Prospects in Theoretical Physics 2026
Program Description
PiTP is an intensive two-week summer program designed for advanced graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The program will be held from July 20-31, 2026 at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ. The program will chart the search for a flat-space hologram. Beginning with a bootcamp on Celestial Holography, participants will develop a working understanding of how scattering amplitudes, asymptotic symmetries, and twistor methods combine to define a holographic description of flat spacetime. The program will then build bridges to recent advances in amplitudes, bootstrap techniques, and string theory constructions.
PiTP Program Details
The APPLICATION deadline is Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 11:59 pm (Eastern Standard Time). If you have not received your PhD, one letter of recommendation from your thesis advisor is required and should be uploaded with the application or with this reference form. (Check back for the application and reference form to activate.)
For housing, travel, and other administrative PiTP information please see the FAQ page.
Preliminary Topics:
- What Is Celestial Holography
- Soft Theorems are Ward Identities for Asymptotic Symmetries
- Mapping the S-Matrix to the Celestial Sphere
- Collinear limits encode additional symmetries
- What is the w_1+\infty Symmetry
- What is a Celestial CFT
- Lorentzian CFTs
- Energy Correlators
Preliminary Program Lecturers:
- Nima Arkani-Hamed (Institute for Advanced Study)
- Roland Bittleston (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)
- Kasia Budzik (Harvard University)
- Simon Caron-Huot (McGill University)
- Jordan Cotler (Harvard University)
- Lance Dixon (Stanford University)
- Mina Himwich (Princeton University, PCTS)
- Henry Lin (Princeton University)
- Ian Moult (Yale University)
- Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)
Organizing Committee
Nima Arkani-Hamed (IAS); Jordan Cotler (Harvard); Sabrina Pasterski (Perimeter Institute)
If you have questions regarding the PiTP program, please send an email to: pitp@ias.edu.
