Talks

The subject of quantum field theory in mixed states of quantum matter is an old and rich one. The natural setting to discuss field theory in a mixed state is the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. The subject of this talk is the set of peculiar symmetries that arise in Schwinger-Keldysh theories, and how they may be accounted for in effective field theory. In particular, when the mixed state is thermal, the effective description is constrained by two BRST-like supercharges which, at low energies, generate an algebra akin to minimal supersymmetric quantum mechanics. If time allows, I will also discuss a sort of Schwinger-Keldysh bootstrap for effective actions on more complicated closed-time-contours, which describe the out-of-time-ordered correlation functions that diagnose early-time chaotic growth in quantum systems.

I will describe the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), an instrument currently being built to carry out a large galaxy redshift survey.  DESI is the next step beyond the SDSS and BOSS surveys, mapping over 30 million galaxies.  I will focus in particular on the amazing engineering challenges of the DESI instrument itself, which includes a 5,000-robot army and 250 kilometers of fiber optics.  I will conclude by briefly describing the work I am personally involved in: a large imaging survey that will measure the galaxies from which DESI will select targets for follow-up spectroscopic observation.

An F-field on a manifold M is a local system of algebraically closed fields of characteristic p.  You can study local systems of vector spaces over this local system of fields.  On a 3-manifold, they are are rigid, and the rank one local systems are counted by the Alexander polynomial.  On a surface, they come in positive-dimensional moduli (perfect of characteristic p), but they are more "stable" than ordinary local systems in the GIT sense.  When M is symplectic, maybe an F-field should remind you of a B-field, it can be used to change the Fukaya category in about the same way.  On S^1 x R^3, this version of the Fukaya category is related to Deligne-Lusztig theory, and I found something like a cluster structure on the Deligne-Lusztig pairing varieties by studying it.

Modified gravitation known as Scalar-Tensor- Vector-Gravity (STVG) and MOG and its consequences for dark matter and dark energy in astrophysics and cosmology and black holes is reviewed. A variable speed of light (VSL) cosmology is compared to inflation. MOG predictions for gravitational waves are compared to the LIGO/Virgo collaboration data. MOG – black hole predictions for the sizes of the Sagittarius A* shadow are compared to the sizes predicted by the Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions. A possible void cosmology is compared to the standard cosmology based on dark energy and the cosmological constant.

The conformal bootstrap aims to calculate scaling dimensions and correlation functions in various theories, starting from general principles such as unitarity and crossing symmetry.  I will explain that local operators are not independent of each other but organize into analytic functions of spin, and I will present a formula which quantifies the consequences of this fact.  This will include a controlled approximation to the operator spectrum at large spin, as well as new bounds over the strength of bulk higher-derivative interactions in large-N theories with a sparse spectrum. These bounds, previously conjectured to exist using gauge-gravity duality, encode causality of the bulk theory.  Based on 1703.00278.

Just like how milli-electric charged particles can exist, so can milli-magnetic charged particles.  We review simple ways of evading the standard quantization arguments and why there are no model independent constraints on magnetically charged particles, milli-charged or not.  We then provide the first ever model independent bounds coming from magnetar cooling arguments.

We define an action of the k-strand braid group on the set of cluster variables for the Grassmannian Gr(k,n), provided k divides n. The action sends clusters to clusters, preserving the underlying quivers, defining a homomorphism from the braid group to the cluster modular group for Gr(k,n). Our results can be translated to statements about clusters in Fock-Goncharov configuration spaces of affine flags, provided the number of flags is even. Finally, we apply our results to the two "Grassmannians of finite mutation type," proving in these cases versions of conjectures made by Fomin and Pylyavskyy describing cluster variables as SL_k web invariants. 

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.