Talks

According to the Belinski-Khalatnikov-Lifshitz conjecture, the Bianchi IX spacetime describes the evolution of each spatial point close to a generic spacelike singularity. However, near the singularity, quantum effects are expected to be relevant. Therefore, in this work a quantum analysis of the model is performed, mainly focusing on its chaotic nature. Considering some minimal approximations, it is possible to encode all the information of the quantum degrees of freedom in certain canonical variables, expanding thus the classical phase space. In this way, we can apply the usual methods of dynamical systems for studying chaos. In particular, two techniques are considered. On the one hand, an analytical study is carried out, which provides an isomorphism between the quantum dynamics of Bianchi IX and the geodesic flow on a Riemannian manifold. On the other hand, by means of numerical simulations, the fractal dimension of the boundary between points with different outcome in the space of initial data is studied. The main conclusion is that, although the quantum system is chaotic, the quantum effects considerably reduce this behavior as compared to its classical counterpart.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/91559466008?pwd=UzQvTGRkR3VQWm9MWDlaaVAyNi9EQT09

Counting partitions in diverse dimensions is a long-standing problem in enumerative combinatorics. It also plays a prominent role in the physics of instanton counting and in algebraic geometry through the computation of Donaldson-Thomas invariants. In this talk I will give an overview of these counting problems, and discuss how recent developments in the computation of instanton/Donaldson-Thomas partition functions clarify some open problems in the enumeration of higher-dimensional partitions.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/92547375606?pwd=VDBiTTV6QjBtWThnSjJPc0phVEI1dz09

I will discuss an explicit way to construct Hopf algebras and quasi-triangular Hopf algebras (their Drinfeld doubles) within 3d TQFT, using extended operators on boundary conditions -- dubbed `spark' algebras. The representation categories of these algebras capture boundary and bulk line operators. Overall, the construction realizes Tannakian duality geometrically; in perturbative TQFT's, it is closely connected to the holographic Koszul duality of Costello and Paquette. I'll illustrate the construction for Dijkgraaf-Witten theory (a.k.a. gauge theory with finite gauge group), and then sketch an application to the B-type topological twist of 3d N=4 gauge theories, which initially motivated these investigations. (Work in progress with T. Creutzig and W. Niu.)

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/93746215441?pwd=YjdhaDNFeko3VDVKQW5ZV1MzL1cvUT09

Entanglement renormalization circuits are quantum circuits that can be used to prepare large-scale entangled states. For years, it has remained a mystery whether there exist scale-invariant entanglement renormalization circuits for chiral topological order. In this paper, we solve this problem by demonstrating entanglement renormalization circuits for a wide class of chiral topologically ordered states, including a state sharing the same topological properties as Laughlin's bosonic fractional quantum Hall state at filling fraction 1/4 and eight states with Ising-like non-Abelian fusion rules. The key idea is to build entanglement renormalization circuits by interleaving the conventional multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz (MERA) circuit (made of spatially local gates) with quasi-local evolution. Given the miraculous power of this circuit to prepare a wide range of chiral topologically ordered states, we refer to these circuits as MERA with quasi-local evolution (MERAQLE).\

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/98523529456?pwd=dUlNbUQyemZGNFlCUGFJNStPU0xxdz09

To perform reliable quantum computations in the midst of noise from the environment, it is imperative to use a quantum error-correcting code — i.e., a scheme for redundantly encoding information so that errors may be detected and corrected as they occur. One of the most promising classes of quantum error-correcting codes are those based on topological phases of matter, such as the celebrated toric code. Although there is a rich classification of topological phases of matter, the toric code has by far received the most attention as a practical quantum error-correcting code, due to its simple representation within the stabilizer formalism.

In this talk, I will discuss three works in which we extend the stabilizer formalism to topological orders beyond that of the toric code. This includes the construction of two-dimensional stabilizer codes characterized by Abelian topological orders with gapped boundaries, three-dimensional stabilizer codes that host arbitrary two-dimensional Abelian topological orders on their surface, and two-dimensional subsystem codes also characterized by arbitrary Abelian topological orders. This work thus opens the door to encoding and processing quantum information using the exotic properties exhibited by the wide range of Abelian topological phases of matter.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/94640905425?pwd=aDd0Qnl1TUU0QytaNWJJLzEyZlQrQT09

In the quest to understand the fundamental structure of spacetime (and subsystems) in quantum gravity, it may be worth exploring the ultimate consequences of non-perturbative canonical quantization, carefully taking into account the constraints and gauge invariance of general relativity. As the reduced phase space (or even the pre-phase space) of gravity lacks a natural linear structure, a generalization of the standard method of quantization (based on global conjugate coordinates) is required. One such generalization is Isham's method based on transitive groups of symplectomorphisms, which we test in some simple examples. In particular, considering a particle that lives on a sphere, in the presence of a magnetic monopole flux, we algebraically recover Dirac's charge quantization condition from a "Casimir matching principle", which we propose as an important tool in selecting natural representations. Finally, we develop the non-perturbative reduced phase space quantization of causal diamonds in (2+1)-dimensional gravity. By solving the constraints in a constant-mean-curvature time gauge and removing all the spatial gauge redundancy, we find that the phase space is the cotangent bundle of $Diff^+(S^1)/PSL(2, \mathbb{R})$. Applying Isham's quantization we find that the Hilbert space of the associated quantum theory carries a (projective) irreducible unitary representation of the $BMS_3$ group. From the Casimir matching principle, we show that the states are realized as wavefunctions on the configuration space with internal indices in unitary irreps of $SL(2, \mathbb{R})$. A surprising result is that the twist of the diamond boundary loop is quantized in terms of the ratio of the Planck length to the boundary length.

Papers on quantization of causal diamonds:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.11741
https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.03100

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/98636934234?pwd=THBCcFpYWHYzWmY0YjViY3Q1a3VYdz09

We investigate the nature of the Giddings-Strominger wormhole in axion gravity, whose stability remains contested despite previous work in this direction. Unlike what is done in these works, we follow a Lorentzian approach which directly addresses the factorization problem. To probe the thermodynamic stability of wormholes in the gravitational path integral, we look for fixed-area saddle points. However, taking care to choose the appropriate boundary conditions, we find that there are no fixed-area axion wormholes in Lorentzian signature. We then discuss how we could go beyond this analysis, considering off-shell axion wormhole configurations with fixed-length.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/98119789932?pwd=N1RCanJCdk56eWJ3RHJCRG5KU21lQT09

Abstract TBA

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/96982969023?pwd=MjgzaU5mZUVuV3pNVG11dHM2WUd4UT09

Major improvements in the theoretical aspects of Cosmology have been possible in recent years due to QFT-inspired methods, such as the effective field theory of large-scale structure (EFTofLSS). In this talk, I will explore further connections between high-energy physics and cosmology. I will present a systematic approach to renormalizing the galaxy bias parameters using path integrals and a finite cutoff scale Λ. I will derive the differential equations of the Wilson-Polchinski renormalization group that describe the evolution of the finite-scale bias parameters with Λ, analogous to the β-function running in QFT. I will then discuss how the RG-flow of EFTofLSS can lead to improvements in the extraction of cosmological parameters and also serve as a tool for sanity checks.

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Zoom link https://pitp.zoom.us/j/93248279658?pwd=Z1M1UnI3eVh3NTZ3NCt4NUtGaW5idz09