Complexity in tame quantum theories

TW Grimm, L Schlechter, M van Vliet*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Inspired by the notion that physical systems can contain only a finite amount of information or complexity, we introduce a framework that allows for quantifying the amount of logical information needed to specify a function or set. We then apply this methodology to a variety of physical systems and derive the complexity of parameter-dependent physical observables and coupling functions appearing in effective Lagrangians. In order to implement these ideas, it is essential to consider physical theories that can be defined in an o-minimal structure. O-minimality, a concept from mathematical logic, encapsulates a tameness principle. It was recently argued that this property is inherent to many known quantum field theories and is linked to the UV completion of the theory. To assign a complexity to each statement in these theories one has to further constrain the allowed o-minimal structures. To exemplify this, we show that many physical systems can be formulated using Pfaffian o-minimal structures, which have a well-established notion of complexity. More generally, we propose adopting sharply o-minimal structures, recently introduced by Binyamini and Novikov, as an overarching framework to measure complexity in quantum theories.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1
Number of pages43
JournalJournal of High Energy Physics
Volume2024
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 May 2024

Keywords

  • Differential and Algebraic Geometry
  • Effective Field Theories
  • Integrable Field Theories

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Complexity in tame quantum theories'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this