Twisting Noncommutative Geometries with Applications to High Energy Physics

Abstract: With the bare essentials of noncommutative geometry (defined by a spectral triple), we first describe how it naturally gives rise to gauge theories. Then, we quickly review the notion of twisting (in particular, minimally) noncommutative geometries and how it induces a Wick rotation, that is, a transition of the metric signature from euclidean to Lorentzian. We focus on comparatively more tractable examples of spectral triples; such as the ones corresponding to a closed Riemannian spin manifold, $U(1)$ gauge theory, and electrodynamics. By minimally twisting these examples and computing their associated fermionic actions, we demonstrate how to arrive at physically relevant actions (such as the Weyl and Dirac actions) in Lorentz signature, even though starting from euclidean spectral triples. In the process, not only do we extract a physical interpretation of the twist, but we also capture exactly how the Wick rotation takes place at the level of the fermionic action.