# 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.

## Theory of the Nernst effect near quantum phase transitions in condensed matter, and in dyonic black holes

Tuesday Oct 23, 2007
Speaker(s):

We present a general hydrodynamic theory of transport in the vicinity of superfluid-insulator transitions in two spatial dimensions described by Lorentz\'\'-invariant quantum critical points. We allow for a weak impurity scattering rate, a magnetic field $B$, and a deviation in the density, $rho$, from that of the insulator.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## The Atomic Picture of Extremal Black Holes

Tuesday Oct 23, 2007
Speaker(s):

Resent research seems to indicate that charged extremal black holes in D=4 supersymmetric theories should be most naturally described in terms of more primitive atomic constituents. I will briefly describe what I mean by these atomic constituents and how they appear to play a role in both BPS and non-BPS extremal black holes.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Nonperturbative effects in matrix models and topological strings

Tuesday Oct 16, 2007
Speaker(s):

It has been known for a long time that instanton effects control the large order behavior of the perturbation series in quantum mechanics and gauge theories. I present a study of this connection in the context of matrix models in 1/N-expansion and topological strings.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Multiloop Gluon Amplitudes and AdS/CFT

Tuesday Oct 02, 2007
Speaker(s):

Some recent investigations into the structure of the AdS/CFT correspondence rely on input from increasingly complicated technical calculations. Two related examples in planar N=4 super Yang-Mills theory include testing consequences of integrability and exploring iteration relations amongst multiloop gluon scattering amplitudes. I will review the latest developments in these areas and the methods used to carry out relevant calculations through four loops.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Heterotic Twistor-String Theory

Tuesday Sep 25, 2007
Speaker(s):

I'll discuss a reformulation of twistor-string theory as a heterotic string. This clarifies why conformal supergravity arises and provides a link between the Berkovits and Witten pictures. The talk is based on
arXiv:0708:2276 with Lionel Mason.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Generating stationary axisymmetric solutions of 5D gravity.

Tuesday Sep 18, 2007

I will discuss a solution generating technique that allows to generate
stationary axisymmetric solutions of five-dimensional gravity, starting
from static ones. This technique can be used to add angular momentum
to static configurations. It can also be used to add KK-monopole charge
to asymptotically flat five-dimensional solutions, thus generating geometries
that interpolate between five-dimensional and four-dimensional solutions.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## An algorithmic approach to heterotic compactification

Tuesday Sep 04, 2007
Speaker(s):

In this talk, I will describe recent work in string phenomenology from the perspective of computational algebraic geometry. I will begin by reviewing some of the long-standing issues in heterotic model building and the goal of producing realistic particle physics from string theory. This goal can be approached by creating a large class of heterotic models which can be algorithmically scanned for physical suitability.

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## New Phases of N = SYM

Wednesday May 16, 2007
Speaker(s):

TBA

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Geometry of Particle Physics

Tuesday May 08, 2007
Speaker(s):

TBA

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## Cusp Anomaly, Integrability and ADS/CFT

Tuesday May 01, 2007
Speaker(s):

TBA

Collection/Series:
Scientific Areas:

## RECENT PUBLIC LECTURE

### Mario Livio: Brilliant Blunders

Speaker: Mario Livio