Welcome! You have reached the webpage for the UNC / Duke joint String seminar.
In the spring semester 2017, we host the following seminars:
- Thursday, February 16, 2017, 03:00 pm, String Theory Seminar at Duke, Physics 298
- Ken Intriligator (UCSD),
Aspects of (susy) CFTs and RG flows [abstract, slides]The traditional approach to quantum field theory starts with free fields and adds interactions. This approach misses many interesting, and potentially useful, quantum field theories. A broader approach is to start with conformal field theories, and consider their deformations. Supersymmetry provides a helpful handle. We will discuss superconformal field theories, their multiplets of operators, and unitary constraints on deformations, in diverse space-time dimensions.
- Thursday, February 23, 2017, 04:00 pm, String Theory Seminar at UNC-CH, Phillips Hall 277
- Antal Jevicki (Brown),
Holography and Aspects of Gravity in The SYK Model
- Thursday, March 23, 2017, 03:00 pm, String Theory Seminar at Duke, Physics 298
- Djordje Radicevic (Perimeter),
The Ergodicity Landscape of Quantum Theories [abstract]Quantum theories can be classified by statistical properties of their entire spectra. The space of spectral universality classes is relatively simple, and at its two extremes are fully localized (free/integrable) theories and fully ergodic (chaotic/random-matrix-like) theories. In this talk I will present some simple rules (backed by numerics and qualitative analytic arguments) that allow one to determine the position of a given theory in this ergodicity landscape. This analysis ties together various results from high energy, condensed matter, and random matrix communities. While many results on individual theories have been previously known, I will also present new results concerning the ergodic universality of the SYK model and its deformations.
- Thursday, March 30, 2017, 04:00 pm, String Theory Seminar at UNC-CH, Phillips Hall 277
- Luigi Tizzano (Uppsala),
The 5d geometric Langlands twist [abstract]In this talk I will present a twisted version of maximally supersymmetric five dimensional super Yang-Mills theory which share some aspects of the construction introduced by Kapustin and Witten in their study of Geometric Langlands correspondence from four dimensions. The theory enjoys electric-magnetic duality which constrains the spectrum of allowed observables, in particular I will discuss the central role played by monopole defects in this context. Finally, I will discuss a string theory realization of the problem which highlight an unusual connection with open topological string.
- Saturday, April 8, 2017, 10:00 am, 17th Southeastern Regional Mathematical String Theory Meeting,
Room 141, Frederick P. Brooks Jr. Computer Science Building, UNC-CH
- 10:30 am - 11:30 am, Maria Rodriguez (Utah)
- 01:00 pm - 02:00 pm, Tom Rudelius (Harvard),
6D SCFTs and Group Theory [abstract, slides]Superconformal field theories in six dimensions (6D SCFTs) have surprising connections to objects in group theory. In this talk, we will explore the relationship between 6D SCFTs, automorphism groups of matrices, and various classes of homomorphisms.
- 02:10 pm - 03:10 pm, Falk Hassler (UNC-CH),
Surprisingly Complex Punctures from a Dynamical System [abstract]Theories of class S are 4D N=2 SCFTs which result from the compactification of 6D N=(2,0) SCFTs on punctured Riemann surfaces. They provide a geometric perspective on S-duality and are essential in the AGT correspondence. I will present the first step in extending this construction to N=1. To this end, we discuss the punctures relevant in the compactification of the world-volume theory of M5-branes probing an ADE-singularity. They are closely related to the time evolution of a dynamical system and exhibit a surprisingly rich and complex structure compared to N=2.
- 03:20 pm - 04:20 pm, Mboyo Esole (Northeastern),
Anomaly free SO(3), SO(5), and SO(6) gauge theories from F Theory [abstract]Orthogonal groups in F Theory are delicate to define as they require a condition on the Mordell-Weil group of the generic elliptic fiber to distinguish them from spin groups. Moreover, the orthogonal groups discussed in the literature are SO(7+k) with k>0. In this talk, I will discuss the explicit construction of lower rank orthogonal groups in F Theory, classify their singular fibers and matter content in 4, 5, and 6 dimensional spacetimes. I will also present the details of their uplift from 5 to 6 dimensions, the cancellations of 6 dimensional anomalies and the structure of the Coulomb phases of the five dimensional theory. All this will be presented as an exercise in intersection theory using a new pushforward theorem for Chow rings of blowups.
- Thursday, April 13, 2017, 04:00 pm, String Theory Seminar at UNC-CH, Phillips Hall 277
- Josephine Suh (UBC),
Effective action for reparametrizations in the SYK model and an equivalent gravity theory [abstract]We formulate a renormalization theory for irrelevant perturbations to the IR fixed point in the SYK model. By integrating out the lowest resonance in the four-point function of the microscopic fermion, we derive a non-local action for the reparametrization mode. We propose a gravity dual with matter fields in addition to the dilaton which imposes conformal gauge on the metric. This gravity theory reproduces the non-local action of the SYK model on its boundary.
- Thursday, April 27, 2017, 03:00 pm, String Theory Seminar at Duke, Physics 298
- Mikhail Isachenkov (Weizmann),
Algebraic structures behind conformal blocks [abstract]We will discuss a relation between conformal blocks, describing kinematics of a CFT, and integrable models of quantum-mechanical particles. I will
show how the dependence of blocks on cross-ratios is encoded in equations of motion of a Calogero-Sutherland model and their dependence on
conformal dimension and spin of the exchanged operator - in those of a relativistic Calogero-Sutherland model. Both are simultaneosly controlled by
an integrable connection generalizing 2d Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations. The connection is associated to representations of degenerate double
affine Hecke algebra, which suggests that a uniform treatment of conformal blocks with spin is possible via this approach.
Seminar Archive (Videos of archived talks can be played on PCs with Real Player.
For Macs, you will need to download this
file.)
Last update on Tuesday 17th of October 2017 11:31AM.
This page is maintained by
Louise Dolan
