String Seminars
This series consists of talks in the area of Superstring Theory.
Seminar Series Events/Videos
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Tuesday Mar 27, 2012Speaker(s):
A series of generalizations of the Weierstrass normal
form for elliptic curves to the case of K3 surfaces will be presented. These have already been applied to better
understand F-theory/Heterotic string duality.
We will see how they also resolve a long-standing question of which
"mirror-compatible" variations of Hodge structure over the
thrice-punctured sphere can arise from families of Calabi-Yau threefolds.Collection/Series:Scientific Areas:
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Friday Mar 23, 2012Speaker(s):
Instantons and W-bosons in 5d N=2 Yang-Mills theory arise from a circle compactification of the 6d (2,0) theory as Kaluza-Klein modes and winding self-dual strings, respectively. We study an index which counts BPS instantons with electric charges in Coulomb and symmetric phases. We first prove the existence of unique threshold bound state of U(1) instantons for any instanton number. By studying SU(N) self-dual strings in the Coulomb phase, we find novel momentum-carrying degrees on the worldsheet. The total number of these degrees equals the anomaly coefficient of SU(N) (2,0) theory.
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Tuesday Mar 20, 2012Speaker(s):
I'll discuss solutions with Lifshitz scaling within
string supergravity for an arbitrary scaling component z. After showing how to
get exact Lifshitz spacetimes, I'll then look at more general solutions,
including black holes and flows between Lifshitz and adS spacetimes.Collection/Series:Scientific Areas:
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Friday Mar 16, 2012Speaker(s):Collection/Series:Scientific Areas:
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Friday Mar 02, 2012Speaker(s):
Quantum corrections to three-point functions of scalar single trace operators in planar ${\cal N}=4$ Super-Yang-Mills theory are studied using integrability. At one loop, we find new algebraic structures that not only govern all two loop corrections to the mixing of the operators but also automatically incorporate all one loop diagrams correcting the tree level Wick contractions. Speculations about possible extensions of our construction to all loop orders are given. We also match our results with the strong coupling predictions in the classical (Frolov-Tseytlin) limit.
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Tuesday Feb 28, 2012Speaker(s):
I will explain some recent exact developments in N=2 SUSY gauge theories on 3-sphere and its deformations. I will begin by the analysis of Killing spinors and their generalization which are necessary to construct SUSY theories on curved spaces. Then I will sketch the exact computation of partition function using SUSY localization and present a general formula. Some applications to the physics of M5-branes will also be discussed.
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Tuesday Feb 21, 2012Speaker(s):
Finding the exact, quantum corrected metric on the hypermultiplet moduli space in Type II string compactifications on Calabi-Yau threefolds is still an open problem. We address this issue by relating the quaternionic-Kähler metric on the hypermultiplet moduli space to the complex contact geometry on its twistor space. In this framework, Euclidean D-brane instantons are captured by contact transformations between different patches.
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Tuesday Feb 14, 2012Speaker(s):
In this talk we discuss a proposed dual matrix formulation of N = 4 Super Yang-Mills on R^4 coupled to 4D Einstein supergravity. We review the evidence accumulated so far in favor of this proposal, which includes a successful match of the symmetries of the continuum theory, and the computation of MHV gluon and graviton scattering amplitudes in terms of matrix model correlators. We also discuss some avenues of ongoing investigation.
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Friday Feb 10, 2012Speaker(s):
Three-dimensional fluids with nontrivial vorticity can be described holographically. It is well-known that the Kerr-AdS geometry gives rise to a 'cyclonic' flow. Lorentzian Taub--NUT--AdS_4 geometries give rise to a rotating fluid with vortex flow.
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Thursday Feb 09, 2012
The boundary conditions of general black holes in asymptotically flat spacetimes can be modified such that a conformal symmetry emerges. The black holes with asymptotic geometry modified in this manner satisfy the equations of motion of minimal supergravity in one dimension more. Their symmetry suggests that a dual conformal field theory description exists that can account for the black hole entropy even in the case of black holes that are far from extremality.
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