# String Seminars

This series consists of talks in the area of Superstring Theory.

## Seminar Series Events/Videos

Currently there are no upcoming talks in this series.

## Holomorphic Blocks in 3d

Tuesday Nov 06, 2012
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Recently techniques have been developed to compute the
partition functions of 3d theories with N=2 supersymmetry on curved, compact
spaces, in particular S^3 and S^2xS^1 (the latter giving a supersymmetric
index). I will discuss how both of these partition functions can be decomposed
as products of more fundamental, universal "holomorphic blocks." For
3d gauge theories arising from (auxiliary) 3-manifolds M, these holomorphic
blocks are specific Chern-Simons partition functions on M.

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## From Effective Strings to the Simplest theory of Quantum Gravity

Tuesday Oct 23, 2012

String-like objects arise in many quantum field theories.
Well known examples include flux tubes in QCD and cosmic strings. To a first approximation,
their dynamics is governed by the Nambu-Goto action, but for QCD flux tubes
numerical calculations of the energy levels of these objects have become so
accurate that a systematic understanding of corrections to this simple
description is desirable.

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## Constraining RG flow in three-dimensional field theory

Tuesday Oct 16, 2012
Speaker(s):

The entanglement entropy S(R) across a circle of radius R
has been invoked recently in deriving general constraints on renormalization
group flow in three-dimensional field theory.
At conformal fixed points, the negative of the finite part of the
entanglement entropy, which is called F, is equal to the free energy on the
round three-sphere. The F-theorem states that F decreases under RG flow.

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Tuesday Oct 09, 2012
Speaker(s):

Integrability has been successfully used to compute the
non-perturbative spectrum, Wilson loops and scattering amplitudes in the
AdS/CFT correspondence. Most of these results apply to N=4, D=4 SYM / strings

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## Large-N Collective Fields and de Sitter / CFT correspondence

Tuesday Sep 25, 2012
Speaker(s):

We derive the collective theory of singlet fields of large-N Sp(N) spin
models and display its unconventional features. Using the known relationship
between O(N) collective fields and higher spin fields of Vasiliev theory in AdS
space, we argue that the unique features of the Sp(N) collective
theory suggest an interpretation in terms of a higher spin theory in de Sitter
space, as proposed by Anninos, Hartman and Strominger.  This is
reminiscent of the way the Liouville mode is naturally  interpreted as

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## The Exploration of Hot QCD Matter

Tuesday Sep 11, 2012
Speaker(s):

When nuclear matter is heated beyond a temperature of 2 trillion

degrees, it converts into a strongly coupled plasma of quarks and

gluons, the sQGP. Experiments using highly energetic collisions

between heavy nuclei have revealed that this new state of matter is a

nearly ideal, highly opaque liquid. A description based upon string

theory and black holes in five dimensions has made the quark- gluon

plasma an iconic example of a strongly coupled quantum system. In this

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## DT-invariants and $K_2$

Thursday Aug 23, 2012
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TBA

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## Resurgence from the path integral perspective

Tuesday Aug 21, 2012
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TBA

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## Universality in all-order alpha' corrections to BPS/non-BPS brane world volume theories

Monday Aug 13, 2012
Speaker(s):

Knowledge of all-alpha' higher derivative corrections to leading order BPS and non-BPS brane actions would serve in future endeavor of determining the complete form of the non-abelian BPS and tachyonic effective actions. In this talk, we note that there is a universality in the all-alpha' order corrections to BPS and non-BPS branes. I talk about computing all amplitudes between one Ramond-Ramond C-field vertex operator and several SYM gauge/scalar vertex operators.

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## Chiral Symmetry Breaking via Gauge/Gravity Duality

Thursday Aug 02, 2012
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TBA

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