Quantum Fields and Strings

I will use the S-matrix Bootstrap to carve out the space of unitary, crossing symmetric, and supersymmetric graviton scattering amplitudes in nine, ten, and eleven dimensions. I will introduce a novel extension of positivity for massless particles beyond the forward limit called “positivity in the sky” that significantly improves the convergence of the bootstrap algorithm.

I will show the bounds on the first leading correction to maximal supergravity, study the physics of the extremal amplitudes and compare them with the available nonperturbative String and M-theory results.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/99182927406?pwd=bWxIazFvUzhVQkpBdWluZURIM21wUT09

In this talk I will show the equivalence of several different tests of the Jacobi identity for celestial currents at tree level, in particular finding a simple, practical condition on hard momentum space 4-point amplitudes in any EFT. Along the way I will clarify the role of the order of soft and collinear limits in obstructing the Jacobi identity for soft insertions and I will argue that, despite their current-algebra-like properties, soft insertions as formulated in this talk cannot be interpreted as local operators in celestial conformal field theory.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/99642885302?pwd=dWZhbzZUYnBuSlJ3UzBhSHdqdzVKdz09

We identify the microstates of the non–supersymmetric, asymptotically flat 2$d$ black hole in the dual $c=1$ matrix quantum mechanics (MQM). We calculate the partition function of the theory using Hamiltonian methods and reproduce one of two conflicting results found by Kazakov and Tseytlin. We find the entropy by counting states and the energy by approximately solving the Schrodinger equation. The dominant contribution to the partition function in the double-scaling limit is a novel bound state that can be considered an explicit dual of the black hole microstates. This bound state is long-lived and evaporates slowly, exactly like a black hole in asymptotically flat space.

Based on arXiv:2210.11493

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96045839335?pwd=S3NXQ2ZsdUlaSWpIVHoxTk11NUxtdz09

I will revisit the physics of Heterotic Strings on four-dimensional ADE singularities in light of recent progress in the context of higher global symmetries combined with our improved understanding of 6d SCFTs over the past decade. In particular, on ADE singularities the fractional heterotic little string instantons enjoy a continuous 2 group symmetry that one can exploit to constrain possible networks of T-dualities. These predictions are confirmed exploiting duality with F-theory, and also shed light on the question of the geometric engineering limit of heterotic strings on ALE spaces. Based on joint works with Kantaro Ohmori, Paul-Konstantin Öhlmann and Muyang Liu.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/92559165562?pwd=R3NLRktuWFYyKzFNQmhFeS9sQ2tQZz09

Abstract: TBD

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/95685877198?pwd=ZVhaRmMrQ1VNcXNVOEpTOHVTd1F6QT09

The path integral over reparametrization modes in one dimension played an important role in the duality between JT gravity and the SYK model. In this talk, I will explain that the reparametrization modes are important also in certain computations involving the string worldsheet with boundaries. A few cases in which it is expected to play a crucial role are the Wilson loop expectation value in confining string, open strings with massive endpoints, and the string dual to the half-BPS Wilson loop in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills. After reviewing these cases briefly, I will focus on the last case and explain how to compute the correlation function on the BPS Wilson loop from the string worldsheet in the conformal gauge. In particular, I will show that the inclusion of the reparametrization modes is crucial for reproducing the answer obtained previously in the static gauge. I will then use the reparametrization mode path integral to study the four-point functions in the out-of-time-ordered configuration and obtain an exact answer in a double-scaling regime interpolating between the Lyapunov regime and the late-time exponential decay. Interestingly the result has exactly the same functional form as in JT gravity although the actions for the reparametrization modes are different.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/99063427266?pwd=aG5iTlczNWhxdE9xNEZoVTlMSnVOQT09

The simplest large N gauge theory is, arguably, the Gaussian matrix (or more generally, one hermitian matrix) integral. We will explicitly show that arbitrary correlators of single trace operators in this theory (without any double scaling limit) are identical to corresponding physical correlators in a dual topological string description. We will present both a novel A-model dual and also a mirror B-model Landau-Ginzburg description. The equality of correlators arises via open-closed-open string triality and a surprising relation to the c=1 string theory. The goal will be, however, to go beyond demonstrating equality but rather to make the duality manifest. For the B-model description this involves Eynard's recasting of topological recursion relations in terms of intersection numbers on moduli space. For the A-model this goes through the relation of Gaussian correlators to the special Belyi covering maps or equivalently, discrete volumes of moduli space. Finally, we also briefly mention the significance of these results for the gauge-string duality of N=4 Super Yang-Mills theory.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/93961992131?pwd=MkxlekxWU1ZGbzNZeWpzeU1TMzMrdz09

