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2021/2022 Web Seminars

This year we will continue our online series of seminars, given last year’s success.

Ordinarily, seminars will take place on Tuesdays at 4PM Italian time (CEST/CET). [NB: the time was changed from 2:30PM to 4PM.]

All seminars will take place on Zoom; you can join the room via the link
https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar.
(Meeting ID: 876 4300 0411 – Please use your NAME+LAST NAME when logging in to be allowed in the room.)

All seminars are recorded for your convenience: the recording will be linked below the corresponding seminar post on this website.

You can subscribe to our (Google) calendar using this link:
https://bit.ly/2y5NzNZ

To subscribe to the mailing list, just send an (empty) email to sympa@lists.infn.it with subject ‘subscribe string-webinar First Name Last Name‘ (bold is not needed); to unsubscribe the subject should be ‘unsubscribe string-webinar‘.

Fabio and Marco

Seminar Jul 7: Pietro Benetti Genolini

On July 7 we will have a seminar by

Pietro Benetti Genolini (King’s College London)

Title: Complex saddles and black holes in AdS4

Abstract:

The large-N limit of the superconformal index of ABJM theory is related to black holes that are asymptotically AdS4. The relation can be made more precise by mapping the index to a supersymmetric partition function on a twisted S1 x S2 background, whose large-N limit corresponds to the on-shell action of supersymmetric black hole solutions with appropriate boundary conditions. When computing the large-N limit of the partition function, we encounter a family of complex saddles labelled by an integer. In this talk, I will consider the gravitational dual of these complex saddle points.

Meeting information:
July 7, 2022 @ 2:30PM Italian time (CEST)
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

This will be a hybrid meeting, taking place in room U2-02 of the University of Milan-Bicocca (building U2, ground floor) in Milan and streamed on Zoom. All are welcome to attend in person.

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/pietro-benetti_genolini.

Seminar Mar 15: Mithat Ünsal


On March 15 we will have a seminar by

Mithat Ünsal (North Carolina State)

Title: Adiabatic continuity, mixed anomalies and semi-classical
description of confinement

Abstract:

I describe an  anomaly-preserving compactification of four dimensional gauge theories, including Yang-Mills theory, its supersymmetric version and QCD, down to 2d by turning on ‘t Hooft flux through a 2-torus. This provides a new framework to analytically calculate nonperturbative properties such as confinement, chiral symmetry breaking, and multi-branch structure of vacua. We give the semiclassical description of these phenomena based on the center vortices, and show that it enjoys the same anomaly matching condition with the original 4d gauge theory. For YM, the long distance theory maps to TQFT deformed by local topological operators. We conjecture that the weak-coupling vacuum structure on small T2 x R2 is adiabatically connected to the strong-coupling regime in infinite volume without any phase transitions.

Meeting information:
March 15, 2022 @ 4:00PM Italian time (CET)
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/mithat-unsal.

Seminar Mar 1: Gabriel Cuomo


On March 1 we will have a seminar by

Gabriel Cuomo (SCGP)

Title: Line defects in CFTs: renormalization group flows and semiclassical limits

Abstract:

I will discuss line defects in d-dimensional Conformal Field Theories (CFTs). I will first review recent general results on the monotonicity of defect RG flows for line defects. I will then discuss three physically interesting examples of line defects: magnetic field defects, spin impurities, and Wilson lines. In particular, I will present a recently developed semiclassical approach, which allows studying spin impurities and Wilson lines in large representations.

Meeting information:
March 1, 2022 @ 4:00PM Italian time (CET)
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/gabriel-cuomo.

Seminar Feb 15: Riccardo Argurio


On February 15 we will have a seminar by

Riccardo Argurio (ULB)

Title: SUSY breaking in branes at singularities (or: The octagon rising from the swamp)

Abstract:

After motivating the search for string theory configurations where supersymmetry is spontaneously broken, I will discuss the approach focused on branes at singularities, in the context of the open/closed duality (a.k.a. gauge/gravity correspondence). The search for SUSY breaking configurations is made difficult by the peculiarities of the QFT models of dynamical SUSY breaking models one wants to reproduce with branes, and by the instabilities inherent with the brane construction. I will finally present a configuration, based on a particular singularity (which we dubbed the Octagon), that is the only one to pass all the stability tests. We comment on its properties and possible generalizations, and geometric/supergravity realizations. We will make some comments on the relevance of our results for some Swampland conjectures.
Based on 1909.04682, 2005.09671, 2007.13762, 2009.11291 + work in progress.

