String Theory Seminar: Gabriele Di Ubaldo (UCB) ” AdS_3/RMT_2 beyond the ramp”
Abstract: In 2307.03707 we introduced a framework for random matrix theory (RMT) in AdS_3 quantum gravity and chaotic 2D CFTs that is manifestly conformal and modular invariant. On the CFT side this leads to a 2d CFT trace formula, analogous to the Gutzwiller trace formula for chaotic quantum systems, which we use to derive necessary and sufficient conditions for an … Read More
4D Seminar: Claudio Andrea Mazari (UCB) “Strong CP and Flavor”
Abstract: I will discuss a class of multi-Higgs doublet extensions of the Standard Model that solves the strong CP problem with profound consequences for the flavor sector. A flavor symmetry, G, that acts on Higgs and quark fields is a key feature of these theories. CP and G are only softly broken in the scalar potential, so that for certain choices of G charges, the strong CP parameter is … Read More
String Math Seminar: Cheuk Yu Mak (University of Sheffield) “symplectic annular Khovanov homology and fixed point localisation”
Abstract: Khovanov homology is a powerful link invariant which has numerous applications. It is powerful not only because it is a strong invariant, but also it is functorial and has many relations with other invariants. In 2018, Stoffregen-Zhang realized that there is a spectral sequence from the Khovanov homology of a periodic link to the annular Khovanov homology of its … Read More
Pratik Rath (UCB) “Geometric Entropies and their Hamiltonian Flow”
Abstract: The geometric entropy is a localized contribution to the entropy obtained using Euclidean gravity methods. In this talk, I will discuss the Hamiltonian flow generated by the geometric entropy operator in general theories of gravity using Lorentzian methods of the Peierls/Poisson brackets. I will discuss examples with higher derivative corrections to illustrate the general features of the geometric flow. … Read More
String Theory Seminar: Josh Kirklin (Perimeter Institute) “Quantum reference frames, corrections to semiclassical gravity, and the generalised second law”
Semiclassical gravity is a description of gravitational physics in terms of local observables evolving on a classical spacetime manifold. This appears to be at odds with diffeomorphism invariance, which forbids the existence of truly local physical degrees of freedom. To resolve this, one needs to replace the standard notion of locality with a relational version, in which some of the … Read More
Manthos Karydas ( LBNL,Berkeley) “On the quantum mechanics of entropic forces”
Abstract: It has been conjectured that the gravitational interaction may arise as an entropic force rather than as a result of virtual quanta exchange of a fundamental field. In this talk I will present a set of microscopic quantum models which realize this idea in detail. I will describe a simple mechanism by which Newton’s law of gravity arises from the … Read More
String Theory Seminar: Chris Waddell (Perimeter Institute) “tba”
4D Seminar: Alexander Friedland (SLAC) “tba”
String Math Seminar: Andrei Okounkov( Columbia University) “tba”
Brian Swingle (Brandeis University) “Comments on the Python’s Lunch Conjecture”
There is a lot of evidence that geometry is closely tied with complexity in holographic models of quantum gravity. While complexity is typically hard to pin down precisely, the Python’s Lunch conjecture (PLC) makes quantitative predictions for complexity that seem strong enough to be testable. I will present evidence that the PLC is not quantitatively accurate within various tensor network models, predicting … Read More