Scientific Series

The information loss paradox is usually stated as an incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics. However, the assumptions leading to the problem are often overlooked and, in fact, a careful inspection of the main hypothesises suggests a radical reformulation of the problem. Indeed, I will present a thought experiment that shows the existence of an incompatibility between (i) the validity of the laws of general relativity to describe infalling matter far from the Planckian regime, and (ii) the so-called central dogma which states that as seen from an outside observer a black hole behaves like a quantum system whose number of degrees of freedom is proportional to the horizon area. We critically revise the standard arguments in support of the central dogma, and argue that they cannot hold true unless some new physics is invoked even before reaching Planck scales. This leads to the counterintuitive result that the information loss problem, in its current formulation, is not necessarily related to any loss of information or lack of unitarity. Semiclassical general relativity and quantum mechanics can be perfectly compatible before reaching the final stage of the black hole evaporation where, instead, a consistent theory of quantum gravity is needed to make any prediction.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94637978136?pwd=VmlWa1BJU3I1UGVRNjliMEpUTlo2dz09

The double copy relates scattering amplitudes in gauge theory and gravity. But interaction potentials (and spacetime metrics) can be extracted from amplitudes, and so the double copy leads to a relationship between classical solutions of gauge theory and gravity. In this talk I will describe this relationship, provide a perspective on the Schwarzschild metric as a “square” of the Coulomb charge, and take a look at the “square root” of the Kerr metric.

In this talk, we explore new techniques to probe the analytic structure of scattering amplitudes in perturbative Quantum Field Theory. The goal of this approach is to leverage symmetries, limits, and analyticity in order to circumvent the explicit evaluation of multi-loop Feynman integrals. First, we generalize the cutting rules by relating sequential discontinuities (discontinuities of discontinuities) to multiple cuts through the corresponding Feynman diagram. Then, we determine the logarithmic branch-cut structure of massive scattering amplitudes by expanding around their branch points. As a corollary, we prove a conjectured bound on the transcendental weight of polylogarithmic Feynman integrals. These results pave a new path towards bootstrapping scattering amplitudes in perturbation theory.

Finding cosmological models that are consistent with a wide range of observations, including those that indicate a high Hubble constant (the current rate of expansion of space), has proved to be very challenging. In this talk I explore why. Our exploration leads us to fundamental sources of length scales in cosmological models: gravitational collapse time scales and photon electron-scattering mean free paths. We find that scaling down these quantities leaves cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps, and many other cosmological observables, nearly invariant, while boosting up the expansion rate. I then introduce a model that takes advantage of this symmetry to boost up model predictions of the Hubble constant given CMB and other cosmological data. Gravitational collapse time scales are scaled down from standard cosmological values by the introduction of a `mirror world' dark sector, and photon mean free paths are scaled down by reducing the amount of helium, thereby freeing up more electrons. I speculate about alternative ways to reduce photon mean free paths, as consistency with the Riess et al. (2021) measurement of the Hubble constant requires there to be less helium in the universe than is observed. 

Redshift space distortions and weak gravitational lensing have been used as a powerful combination of growth data to test gravity. In particular, combining these two probes where spectroscopic and photometric surveys overlap, can yield much stronger dark energy and growth constraints than a combination of independent measurements of the two. However, this approach is limited due to a fairly small overlapping area between spectroscopic and photometric surveys. In this talk, I will introduce a new method to optimally combine spectroscopic and photometric surveys, using the DMASS galaxy sample as gravitational lenses. The new approach can extract the full statistical power of photometric surveys beyond the overlapping area. I will illustrate how this approach with DMASS improves cosmological constraints in the frame of modified gravity and will show its application to future surveys having a limited overlap such as DESI and LSST.

There are many different interpretations of quantum mechanics. Among them, QBism and Rovelli's Relational Quantum Mechanics (RQM) are special because they both propose that reality itself is produced relative to "observers". For QBism, observers are defined as rational decision-making "agents", while in RQM any physical system can be an observer. But both interpretations agree that reality is shaped by what happens when observers encounter the world external to themselves. In this talk I will try to understand what these interpretations imply for the ongoing problem of defining an ontological model of quantum mechanics.

I will describe a concrete, computable example of holographic geometry emerging purely from the combinatorics of large matrices. Correlation functions of determinant operators in a matrix-valued free chiral algebra will be matched to holomorphic curves in SL(2,C).