Meeting information:
February 15, 2022 @ 4:00PM Italian time (CET)
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/riccardo-argurio.

Seminar Feb 1: Carlo Maccaferri

On February 1 we will have a seminar by

Carlo Maccaferri (Torino)

Title: Integrating out in string field theory: effective actions and background independence

Abstract:
I review recent results on the procedure of integrating out unwanted degrees of freedom from a fundamental microscopic string field theory action. A first application is the construction of effective actions/potentials for the strings’ light fields by integrating out massive string fields.  I will give a few examples of D-branes effective potentials obtained in this way. A second, physically different, application concerns analytic classical solutions of open string field theory (OSFT) describing generic D-brane systems in a given closed string background. This time, by integrating out peculiar “pure gauge” degrees of freedom, we can precisely relate the action for fluctuations on the classical solution to the OSFT directly formulated on the new background thus explicitly realizing (open string) background independence. I end up discussing possible new directions for future explorations.

Meeting information:
February 1, 2022 @ 4:00PM Italian time (CET)
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/carlo-maccaferri.

INFN Strings “Young Days”: Dec 13 & Dec 16

UPDATE (Dec 9): The timetable and scientific program of both events (Dec 13 & Dec 16) have been published here below. (All times are CET.) All recordings and presentations will be uploaded during the days following the events.

UPDATE (Dec 5): There will be 2 Young Days, on Dec 13 & Dec 16, 2021. The Dec 13 event will be fully online (zoom talks only), whereas the Dec 16 one will be in hybrid mode (zoom talks in the morning, in-person talks also streamed on zoom in the afternoon). All seminars will be recorded and posted online for your convenience.

The timetable and scientific program will be posted soon.

Those who wish to attend the Dec 16 event in person should follow the same rules as on Nov 16 (see here below). There will be a (complimentary) social dinner on the night of Dec 16: please send us an email ASAP if wish to attend it.

UPDATE (Dec 1): The applications to give a 20′ seminar are closed.

Rules for attending the in-person meeting at the University of Milan-Bicocca (Sironi hall, building U4, floor -1):

1) Those who wish to attend the meeting in person (many spots available) should contact the organizers and fill in the (Google) form available at the link https://forms.gle/GM86PqSFLTtFLwss7 the day of their arrival in Milan, or the day before (the in-person speakers should also fill in the same form). 

2) The attendees should also fill in, print, sign, and bring with them the Covid form (covid_form.pdf) available at that same link. (All attendees will be required to show a valid EU digital covid pass / Italian green pass at the entrance of the building, and will be required to wear a face mask during the entire duration of the event, and on all university’s premises.)

December 13 timetable:

TIME (CET)Speaker (affiliation)Title of talkSlides
9:50 AMZoom room opens
Recordings morning session 1 (Di Giulio, Arduino, Pekar)
10:00 AMGiuseppe Di Giulio (Würzburg)Complexity of mixed Gaussian states from Fisher information geometryDi Giulio
10:20 AMAndrea Arduino (Torino)Noncommutativity Rescues Open String and QFT in Time-dependent OrbifoldsArduino
10:40 AMSimon Pekar (UMons)Flat space higher-spin
symmetry algebras in any dimensions
Pekar
Coffee break
Recordings morning session 2 (Gregori, Majumder, Youmans)
11:30 AMDaniele Gregori (Bologna)Integrability and cycles of deformed N=2 gauge theoryGregori
11:50 AMSuvajit Majumder (City)Protected states from
AdS3 integrability
Majumder
12:10 PMDonald Youmans (Bern)Holomorphic maps of two-dimensional complex manifolds into toric targets and type A multistring theoryYoumans
Lunch break
Recordings afternoon session 1 (Guerrini, Mann, Pasternak)
2:30 PMLuigi Guerrini (Parma)A duality for the BPS latitude Wilson loop in ABJMGuerrini
2:50 PMJeremy Mann (DESY)Multipoint Conformal Blocks and their Vertex Integrable Systems
Mann
3:10 PMAntoine Pasternak (Stanford)Dynamical supersymmetry breaking in string theoryPasternak
Coffee break
Recordings afternoon session 2 (Naegels, Podo, Esposito)
4:00 PMDaniel Naegels (ULB)Fractons in effective field theories for spontaneously broken translationsNaegels
4:20 PMAlessandro Podo (Columbia)Integrating out beyond tree level for relativistic superfluidsPodo
4:40 PMAngelo Esposito (IAS)An EFT viewpoint on condensed matterEsposito
All times CET

