Ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Anton Rebhan

Institut für Theoretische Physik
Technische Universität Wien
Wiedner Hauptstr. 8-10/136, A-1040 Vienna, Austria

Telefon: +43-1-58801-13626, Fax: +43-1-58801-13699, E-Mail: rebhana@tph.tuwien.ac.at

Link to TEACHING

RESEARCH

My main current research interests are
Quantum field theory at finite temperature and density
which is the theoretical tool to study quantum matter under extreme conditions. Of particular interest is the high-temperature regime of quantum chromodynamics which is supposed to describe the hypothetical quark-gluon plasma that is sought for in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. One of the main theoretical problems is to develop analytic methods for studying dynamic processes. A major breakthrough has been the development of a resummed perturbation theory around 1990 which is still being worked out. In particular I have been concerned with questions of gauge (in)dependence, damping of quasiparticle excitations, and nonabelian Debye screening. Another important open problem is the field-theoretical treatment of nonlinear deviations from thermal equilibrium.
(Particle) Physics of the very early universe
which is also a very ``hot'' topic. The COBE satellite, and recently with greatly increased resolution the WMAP satellite, have detected small anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation which is a direct probe on the structure of the early universe. I have been concerned with developing quantum field theoretical methods for studying the dynamics of cosmological perturbations in density, vorticity, and gravitational radiation in the presence of an ultrarelativistic weakly self-interacting plasma.
Quantization of solitons
Recently major progress in the understanding of non-perturbative aspects of (supersymmetric) field (and string) theories has been achieved by exploiting dualities in which quantized (supersymmetric) solitons play a central role. We have found that in N=1 two-dimensional supersymmetric field theory quantized solitons receive non-vanishing mass corrections so that the quantum theory is more complicated than hitherto expected, involving in particular an anomalous contribution to the central charge operator. A related anomalous quantum corrections was recently obtained by us also in minimally supersymmetric domain walls in 2+1 dimensions, and also in the important case of the N=2 supersymmetric monopole.
This research was done partly within the EU-HCM network ``Physics at High Energy Colliders'', partner institutes in the thermal-field-theory subnetwork: LAPP Annecy (F), Univ. Bielefeld (D), DAMTP Cambridge (GB), INLN Nice (F), LPTHE Orsay (F), and Univ. Thessaloniki (GR).
Since July 1997 I am involved in an Austrian-French research program (sponsered by ÖAD) with CE Saclay on ``Infrared problems and nonperturbative aspects of quantum field theories at high temperature''.
Scientific collaborations moreover include Univ. Hannover (D), Univ. Heidelberg (D), Univ. Helsinki, U.o.Winnipeg (Canada), U.o.Western Ontario (Canada), Washington Univ., St. Louis (US), and State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Research workshops where I am/was co-organizer or on the advisory board:

TEACHING

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