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/99341570607?pwd=TVVmSkF3d1haa0hBOWlPeDhGNi9aQT09

In the asymptotic safety approach to quantum gravity it is conjectured that a nonperturbative ultraviolet completion exists for Einstein's metric gravity and its perturbative effective description in four dimensions. Such completion would circumvent the notorious problems of renormalizability and predictivity at high energies of the quantum theory. I want do discuss the conjecture armed with pragmatism and avoiding preconceived ideologies. I also want to present some perturbative results in two dimensions, that can be used to argue the validity of the conjecture above two dimensions, and to discuss the implications for the current status of the approach.

Gravitational waves (GWs) are reshaping our understanding of the universe, and the more exciting discoveries are yet to come. In the next observing runs we will observe hundreds to thousands of events per year at increasingly higher redshifts, opening unique opportunities to test our cosmological model. In this talk I will focus on how this coming data could help probing gravity and dark energy, and what new information GW lensing will provide. In the first part of the talk I will describe how, without the need for electromagnetic counterparts or galaxy catalogs, the study of the binary black hole mass distribution can constrain LCDM and Einstein’s gravity. Moreover, I will show that black hole mergers are also promising laboratories to  bound GW interactions with other cosmological fields leading to waveform distortions and echoes. In the second part, I will discuss current searches for strongly lensed GWs and the importance of the GW phase measurement in this identification. Observing GW lensed events will allow us to probe the matter distribution in the universe and further constrain the laws of gravity. In both parts of the talk I will emphasize the important role of next generation ground- and space-based detectors.

The universe has been studied using light since the dawn of astronomy.  

But deep down in the dark glacial ice of the South Pole, Antarctica, a very different kind of telescope is getting a new view of the universe. Operated by a team of more than 300 physicists from 12 countries, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory captures the universe in high-energy neutrinos.  

Neutrinos are particles a lot like light (photons), but with one remarkable property that makes them a powerful medium for studying the universe. Physicist Naoko Kurahashi Neilson has travelled to the snow-swept IceCube Neutrino Observatory to study these elusive particles. In her October 6 Perimeter Public Lecture webcast, she will share more about the insights neutrinos can offer and what it’s like conducting research in one of the least habitable places on Earth.

Kurahashi Neilson is an associate professor at Drexel University and the recipient of a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. Symmetry magazine featured her among 10 early-career experimentalists of note in 2019.

After her undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley, Kurahashi Neilson obtained her PhD at Stanford University while “listening” for extremely high-energy neutrinos in the ocean in the Bahamas. She now lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and three young children, and is devoted to STEM outreach, particularly aimed at middle- and high-school girls.

We investigate topological order on fractal geometries embedded in n dimensions. In particular, we diagnose the existence of the topological order through the lens of quantum information and geometry, i.e., via its equivalence to a quantum error-correcting code with a macroscopic code distance or the presence of macroscopic systoles in systolic geometry. We first prove a no-go theorem that Z_N topological order cannot survive on any fractal embedded in 2D. For fractal lattice models embedded in 3D or higher spatial dimensions, Z_N topological order survives if the boundaries of the interior holes condense only loop or membrane excitations. Moreover, for a class of models containing only loop or membrane excitations, and are hence self-correcting on an n-dimensional manifold, we prove that topological order survives on a large class of fractal geometries independent of the type of hole boundaries. We further construct fault-tolerant logical gates using their connection to global and higher-form topological symmetries. In particular, we have discovered a logical CCZ gate corresponding to a global symmetry in a class of fractal codes embedded in 3D with Hausdorff dimension asymptotically approaching D_H=2+ϵ for arbitrarily small ϵ, which hence only requires a space-overhead Ω(d^(2+ϵ)) with d being the code distance. This in turn leads to the surprising discovery of certain exotic gapped boundaries that only condense the combination of loop excitations and gapped domain walls. We further obtain logical C^pZ gates with p≤n−1 on fractal codes embedded in nD. In particular, for the logical C^{n−1}Z in the nth level of Clifford hierarchy, we can reduce the space overhead to Ω(d^(n−1+ϵ)). Mathematically, our findings correspond to macroscopic relative systoles in fractals.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96893356441?pwd=cnlxTVIwd0U5TW9uZDMweXRSa3oydz09

In this talk, I will connect physical properties of scattering amplitudes to the Riemann zeta function. Specifically, I will construct a closed-form amplitude, describing the tree-level exchange of a tower with masses m^2_n = \mu^2_n, where \zeta(\frac{1}{2}\pm i \mu_n) = 0. Requiring real masses corresponds to the Riemann hypothesis, locality of the amplitude to meromorphicity of the zeta function, and universal coupling between massive and massless states to simplicity of the zeros of \zeta. Unitarity bounds from dispersion relations for the forward amplitude translate to positivity of the odd moments of the sequence of 1/\mu^2_n.