Geometry and Mathematical Physics Seminar

Speaker: Elliott Gesteau (MIT & CMSA)

Title: Worldsheets, baby universes, and asymptotic representation theory

Abstract: The string worldsheet can be reinterpreted as a baby universe field theory, a formalism first introduced by Coleman, Giddings and Strominger and more recently revived by Marolf and Maxfield to deal with third quantization in quantum gravity. In this talk, I will discuss this reinterpretation in the context of a particularly simple string worldsheet, and connect it to foundational results in asymptotic representation theory.