General Relativity & Quantum Cosmology

The parametrized particle: notion of Dirac observables - Canonical analysis of the first order action for 3D gravity - Constraints of 3D gravity (1st order formulation): Gauss constraints and Flatness constraints.

Hamiltonian formulation of constrained systems: examples from tutorial 1; notions of primary, secondary... constraints and notions of first class and second class constraints - Relation constraints/gauge symmetries - A totally constrained system: the parametrized particle.

The characteristics of black holes smaller than the Planck scale are addressed.  These result from a modified metric that reproduces desirable aspects of a variety of disparate models in the sub-Planckian limit, while remaining Schwarzschild in the large mass limit. The self-dual nature of this solution has two interesting features: first, it naturally implies the Generalized Uncertainty Principle. Secondly, this metric exhibits an effective dimensional reduction feature, indicating that the gravitational physics of the sub-Planckian regime is effectively (1+1)-D.

In this talk, I will discuss the asymptotic safety paradigm, and will highlight that it can provide a framework for a predictive ultraviolet completion for gravity and matter. Specifically, I will discuss compelling hints that exist for the realization of asymptotic safety in pure gravity, and will then present recent progress on the case of gravity coupled to Standard Model matter. In particular, I will highlight results that show how to forge a link between physics at the Planck scale and physics at the electroweak scale, in order to impose observational constraints on the microscopic quantum gravity dynamics.

We will discuss how the process of superradiance, combined with
gravitational wave measurements, makes black holes into
nature's laboratories to search for new light bosons. We will present
analytic results for superradiance of light vector (spin-1) particles,
valid in the regime where the vector's Compton wavelength is much
larger than the horizon size of a black hole. If superradiance is
efficient, the occupation number of the vectors in the black hole's
vicinity grows exponentially and the black hole spins down. We will
present preliminary signatures of this process, including black hole
spin measurements and gravitational wave signals. Current measurements
of black hole spins disfavor a range of masses of (gravitationally
coupled) vectors. Vectors annihilating to gravitons would emit
strong monochromatic gravitational wave signals, which may be
visible in future LIGO observations. 

The modeling of pulsar radio and gamma-ray emission suggests that in order to interpret the observations one needs to understand the field geometry and the plasma state in the emission region. In recent years, significant progress has been achieved in understanding the magnetospheric structure in the limit of abundant plasma supply. However, the very presence of dense plasma everywhere in the magnetosphere is not obvious. Even the region where the observed emission is produced is subject to debate. To address this from first principles, we constructed global kinetic simulations of pulsar magnetospheres using relativistic Particle-in-Cell codes, which capture the physics of plasma production and particle acceleration. In this talk I will describe how plasma is produced in magnetospheres of pulsars. I will present modeling of high-energy lightcurves, calculated self-consistently from particle motion in the pulsar magnetosphere. I will also show evidence that observed radio emission is powered by non-stationary discharge at the polar cap.