Archive of IAS Monday High Energy Theory Seminars

Abstract: In a spacetime with asymptotically anti-de-Sitter boundaries, localized bulk events produce characteristic signals at boundary locations that are lightlike from the event. I will describe (thought) experiments that use boundary wavepackets...

Abstract: In large N theories with a gravity dual, generic heavy operators should be dual to black holes in the bulk. The microscopic details of such operators should then be irrelevant in the low energy theory. We look for such universality in the...

Abstract: I will discuss the path integral of pure 3D gravity on a finite region of spacetime, with boundary conditions that fix dihedral angles or geodesic lengths. This amplitude calculates corrections to the Gaussian statistics of OPE...

Abstract: Symmetries play a crucial role in both quantum field theory and quantum many-body systems on the lattice. One key topological feature that a global symmetry can have is a "('t Hooft) anomaly". But how exactly should an anomaly be defined...

Abstract: Theories comprehensively addressing the origin and robustness of the observed hierarchical structure of particle physics face significant challenges from the non-appearance of new particles, explicitly in LHC searches or virtually within...

Abstract: Powerful techniques have been developed in quantum field theory that employ algebras of local operators, yet local operators cannot create physical charged states in gauge theory or physical nonzero-energy states in perturbative quantum...

Abstract: AI progress is accelerating, and now the leaders expect “artificial general intelligence” (AGI) in 2 to 3 years. While difficult to believe, we must prepare for the possibility. We can take some lessons from previous episodes in which...

Abstract: I will start with a broad overview of the theory of initial conditions of the universe, what we know and what we hope to know in the near future.

Then I will describe some recent work. Motivated by precision calculations in primordial...

Abstract: On general grounds one expects that global symmetries are absent in quantum gravity. We discuss some aspects of this issue, focusing on the recently proposed Swampland Cobordism Conjecture, and related conjectures connected with...

Abstract: Correlation functions of the average null energy operator provide direct theoretical models of collider experiments, and have played a crucial role in contemporary developments in formal QFT and gravity. Recently it has become possible to...