Search Talks

The Cosmic Web is the fundamental spatial organization of matter in the Universe on scales of a few up to a hundred Megaparsec, scales at which the Universe still resides in a state of moderate dynamical evolution. Galaxies, intergalactic gas and dark matter exist in a wispy weblike spatial arrangement consisting of dense compact clusters, elongated filaments, and sheetlike walls, amidst large near-empty void regions. The weblike pattern is marked by prominent anisotropic features, a distinct multiscale character, a complex spatial connectivity of its various morphological components and a clear asymmetry between voids and overdense regions.

This seminar will describe recent work on the structure and dynamics of the Cosmic Web. For the analysis of its complex and multiscale structural pattern, we invoke concepts from computational topology and computational geometry. We apply the explicit multi-scale -- parameter-free and scale-free -- Nexus/MMF Multiscale Morphology formalism to dissect the cosmic mass distribution into clusters, filaments, walls and voids. This results in a systematic study ofthe evolving size and volume distribution of these structural components. Subsequently, we assess the mass and halo distribution in the filaments and walls, and follow their evolution.

To study the dynamical evolution of the cosmic web, we describe our adhesion model of cosmic structure formation based on Voronoi and Delaunay tessellations. Subsequently, we will shortly describe how a full phase-space analysis allows us to understand the growth of structural complexity in terms of the emergence and spatial connectivity of singularities and caustics. Finally, we will discuss the migration flows of matter and galaxies along the cosmic web and prospects of using voids to constrain dark energy and dark matter.

Quantum mechanics can be seen as a set of instructions how to calculate probabilities by associating mathematical objects to physical procedures, like preparation, manipulation, and measurement of a system. Quantum theory then yields probabilities which are neutral with respect to its use, e.g., in a Bayesian or a frequentistic way. We investigate a different approach to quantum theory and physical theories in general, in which we aim for subjective predictions in the Bayesian sense. This gives a structure different from the operational framework of general probabilistic theories. We explore these differences and the according mathematical language of such probabilistic Bayesian theories. This is joint work with Adan Cabello, Giulio Chiribela, and Markus Müller.

Electric dipole moments are extremely sensitive probes for additional sources of CP violation in new physics models. The multi-scale problem of relating the high precision measurements with neutrons, atoms and molecules to fundamental parameters can be approached model-independently to a large extent; however, care must be taken to include the uncertainties from especially nuclear and QCD calculations properly. The resulting bounds on fundamental parameters are illustrated in the context of Two-Higgs-Doublet models.

The emergence of classical behavior from an out-of-equilibrium quantum wavefunction is determined by its entanglement structure, in the form of redundant information shared between many local subsystems. We show how this structure can be generated via cosmological dynamics from the vacuum state of a massless field, causing the wavefunction to branch into classical field configurations.  An accelerating epoch first excites the vacuum into a superposition of classical fields alongside a highly sensitive bath of super-horizon particles. Gravitational interactions allow these quanta to collect information about the long-wavelength field. During a subsequent decelerating epoch, this information propagates spatially, creating long-range redundant correlations in the wavefunction. The resulting classical observables (field configurations), preferred basis for decoherence, and system/environment decomposition emerge from the translation invariant wavefunction and Hamiltonian, rather than being fixed by hand. We discuss the implications for the classicality of cosmological perturbations.

I will describe a holographic solution corresponding to a traversable wormhole in AdS/CFT.  The construction involves directly coupling the boundary CFT's, and corresponds to chaos-facilitated quantum teleportation between the two sides.  It does not violate boundary causality or other fundamental physics principles.

Recently it was porposed by Hawking, Perry and Strominger that an infinite number of asymptotic charges may play a role in the decription of black hole entropy. With this context in mind we review the classical definition of surface charges in 3+1 gravity (and electromagnetism) from a slighly different framework by using the tetrad-connection variables. The general derivation follows the canonical covariant symplectic formalism in the language of forms. Applications to 3+1 and 2+1 charged and rotating black hole families are briefly discussed as a check. For exact (global) symmetries it is shown to be explicitly equivalent with the 'invariant' symplectic method. Extension to Lovelock gravity are shwon. As an application the entropy expression found by Myers and Jacobson is recovered. [based on arXiv:1703.10120]