Physics

Abstract: I will consider the quantum fields along an observer's worldline to define a background independent algebra in quantum gravity.   The talk is based on a paper with the same title (arXiv:2308.03663).

Abstract: Introduced in the mid-50s, crossing symmetry in interacting quantum field theory suggests that particles and anti-particles traveling back in time are indistinguishable. This perspective has significant practical implications for...

Abstract: Instantons are an important source of nonperturbative effects in quantum field theories, but their role in asymptotically free theories has not been well understood. In this talk, we will present a new approach to instanton analysis in the...

Abstract: General relativistic ray tracing and radiative transfer (GRRT) are numerical techniques for simulating images of black holes.  They have played an instrumental role in both predicting and interpreting the horizon scale resolution images...

Abstract: Progress in recent years on the S-matrix bootstrap and bottom-up constructions of candidate string theory amplitudes, have brought about a revival of interest in the so-called Coon amplitude: a q-deformed generalization of the Veneziano...

Abstract: Over the last four decades, the axion has gone from being an elegant but undetectable dark matter candidate to becoming one of the primary targets of dedicated searches around the globe.  Many of these searches have been catalysts for the...

Abstract: I will address the question of: what are the mathematical/functional forms of predictions made using perturbative QFT? Beyond one loop, very little about this question has been known until quite recently, in part due to the appearance of...

Abstract: As the search space for light dark matter (DM) has shifted to sub-GeV DM candidate partcles, increasing attention has turned to solid state detectors built from “quantum materials”. While traditonal solid state detector targets (e.g. Si or...