Physics

In this talk, I will discuss the idea that the exact one-loop free energy of the static patch of D-dimensional de Sitter space can be computed as a simple integral transform of an SO(1;D) bulk character corrected by an SO(1; D-2) edge character, for...

The EHT Collaboration has recently published images of the supermassive black hole in M87. The images are dominated by a bright ring-like structure with an angular brightness asymmetry. While the diameter of this ring is resolved by the EHT, its...

Lifshitz scaling is an anisotropic scaling where time and space scale differently. Quantum field theories that exhibit Lifshitz scale symmetry provide a framework for studying low energy systems with an emergent dynamic scaling such as quantum...

This talk will review the structure of closed superstring scattering amplitudes with particular emphasis on the constraints imposed by various dualities. This leads to precise determination of the coefficients of low order terms in the low energy...

Gauge/gravity duality relates certain strongly coupled CFTs with large effective central charge to semi-classical gravitational theories with AdS asymptotics. I will describe recent progress in understanding gravity duals for CFTs on non-trivial...

We construct a general form for an F-theory Weierstrass model over any base giving a 6D or 4D supergravity theory with gauge group SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) / Z_6 and associated generic matter. The concept of 'generic matter' can be rigorously defined in...

We review a recent geometric formulation of the tree-level S-matrix of various quantum field theories, including gauge and gravity theories, in terms of intersection numbers of twisted cohomology groups on the moduli space of genus-zero curves with...

I will discuss recent progress about the Cardy-like asymptotics of 4d supersymmetric index on S^3, also known as superconformal index. The main observation is that Bose-Fermi cancellation that trivializes the asymptotic expression of the index can...

I will discuss walking behavior in gauge theories and weakly first order phase transition in statistical models. Despite being phenomena appearing in very different physical systems, they both show a region of approximate scale invariance. They can...

In this talk, based on work with S. Gubser, Z. Ji, B. Trundy, and A. Yarom, I present a scalar theory described by an action given in terms of a bi-local integral of a power law factor, with an exponent parameter s, multiplied by the squared arc...