Mathematical Physics

I will review the possible role in Geometric Langlands
of N=4 boundary conditions in four-dimensional supersymmetric Yang Mills theory.
The action of S-duality on such boundary conditions can be understood
in terms of symplectic duality.

K-theoretical/Cohomological Hall algebras, associated with the stack of zero-dimensional sheaves on $\mathbb{C}^2$, play a prominent role in the proof, given by Schiffmann and Vasserot, of the AGT conjecture for

(pure) gauge theories on $\mathbb{C}^2$. In the present talk I will describe K-theoretic/Cohomological Hall algebras associated with stacks of torsion sheaves on A-type ALE spaces and their representations; the study of these algebras will provide eventually an approach to prove the AGT conjecture for (pure) gauge theories on A-type ALE spaces. (Work in progress with Olivier Schiffmann.)

We study the representation theory of truncated shifted Yangians. These algebras arise as quantizations of slices to Schubert varieties in the affine Grassmannian. We will describe the combinatorics of their highest weights, which is encoded in Nakajima's monomial crystal. We also prove Hikita's conjecture in this context.

I'll discuss the two topological twists of 3d N=4 theories, and explain how to understand them in the AKSZ/BV formalism, and how they relate to twists of 4d N =2 theories.  Symplectic duality then takes the form of an equivalence between 3d N=4 theories which interchanges the two topological twists.  I'll also introduce monopole operators and explain the role they play in symplectic duality.

After a quick review of the Higgs and Coulomb branches of 3d N=4 theories, I'll introduce some simple classes of boundary conditions and explain how they lead to (pairs of) modules for certain (pairs of) quantum algebras. I will focus on abelian theories, for which the relevant boundary conditions/modules can be described using the geometry of (pairs of) hyperplane arrangements. From this, the simplest examples of symplectic-dual modules will arise.

It has become a platitute to say that black holes are fascinating objects—but they really are, in part because they challenge our understanding of the fundamental reversibility of physical processes.

In the first part of the talk, I will review some of the classical ways black holes behave as dissipative systems, such as the "hair loss” phenomenon and the monotonic growth of horizon area. In the second part, I will explain how quantum mechanics (more precisely, the coupling of black holes to the quantum vacuum) affects the classical picture at late times, notably through particle creation and evaporation. I will argue that techniques from two-dimensional field theory can help bring clarity to the associated “information loss”

problem, and perhaps also point to new, unexpected predictions. My approach will be as model-independent as possible; that is, rather than investigating a particular scenario for black hole evaporation, I will aim to derive generic consequences from basic assumptions regarding the reversibility of black hole evaporation.