December 16 timetable:

TIMESpeaker (affiliation)Title of talkSlides
10:20 AMMeet & Greet (Zoom room opens)
Recordings morning session (Sperling, Fardelli, Sterckx, Ramirez)
10:30 AMMarcus Sperling (Yau Center Nanjing)Magnetic quivers and strongly coupled Higgs phases of theories with 8 superchargesSperling
10:50 AMGiulia Fardelli (Uppsala)Quarter-BPS operators in N=4 SYM: a case studyFardelli
11:10 AMColin Sterckx (ULB)S-folds: symmetry breaking and marginal deformationsSterckx
11:30 AMAnayeli Ramirez (Oviedo)Advances in AdS/CFT in lower dimensionsRamirez
Lunch break
Recordings afternoon session 1 (Mignosa, Ruggeri, Bajeot)
2:30 PMFrancesco Mignosa* (SISSA)On fixed points and phase transitions in five dimensionsMignosa
2:50 PMLorenzo Ruggeri* (Uppsala)SYM theories on CP2
Ruggeri
3:10 PMStéphane Bajeot* (SISSA)Dualities from deconfinementBajeot
Coffee break

Recordings afternoon session 2 (Ferrero, Lichtig, Billo)
4:00 PMPietro Ferrero* (Oxford)Branes wrapped on supersymmetric spindlesFerrero
4:20 PMDaniel Lichtig* (SISSA)CFT, special functions and SUSY gauge theoryLichtig
4:40 PMDavide Billo* (Firenze)Holographic and QFT Complexity with angular momentumBillo
6:00 PM & 8:30 PMCocktail Hour & Social dinner
* indicates the seminar will be given in-person. All times are CET

Seminar Nov 30: Natalia Pinzani-Fokeeva

On November 30 we will have a seminar by

Natalia Pinzani-Fokeeva (MIT & University of Florence)

Title: Enstrophy and black hole supertranslations

Abstract: Enstrophy is an approximately conserved quantity in 2+1 dimensional fluid flows that has dramatic consequences for the phenomenology of nonrelativistic turbulence: it implies an inverse energy cascade. In this talk, I will present an algorithm on how to construct an enstrophy current for generic fluid flows (relativistic and non). In addition, I will show how a subset of certain horizon symmetries of 3+1 dimensional AdS black holes also lead to enstrophy conservation in the dual holographic fluid theory.

Meeting information:
November 30, 2021 @ 4:00PM Italian time (CET)
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/natalia-pinzani-fokeeva.

INFN Strings “Young Days”: Nov 16

UPDATE (Nov 17): all recordings and presentations of the Nov 16 event are available at the links below.

On November 16 and December 13 [UPDATE (Nov 10): was December 14], 2021 we will hold the first INFN Strings “Young Days”: on each day there will be two/three 20′ seminars by young researchers (PhD students or postdocs), starting at 4PM Italian time.

We will select a total of up to six speakers: to apply it is enough to fill in the form available at the link https://forms.gle/VCs2i3MuXXTHoXa57.

UPDATE (Nov 2): The applications for the November 16 event are now closed. (You can still apply for the December 14 one.) The selected speakers will be contacted soon.

UPDATE (Nov 9): Given the quality of the applicants, the diversity of the topics, the number of applications received, we will host more seminars than originally planned. Each day will be divided into two sessions (a morning and an afternoon one), featuring both in-person and remote seminars. All seminars will be recorded.

The in-person seminars will be held at the University of Milan-Bicocca and live-streamed on Zoom; the remote seminars will be held in the usual Zoom room https://infn-it.zoom.us/j/87643000411.

Those who wish to attend the meeting in person (many spots still available) should contact the organizers and fill in the (Google) form available at the link https://forms.gle/GM86PqSFLTtFLwss7 the day of their arrival in Milan, or the day before (the in-person speakers should also fill in the same form). NB: the attendees should also fill in, print, sign, and bring with them the Covid form (covid_form.pdf) available at that same link.

The meeting will be held in the Sironi hall (https://www.unimib.it/node/13763) inside building U4 (https://goo.gl/maps/TcLBtxoZkr31P1Pk6), floor -1: as you enter the building, take the flight of stairs immediately to your left, go down one floor, then go right and left around the corner. The room number is U4-8. (Do not hesitate to contact us in case you have problems finding the room.) NB: all attendees will be required to show their EU digital covid pass / Italian green pass at the entrance of the building, and will be required to wear a face mask during the entire duration of the event, and on all university’s premises.

