Archive of IAS Physics Group Meetings

Abstract: Recently, I have been trying to understand how large language models (LLMs) work, what their basic building blocks are and how they are trained. In this talk I want to share some of my understanding with you by discussing the so-called...

Abstract: Tidal deformation is a significant phenomenon observed in various astronomical scenarios, including black holes, and are a key gravitational-wave observable encoding information about the object's interior. Relying on hidden symmetries...

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: 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: While von Neumann entropies for local subregions in quantum field theory universally contain ultraviolet divergences, there is widespread belief that differences between von Neumann entropies can be finite and well-defined in many...

Abstract: We discuss shockwave geometries and the connections to aspects of flat space holography. We first show how the ’t Hooft commutation relations of shockwave operators are equivalent to the commutation relation between soft and Goldstone...

Abstract: I will briefly review the factorisation of soft and collinear singularities in massless gauge theory amplitudes, and the structure of the soft anomalous dimension matrix. I will then discuss the implications of this factorisation for the...

Abstract: I will review and revisit the quantum entropy of supersymmetric black holes, which is defined as a gravitational path integral in the near-horizon AdS2 region.

This has been studied in the past using different methods: loop calculations...

Abstract: A black hole, when observed from outside, can be represented as a quantum system of microstates. For AdS black holes, the microstates are dual to operators in the boundary CFT by the AdS/CFT correspondence. In this talk, I will discuss the...