Topology of D-Operator Space (Step into the Middle of Nowhere)
We study the topological structure of the space of free kinetic operators in quantum field theory. We define a set \(\mathfrak{D}\) of Euclidean admissible differential operators on a fixed compact manifold, encoding physical requirements (locality, ellipticity, positivity, and gauge structure). Throughout, \(\mathfrak{D}\) denotes the admissible set, \(\overline{\mathfrak{D}}\) its SOT closure, and \(\mathfrak{D}_{\mathrm{phys}}\) the Lorentzian physical admissible set. Equipping the space of block-diagonal, finite-order operators with the strong operator topology (SOT), we prove that the closure \(\overline{\mathfrak{D}}\) of the admissible set within this ambient space is path‑connected. The proof uses only scaling, direct sums, and sequential replacement of components; the zero operator acts as a universal junction. Consequently, any two admissible operators can be connected by a continuous path in \(\overline{\mathfrak{D}}\), but these paths necessarily pass through singular, unphysical limits (e.g., the zero operator) and do not preserve hyperbolicity, unitarity, or spectral gaps. We propose a finer physical topology \(\tau_{\mathrm{phys}}\) that combines symbol convergence and norm-resolvent convergence. Under \(\tau_{\mathrm{phys}}\) we conjecture that the admissible set \(\mathfrak{D}_{\mathrm{phys}}\) decomposes into disconnected sectors classified by spin, principal symbol class, and gauge structure. The paper provides explicit examples of sectors (scalar, Dirac, Maxwell, Proca) and illustrates wall-crossing phenomena (e.g., the Maxwell--Proca transition resolved by the Higgs mechanism). We also connect the framework to Yang--Mills theory, integrable reductions, and the Global Time‑Shared Object (GTSO) program introduced in the companion work
Authors
- Alexander Timmermans
- Anton Kalmykov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7185-4367)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-04-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19675735
- Primary Topic
- Spectral Theory in Mathematical Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00