Could also gauge bosons correspond to wormhole contacts?

The developments in the formulation of quantum TGD which have taken place during the period 2005-2007 (see this, this, and this) suggest dramatic simplifications of the general picture about elementary particle spectrum. p-Adic mass calculations (see this, this, this, and this) leave a lot of freedom concerning the detailed identification of elementary particles. The basic open question is whether the theory is free at parton level as suggested by the recent view about the construction of S-matrix and by the almost topological QFT property of quantum TGD at parton level (see this and this). Or more concretely: do partonic 2-surfaces carry only free many-fermion states or can they carry also bound states of fermions and anti-fermions identifiable as bosons?

What is known that Higgs boson corresponds naturally to a wormhole contact . The wormhole contact connects two space-time sheets with induced metric having Minkowski signature. Wormhole contact itself has an Euclidian metric signature so that there are two wormhole throats which are light-like 3-surfaces and would carry fermion and anti-fermion number in the case of Higgs. Irrespective of the identification of the remaining elementary particles MEs (massless extremals, topological light rays) would serve as space-time correlates for elementary bosons. Higgs type wormhole contacts would connect MEs to the larger space-time sheet and the coherent state of neutral Higgs would generate gauge boson mass and could contribute also to fermion mass.

The basic question is whether this identification applies also to gauge bosons (certainly not to graviton). This identification would imply quite a dramatic simplification since the theory would be free at single parton level and the only stable parton states would be fermions and anti-fermions. As will be found this identification allows to understand the dramatic difference between graviton and other gauge bosons and the weakness of gravitational coupling, gives a connection with the string picture of gravitons, and predicts that stringy states are directly relevant for nuclear and condensed matter physics as has been proposed already earlier (see this, this, and this).

1. Option I: Only Higgs as a wormhole contact

The only possibility considered hitherto has been that elementary bosons correspond to partonic 2-surfaces carrying fermion-anti-fermion pair such that either fermion or anti-fermion has a non-physical polarization. For this option CP₂ type extremals condensed on MEs and travelling with light velocity would serve as a model for both fermions and bosons. MEs are not absolutely necessary for this option. The couplings of fermions and gauge bosons to Higgs would be very similar topologically. Consider now the counter arguments.

1. This option fails if the theory at partonic level is free field theory so that anti-fermions and elementary bosons cannot be identified as bound states of fermion and anti-fermion with either of them having non-physical polarization.

2. Mathematically oriented mind could also argue that the asymmetry between Higgs and elementary gauge bosons is not plausible whereas asymmetry between fermions and gauge bosons is. Mathematician could continue by arguing that if wormhole contacts with net quantum numbers of Higgs boson are possible, also those with gauge boson quantum numbers are unavoidable.

3. Physics oriented thinker could argue that since gauge bosons do not exhibit family replication phenomenon (having topological explanation in TGD framework) there must be a profound difference between fermions and bosons.

2. Option II: All elementary bosons as wormhole contacts

The hypothesis that quantum TGD reduces to a free field theory at parton level is consistent with the almost topological QFT character of the theory at this level. Hence there are good motivations for studying explicitly the consequences of this hypothesis.

2.1 Elementary bosons must correspond to wormhole contacts if the theory is free at parton level

Also gauge bosons could correspond to wormhole contacts connecting MEs (see this) to larger space-time sheet and propagating with light velocity. For this option there would be no need to assume the presence of non-physical fermion or anti-fermion polarization since fermion and anti-fermion would reside at different wormhole throats. Only the definition of what it is to be non-physical would be different on the light-like 3-surfaces defining the throats.

The difference would naturally relate to the different time orientations of wormhole throats and make itself manifest via the definition of light-like operator o=x^kγ_k appearing in the generalized eigenvalue equation for the modified Dirac operator (see this and this). For the first throat o^k would correspond to a light-like tangent vector t^kof the partonic 3-surface and for the second throat to its M⁴ dual t_d^k in a preferred rest system in M⁴ (implied by the basic construction of quantum TGD). What is nice that this picture non-asks the question whether t^kor t_d^kshould appear in the modified Dirac operator.

