Scientific Series

The much-anticipated joint detection of gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation was achieved for the first time on August 17, 2017, for the binary neutron star merger GW170817.  This event was detected by Advanced LIGO/Virgo, gamma-ray satellites, and dozens of telescopes on the ground and in space spanning from radio to X-rays.  In this talk I will describe the exciting discovery of the optical counterpart, which in turn led to several detailed studies across the electromagnetic spectrum.  The results of the observations carried out by our team include the first detailed study of a "kilonova", an optical/infrared counterpart powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the merger, as well as the detection of an off-axis jet powering radio and X-ray emission.  These results provide the first direct evidence that neutron star mergers are the dominant site for the r-process and are the progenitors of short GRBs.  I will also describe how studies of the host galaxy shed light on the merger timescale, and describe initial constraints on the Hubble Constant from the combined GW and EM detection.        

In this talk I will define the quantum K-theory of Nakajima quiver varieties and show its connection to representation theory of quantum groups and quantum integrable systems on the examples of the Grassmannian and the flag variety. In particular, the Baxter operator will be identified with operators of quantum multiplication by quantum tautological classes via Bethe equations. Quantum tautological classes will also be constructed and, time permitting, an explicit universal combinatorial formula for them will be shown.
Based on joint works with P.Koroteev, A.Smirnov and A.Zeitlin

I present a one-function family of solutions to 4D vacuum Einstein equations. While all diffeomorphic to the extremal Kerr black hole, they are labeled by well-defined conserved charges and are hence distinct geometries. Out of the appropriate combination of these charges, we construct a Virasoro algebra and consistency conditions lead us to a proposal for identifying extreme Kerr black hole microstates, dubbed as extreme Kerr fluff. Counting these microstates, we correctly reproduce the extreme Kerr black hole entropy.

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]

With the groundbreaking gravitational wave detections from LIGO/VIRGO, we have entered the era where we can actually observe the action of strongly curved spacetime originally predicted by Einstein.  Going hand in hand with this, there has been a renaissance in the theoretical and computational tools we use to understand and interpret the dynamics of gravity and matter in this regime.  I will describe some of the rich behavior exhibited by sources of gravitational waves such as the mergers of black holes and neutron stars. I will also discuss some of the open questions, and what these events could teach us, not only about the extremes of gravity, but about the behavior of matter at nuclear densities, the solution of astrophysical mysteries, and even the existence of new particles.

Seven years ago, the first paper was published [1] on what has come to be known as the “Many Interacting Worlds” (MIW) interpretation of quantum mechanics (QM) [2,3,4]. MIW is based on a new formulation of QM [1,5,6], in which the wavefunction Ψ(t, x) is discarded entirely. Instead, the quantum state is represented as an ensemble, x(t, C), of quantum trajectories or “worlds.” Each of these worlds has well-defined real-valued particle positions and momenta, and is thereby classical-like. Unlike a classical ensemble, however, nearby trajectories/worlds can interact with each other dynamically, giving rise to quantum effects. In this respect, MIW is very different from the Everett Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI); another key difference is that no world branching occurs.

The MIW approach offers a direct “realist” description of nature that may be beneficial in interpreting quantum phenomena such as entanglement, measurement, spontaneous decay, etc. It provides a useful analysis of MWI, explaining how the illusion of world branching emerges in that context. Moreover, x(t, C) satisfies a trajectory-based action principle, which allows quantum theory (via the Euler-Lagrange equation and Noether’s theorem) to be placed on the same footing as classical theories. In this manner, a straightforward relativistic generalization can also be obtained [7,8], which offers a notion of global simultaneity even for accelerating observers. Whereas the original MIW theory is fully consistent with Schroedinger wave mechanics, the more recently developed flavors offer the promise of new experimental predictions. These and other developments, e.g. for many dimensions, multiple particles, and spin, may also be discussed.

[1] B. Poirier, Chem. Phys. 370, 4 (2010).
[2] M. J. W. Hall, D.-A. Deckert, and H. Wiseman, Phys. Rev. X 4, 041013 (2014)
[3] B. Poirier, Phys. Rev. X, 4, 040002 (2014).
[4] C. T. Sebens, Phil. Sci. 82, 266 (2015).
[5] P. Holland, Ann. Phys. 315, 505 (2005).
[6] J. Schiff and B. Poirier, J. Chem. Phys. 136, 031102 (2012).
[7] B. Poirier, arXiv:1208.6260 [quant-ph], (2012).
[8] H.-M. Tsai and B. Poirier, EmQM15: Emergent Quantum Mechanics 2015, ed. G. Grössing, (J. Physics, IOP, 2016) 701, 012013.

Known N=4 theories in four dimensions are characterized by a choice of gauge group, and in some cases some "discrete theta angles", as classified by Aharony, Seiberg and Tachikawa. I will review how this data, for the theories with algebra su(N), is encoded in various familiar realizations of the theory, in particular in the holographic AdS_5 \times S^5 dual and in the compactification of the (2,0) A_N theory on T^2. I will then show how the resulting structure, given by a choice of polarization of an appropriate cohomology group, admits additional choices that, unlike known theories, generically preserve SL(2,Z) invariance in four dimensions.