Scientific Series

I will describe the relevant representation theory that allows to think of all components of fermions of a single generation of the Standard Model as components of a single Weyl spinor of an orthogonal group whose complexification is SO(14,C). There are then only two real forms that do not lead to fermion doubling. One of these real forms is the split signature orthogonal group SO(7,7). I will describe some exceptional phenomena that occur for the orthogonal groups in 14 dimensions, and then specifically for this real form. The real form SO(7,7) suggests a link to generalised geometry, which I will describe. I will also describe why spinors in general are really differential forms in disguise. 

Tensor models are generalizations of vector and matrix models. They have been introduced in quantum gravity and are also relevant in the SYK model. I will mostly focus on models with a U(N)^d-invariance where d is the number of indices of the complex tensor, and a special case at d=3 with O(N)^3 invariance. The interactions and observables are then labeled by (d-1)-dimensional triangulations of PL pseudo-manifolds. The main result of this talk is the large N limit of observables corresponding to 2-dimensional planar triangulations at d=3. In particular, models using such observables as interactions have a large N limit exactly solvable as it is Gaussian. If time permits, I will also discuss interesting questions in the field: models which are non-Gaussian at large N, the enumeration of triangulations of PL-manifolds, matrix model representation of some tensor models, etc.

Motivated by recent interesting holographic results, several attempts have been made to study complexity ( rather " Circuit Complexity") for quantum field theories using Nielsen's geometric method. But most of the studies so far have been limited to free quantum field theory. In this talk we will take a baby step towards understanding the circuit  complexity for interacting quantum field theories. We will consider \lambda \phi^4 theory and discuss in detail how to set up the computation perturbatively in coupling. Our method enables us to study circuit complexity in the epsilon expansion for the Wilson-Fisher fixed point. We find that with increasing dimensionality the circuit depth increases in the presence of the \phi^4 interaction eventually causing the perturbative calculation to breakdown. We discuss how circuit complexity relates with the renormalization group. Finally we discuss several possible generalization and compare our results with other approaches.

The theory of statistical comparison was formulated (chiefly by David Blackwell in the 1950s) in order to extend the theory of majorization to objects beyond probability distributions, like multivariate statistical models and stochastic transitions, and has played an important role in mathematical statistics ever since. The central concept in statistical comparison is the so-called "information ordering," according to which information need not always be a totally ordered quantity, but often takes on a multi-faceted form whose content may vary depending on its use. In this talk, after reviewing the basic ideas of statistical comparison with an emphasis on their operational character, I will discuss various generalizations to quantum theory (and beyond). I will then argue that quantum statistical comparison provides a natural framework, somehow complementary to semi-definite programming, to study quantum resource theories, with explicit examples given by the resource theories of quantum nonlocality, quantum communication, and quantum thermodynamics.

Using knowledge about the spectrum of operators in N=4 SYM, consistency of OPE, and analytic bootstrap techniques, I will obtain 1- loop corrections for 4-pt functions of single particle half-BPS operators of IIB supergravity on AdS_5\timesS^5. Along the way, I will discuss a general formula for the leading anomalous dimension of all double-trace operators in the supergravity regime.

The goal of this series is to collect various different formulations of General Relativity, with emphasis on four spacetime dimensions and formulations that use differential forms. The (non-exhaustive) list of formulations to be covered is per this plan:

Lecture 1): Motivations, followed by the usual Einstein-Hilbert to start with, first order Palatini, second order pure affine connection Eddington-Schroedinger.

Lecture 2) Cartan's geometry of soldering. First order Einstein-Cartan tetrad formulation, second order pure spin connection formulation, MacDowell-Mansouri formulation.

Lecture 3) Non-chiral BF-type formulations. Explicit pure spin connection Lagrangian, field redefinitions, BF plus potential for the 2-form field formulation.

Lecture 4) Chiral formulations in four dimensions. Chiral Einstein-Cartan, Plebanski formulation, pure SU(2) connection formulation, SU(2) BF plus potential for the 2-form field. Self-dual gravity. Concluding remarks. 

The goal of this series is to collect various different formulations of General Relativity, with emphasis on four spacetime dimensions and formulations that use differential forms. The (non-exhaustive) list of formulations to be covered is per this plan:

Lecture 1): Motivations, followed by the usual Einstein-Hilbert to start with, first order Palatini, second order pure affine connection Eddington-Schroedinger.