Rather satisfactorily, MEs (massless extremals, topological light rays) would be necessary for the propagation of wormhole contacts so that they would naturally emerge as classical correlates of bosons. The simplest model for fermions would be as CP₂ type extremals topologically condensed on MEs and for bosons as pieces of CP₂ type extremals connecting ME to the larger space-time sheet. For fermions topological condensation is possible to either space-time sheet.

2.2 Phase conjugate states and matter-antimatter asymmetry

By fermion number conservation fermion-boson and boson-boson couplings must involve the fusion of partonic 3-surfaces along their ends identified as wormhole throats. Bosonic couplings would differ from fermionic couplings only in that the process would be 2→ 4 rather than 1→ 3 at the level of throats.

The decay of boson to an ordinary fermion pair with fermion and anti-fermion at the same space-time sheet would take place via the basic vertex at which the 2-dimensional ends of light-like 3-surfaces are identified. The sign of the boson energy would tell whether boson is ordinary boson or its phase conjugate (say phase conjugate photon of laser light) and also dictate the sign of the time orientation of fermion and anti-fermion resulting in the decay.

Also a candidate for a new kind interaction vertex emerges. The splitting of bosonic wormhole contact would generate fermion and time-reversed anti-fermion having interpretation as a phase conjugate fermion. This process cannot correspond to a decay of boson to ordinary fermion pair. The splitting process could generate matter-antimatter asymmetry in the sense that fermionic antimatter would consist dominantly of negative energy anti-fermions at space-time sheets having negative time orientation (see this and this).

This vertex would define the fundamental interaction between matter and phase conjugate matter. Phase conjugate photons are in a key role in TGD based quantum model of living matter. This involves a model for memory as communications in time reversed direction, mechanism of intentional action involving signalling to geometric past, and mechanism of remote metabolism involving sending of negative energy photons to the energy reservoir (see this). The splitting of wormhole contacts has been considered as a candidate for a mechanism realizing Boolean cognition in terms of "cognitive neutrino pairs" resulting in the splitting of wormhole contacts with net quantum numbers of Z⁰ boson (see this).

3. Graviton and other stringy states

Fermion and anti-fermion can give rise to only single unit of spin since it is impossible to assign angular momentum with the relative motion of wormhole throats. Hence the identification of graviton as single wormhole contact is not possible. The only conclusion is that graviton must be a superposition of fermion-anti-fermion pairs and boson-anti-boson pairs with coefficients determined by the coupling of the parton to graviton. Graviton-graviton pairs might emerge in higher orders. Fermion and anti-fermion would reside at the same space-time sheet and would have a non-vanishing relative angular momentum. Also bosons could have non-vanishing relative angular momentum and Higgs bosons must indeed possess it.

Gravitons are stable if the throats of wormhole contacts carry non-vanishing gauge fluxes so that the throats of wormhole contacts are connected by flux tubes carrying the gauge flux. The mechanism producing gravitons would the splitting of partonic 2-surfaces via the basic vertex. A connection with string picture emerges with the counterpart of string identified as the flux tube connecting the wormhole throats. Gravitational constant would relate directly to the value of the string tension.

The TGD view about coupling constant evolution predicts G propto L_p², where L_p is p-adic length scale, and that physical graviton corresponds to p=M₁₂₇=2¹²⁷-1. Thus graviton would have geometric size of order Compton length of electron which is something totally new from the point of view of usual Planck length scale dogmatism. In principle an entire p-adic hierarchy of gravitational forces is possible with increasing value of G.

The explanation for the small value of the gravitational coupling strength serves as a test for the proposed picture. The exchange of ordinary gauge boson involves the exchange of single CP₂ type extremal giving the exponent of Kähler action compensated by state normalization. In the case of graviton exchange two wormhole contacts are exchanged and this gives second power for the exponent of Kähler action which is not compensated. It would be this additional exponent that would give rise to the huge reduction of gravitational coupling strength from the naive estimate G ≈ L_p².

