the first edition of the book, an exciting possibility has emerged, that of quantum computing using anyons. A section has therefore been included on this topic in the second edition. In addition, new sections have been added about scattering of anyons with hard disk repulsion as well as fractional exclusion statistics and negative probabilities."

Nonlinear partial differential equations abound in modern physics. The problems arising in these fields lead to fascinating questions and, at the same time, progress in understanding the mathematical structures is of great importance to the models. Nevertheless, activity in one of the approaches is not always sufficiently in touch with developments in the other field. The book presents the joint efforts of mathematicians and physicists involved in modelling reactive flows, in particular superconductivity and superfluidity. Certain contributions are fundamental to an understanding of such cutting-edge research topics as rotating Bose-Einstein condensates, Kolmogorov-Zakharov solutions for weak turbulence equations, and the propagation of fronts in heterogeneous media.

Despite its long history and stunning experimental successes, the mathematical foundation of perturbative quantum field theory is still a subject of ongoing research. This book aims at presenting some of the most recent advances in the field, and at reflecting the diversity of approaches and tools invented and currently employed. Both leading experts and comparative newcomers to the field present their latest findings, helping readers to gain a better understanding of not only quantum but also classical field theories. Though the book offers a valuable resource for mathematicians and physicists alike, the focus is more on mathematical developments. This volume consists of four parts: The first Part covers local aspects of perturbative quantum field theory, with an emphasis on the axiomatization of the algebra behind the operator product expansion. The second Part highlights Chern-Simons gauge theories, while the third examines (semi-)classical field theories. In closing, Part 4 addresses factorization homology and factorization algebras.