# 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.

Tuesday Nov 22, 2011
Speaker(s):

We investigate the use of the embedding formalism and the Mellin transform in the calculation of tree-level conformal correlation functions in $AdS$/CFT.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Exact one-loop strong coupling results for string spectrum in AdS4 x CP3 versus the all-loop Bethe Ansatz

Thursday Nov 17, 2011
Speaker(s):

A non-trivial test of the string vs. integrability correspondence is
suggested: exact equivalence is established between strings in AdS4 x

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Critical Gravity from AdS Boundary

Tuesday Nov 15, 2011
Speaker(s):

Critical theories of gravity are certain higher derivative theories in which parameters are so tuned as to eliminate massive excitations for the spin-2 field. Asymptotically AdS black hole entropy in these theories works out to be zero. We show that such theories arise naturally on the boundary of AdS in the form of counterterms. Such counterterms are derived by demanding cutoff independence of the Euclidean onshell action and black hole entropy.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Higher-Spin Interactions: Three-point Functions and Beyond

Thursday Nov 10, 2011
Speaker(s):

Taking String Theory as a theoretical laboratory'', I will present handy expressions for bosonic and fermionic (SUSY) higher-spin Noether currents. I will also describe a class of non-local higher-spin Lagrangian couplings that are generically required by the Noether procedure starting from four-points. The construction clarifies the origin of old problems for these systems and links String Theory to some aspects of Field Theory that go beyond its conventional low energy limit.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## On Four Point Functions of 1/2 BPS operators in the AdS/CFT Correspondence

Tuesday Nov 08, 2011
Speaker(s):

In this talk I will provide evidence supporting the Dolan/Nirschl/Osborn conjecture for the precise form of the amplitude of four-point functions of 1/2-BPS operators in N=4 SYM theory at strong coupling and in the large N limit. I will also discuss the methods that allowed the evaluation of amplitudes involving operators of arbitrary conformal dimension.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## On Renormalization Group Flows in Diverse Dimensions

Thursday Nov 03, 2011
Speaker(s):

TBA

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Quantum Order and Emergent Space in Holographic Phases of Matter

Tuesday Oct 18, 2011
Speaker(s):

In this talk, I will present a first principle construction of a holographic dual for gauged matrix models. The dual theory is a closed string field theory coupled with an emergent two-form gauge field defined in one higher dimensional space. The bulk space with an extra dimension emerges as a well defined classical background only when the two-form gauge field is in the deconfinement phase. Based on this, it is shown that critical phases that admit holographic descriptions form a novel universality class with a non-trivial quantum order.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Fluctuations and Viscosity

Thursday Oct 13, 2011
Speaker(s):

Sound waves with long-distance propagation are both a consequence of hydrodynamics, and a danger to hydrodynamics' very existence, as they violate the assumption of local equilibration. In the talk, I will discuss what the thermally excited sound and shear waves do to viscosity. In 2+1 dimensions, the shear viscosity and the diffusion constant cease being independent transport coefficients. In 3+1 dimensions, the fluctuations render the second-order hydrodynamics invalid.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Three Perspectives on Eternal Inflation

Tuesday Oct 11, 2011
Speaker(s):

I will discuss three ways in which (the string landscape and) eternal inflation is fun: (1) because it motivates revisiting some beautiful, classic calculations; (2) because its global description requires asking novel questions with possible broad ramifications; and (3) because it leads to experimental predictions.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Geometry and Connectedness of Heterotic String Compactifications with Fluxes

Tuesday Oct 04, 2011
Speaker(s):

I will discuss the geometry of heterotic string compactifications with fluxes. The compactifications on 6 dimensional manifolds which preserve N=1 supersymmetry in 4 dimensions must be complex manifolds with vanishing first Chern class, but which are not in general Kahler (and therefore not Calabi-Yau manifolds) together with a vector bundle on the manifold which must satisfy a complicated differential equation. The flux, which can be viewed as a torsion, is the obstruction to the manifold being Kahler.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas: