Abstract: Causality imposes constraints on perturbative effective field theory, which have played a role in understanding scattering amplitudes, the a-theorem for renormalization group flows, and higher curvature corrections in quantum gravity. I will describe similar constraints on strongly interacting theories. In one limit, these constraints imply the averaged null energy condition, which links causality to the inequalities obeyed by quantum … Read More

Abstarct: In this talk I’ll discuss how to arrive at a 3d topological field theory from geometry and fluxes in M-theory. I’ll also discuss the appearance of generalized Hitchin’s equation, surface operators and, time permitting, knots from our consideration.

Abstract: Almost twenty years ago, Horava and Witten considered M theory on an orbifold and elucidated the interrelationships between various theories with ten-dimensional N = 1 supersymmetry. In this talk we will consider a variety of tree level and one loop Feynman diagrams describing four graviton and four gluon amplitude in eleven-dimensional supergravity in a Horava–Witten background compactified on a … Read More