IAS High Energy Theory Seminar

The Hamiltonian formulation of mechanics has many advantages, but its standard presentation destroys manifest covariance. This can be avoided by using the "covariant phase formalism" of Iyer and Wald, but until recently this formalism has suffered...

I develop an effective theory which describes black holes with quantum mechanical horizons that is valid at scales long compared to the Schwarzschild radius but short compared to the lifetime of the black hole. The formalism allows one to calculate...

I will describe my work, all joint with D. Gaiotto and some also joint with E. Witten, to understand the homotopy type of the space of (1+1)d N=(0,1) SQFTs --- what a condensed matter theorist would call "phases" of SQFTs. Our motivating hypothesis...

We describe the coupling of holomorphic Chern-Simons theory at large N with Kodaira-Spencer gravity. This gives a complete description of open-closed string field theory in the topological B-model. We explain an anomaly cancellation mechanism at all...

We analyze modular invariance drawing inspiration from tauberian
theorems. Given a modular invariant partition function with a positive
spectral density, we derive lower and upper bounds on the number of
operators within a given energy interval. They...

I will discuss time-dependent probes of the renormalization group, and derive new constraints that govern the spread of local operators in holographic theories. The same methods lead to sum rules for inflationary correlators, relating observables...