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SUMMARY:Strongly Correlated Quantum Materials and High-Temperature Superconductors Series
DESCRIPTION:In the 2020-2021 academic year\, the CMSA will be hosting a lecture series on Strongly Correlated Materials and High Tc Superconductor. All talks will take place from 10:30-12:00pm ET virtually on Zoom. \nCuprate high-temperature superconductors are a classic quantum material system to demonstrate the beauty of “Emergence and Entanglement” in the quantum phases of matter. Merely by adding more holes into an antiferromagnetic insulator\, several fascinating phases emerge\, including a d-wave superconductor\, a pseudo-gap metal\, and strange metal. After intensive studies from experimental\, theoretical\, and numerical communities for more than three decades\, remarkable progress has been made\, but basic questions remain: \n\nWhat is the origin of the superconductivity? What are the relative contributions of electron-phonon coupling\, spin fluctuations\, or resonating-valence-bonds?\nHow do we explain the pseudo-gap and the Fermi arc in the underdoped region above the critical temperature? Are they from some symmetry breaking order parameters\, or do we need an unconventional picture involving fractionalization?\nIs the strange metal at optimal doping associated with a quantum critical point? And if so\, what is the driving force of this phase transition?\n\nThe cuprate quantum materials have been a major source for many new concepts in modern condensed matter physics\, such as quantum spin liquids\, topological order\, and non-Fermi liquids. In the coming years\, it is clear that the study of the cuprates will continually motivate new concepts and development of new techniques. In this seminar series\, we hope to accelerate this process by bringing together deeper conversations between experimental\, theoretical\, and numerical experts with different backgrounds and perspectives. \nThe Strongly Correlated Quantum Materials and High-Temperature Superconductors series is a part of the Quantum Matter in Mathematics and Physics seminar. \nSeminar organizers: Juven Wang (Harvard CMSA) and Yahui Zhang (Harvard). \nScientific program advisors: Professor Subir Sachdev (Harvard)\, Professor Patrick Lee (MIT). \nIn order to learn how to attend this series\, please fill out this form. \nFor more information\, please contact Juven Wang (jw@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu) and Yahui Zhang (yahui_zhang@g.harvard.edu) \nSpring 2022\nApril 20\, 2022 | 11:30 – 1:00 pm ET \nHarold Y. Hwang (Stanford University & SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) \nTitle: Superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates \nAbstract: Since its discovery\, unconventional superconductivity in cuprates has motivated the search for materials with analogous electronic or atomic structure. We have used soft chemistry approaches to synthesize superconducting infinite layer nickelates from their perovskite precursor phase. We will present the synthesis and transport properties of the nickelates\, observation of a doping-dependent superconducting dome\, and our current understanding of their electronic and magnetic structure. \n\nFebruary 3\, 2022 | 11:30 – 1:00 pm ET \nLu Li (U Michigan) \nTitle: Quantum Oscillations of Electrical Resistivity in an Insulator \nAbstract: In metals\, orbital motions of conduction electrons are quantized in magnetic fields\, which is manifested by quantum oscillations in electrical resistivity. This Landau quantization is generally absent in insulators\, in which all the electrons are localized. Here we report a notable exception in an insulator — ytterbium dodecaboride (YbB12). The resistivity of YbB12\, despite much larger than that of usual metals\, exhibits profound quantum oscillations under intense magnetic fields. This unconventional oscillation is shown to arise from the insulating bulk instead of conducting surface states. The large effective masses indicate strong correlation effects between electrons. Our result is the first discovery of quantum oscillations in the electrical resistivity of a strongly correlated insulator and will bring crucial insight into understanding the ground state in gapped Kondo systems. \n2020 – 2021\nSeptember 2\, 2020 | 10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSubir Sachdev (Harvard) \nTitle: Metal-to-metal quantum phase transitions not described by symmetry-breaking orders \nAbstract: Numerous experiments have explored the phases of the cuprates with increasing doping density p from the antiferromagnetic insulator. There is now strong evidence that the small p region is a novel phase of matter\, often called the pseudogap metal\, separated from conventional Fermi liquid at larger p by a quantum phase transition. Symmetry-breaking orders play a spectator role\, at best\, at this quantum phase transition. I will describe trial wavefunctions across this metal-metal transition employing hidden layers of ancilla qubits (proposed by Ya-Hui Zhang). Quantum fluctuations are described