Month: October 2020

On December 10 we will have a seminar by

Julian Sonner (University of Geneva)

Title: Causal symmetry breaking: the EFT of quantum chaos

Abstract:

Quantum chaotic systems are often defined via the assertion that their spectral statistics coincides with, or is well approximated by, random matrix theory. In this talk I will explain how the universal content of random matrix theory emerges as the consequence of a simple symmetry-breaking principle and its associated Goldstone modes. This approach gives a natural way to identify wormhole-like correlations, even for individual theories.
I will also discuss how to extend the Goldstone effective-field-theory approach to study operator correlation functions, and present some thoughts on how to understand causal symmetry breaking in holographic bulk gravity.

Meeting information:
10th of December at 14:30 Italian Time
Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/198435430

You can watch the recording at
https://pandora.infn.it/public/0585a8

On November 26 we will have a seminar by

Paul Townsend (Cambridge U., DAMTP)

Title: Interacting alternatives to Maxwell’s equations preserving
conformal and duality invariance

Abstract:
The source-free Maxwell’s equations are both conformal invariant and
invariant under an SO(2) electromagnetic duality group. It is commonly
thought that these conditions imply their uniqueness. However, there are
two interacting electrodynamics theories with the same field content and
all the symmetries of Maxwell’s equations. One was found in 1983 by
Bialynicki-Birula from a strong-field limit of Born-Infeld theory; it has
an enhanced Sl(2;R)-duality invariance.  The other, dubbed “ModMax”, was
found very recently from a weak-field limit of a ‘generalized’ Born-Infeld
theory; it has a dimensionless coupling constant and reduces to Maxwell
for zero coupling. This talk will review the main features of both
Bialynicki-Birula and ModMax electrodynamics.

Meeting information:
26th of November at 14:30 Italian Time
Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/198435430

Slides are available at
https://pandora.infn.it/public/cf0ae7

You can watch the recording at
https://pandora.infn.it/public/35895c

On November 12 we will have a seminar by

Razvan Gurau (Heidelberg University)

Title: Random Tensors, from random geometry to conformal field theory

Abstract: In this talk I will briefly review the theory of Random Tensors. In the limit of large size (large N), random tensors exhibit a new “melonic” limit, simpler than the planar limit of random matrices but richer than the one of random vectors. This “not too complicated but not too trivial” situation is ideal for analytic computations. I will then discuss some applications of random tensors to random geometry and conformal field theory.

Meeting information:
12th of November at 14:30 Italian Time
Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/198435430

Slides are available at
https://pandora.infn.it/public/c8c4e2

You can watch the recording at
https://pandora.infn.it/public/d2610c