Zahra Tabrizi (Pittsburgh U.) “EFT at Neutrino Experiments”
Abstract: We will discuss how to systematically study physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in neutrino experiments within the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) framework. In this way, the analysis of the data can capture large classes of models, where the new degrees of freedom have masses well above the relevant energy of the experiments. Moreover, it allows us to … Read More
Wayne Weng (Stanford) “Replica manifolds, pole skipping, and the butterfly effect”
Abstract: Black holes are strongly chaotic quantum systems: small perturbations to its state grow exponentially in time. In holographic theories, this can be quantified by the butterfly velocity, defined using out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs) or entanglement wedge reconstruction, which can in principle be different. There are many explicit calculations showing that the two velocities are in fact equal, including in theories with higher curvature corrections, … Read More
Spencer Tamagni (UC Berkeley) “Scattering matrices for noncommutative instantons”
A basic question in classical gauge theory is to describe moduli spaces of solutions to PDEs arising in that context (such as Bogomolny equations on R^3 or anti-self-duality equations on R^4), at least as complex manifolds, in explicit finite-dimensional terms. In the case of Bogomolny equations, a powerful means to do this is provided by the scattering data assigned to … Read More
Beatrix Muhlmann (IAS) “dS^4 Metamorphosis”
Abstract: I will discuss the Euclidean path integral of minimal higher spin theory on the four-sphere and argue for a gluing formula in which the four-sphere is obtained by joining two hemispheres along an $S^3$ boundary. The resulting boundary theory is the $Sp(N)$-invariant sector of $N$ anticommuting, conformally coupled scalars, with conformal higher spin gauge fields mediating the gluing. This … Read More
Bruno Scheihing (UCSB) “Probing deconfined QCD matter with heavy quarks”
The dynamics of heavy particles propagating through a thermal environment has been a topic of interest in theoretical physics (at least) since the times of Einstein’s theory of Brownian motion. The simultaneous production of heavy quarks and quark-gluon plasma in heavy-ion collisions provides an ideal configuration in which to test and extend our understanding of this process in relativistic settings … Read More
Ronak Soni (Chennai Mathematical Institute) “Fixed-Area States, OPE Blocks and Hamiltonian Gauge Symmetry”
Abstract: In a particular code subspace for entangled states of many 2d holographic (B)CFTs, we propose a holographic bulk-boundary map. The proposal is stated in a fixed-area basis, and the essential idea is that each fixed area corresponds to a fixed primary. In particular, fixed-area states obtained from projections of path integral states are dual to smeared OPE blocks. We … Read More
Giuseppe Lucente (SLAC) “$\nu p$-process in neutrino-driven outflows: Imprints of general relativistic effects”
Abstract: The origin of several proton-rich isotopes in the solar system, most notably $^{92,94}$Mo and $^{96,98}$Ru, remains a long-standing problem in nucleosynthesis. A promising explanation is the $\nu p$-process, which operates in proton-rich, neutrino-driven outflows from the surface of a protoneutron star formed in a core-collapse supernova (CCSN). Years of detailed studies, however, failed to reproduce the observed abundances of … Read More
Spencer Tamagni (UC Berkeley) “Toward geometric R-matrix formalism for Coulomb branch actions”
Instanton scattering matrices constructed in the previous talk give evidence for the existence of an R-matrix (re)construction of quantized Coulomb branch algebras of 3d N=4 quiver gauge theories using the (shifted) Yangian associated to the quiver. In this talk I will report on progress in putting this in a more standard context for geometric construction of Yangian actions, using critical … Read More
Marija Tomasevic (CERN) “Dressing up naked singularities”
Abstract: Small naked singularities—those not shielded by a macroscopic event horizon—are ubiquitous in classical General Relativity. Their existence constitutes apparent violations of the weak cosmic censorship conjecture, which asserts that physically reasonable solutions should appear regular to asymptotic observers. In this talk, we will show how the inclusion of stringy and quantum effects resolves these pathologies by uplifting naked singularities into fully … Read More
Mia West (University of Florida) “Chiral Symmetry Breaking, Gravitational Waves and the Origin of the Dark Eta Prime Mass in Confining Dark Sectors.”
Abstract: Dark confining sectors are phenomenologically rich: for instance a confining phase transition can be used to trigger baryogenesis, and some heavy axion models identify the dark \eta′ particle as an axion candidate. By modelling the dark confining phase transition with spontaneous symmetry breaking of chiral symmetry, previous studies have found that a Gravitational Wave (GW) signal could be visible … Read More