Cliff Burgess

I was born in Manitoba and was raised in various places around Western Canada, Ontario and Europe. I received my B.Sc., with a joint honours in Physics and Applied Math from the University of Waterloo, and continued for doctoral work in Theoretical Particle Physics at the University of Texas in Austin under the supervision of Steven Weinberg. After doing a postdoctoral stint at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, I became a professor at McGill University, ending up being appointed as a James McGill professor there in 2003. I am currently an Associate Faculty Member at PI with a joint appointment as a Professor within McMaster University's department of Physics and Astronomy. I was elected a Fellow to the Royal Society of Canada in 2008, and awarded the CAP/CRM medal for Theoretical Physics in 2010. I have written two textbooks: 'The Standard Model: A Modern Primer' (with Guy Moore) and 'Introduction to Effective Field Theory', both published by Cambridge University Press. The Effective Field Theory book was named the Best Book in Chemistry and Physics by the American Association of Publishers in 2022.
Having a wonderful time - wish you were here! If you are interested in working with me as an MSc or PhD student, please submit an application directly to Physics & Astronomy at McMaster University and indicate that you would like to be supervised by me. If you have questions you can find out more about me at https://physics.mcmaster.ca/~cburgess/ and/or shoot me an email at [email protected].
I am a high-energy particle theorist whose wild oats were sown (long ago) working in string theory, but my research interests have since broadened and taken more phenomenological and cosmological turns. At present they lie broadly at the interface between string theory and lower-energy physics, with an eye on how the ideas arising there can help with problems in particle physics and in cosmology. I am occasionally a tourist in some of those fields which are more distantly related to my own (such as condensed matter physics), and am generally interested in most of the fascinating applications of theoretical physics to the world around us. To the extent that there is a theme to my research, it would be the use of effective field theory (EFT) techniques throughout physics. These techniques permit a general understanding of the low-energy (or long-wavelength) behaviour of any physical system. They are particularly apt for our present situation in particle physics and cosmology, where it appears that the energy scale of any unknown physics beyond the relevant Standard Model is very high (or very weakly coupled). My most recent interests in this area involve how the EFTs that arise in gravitational applications often differ from the traditional Wilsonian EFTs of particle physics, and more resemble the Open EFTs used in condensed matter systems. I am exploring how this changes their domain of validity, particularly at very late times, and the extent to which this can be extended by borrowing techniques from other areas of physics.
  • Adjunct Professor, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2022-present
  • Scientific Associate, CERN, 2021-2022
  • Scientific Associate, CERN, 2014-2015
  • Scientific Associate, CERN, 2007-2008
  • Adjunct professor, University of Waterloo, 2007-present
  • Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, McMaster University, 2005-present
  • Visiting Professor, McMaster University, 2004-2005
  • Associate Faculty, Perimeter Institute, 2004-present
  • Ambrose Monell Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 2000-2001
  • Visiting Professor, Universitat de Barcelona, 1998-1999
  • Swiss National Foundation Fellow, Universite de Neuchatel, 1993-1994
  • Professor, Physics Department, McGill University, 1987-2005
  • Research Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1985-1986
  • Best Book in Physics and Chemistry, "Introduction to Effective Field Theory", American Association of Publishers, 2022
  • Discovery Grant, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2020-2025
  • Buchalter Cosmology Prize, 3rd place, Dr. Ari Buchalter, 2017
  • Buchalter Cosmology Prize, 3rd place, Dr. Ari Buchalter, 2016
  • CAP-CRM Medal for Theoretical Physics, CAP-CRM, 2010
  • Fellow, Royal Society of Canada, 2008
  • Killam Research Fellow, National Killam Program, 2005
  • James McGill Chair (Tier 1 Canada Research Chair), McGill University, 2003
  • Science Faculty Alumni Gold Medal, University of Waterloo, 1980
  • Burgess, C. P., Holman, R., Kaplanek, G., Martin, J., & Vennin, V. (2023). Minimal decoherence from inflation. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2023(07), 022. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2023/07/022
  • Burgess, C. P., Dineen, D., & Quevedo, F. (2022). Yoga Dark Energy: natural relaxation and other dark implications of a supersymmetric gravity sector. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2022(03), 064. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2022/03/064
  • Kaplanek, G., Burgess, C. P., & Holman, R. (n.d.). Influence through mixing: hotspots as benchmarks for basic black-hole behaviour. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2021(9), 6. doi:10.1007/jhep09(2021)006
  • Zalavari, L., Burgess, C. P., Hayman, P., & Rummel, M. (2021). Precision nuclear-spin effects in atoms: EFT methods for reducing theory errors. Annals of Physics, 429, 168463. doi:10.1016/j.aop.2021.168463
  • Brax, P., Burgess, C. P., & Quevedo, F. (n.d.). Lifting Klein-Gordon/Einstein solutions to general nonlinear sigma-models: the wormhole example. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2024(2), 130. doi:10.1007/jhep02(2024)130
  • Burgess, C. P., & Quevedo, F. (n.d.). Perils of towers in the swamp: dark dimensions and the robustness of EFTs. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2023(9), 159. doi:10.1007/jhep09(2023)159
  • Burgess, C. P., Choi, G., & Quevedo, F. (2023). UV and IR Effects in Axion Quality Control. arxiv:2301.00549v1
  • Burgess, C., & Kaplanek, G. (2023). Gravity, Horizons and Open EFTs. In Handbook of Quantum Gravity. Springer.