The modern point of view is that the global symmetries of a quantum field theory are described by topological defects/operators of the theory. In general such symmetries are non-invertible, i.e. the associated topological defects do not admit an inverse under fusion. I will describe a general construction of such non-invertible topological defects by coupling lower-dimensional topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) to discrete gauge fields living in a higher-dimensional bulk. The associated symmetries would be referred to as theta symmetries, as this construction can be understood as a generalization of the notion of theta angle. Mathematically, this construction is connected to interesting fusion higher-categories like those formed by higher-representations of groups and higher-groups. I will briefly explain this mathematical connection. I will also describe how the study of theta symmetries includes within it, as a special case, the study of topological phases of matter pursued in condensed matter physics. Towards the end of the talk, I will discuss some works in progress regarding possible physical applications of non-invertible symmetries. Based on ArXiv: 2212.06159, 2208.05973.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/92668739313?pwd=ZmdteFQybU9SbTlPNVQxV3l5dE5FQT09

Conformal Regge theory predicts the existence of analytically continued CFT data for complex spin. How could this work when there are so many more local operators with large spin compared to small spin? Using planar N=4 SYM as a testground we find a simple physical picture. Local operators do organize themselves into analytic families but the continuation of the higher families have zeroes in their structure OPE constants for lower integer spins. They thus decouple. Newton's interpolation series technique is perfectly suited to this physical problem and will allow us to explore the right complex spin half-plane.

Most people are familiar with periodic tessellations and lattices; from the floor in the PI Bistro to their favourite spin systems. In this talk, I will discuss two less familiar families of tessellations and their applications to high energy physics, condensed matter physics, and mathematics: hyperbolic tessellations and quasicrystals. After introducing the basics of regular hyperbolic lattices, I will survey constructions and surprising properties of quasicrystals (like the Penrose tiling), including their classically forbidden symmetries, long-range order, and self-similar structure. Inspired by the AdS/CFT correspondence, I will describe a mathematical relationship between hyperbolic lattices in (D+1)-dimensions and quasicrystals in D-dimensions, as well as the resolution of a conjecture by Bill Thurston. Based on work to appear with Latham Boyle.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/91876287518?pwd=NGNLOXZHa1h1cmdnMzJxQzVMVFJJdz09

The question of whether the holomorphic collinear singularities of graviton amplitudes define a consistent chiral algebra has garnered much recent attention. I will discuss a version of this question for infinitesimal perturbations around the self-dual sector of 4d Einstein gravity. The singularities of tree amplitudes in such perturbations do form a consistent chiral algebra. However, at loop level new poles are generated, the simplest of which are described the 1-loop effective graviton vertex. These quantum corrections violate associativity of the operator product. I will argue that this failure can be traced to an anomaly in the twistor uplift of self-dual gravity. Associativity can be restored by coupling to an unusual 4th-order gravitational axion, which cancels the anomaly by a Green-Schwarz mechanism. Alternatively, the anomaly vanishes in certain theories of self-dual gravity coupled to matter, including in self-dual supergravity.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/91979544537?pwd=Ykw4Q3lRK2ZicVhCMDhlNUxFaHhlUT09

The language of integrable systems is widely applicable to string theory. One context where it is useful is the Seiberg-Witten theory, describing low-energy dynamics of confined 4d N=2 supersymmetric gauge theories: the families of complex curves with differentials, playing a central role in this description, appeared to be spectral curves, solving the integrable systems of interacting particles. Moreover, the spectrum of stable BPS particles appears from the consideration of hyperkahler structures on the phase spaces of integrable systems. And the full partition functions of instantons, regularized by Omega-background, solve deuatonomized systems of particles.

In my talk, I will explain correspondence unifying to some extent two latter ones. It relates discrete dynamics of so-called cluster integrable systems and partition functions of 5d N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories, or more generally of topological stings on corresponding local Calabi-Yau manifolds. Based on the simplest non-trivial example, I will show how both "equations" and "solutions" sides of correspondence naturally appear in the simple statistical models of dimers and "melting crystals" made out of them.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/91449709915?pwd=eUVDeDdHVGI2ZVRwQ0hneXFpQk1wQT09