Archive of IAS Monday High Energy Theory Seminars

Sep
19
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Recovering the Spacetime Metric from a Holographic Dual
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
I will describe a new approach to determining the bulk geometry from a dual field theory. This is based on a special class of spacelike cross-sections of the boundary called light-cone cuts. I will first show that the conformal metric in the bulk (i...
Sep
19
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Little String Theories and their Compactifications
11:00am|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
Little string theories are UV complete non-local 6D theories decoupled from gravity in which there is an intrinsic string scale. I will present a systematic approach to the construction of supersymmetric little string theories via F-theory. I will...
Sep
12
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Moonshine, Old and New
Jeffrey Harvey
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
Moonshine in mathematics originally referred to unexpected connections between the modular J function and the representation theory of the Monster, the largest sporadic finite group. Recently new kinds of moonshine have been discovered connecting...
May
16
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Effective Field Theory of Dissipative Fluids
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
We develop an effective field theory for dissipative fluids which governs the dynamics of long-lived gapless modes associated with conserved quantities. The resulting theory gives an action formulation of fluctuating hydrodynamics which incorporates...
Apr
25
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Elliptic Calabi-Yau Manifolds and the F-theory Landscape
Washington Taylor
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
This talk will describe recent work on the classification of elliptic Calabi-Yau threefolds and fourfolds, and consequences for the physics of supersymmetric F-theory vacua. The mathematical theory of minimal surfaces and the physically-motivated...
Apr
11
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Charge-vortex duality and Dirac Fermions in (2+1)d
Chong Wang
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
There is an interesting duality in (2+1)d between theories of interacting bosons and U(1) gauge theories with bosonic charge, also known as charge-vortex duality. This duality is very useful for theoretically accessing various strongly interacting...
Mar
28
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Linearity of Holographic Entanglement Entropy
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
We consider the question of whether the leading contribution to the entanglement entropy in holographic CFTs is truly given by the expectation value of a linear operator as is suggested by the Ryu-Takayanagi formula. We investigate this property by...
Mar
14
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Complexity Behind the Horizon
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall

Quantum mechanics is distinguished by three essential features: the Hugeness of Hilbert Space, I.e., the capacity for exponential complexity; the phenomenon of Entanglement; and the duality between Wave Function Collapse and Everett's Relative...

Feb
01
2016

High Energy Theory Seminar

Landau Singularities and Symbology
2:30pm|Bloomberg Lecture Hall
In previous work it has been observed that the singularity structure of multi-loop scattering amplitudes in planar N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory is evidently dictated by cluster algebras. In my talk I will discuss the interplay between this...