by a gauge theory  of ghost fermions that carry neither spin nor charge. I will also\ndescribe a separate approach to this transition in a t-J model with random exchange interactions in the limit of large dimensions. This approach leads to a partly solvable SYK-like critical theory of holons and spinons\, and a linear in temperature resistivity from time reparameterization fluctuations. Near criticality\, both approaches have in common emergent fractionalized excitations\, and a significantly larger entropy than naively expected. \nVideo\n\n\n\n\nSeptember 23\, 2020 | 10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSubir Sachdev (Harvard) \nTitle: Metal-to-metal quantum phase transitions not described by symmetry-breaking orders II \nAbstract: In this second talk\, I will focus on (nearly) solvable models of metal-metal transition in random systems. The t-J model with random and all-to-all hopping and exchange can be mapped onto a quantum impurity model coupled self-consistently to an environment (the mapping also applies to a t-J model in a large dimension lattice\,  with random nearest-neighbor exchange). Such models will be argued to exhibit metal-metal quantum phase transitions in the universality class of the SYK model\, accompanied by a linear-in-T resistivity from time reparameterization  fluctuations. I will also present the results of exact diagonalization of random t-J clusters\, obtained recently with Henry Shackleton\, Alexander Wietek\, and Antoine Georges. \nVideo\n\n\n\n\nSeptember 24\, 2020 | 12:00pm ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nInna Vishik (University of California\, Davis)\n\nTitle: Universality vs materials-dependence in cuprates: ARPES studies of the model cuprate Hg1201Abstract: The cuprate superconductors exhibit the highest ambient-pressure superconducting transition temperatures (T c )\, and after more than three decades of extraordinary research activity\, continue to pose formidable scientific challenges. A major experimental obstacle has been to distinguish universal phenomena from materials- or technique-dependent ones. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measures momentum-dependent single-particle electronic excitations and has been invaluable in the endeavor to determine the anisotropic momentum-space properties of the cuprates. HgBa 2 CuO 4+d (Hg1201) is a single-layer cuprate with a particularly high optimal T c and a simple crystal structure; yet there exists little information from ARPES about the electronic properties of this model system. I will present recent ARPES studies of doping-\, temperature-\, and momentum-dependent systematics of near-nodal dispersion anomalies in Hg1201. The data reveal a hierarchy of three distinct energy scales which establish several universal phenomena\, both in terms of connecting multiple experimental techniques for a single material\, and in terms of connecting comparable spectral features in multiple structurally similar cuprates.Video\n\n\n\n\nOctober 15\, 2020 | 10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLouis Taillefer (Université de Sherbrooke) \nTitle: New signatures of the pseudogap phase of cuprate superconductors \nAbstract: The pseudogap phase of cuprate superconductors is arguably the most enigmatic phase of quantum matter. We aim to shed new light on this phase by investigating the non- superconducting ground state of several cuprate materials at low temperature across a wide doping range\, suppressing superconductivity with a magnetic field. Hall effect measurements across the pseudogap critical doping p* reveal a sharp drop in carrier density n from n = 1 + p above p* to n = p below p\, signaling a major transformation of the Fermi surface. Angle-dependent magneto-resistance (ADMR) directly reveals a change in Fermi surface topology across p. From specific heat measurements\, we observe the classic thermodynamic signatures of quantum criticality: the electronic specific heat C el shows a sharp peak at p\, where it varies in temperature as C el ~ – T logT. At p and just above\, the electrical resistivity is linear in T at low T\, with an inelastic scattering rate that obeys the Planckian limit. Finally\, the pseudogap phase is found to have a large negative thermal Hall conductivity\, which extends to zero doping. We show that the pseudogap phase makes phonons become chiral. