Physics

Abstract: I will discuss work in progress with M. Disconzi on spherically symmetric solutions to the Einstein– Euler equations. The main result is local well-posedness for a class of initial data satisfying the physical vacuum condition. This is the...

Abstract: I will summarize recent results on the large N limit of path integrals of 3d SCFTs arising on the worldvolume of N M2-branes placed on compact Euclidean manifolds. The leading N^3/2 term in the large N expansion of these "free energies"...

Abstract: The Miura transformation is a powerful formalism to construct generators of vertex operator algebras in free field representation. In this talk, I will explain that Miura operators are R-matrices of a certain quantum algebra, and comment...

Abstract: I will give an informal discussion of the bulk Hilbert space of JT gravity with and without matter, based on 2403.08696. 

Abstract: I will introduce two new families of critical string theories in two dimensions and explain that, when viewed as two-dimensional quantum gravity on the worldsheet, each is equivalent to a matrix model. The first worldsheet string theory...

Abstract: In 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration revealed the first images of the shadow of our Milky Way supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). Since its detection in the mid-70s, this bright radio source in the Galactic...

Abstract: Recently it has been shown that black holes decohere quantum superpositions in their exterior, and suggested that this may be of fundamental importance for their quantum description [arXiv:2205.06279, arXiv:2301.00026, arXiv:2311.11461]. ...

Abstract: Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) consist of a set of regularly monitored millisecond pulsars with extremely stable rotational periods. The arrival time of pulses can be altered by the passage of gravitational waves (GWs) between them and the...

Abstract: Stellar streams, the tidal remnants of globular clusters and dwarf galaxies orbiting throughout the Milky Way’s halo, are some of the most powerful tools in the study of near-field cosmology. In particular, they are sensitive probes of the...

Abstract: In this talk, I will review a simple derivation of an integral kernel formula for the partition function of T Tbar deformed CFT based on the holographic single trace T Tbar deformation and its generalization to J Tbar and J Jbar...