2004/12/27 by S. Khlebnikov, M. Shaposhnikov · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-th #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.71.104024
published as Phys.Rev. D71 (2005) 104024 · 44 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2004/12/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
Reductions from odd to even dimensionalities (5→ 4 or 3→ 2), for which the effective low-energy theory contains chiral fermions, present us with a mismatch between ultraviolet and infrared anomalies. This applies to both local (gauge) and global currents; here we consider the latter case. We show that the mismatch can be explained by taking into account a change in the spectral asymmetry of the massive modes--an odd-dimensional analog of the phenomenon described by the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer theorem in even dimensionalities. The result has phenomenological implications: we present a scenario in which a QCD-like θ-angle relaxes to zero on a certain (possibly, cosmological) timescale, despite the absence of any light axion-like particle.