November 16 timetable:

TIMESpeaker (affiliation)Title of talkSlides
9:45 AMGreetings (Zoom room opens)
Recordings morning session 1 (Rota, Segati, Magill)
10:00 AMSimone Rota* (Milan)Conformal S-duality in N=1 SCFTsRota
10:20 AMAlessia Segati* (Milan)Subleading corrections to the Cardy-like limit of the superconformal indexSegati
10:40 AMMatthew Magill (Uppsala)Bonuses from G2 structuresMagill
Coffee break
Recordings morning session 2 (van Beest, De Marco, Sangiovanni, Pellizzani)
11:30 AMMarieke van Beest (Oxford)Connecting 5d Higgs Branches via Fayet-Iliopoulos Deformationsvan Beest
11:50 AMMario De Marco* (SISSA)Higgs branches of 5d rank-zero theories from geometryDe Marco
12:10 PMAndrea Sangiovanni* (Trieste)M-theory geometric engineering of 5d SCFTsSangiovanni
12:30 PMVito Pellizzani (Bern)
Operator spectrum of nonrelativistic CFTs at large chargePellizzani
Lunch break
Recordings afternoon session 1 (Gimenez-Grau, Khanchandani, Quintavalle)
3:00 PMAleix Gimenez-Grau (DESY)Bootstrapping holographic defect correlatorsGimenez-Grau
3:20 PMHimanshu Khanchandani (Princeton)CFT in AdS and Gross-Neveu BCFT
Khanchandani
3:40 PMLorenzo Quintavalle (DESY)Multipoint Conformal Blocks from Gaudin modelsQuintavalle
Coffee break
Recordings afternoon session 2 (Ravera, Cesàro, Tonioni)
4:30 PMMattia Cesàro* (Madrid)Insight on type IIB S-folds from Kaluza-Klein spectraCesàro
4:50 PMLucrezia Ravera* (Turin)On the geometric approach to the boundary problem in supergravityRavera
5:10 PMFlavio Tonioni (Liverpool)Misaligned Supersymmetry in String TheoryTonioni
* indicates the seminar will be given in-person

UPDATE (Nov 10): The second of the two Young Days has been moved up to December 13, 2021 due to logistic reasons.

The rules for attending the in-person meeting are the same as on Nov 16 (see above).

The timetable and scientific program will be posted soon.

Fabio and Marco

Seminar Nov 2: Shota Komatsu

On November 2 we will have a seminar by

Shota Komatsu (CERN)

Title: Three tales of de Sitter

Abstract:
I will discuss the fundamentals of quantum field theory on a rigid de Sitter space. First, I will show that the perturbative expansion of late-time correlation functions to all orders can be equivalently generated by a non-unitary Lagrangian on a Euclidean AdS geometry. This finding simplifies dramatically perturbative computations, as well as allows us to establish basic properties of these correlators, which comprise a Euclidean CFT. Second, I use this to infer the analytic structure of the spectral density that captures the conformal partial wave expansion of a late-time four-point function, to derive an OPE expansion, and to constrain the operator spectrum. Third, I will prove that unitarity of the de Sitter theory manifests itself as the positivity of the spectral density. This statement does not rely on the use of Euclidean AdS Lagrangians and holds non-perturbatively.

Meeting information:
November 2, 2021 @ 4:00PM Italian time (CET)
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/shota-komatsu.

Seminar Oct 19: Sergio Benvenuti



On October 19 we will have a seminar by

Sergio Benvenuti (INFN Trieste – SISSA)

Title: Dualities from deconfinement

Abstract:
We prove dualities involving four dimensional N=1 gauge theories with rank-2 matter. We assume only elementary dualities, that is Seiberg and Intriligator-Pouliot dualities. The strategy is to use multiple times elementary S-confining dualities and elementary electric-magnetic dualities, until the desired dual theory is reached. As a first example, we derive the Wess-Zumino description of all S-confining single node quivers with rank-2 matter. As a second example, we derive a ‘fully deconfined’ dual of USp(2N) with an antisymmetric and 2F fundamental fields, then use it to prove a self-duality valid at F=4. These results are based on ongoing work with Stéphane Bajeot, and uplift 3d results obtained with Ivan Garozzo and Gabriele Lo Monaco.

Meeting information:
October 19, 2021 @ 4:00PM Italian time (CEST) [NOTE the different time wrt previous seminar]
Zoom Meeting https://l.infn.it/stringwebseminar

You can watch the recording at the link https://pandora.infn.it/public/sergio-benvenuti.