Talks

In an anisotropic limit of the weakly-coupled, 2+1-dimensional non-Abelian gauge theories are equivalent to a collection of integrable 1+1-dimensional quantum field theories. This fact makes it possible to understand confinement near this limit. Using exact form factors, it is possible to study the theory away from the extreme anisotropic limit. The string tension between fundamental color sources is found. Adjoint sources are not confined. Some ideas concerning the isotropic case and the generalization to 3+1 dimensions will be discussed.

We give a communication problem between two players, Alice and Bob, that can be solved by Alice sending a quantum message to Bob, for which any classical interactive protocol requires exponentially more communication.

Theories of physics beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of relativistic strings, either as composite objects, or as fundamental constituents of matter. If they were created in the Big Bang, they would very likely still be present in the universe today. This talk reviews the thirty year history of cosmic strings, and describes the latest work which finds intriguing hints in the Cosmic Microwave Background data that the universe is filled with string.