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for these various new signatures will help elucidate the nature of the pseudogap phase. \nVideo\n\n\n\n\nOctober 28\, 2020 | 10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPatrick Lee (MIT) \nTitle: The not-so-normal normal state of underdoped Cuprate \nAbstract: The underdoped Cuprate exhibits a rich variety of unusual properties that have been exposed after years of experimental investigations. They include a pseudo-gap near the anti-nodal points and “Fermi arcs” of gapless excitations\, together with a variety of order such as charge order\, nematicity and possibly loop currents and time reversal and inversion breaking. I shall argue that by making a single assumption of strong pair fluctuations at finite momentum (Pair density wave)\, a unified description of this phenomenology is possible. As an example\, I will focus on a description of the ground state that emerges when superconductivity is suppressed by a magnetic field which supports small electron pockets. [Dai\, Senthil\, Lee\, Phys Rev B101\, 064502 (2020)] There is some support for the pair density wave hypothesis from STM data that found charge order at double the usual wave-vector in the vicinity of vortices\, as well as evidence for a fragile form of superconductivity persisting to fields much above Hc2. I shall suggest a more direct experimental probe of the proposed fluctuating pair density wave. \nVideo\n\n\n\n\nNovember 6\, 2020 |12:30pm ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nZhi-Xun Shen (Stanford University) \nTitle: Essential Ingredients for Superconductivity in Cupper Oxide Superconductors \nAbstract: High‐temperature superconductivity in cupper oxides\, with critical temperature well above what wasanticipated by the BCS theory\, remains a major unsolved physics problem. The problem is fascinating because it is simultaneously simple ‐ being a single band and 1⁄2 spin system\, yet extremely rich ‐ boasting d‐wave superconductivity\, pseudogap\, spin and charge orders\, and strange metal phenomenology. For this reason\, cuprates emerge as the most important model system for correlated electrons – stimulating conversations on the physics of Hubbard model\, quantum critical point\, Planckian metal and beyond.\nCentral to this debate is whether the Hubbard model\, which is the natural starting point for the undoped\nmagnetic insulator\, contains the essential ingredients for key physics in cuprates. In this talk\, I will discuss our photoemission evidence for a multifaceted answer to this question [1‐3]. First\, we show results that naturally points to the importance of Coulomb and magnetic interactions\, including d‐wave superconducting gap structure [4]\, exchange energy (J) control of bandwidth in single‐hole dynamics [5]. Second\, we evidence effects beyond the Hubbard model\, including band dispersion anomalies at known phonon frequencies [6\, 7]\, polaronic spectral lineshape and the emergence of quasiparticle with doping [8]. Third\, we show properties likely of hybrid electronic and phononic origin\, including the pseudogap [9‐11]\, and the almost vertical phase boundary near the critical 19% doping [12]. Fourth\, we show examples of small q phononic coupling that cooperates with d‐wave superconductivity [13‐15]. Finally\, we discuss recent experimental advance in synthesizing and investigating doped one‐dimensional (1D) cuprates [16]. As theoretical calculations of the 1D Hubbard model are reliable\, a robust comparison can be carried out. The experiment reveals a near‐neighbor attractive interaction that is an order of magnitude larger than the attraction generated by spin‐superexchange in the Hubbard model. Addition of such an attractive term\, likely of phononic origin\, into the Hubbard model with canonical parameters provides a quantitative explanation for all important experimental observable: spinon and holon dispersions\, and holon‐ holon attraction. Given the structural similarity of the materials\, It is likely that an extended two‐dimensional\n(2D) Hubbard model with such an attractive term\, will connect the dots of the above four classes of\nexperimental observables and provide a holistic understanding of cuprates\, including the elusive d‐wave superconductivity in 2D Hubbard model. \n[1] A. Damascelli\, Z. Hussain\, and Z.‐X. Shen\, Review of Modern Physics\, 75\, 473 (2003)\n[2] M. Hashimoto et al.\, Nature Physics 10\, 483 (2014)\n[3] JA Sobota\, Y He\, ZX Shen ‐ arXiv preprint arXiv:2008.02378\, 2020; submitted to Rev. of Mod. Phys.\n[4] Z.‐X. Shen et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70\, 1553 (1993)\n[5] B.O. Wells et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 74\, 964 (1995)\n[6] A. Lanzara et al.\, Nature 412\, 510 (2001)\n[7] T. Cuk et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett.\, 93\, 117003 (2004)\n[8] K.M. Shen et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett.\, 93\, 267002 (2004)\n[9] D.M. King et al.\, J. of Phys. & Chem of Solids 56\, 1865 (1995)\n[10] D.S. Marshall et al.\, Phy. Rev. Lett. 76\, 484 (1996)\n[11] A.G. Loeser et al.\, Science 273\, 325 (1996)\n[12] S. Chen et al.\, Science\, 366\, 6469 (2019)\n[13] T.P. Devereaux\, T. Cuk\, Z.X. Shen\, N. Nagaosa\, Phys. Rev. Lett.\, 93\, 117004 (2004)\n[14] S. Johnston et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108\, 166404 (2012)\n[15] Yu He et al.\, Science\, 362\, 62 (Oct. 2018)\n[16] Z. Chen\, Y. Wang et al.\, preprint\, 2020 \nVideo\n\n\n\n\nNovember 12\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChandra Varma (Visting Professor\, University of California\, Berkeley.\nEmeritus Distinguished Professor\, University of California\, Riverside.)Title: Loop-Current Order and Quantum-Criticality in CupratesThis talk is organized as follows:\n1. Physical Principles leading to Loop-current order and quantum criticality as the central feature in the physics of Cuprates.