Fuzzy Actions and their Continuum Limits

Gravity on noncommutative analogues of compact spaces can give a finite mode truncation of ordinary commutative gravity. We obtain the actions for gravity on the noncommutative two-sphere and on the noncommutative ${\bf CP}^2$ in terms of finite dimensional $(N\times N)$-matrices. The commutative large $N$ limit is also discussed.

We briefly review the connection between the fuzzy field theories and matrix models and describe the main features of the models that appear. We summarize the different approaches to their analysis, some of the recent results and the challenges to be addressed in the future.

We deconstruct the finite projective modules for the fuzzy four-sphere, described in a previous paper, and correlate them with the matrix model approach, making manifest the physical implications of noncommutative topology. We briefly discuss also the U(2) case, being a smooth deformation of the celebrated BPST SU(2) classical instantons on a sphere.

Quantization of spacetime by means of finite dimensional matrices is the basic idea of fuzzy spaces. There remains an issue of quantizing time, however, the idea is simple and it provides an interesting interplay of various ideas in mathematics and physics. Shedding some light on such an interplay is the main theme of this dissertation. The dissertation roughly separates into two parts. In the first part, we consider a mathematical aspect of fuzzy spaces, namely, their constr...

This thesis is devoted to the study of Quantum Field Theories (QFT) on fuzzy spaces. Fuzzy spaces are approximations to the algebra of functions of a continuous space by a finite matrix algebra. In the limit of infinitely large matrices the formulation is exact. An attractive feature of this approach is that it transparently shows how the geometrical properties of the continuous space are preserved. In the study of the non-perturbative regime of QFT, fuzzy spaces provide a po...

We give a brief review of quantum Hall effect in higher dimensions and its relation to fuzzy spaces. For a quantum Hall system, the lowest Landau level dynamics is given by a one-dimensional matrix action whose large $N$ limit produces an effective action describing the gauge interactions of a higher dimensional quantum Hall droplet. The bulk action is a Chern-Simons type term whose anomaly is exactly cancelled by the boundary action given in terms of a chiral, gauged Wess-Zu...

Monopoles and solitons have important topological aspects like quantized fluxes, winding numbers and curved target spaces. Naive discretizations which substitute a lattice of points for the underlying manifolds are incapable of retaining these features in a precise way. We study these problems of discrete physics and matrix models and discuss mathematically coherent discretizations of monopoles and solitons using fuzzy physics and noncommutative geometry. A fuzzy sigma-model ...

This is a short review of recent work on fuzzy spaces in their relation to the M(atrix) theory and the quantum Hall effect. We give an introduction to fuzzy spaces and how the limit of large matrices is obtained. The complex projective spaces ${\bf CP}^k$, and to a lesser extent spheres, are considered. Quantum Hall effect and the behavior of edge excitations of a droplet of fermions on these spaces and their relation to fuzzy spaces are also discussed.

We study the phase diagram of scalar field theory on a three dimensional Euclidean spacetime whose spatial component is a fuzzy sphere. The corresponding model is an ordinary one-dimensional matrix model deformed by terms involving fixed external matrices. These terms can be approximated by multitrace expressions using a group theoretical method developed recently. The resulting matrix model is accessible to the standard techniques of matrix quantum mechanics.

We consider the physics of a matrix model describing D0-brane dynamics in the presence of an RR flux background. Non-commuting spaces arise as generic soltions to this matrix model, among which fuzzy spheres have been studied extensively as static solutions at finite N. The existence of topologicaly distinct static configurations suggests the possibility of D-brane topology change within this model, however a dynamical solution interpolating between topologies is still somewh...