  • Bjerrum-Bohr, E., Green, D., Goldberger, W., Beneke, M., & Ivanon, M. (2023). Handbook of Quantum Gravity (EFT Section). C. Burgess, & J. Donoghue (Eds.), Springer.
  • Brax, P., Burgess, C., & Quevedo, F. (2022). Light Axiodilatons: Matter Couplings, Weak-Scale Completions and Long-Distance Tests of Gravity. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2023/08/011
  • Burgess, C. P., & Kaplanek, G. (2022). Gravity, Horizons and Open EFTs. In arXiv. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2212.09157
  • Burgess, C. P., & Quevedo, F. (2022). Who's Afraid of the Supersymmetric Dark? The Standard Model vs Low-Energy Supergravity. Fortschritte der Physik, 70(7-8). doi:10.1002/prop.202200077
  • Burgess, C. P., & Quevedo, F. (n.d.). RG-induced modulus stabilization: perturbative de Sitter vacua and improved D3-D3¯ inflation. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2022(6), 167. doi:10.1007/jhep06(2022)167
  • Burgess, C. P., & Quevedo, F. (2022). Axion homeopathy: screening dilaton interactions. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2022(04), 007. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2022/04/007
  • Burgess, C. P., Hamoudou, S., Kumar, J., & London, D. (2022). Beyond the standard model effective field theory with b?ct-?¯. Physical Review D, 105(7), 073008. doi:10.1103/physrevd.105.073008
  • Burgess, C. P., Holman, R., & Kaplanek, G. (2022). Quantum Hotspots: Mean Fields, Open EFTs, Nonlocality and Decoherence Near Black Holes. Fortschritte der Physik, 70(4). doi:10.1002/prop.202200019
  • Burgess, C. P., Hamoudou, S., Kumar, J., & London, D. (2021). Beyond SMEFT with $b \to c \,t^- {\bar?}$. arxiv:2111.07421v3
  • Sundaram, S., Burgess, C. P., & O’Dell, D. H. J. (2021). Fall-to-the-centre as a PT symmetry breaking transition. Journal of Physics Conference Series, 2038(1), 012024. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2038/1/012024
  • Kaplanek, G., Burgess, C. P., & Holman, R. (n.d.). Qubit heating near a hotspot. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2021(8), 132. doi:10.1007/jhep08(2021)132
  • Burgess, C. P., de Alwis, S. P., & Quevedo, F. (2021). Cosmological trans-Planckian conjectures are not effective. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2021(05), 037. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2021/05/037
  • Burgess, C. P., Hayman, P., Rummel, M., & Zalavári, L. (2021). Nuclear predictions for H spectroscopy without nuclear errors. Physics Letters A, 390, 127105. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2020.127105
  • Kaplanek, G., & Burgess, C. P. (n.d.). Qubits on the horizon: decoherence and thermalization near black holes. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2021(1), 98. doi:10.1007/jhep01(2021)098
  • Burgess, C. (2021). Introduction to Effective Field Theory. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781139048040"
  • The Gravity of Particle Physics (Naturally), Gravitational Waves meet Effective Field Theories, Cientro de Fisica Pedro Pasqual, Benasque, Spain, 2023/08/21
  • The Gravity of Particle Physics (Naturally), Millenium Institute for Subatomic Physics, Universidad Catolica, Santiago, Chile, 2023/08/04
  • The Gravity of Particle Physics (Naturally), ATLAS Collaboration Week, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 2023/06/27
  • Primordial Decoherence and Reliable Late-Time Predictions in Cosmology, Peyresq 2023, Peyresq Conference Center, Peyresq, France, 2023/06/14
  • Primordial Decoherence and Reliable Late-Time Predictions in Cosmology, Quantum Information in QFT and Cosmology, Banff International Research Station, Banff, Canada, 2023/06/06
  • Decohering Primordial Fluctuations in Single-Field Inflation, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, 2023/05/25
  • Modified Gravity (the view from below), Rice University, Houston, United States, 2023/04/12
  • Modified Gravity (the view from below), CAP Lecture, Mount Allison University, Sackville, Canada, 2023/01/27
  • Modified Gravity (the view from below), CAP Lecture, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Canada, 2023/01/26
  • Two Symmetries and a Mechanism, Testing Gravity 2023, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada, 2023/01/19
  • QFT2 - Quantum Electrodynamics - Afternoon Lecture, Special Topics in Physics - QFT2: Quantum Electrodynamics (Cliff Burgess), 2022/12/06, PIRSA:22120015
  • QFT2 - Quantum Electrodynamics - Afternoon Lecture, Special Topics in Physics - QFT2: Quantum Electrodynamics (Cliff Burgess), 2022/11/29, PIRSA:22110042
  • QFT2 - Quantum Electrodynamics - Afternoon Lecture, Special Topics in Physics - QFT2: Quantum Electrodynamics (Cliff Burgess), 2022/11/22, PIRSA:22110041
  • Decohering Primordial Fluctuations in Single-Field Inflation, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 2022/11/16
  • QFT2 - Quantum Electrodynamics - Afternoon Lecture, Special Topics in Physics - QFT2: Quantum Electrodynamics (Cliff Burgess), 2022/11/15, PIRSA:22110040
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Brown University, Providence, United States, 2022/11/10
  • QFT2 - Quantum Electrodynamics - Afternoon Lecture, Special Topics in Physics - QFT2: Quantum Electrodynamics (Cliff Burgess), 2022/11/08, PIRSA:22110039