\n2. Summary of the essentially exact solution of the dissipative xy model for Loop-current fluctuations.\n3. Quantitative comparison of theory for the quantum-criticality with a variety of experiments.\n4. Topological decoration of loop-current order to understand ”Fermi-arcs” and small Fermi-surface magneto-oscillations.Time permitting\,\n(i) Quantitative theory and experiment for fluctuations leading to d-wave superconductivity.\n(ii) Extensions to understand AFM quantum-criticality in heavy-fermions and Fe-based superconductors.\n(iii) Problems.Video\n\n\n\n\nNovember 18\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAntoine Georges (Collège de France\, Paris and Flatiron Institute\, New York) \nTitle: Superconductivity\, Stripes\, Antiferromagnetism and the Pseudogap: What Do We Know Today about the 2D Hubbard model? \nAbstract: Simplified as it is\, the Hubbard model embodies much of the complexity of the `strong correlation problem’ and has established itself as a paradigmatic model in the field. In this talk\, I will argue that several key aspects of its physics in two dimensions can now be established beyond doubt\, thanks to the development of controlled and accurate computational methods. These methods implement different and complementary points of view on the quantum many-body problem. Along with pushing forward each method\, the community has recently embarked into a major effort to combine and critically compare these approaches\, and in several instances a consistent picture of the physics has emerged as a result. I will review in this perspective our current understanding of the emergence of a pseudogap in both the weak and strong coupling regimes. I will present recent progress in understanding how the pseudogap phase may evolve into a stripe-dominated regime at low temperature\, and briefly address the delicate question of the competition between stripes and superconductivity. I will also emphasize outstanding questions which are still open\, such as the possibility of a Fermi surface reconstruction without symmetry breaking. Whenever possible\, connections to the physics of cuprate superconductors will be made. If time permits\, I may also address the question of Planckian transport and bad metallic transport at high temperature. \nVideo\n\n\n\n\nNovember 19\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEduardo Fradkin (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) \nTitle: Pair Density Waves and Intertwined Orders in High Tc Superconductors\n\nAbstract: I will argue that the orders that are present in high temperature superconductors naturally arise with the same strength and are better regarded as intertwined rather than competing. I illustrate this concept in the context of the orders that are present in the pair-density-wave state and the phase diagrams that result from this analysis. \nVideo\n\n\n\n\nNovember 25\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nQimiao Si (Rice University) \nTitle: Bad Metals and Electronic Orders – Nematicity from Iron Pnictides to Graphene Moiré Systems \nAbstract: Strongly correlated electron systems often show bad-metal behavior\, as operationally specified in terms of a resistivity at room temperature that reaches or exceeds the Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit. They display a rich landscape of electronic orders\, which provide clues to the underlying microscopic physics. Iron-based superconductors present a striking case study\, and have been the subject of extensive efforts during the past decade or so. They are well established to be bad metals\, and their phase diagrams prominently feature various types of electronic orders that are essentially always accompanied by nematicity. In this talk\, I will summarize these characteristic features and discuss our own efforts towards understanding the normal state through the lens of the electronic orders and their fluctuations. Implications for superconductivity will be briefly discussed. In the second part of the talk\, I will consider the nematic correlations that have been observed in the graphene-based moiré narrow-band systems. I will present a theoretical study which demonstrates nematicity in a “fragile insulator”\, predicts its persistence in the bad metal regime and provides an overall perspective on the phase diagram of these correlated systems.