Lecture 2) Cartan's geometry of soldering. First order Einstein-Cartan tetrad formulation, second order pure spin connection formulation, MacDowell-Mansouri formulation.

Lecture 3) Non-chiral BF-type formulations. Explicit pure spin connection Lagrangian, field redefinitions, BF plus potential for the 2-form field formulation.

Lecture 4) Chiral formulations in four dimensions. Chiral Einstein-Cartan, Plebanski formulation, pure SU(2) connection formulation, SU(2) BF plus potential for the 2-form field. Self-dual gravity. Concluding remarks. 

The goal of this series is to collect various different formulations of General Relativity, with emphasis on four spacetime dimensions and formulations that use differential forms. The (non-exhaustive) list of formulations to be covered is per this plan:

Lecture 1): Motivations, followed by the usual Einstein-Hilbert to start with, first order Palatini, second order pure affine connection Eddington-Schroedinger.

Lecture 2) Cartan's geometry of soldering. First order Einstein-Cartan tetrad formulation, second order pure spin connection formulation, MacDowell-Mansouri formulation.

Lecture 3) Non-chiral BF-type formulations. Explicit pure spin connection Lagrangian, field redefinitions, BF plus potential for the 2-form field formulation.

Lecture 4) Chiral formulations in four dimensions. Chiral Einstein-Cartan, Plebanski formulation, pure SU(2) connection formulation, SU(2) BF plus potential for the 2-form field. Self-dual gravity. Concluding remarks. 

The goal of this series is to collect various different formulations of General Relativity, with emphasis on four spacetime dimensions and formulations that use differential forms. The (non-exhaustive) list of formulations to be covered is per this plan:

Lecture 1): Motivations, followed by the usual Einstein-Hilbert to start with, first order Palatini, second order pure affine connection Eddington-Schroedinger.

Lecture 2) Cartan's geometry of soldering. First order Einstein-Cartan tetrad formulation, second order pure spin connection formulation, MacDowell-Mansouri formulation.

Lecture 3) Non-chiral BF-type formulations. Explicit pure spin connection Lagrangian, field redefinitions, BF plus potential for the 2-form field formulation.

Lecture 4) Chiral formulations in four dimensions. Chiral Einstein-Cartan, Plebanski formulation, pure SU(2) connection formulation, SU(2) BF plus potential for the 2-form field. Self-dual gravity. Concluding remarks. 

The cosmic microwave background radiation has been an indispensable tool for learning about the origins and evolution of our Observable Universe. Satellites and ground based experiments measuring the temperature and polarization anisotropies with ever increasing angular resolution and sensitivity have established the standard cosmological model, LCDM, and constrained or ruled out a huge variety of theoretical models of the early Universe. Most of this cosmological information has thus far been derived from the primary CMB, anisotropies largely sourced during the epoch of recombination some 380,000 years after the Big Bang. However, experiments are achieving the sensitivity and resolution necessary to access a whole new treasure-trove of cosmological information: secondary temperature and polarization anisotropies induced by photons scattering from mass (CMB lensing) and free electrons (the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect). Unlike the primary CMB, where cosmological information is contained in the pattern of fluctuations in statistically isotropic temperature/polarization anisotropies, the secondary CMB encodes cosmological information in the statistical anisotropies of non-gaussian temperature/polarization fields on the sky. In this talk, I will describe the possibilities for future CMB experiments, in concert with large galaxy surveys, to reconstruct the cosmological information contained in the statistics of the secondary CMB anisotropies. In particular, I will describe the information that can be reconstructed from kinetic/polarized Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect, CMB lensing, and the moving lens effect. I speculate on what we might learn from future measurements, and conclude by discussing several projects in progress.

I will review the geometric approach to the description of Coulomb branches and Chern-Simons terms of gauge theories coming from compactifications of M-theory on elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds. Mathematically, this involves finding all the crepant resolutions of a given Weierstrass model and understanding the network of flops connecting them together with computing certain topological invariants. I will further check that the uplifted theory in 6d is anomaly-free using Green-Schwartz mechanism. I will give examples on the theory with semi-simple gauge groups such as SU(2)xG2, which plays a major role in the classification of 6d superconformal theories, and SU(2)xSU(3), which describes the non-abelian sector of the standard model.