  • QFT2 - Quantum Electrodynamics - Afternoon Lecture, Special Topics in Physics - QFT2: Quantum Electrodynamics (Cliff Burgess), 2022/11/01, PIRSA:22110038
  • Modified Gravity (the view from below), Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology, Toulouse, France, 2022/10/20
  • Decohering Primordial Fluctuations in Single-Field Inflation, Institute for High Energy Physics, Barcelona, Spain, 2022/10/13
  • Decohering Primordial Fluctuations in Single-Field Inflation, Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies, Dublin, Ireland, 2022/10/05
  • Primordial Decoherence and Reliable Late-Time Predictions in Cosmology, Quantum de Sitter Universe, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy, 2022/09/14
  • Primordial Decoherence and Reliable Late-Time Predictions in Cosmology, Features of a Quantum de Sitter Universe, Corfu Summer Institute, Corfu, Greece, 2022/08/30
  • Decohering Primordial Fluctuations in Single-Field Inflation, TH division (cosmo ice-cream series), European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva, Switzerland, 2022/08/22
  • Decohering Primordial Fluctuations in Single-Field Inflation, TH Cosmo Ice-cream, CERN, Geneva, 2022/08/01
  • Effective Field Theory and Cosmology, AI in HEP, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul, South Korea, 2022/07/05
  • Gravitational Surprises at Long Distances, 23rd International Conference on General Relativity and Gravity, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 2022/07/04
  • Effective Field Theory and Cosmology, AI in HEP, Quantum Universe Center KIAS, Seoul Korea, 2022/07/01
  • Gravitational Surprises at Long Distances, 23rd Int Conference on Gen. Rel. & Gravity, Chinese Acad Phys, Beijing (online), 2022/07/01
  • Gravitational Decoherence During Inflation: Super-Hubble Physics and Open EFTs, When hbar Meets G, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Paris, France, 2022/06/28
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, University of Cambridge, DAMTP, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2022/06/07
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, 2022/06/03
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Joint Begian HEP Seminar, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 2022/06/01
  • Modified Gravity (the view from below), Colloquium Ehrenfestii, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, 2022/06/01
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications from a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Cosmology Seminar, University of Leiden, Leiden, 2022/06/01
  • Modified Gravity: the View from Below, Colloquium Ehrenfestii, University of Leiden, Leiden NL, 2022/06/01
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications from a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Joint Belgian HEP Seminar, Brussels, 2022/06/01
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications from a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Cosmology Seminar, DAMTP Cambridge U, Cambridge, 2022/06/01
  • Gravitational Decoherence during Inflation: Super-Hubble Physics and Open EFTs, When hbar meets G, Inst. Astrophysique de Paris, Paris, 2022/06/01
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2022/05/02
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications from a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Cosmology Seminar, Institute of Physics, Amsterdam, 2022/05/01
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States, 2022/04/13
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications from a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Particle Seminar, Caltech Pasadena CA (online), 2022/04/01
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, TH division (cosmo coffee series), European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva, Switzerland, 2022/03/15
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications of a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, SNOLab, Sudbury, Canada, 2022/03/09
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications from a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Particle Seminar, SNOLab, Sudbury ON (online), 2022/03/01
  • Surprisingly Dark Implications from a Very Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, TH Cosmo Coffee, CERN, Geneva, 2022/03/01
  • Modified Gravity (the view from below), Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Canada, 2022/02/16
  • Introduction to Effective Field Theory, Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, India, 2022/02/15
  • Modified Gravity: the View from Below, Bishops University, Sherbrooke QC, 2022/02/01
  • Introduction to Effective Field Theory, Effective Pathways to New Physics, Bhubaneswar, India, 2022/02/01
  • Modified Gravity (the view from below), Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, 2022/01/26
  • Modified Gravity: the View from Below, Carleton University, Ottawa ON (online), 2022/01/01
  • Yoga Dark Energy and Other Dark Implications of a Supersymmetric Gravity Sector, Accelerating the Universe 2.0, MIAPP (online), Munich, 2021/11/01
  • Inflation Overview, COSMO 2021, Univ of Illinois (online) Urbana-Champagne, 2021/08/01
  • Influence Through Mixing, Copernicus Online Seminar, 2021/08/01
  • EFTs, Gravity and Clues from the UV, Imperial College London, London UK (online), 2021/04/01