Particle data updated

Particle data screening system is revised with the latest set of data from Particle Data Group. The revised version is here. The total number of listed particles rises from 212 to 214, adding two new particles, K(0)*(700) and Delta(1900). The charges of these are (0,+) and (-,0,+,++), respectively. There are also two renamed particles, which are chi(c2)(2P) --> chi(c2)(3930) and Upsilon(1D) --> Upsilon(2)(1D).

Paper submitted to arXiv

Motivated by the previous result that a holomorphic zero-mode wave function in abelian Chern-Simons theory on the torus can be considered as a quantum version of a modular form of weight 2, we consider how a Hecke operator acts on such wave functions. We argue that the action of the Hecke operator can be considered as a sum over possible gauge transformations of the wave function. (The gauge transformations are induced by doubly periodic translations.) The resultant expressions suggest that the notion of the level which is inherent to the modular forms naturally arises for the wave function. We also present a speculative idea on the computation of the Hecke eigenvalues. I have tried to find more fruitful results but spent a few months in vain. For details please see the paper.

Paper submitted to arXiv

In this paper we argue that in the context of geometric quantization holomorphic part of zero-mode wave function in abelian Chern-Simons theory on the torus can be considered as modular forms of weight two. Part of the arguments are made possible by imposing gauge invariance on the zero-mode wave function where gauge transformations are induced by modular transformations of the zero-mode variable.

Visit Asahikawa

Our family trip this summer was to Hokkaido. Asahiyama zoo was one of the main destinations formally but my personal plan in Asahikawa was to hike Mt. Asahi-dake and then to visit two literary museums in memory of Ayako Miura and Yasushi Inoue. The museums were both a lot greater than I had expected and I could not find enough time to enjoy the exhibition.

Particle data updated

Particle data screening system is revised with the latest set of data from Particle Data Group. The revised version is here. The total number of listed particles remains the same as 212.

Research note to appear as review article in Nucl. Phys. B

For details, please refer to
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2016.03.032.

Research note submitted to arXiv

In this note I consider mathematical foundations of the holonomy formalism for gluon amplitudes. This note grew out of a desire to understand "Theory of Hypergeometric Functions" by Aomoto and Kita. It was nice that I got new perspectives on analytic continuations and monodromies. I would like to apply the results to other physical models in near future.

No progress

Since a moving in February I've been lazy. No progress in my research. Need to change something.

Higgs Challenge is over

This summer I spent a lot of time on an interesting competitive project, Higgs Boson Machine Learning Challenge. The goal of the competition is to make better predictions on H -> tau{\bar tau} signals out of a bunch of background included collision data (obtained by the ATLAS team in CERN), supposedly using machine learning methods and physical insights. I first know of this competition here. It is interesting to have real collision data at hand (even if it is suitably modified from raw data by project admins) and play with it. I had an experience of regression trees using R several years ago but did not know current developments of big data analysis using python and related packages, and it seemed reasonable to use one of such packages, xgboost, to be competitive at the contest. So I started from scratch to build a python environment, which took me few days but brought me within top 100 most of the time. One of the main modifications I have made on the xgboost demo program is to scale the weights of the data entries so that the AMS score is independent of the data size. At some point I was around top 30 and made further effort to build more original models from physical perspectives but could not improve the score. I ended up at 216th among 1792 contestants. The final result is here. The top 3 guys will receive cash prizes, congratulations!

Particle data updated

Particle data screening system is revised with the latest set of data from Particle Data Group. The revised version is here. The total number of listed particles is now 212, with the Higgs particle added.

Visit Ryoanji and Sanjusangendo in Kyoto

Last week I stopped by Kyoto and visited Ryoanji and Sanjusangendo, which I have been longing to see for years. It was indeed a valuable experience.

Holonomy paper (vol.6) to appear in Nucl. Phys. B

For details, please refer to
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2014.01.012.

Holonomy papers (vol. 6 & 7) submitted to arXiv

It takes about a year and half but finally I have managed to write up. In the vol.6 paper we applied the mass generation prescriptions of scalars to fermions, which was done in this summer, but further efforts had to be made to apply the prescription to an electroweak model in the other vol.7 paper. Having reached some level of understanding, we now consider the incorporation of QCD and study the origin of generations, eventually trying to build a theory beyond the standard model.

Welcome, Yuriko!

Our second daughter was born today. Her name is Yuriko.
Welcome to our home, Yuriko! It's nice meeting you!

Demolition of parents' house in Jiyugaoka

Since age 14 until 23 I lived in the house with my parents, sister and a maltese dog. Days of study and baseball. It seems like just a yesterday.
I heard that my grandfather Taiichi and his family moved to Jiyugaoka (from Hibarigaoka in Takarazuka City) after the World War II. So the Abe family stayed in the place for more than 60 years, however, after my grandmother Yayoi's passing away last year my uncle and parents decided to leave the place. Good Bye!

Lecture Notes

Hand-written notes prepared for the recent (informal) lecture are digitalized here. The lecture is based on Nair's QFT book.

Lectures on QFT in Tokyo

Recently I was asked to give introductory lectures on Quantum Field Theory
for a general audience who would say, "Well, I have studied up to Quantum Mechanics but ..."
The lectures are at postgraduate level and probably given in Japanese.
Anybody interested in is welcome to join.

Title: QFT and Scattering Amplitudes

Place: The Open University of Japan, Tokyo-Bunkyo Learning Center, 2F Lecture Room
         http://www.sc.ouj.ac.jp/center/bunkyo/about/access.html (Japanese only)

Date: June 30, Sun
      Lecture 1    10:30-12:00
      Lecture 2    13:30-15:00
      Lecture 3    15:20-16:50

Risako entering elementary school

Having completed her six-year nursery school, Risako becomes an elementary school student.
The past six years with you have been a precious time for me.
Congratulations! Enjoy your studies.

Nair's Lecture Notes, draft

First draft is now available here. Please let me know if there are any typos or corrections.

Particle data updated

Particle data screening system is revised with the latest set of data from Particle Data Group. The revised version is here. The total number of listed particles is now 211, increased by 12 from the previous data.