Search Talks

"Motivated by applications to soft supersymmetry breaking, we revisit the Seiberg-Witten solution for N=2 super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions with gauge group SU(N). We present a simple exact Taylor series expansion for the periods obtained at the origin of moduli space, thereby generalizing earlier results for SU(2) and SU(3). With the help of these analytic results and others, we analyze the global structure of the Kahler potential, presenting evidence for a conjecture that the unique global minimum is the curve at the origin of moduli space. Two applications of these results are considered. Firstly, we analyze candidate walls of marginal stability of BPS states on special slices for which the expansions of the periods simplify. Secondly, we consider soft supersymmetry breaking of the N=2 theory to non-supersymmetric four-dimensional SU(N) gauge theory with two massless adjoint Weyl fermions (""adjoint QCD""). The Seiberg-Witten Kahler potential and strong coupling spectrum play a crucial role in this analysis, which ultimately leads to an exploration of the adjoint QCD phase diagram."

This will be an introductory discussion of our joint work with Roman Bezrukavnikov. Given a symplectic resolution X, one may study its Gromov-Witten theory and the monodromy group of the curve-counting functions in the K\"ahler variables. There is also a large group of derived autoequivalences of X coming from its quantization in large prime characteristic, as studied by Bezrukavnikov and collaborators. Conjecturally, the action of the latter group on K(X) is identified with the former group, and we prove this for many $X$.

In this talk I will review some recent progress in the study of non-invertible symmetries in dimensions d>2. After introducing known constructions and describing how they lead to constraints on RG flows, I will discuss how non-invertible symmetries can also be used to obtain new RG flows. This involves the notion of ``non-invertible twisted compactification,” which can be used to construct e.g. novel 3d N=6 theories from 4d N=4 SYM. Finally, I will describe upcoming work in which we give a partial criterion for determining whether a given non-invertible symmetry is ``intrinsically non-invertible”, or whether it can be recast (in an appropriate sense) as a standard invertible symmetry with an anomaly.

 It is unknown how the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) should be modified to account for quantum features. A possibility introduced in arXiv:2012.13754 is that the EEP holds in a generalized form for particles having an arbitrary quantum state. The core of this proposal is the ability to transform to a Quantum Reference Frame (QRF) associated to an arbitrary quantum state of a physical system, in which the metric is locally inertial. I will show that this extended EEP, initially formulated in terms of the local expression of the metric field in a QRF, can be verified in an interferometric setup via tests on the proper time of entangled clocks (arXiv:2112.03303). Moreover, the same setup can be analyzed with quantum sensing techniques (arXiv:2204.03006): I will talk about how gravitational time dilation may be used as a resource in quantum information theory, showing that it may enhance the precision in estimating the gravitational acceleration for long interferometric times.

 

Three dimensional conformal field theories(CFTs) describe important critical physics in the real world. In the past few years much progress has been made in 3D CFTs using the conformal bootstrap. In particular, using numerical bootstrap, the critical exponents of the 3D Ising, Super-Ising, O(2), O(3) CFTs have been determined precisely with rigorous error bars, while using analytic bootstrap, the information of the leading twist operators at large spins can be computed analytically. The two bootstrap approaches are sensitive to different regions of the spectrum and complement each other. In this talk, I will first give a general review of the numerical bootstrap and analytic bootstrap. Then I will discuss how to combine the numerical bootstrap with the analytic lightcone bootstrap, i.e. a hybrid bootstrap method. As a result, the bootstrap prediction for the actual CFT can be significantly improved.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94186668943?pwd=ejRRb0M4VXNjeVVCWGdnTHQyaWRyQT09

The current theories of quantum physics and general relativity on their own do not allow us to study situations in which spacetime is in a quantum superposition. In this talk, I propose a general strategy to determine the dynamics of objects on an indefinite spacetime metric, using an extended notion of quantum reference frame transformations. First, we study the situation of the gravitational source mass being in a spatial superposition state and, using a generalized principle of covariance, show how to transform to a frame in which the standard theories of GR and QFT allow to determine the dynamics. In the second part, we consider superpositions of conformally equivalent metrics inhabited by a massive quantized Klein-Gordon field. By requiring invariance of the KG equation under quantum conformal transformations, we find that the superposition is transferred to the quantum field in the form of an effective, spacetime dependent mass term. Overall, the proposed strategy allows to construct the respective explicit quantum frame change operators, and to study physical phenomena such as time dilation and cosmological particle production in different quantum frames.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96903859307?pwd=aEtLUy9tME5GL25nTjBVNXVmb2N3Zz09

There are two different standard ways of endowing a physical theory with a symplectic structure: the canonical and the covariant. The former is derived from the well-known symplectic structure of a certain cotangent bundle. The latter is based on the variational calculus. Including a boundary in the canonical formalism poses no problem, however, in the covariant formalism things break apart. In this talk, I will briefly introduce both formalisms without boundary and explain in detail a new framework that allows us to include boundaries in a straightforward way. To show it in action, time permitting, I will apply it to several theories of gravity. Finally, I will briefly show a new result where we proved that, actually, the canonical and covariant formalisms are equivalent in full generality.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/97641588140?pwd=dFl0SFdHOG5BYko2djNVWk11UkhSUT09

Inspired by the corpuscular model of gravity, I will discuss a simplified quantum description of neutral and electrically charged spherically symmetric black holes given by coherent states of toy gravitons. From such states I will derive effective geometries devoid of curvature singularities (replaced by integrable ones) and Cauchy horizons. Lastly, I will present a similar analysis for the Schwarzschild-de Sitter geometry, used as a model for the late Universe, showing that the “reaction” of the de Sitter background to the presence of localised matter sources induces a modified Newtonian dynamics at galactic scales and different values measured for the present Hubble parameter.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/93087108672?pwd=ekQrLysrcjRwVWFSZ2J5bndteXBtdz09

Mirror symmetry and time-invariance violating processes were crucial at establishing the Standard Model of fundamental interactions as we know it, their tiny effects eventually measured after enormous experimental effort. Macroscopic material on the other hand can maximally break these symmetries spontaneously. Inside these materials, Dark Matter can exhibit phenomena otherwise impossible in the vacuum. In this talk, I will discuss such a phenomenon that we call the piezoaxionic effect: In crystals whose structure breaks mirror symmetry, which are broadly known as piezoelectric, dark matter candidates called axions will produce a change in the crystals size, i.e. strain. Such a strain can be detected with well-established methods leading to a new observable for this well-motivated class of Dark Matter candidates.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96153495346?pwd=QU1MTENUTzdNOU5sZVc3VzY4NHI1UT09

While quantum computers are naturally well-suited to implementing linear operations, it is less clear how to implement nonlinear operations on quantum computers. However, nonlinear subroutines may prove key to a range of applications of quantum computing from solving nonlinear equations to data processing and quantum machine learning. Here we develop algorithms for implementing nonlinear transformations of input quantum states. Our algorithms are framed around the concept of a weighted state, a mathematical entity describing the output of an operational procedure involving both quantum circuits and classical post-processing.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/92831825506?pwd=T2VUQ2M2QlZERmRmUHZ0T1VOelkzZz09