Gravitons are obviously not the only stringy states. For instance, one obtains spin 1 states when the ends of string correspond to gauge boson and Higgs. Also non-vanishing electro-weak and color quantum numbers are possible and stringy states couple to elementary partons via standard couplings in this case. TGD based model for nuclei as nuclear strings having length of order L(127) (see this) suggests that the strings with light M₁₂₇quark and anti-quark at their ends identifiable as companions of the ordinary graviton are responsible for the strong nuclear force instead of exchanges of ordinary mesons or color van der Waals forces.

Also the TGD based model of high T_c super-conductivity involves stringy states connecting the space-time sheets associated with the electrons of the exotic Cooper pair (see this and this). Thus stringy states would play a key role in nuclear and condensed matter physics, which means a profound departure from stringy wisdom, and breakdown of the standard reductionistic picture.

4. Spectrum of non-stringy states

The 1-throat character of fermions is consistent with the generation-genus correspondence. The 2-throat character of bosons predicts that bosons are characterized by the genera (g₁,g₂) of the wormhole throats. Note that the interpretation of fundamental fermions as wormhole contacts with second throat identified as a Fock vacuum is excluded.

The general bosonic wave-function would be expressible as a matrix M_g1,g2 and ordinary gauge bosons would correspond to a diagonal matrix M_g1,g2=δ_g1,g2 as required by the absence of neutral flavor changing currents (say gluons transforming quark genera to each other). 8 new gauge bosons are predicted if one allows all 3× 3 matrices with complex entries orthonormalized with respect to trace meaning additional dynamical SU(3) symmetry. Ordinary gauge bosons would be SU(3) singlets in this sense. The existing bounds on flavor changing neutral currents give bounds on the masses of the boson octet. The 2-throat character of bosons should relate to the low value T=1/n<< 1 for the p-adic temperature of gauge bosons as contrasted to T=1 for fermions.

If one forgets the complications due to the stringy states (including graviton), the spectrum of elementary fermions and bosons is amazingly simple and almost reduces to the spectrum of standard model. In the fermionic sector one would have fermions of standard model. By simple counting leptonic wormhole throat could carry 2³=8 states corresponding to 2 polarization states, 2 charge states, and sign of lepton number giving 8+8=16 states altogether. Taking into account phase conjugates gives 16+16=32 states.

In the non-stringy boson sector one would have bound states of fermions and phase conjugate fermions. Since only two polarization states are allowed for massless states, one obtains (2+1)× (3+1)=12 states plus phase conjugates giving 12+12=24 states. The addition of color singlet states for quarks gives 48 gauge bosons with vanishing fermion number and color quantum numbers. Besides 12 electro-weak bosons and their 12 phase conjugates there are 12 exotic bosons and their 12 phase conjugates. For the exotic bosons the couplings to quarks and leptons are determined by the orthogonality of the coupling matrices of ordinary and boson states. For exotic counterparts of Wbosons and Higgs the sign of the coupling to quarks is opposite. For photon and Z⁰ also the relative magnitudes of the couplings to quarks must change. Altogether this makes 48+16+16=80 states. Gluons would result as color octet states. Family replication would extend each elementary boson state into SU(3)octet and singlet and elementary fermion states into SU(3)triplets.

5. Higgs mechanism

Consider next the generation of mass as a vacuum expectation value of Higgs when also gauge bosons correspond to wormhole contacts. The presence of Higgs condensate should make the simple rectilinear ME curved so that the average propagation of fields would occur with a velocity less than light velocity. Field equations allow MEs of this kind as solutions (see this).

The finite range of interaction characterized by the gauge boson mass should correlate with the finite range for the free propagation of wormhole contacts representing bosons along corresponding ME. The finite range would result from the emission of Higgs like wormhole contacts from gauge boson like wormhole contact leading to the generation of coherent states of neutral Higgs particles. The emission would also induce non-rectilinearity of ME as a correlate for the recoil in the emission of Higgs.

For more details see the chapter Massless states and Particle Massivation.