Raul Horvat

One-loop theta-exact quantum corrections to the neutrino propagator are computed in noncommutative U*(1) gauge-theory based on Seiberg-Witten maps. Our closed form results show that the one-loop correction contains a hard 1/epsilon UV divergence, as well as a logarithmic IR-divergent term of the type ln sqrt(theta p)^2, thus considerably softening the usual UV/IR mixing phenomenon. We show that both of these problematic terms vanish for a certain choice of the noncommutative parameter theta which preserves unitarity. We find non-perturbative modifications of the neutrino dispersion relations which are assymptotically independent of the scale of noncommutativity in both the low and high energy limits and may allow superluminal propagation. Finally, we demonstrate how the prodigious freedom in Seiberg-Witten maps may be used to affect neutrino propagation in a profound way.

In an approach to noncommutative gauge theories, where the full noncommutative behavior is delimited by the presence of the UV and IR cutoffs, we consider the possibility of describing a system at a temperature T in a box of size L. Employing a specific form of UV/IR relationship inherent in such an approach of restrictive noncommutativity, we derive, for a given temperature T, an upper bound on the parameter of spacetime noncommutativity Lambda_NC ~ |theta|^{-1/2}. Considering such epochs in the very early universe which are expected to reflect spacetime noncommutativity to a quite degree, like the reheating stage after inflation, or believable pre-inflation radiation-dominated epochs, the best limits on Lambda_NC are obtained. We also demonstrate how the nature and size of the thermal system (for instance, the Hubble distance versus the future event horizon) can affect our bounds.

In formulating gauge field theories on noncommutative (NC) spaces it is suggested that particles carrying gauge invariant quantities should not be viewed as pointlike, but rather as extended objects whose sizes grow linearly with their momenta. This and other generic properties deriving from the nonlocal character of interactions (showing thus unambiguously their quantum-gravity origin) lead to a specific form of UV/IR mixing as well as to a pathological behavior at the quantum level when the noncommutativity parameter theta is set to be arbitrarily small. In spite of previous suggestions that in a NC gauge theory based on the theta-expanded Seiberg-Witten (SW) maps UV/IR mixing effects may be under control, a fairly recent study of photon self-energy within a SW theta-exact approach has shown that UV/IR mixing is still present. We study the self-energy contribution for neutral fermions in the theta-exact approach of NC QED, and show by explicit calculation that all but one divergence can be eliminated for a generic choice of the noncommutativity parameter theta. The remaining divergence is linked to the pointlike limit of an extended object.

In a recently proposed scenario for primordial inflation, where the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson plays a role of the inflation field, an effective field theory (EFT) approach is the most convenient for working out the consequences of breaking of perturbative unitarity, caused by the strong coupling of the Higgs field to the Ricci scalar. The domain of validity of the EFT approach is given by the ultraviolet (UV) cutoff, which, roughly speaking, should always exceed the Hubble parameter in the course of inflation. On the other hand, applying the trusted principles of quantum gravity to a local EFT demands that it should only be used to describe states in a region larger than their corresponding Schwarschild radius, manifesting thus a sort of UV/IR correspondence. We consider both constraints on EFT, to ascertain which models of the SM Higgs inflation are able to simultaneously comply with them. We also show that if the gravitational coupling evolves with the scale factor, the holographic constraint can be alleviated significantly with minimal set of canonical assumptions, by forcing the said coupling to be asymptotically free.