Talks

With two confident binary black hole mergers already detected in their first observing run, the advanced LIGO detectors are expected to detect hundreds more in coming years.  We are poised to learn more about compact binary (e.g., BNS, NSBH, BBH) formation than ever before, but doing so will demand both detailed characterization of individual events, and inference of the properties of the underlying population as a whole.  I will present the methods behind the detection and characterization of LIGO's binary black hole mergers, what they have taught us about compact binaries thus far, and what they will potentially teach us about compact binary formation in the future.

Topological quantum computing requires phases of matter which host fractionalized excitations that are neither bosons nor fermions. I will present a new route toward realizing such fractionalized phases of matter by literally building on existing topological phases. I will first discuss how existing topological phases, when interfaced with other systems, can exhibit a “topological proximity effect” in which nontrivial topology of a different nature is induced in the neighboring system. Then, I will show how this enables a new entanglement based technique (the “topological bootstrap”) for upgrading topological phases from the integer into the fractional quantum Hall variety. Finally, I will highlight the rich phenomenology of systems with interacting Majorana modes. Such systems can exhibit physics ranging from black hole scrambling to supersymmetry and from alternative surface code architectures to topological phases in three dimensions with completely immobile excitations. I will discuss my plans for understanding both general properties and specific models of such fascinating systems.

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.

Current constraints on spatial curvature demonstrate it to be dynamically negligible at late times. However, neglecting it as a cosmological parameter would be premature, as it offers a valuable test of eternal inflation models and probes novel large-scale structure phenomena. I will discuss a recent project in which a broad and conservative approach was employed to systematically forecast spatial curvature constraints from a suite of upcoming cosmology surveys, while also examining important degeneracies with cosmological parameters and potential sources of systematic error.

As we get closer to build a quantum computer, the main remaining challenge is handling the noise that aflicts quantum systems.

Topological methods, in their various forms, have become the main contestants in the quest for succesfully overcoming noise. A good deal of their strength and versatility is due to their rather unique physical flavour, which keeps giving rise to surprising developments.

I will discuss the main driving forces behind my research on topological quantum error correction, as well as exciting recent directions, including unexpected connections with high energy physics.

In 2015 the LIGO detectors observed gravitational waves from two distinct stellar-mass binary black hole mergers. This long awaited feat now opens avenues to explore astrophysical questions which cannot, or are difficult to, be answered purely by electromagnetic means. Massive stars which end their lives in a pair-instability supernova are not thought to leave a remnant behind, meaning there should exist a gap in the black hole mass spectrum. In this talk I will discuss whether LIGO observations can tell us something about this apparent mass gap. 

LIGO is currently operating in its second science run, and like its first, alerts are sent to electromagnetic partners whenever a candidate event is identified. I will also discuss the efforts being made to capture the signature of an electromagnetic counterpart, some of the facilities involved and the hurdles which need to be overcome to make a confident association between a gravitational-wave signal and an electromagnetic transient.