Physics

The SYK Model was originally introduced as a random matrix model for the nuclear interaction that also describes the exponential rise of the spectral density known as the Bethe formula. Exactly this behavior is the hallmark of the Schwarzian...

We analyze modular invariance drawing inspiration from tauberian
theorems. Given a modular invariant partition function with a positive
spectral density, we derive lower and upper bounds on the number of
operators within a given energy interval. They...

We consider supersymmetric twist and omega deformation of a type IIB brane setup involving N D3 and K D5 branes. In the large N limit, this leads to a holographic duality between two topological/holomorphic theories. We compute certain operator...

I will discuss time-dependent probes of the renormalization group, and derive new constraints that govern the spread of local operators in holographic theories. The same methods lead to sum rules for inflationary correlators, relating observables...

Recently, an exact AdS3/CFT2 duality was proposed. String theory on AdS3xS3xT4 with one unit of pure NS-NS background flux was conjectured to be dual to the symmetric product orbifold of T4. This is established at the level of the full spectrum of...

We review some infinite dimensional symmetries that appear in dimensionally reduced classical general relativity. Reducing from d=4 to d=2 gives a two dimensional nonlinear sigma model with an infinite dimensional affine Kac-Moody symmetry called...

We study the effect of ZZ instantons in c = 1 string theory, and demonstrate that they give rise to non-perturbative corrections to closed string scattering amplitudes that do not saturate unitarity within the closed string sector. Beyond the...

The asymptotic symmetry algebra of asymptotically flat spacetimes implies an infinity of conserved charges for 4D scattering which can be neatly recast as 2D conformal Ward identities. We cover recent progress on the proposed 4D/2D dictionary...

I will review some old ideas about the duality between matrix models and Liouville theory coupled to a (p,q) minimal model. In this approach t'Hooft diagrams of the matrix model are thought of as a discretization of a 2d surface. Fine-tuning of the...

When absorbing boundary conditions are used to evaporate a black hole in AdS/CFT, we show that there is a phase transition in the location of the quantum Ryu-Takayanagi surface, at precisely the Page time. The new RT surface lies slightly inside the...