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Phys. Rev. D 67, 085004 (2003) [13 pages]

Fractal theory space: Spacetime of noninteger dimensionality

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Christopher T. Hill*
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, Illinois 60510

Received 29 October 2002; published 14 April 2003

We construct matter field theories in a “theory space” that is fractal, and invariant under geometrical renormalization group (RG) transformations. We treat in detail complex scalars, and discuss issues related to fermions, chirality, and Yang-Mills gauge fields. In the continuum limit these models describe physics in a noninteger spatial dimension which appears above a RG invariant “compactification scale” M. The energy distribution of KK modes above M is controlled by an exponent in a scaling relation of the vacuum energy (Coleman-Weinberg potential), and corresponds to the dimensionality. For truncated-s-simplex lattices with coordination number s the spacetime dimensionality is 1+[3+2ln(s)/ln(s+2)]. The computations in theory space involve subtleties, owing to the 1+3 kinetic terms, yet the resulting dimensionalites are equivalent to thermal spin systems. Physical implications are discussed.

© 2003 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.67.085004
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevD.67.085004
PACS:
11.10.Kk, 11.10.Hi, 11.15.Ha

*Email address: hill@fnal.gov