\n\n\n\n\nDecember 2\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAndrey Chubukov (University of Minnesota) \nTitle: Interplay between superconductivity and non-Fermi liquid at a quantum critical point in a metal \n\nAbstract:  I discuss the interplay between non-Fermi liquid behaviour and pairing near a quantum-critical point (QCP) in a metal. These tendencies are intertwined in the sense that both originate from the same interaction mediated by gapless fluctuations of a critical order parameter. The two tendencies compete because fermionic incoherence destroys the Cooper logarithm\, while the pairing eliminates scattering at low energies and restores fermionic coherence. I discuss this physics for a class of models with an effective dynamical interaction V (Ω) ~1/|Ω|^γ (the γ-model). This model describes\, in particular\, the pairing at a 2D Ising-nematic critical point in (γ=1/3)\, a 2D antiferromagnetic critical point (γ=1/2) and the pairing by an Einstein phonon with vanishing dressed Debye frequency (γ=2). I argue the pairing wins\, unless the pairing component of the interaction is artificially reduced\, but because of fermionic incoherence in the normal state\, the system develops a pseudogap\, preformed pairs behaviour in the temperature range between the onset of the pairing at Tp and the onset of phase coherence at the actual superconducting Tc. The ratio Tc/Tp decreases with γ and vanishes at γ =2. I present two complementary arguments of why this happens. One is the softening of longitudinal gap fluctuations\, which become gapless at γ =2. Another is the emergence of a 1D array of dynamical vortices\, whose number diverges at γ =2. I argue that once the number of vortices becomes infinite\, quasiparticle energies effectively get quantized and do not get re-arranged in the presence of a small phase variation. I show that a new non-superconducting ground state emerges at γ >2.\n\n\n\n\nDecember 9\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDavid Hsieh (Caltech) \nTitle:  Signatures of anomalous symmetry breaking in the cuprates   \nAbstract: The temperature versus doping phase diagram of the cuprate high-Tc superconductors features an enigmatic pseudogap region whose microscopic origin remains a subject of intensive study. Experimentally resolving its symmetry properties is imperative for narrowing down the list of possible explanations. In this talk I will give an overview of how optical second harmonic generation (SHG) can be used as a sensitive probe of symmetry breaking\, and recap the ways it has been used to solve outstanding problems in condensed matter physics. I will then describe how we have been applying SHG polarimetry and spectroscopy to interrogate the cuprate pseudogap. In particular\, I will discuss our data on YBa2Cu3Oy [1]\, which show an order parameter-like increase in SHG intensity below the pseudogap temperature T* across a broad range of doping levels. I will then focus on our more recent results on a model parent cuprate Sr2CuO2Cl2 [2]\, where evidence of anomalous broken symmetries surprisingly also exists. Possible connections between these observations will be speculated upon.\n[1] L. Zhao\, C. A. Belvin\, R. Liang\, D. A. Bonn\, W. N. Hardy\, N. P. Armitage and D. Hsieh\, “A global inversion-symmetry-broken phase inside the pseudogap region of YBa2Cu3Oy\,” Nature Phys. 13\, 250 (2017). \n[2] A. de la Torre\, K. L. Seyler\, L. Zhao\, S. Di Matteo\, M. S. Scheurer\, Y. Li\, B. Yu\, M. Greven\, S. Sachdev\, M. R. Norman and D. Hsieh. “Anomalous mirror symmetry breaking in a model insulating cuprate Sr2CuO2Cl2\,” Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.06516\n\n\n\n\nDecember 16\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nZheng-Yu Weng (Tsinghua University) \nTitle: Organizing Principle of Mottness and Complex Phenomenon in High Temperature Superconductors\n\nAbstract: The complex phenomenon in the high-Tc cuprate calls for a microscopic understanding based on general principles. In this Lecture\, an exact organizing principle for a typical doped Mott insulator will be presented\, in which the fermion sign structure is drastically reduced to a mutual statistics. Its nature as a long-range spin-charge entanglement of many-body quantum mechanics will be exemplified by exact numerical calculations. The phase diagram of the cuprate may be unified in a “bottom-up” fashion by a “parent” ground state ansatz with hidden orders constructed based on the organizing principle. Here the pairing mechanism will go beyond the “RVB” picture and the superconducting state is of non-BCS nature with modified London equation and novel elementary excitations. In particular\, the Bogoliubov/Landau quasiparticle excitation are emerging with a two-gap structure in the superconducting state and the Fermi arc in a pseudogap regime. A mathematic framework of fractionalization and duality transformation guided by the organizing principle will be introduced to describe the above emergent phenomenon.\n\n\n\n\nDecember 17\, 2020 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSteven Kivelson (Stanford University) \nTitle: What do we know about the essential physics of high temperature superconductivity after one third of a century? \nAbstract: Despite the fact that papers submitted to glossy journals universally start by bemoaning the absence of theoretical understanding\, I will argue that the answer to the title question is “quite a lot.” To focus the discussion\, I will take the late P.W. Anderson’s “Last Words on the Cuprates” (arXiv:1612.03919) as a point of departure\, although from a perspective that differs from his in many key points.\n\n\n\n\nJanuary 20\, 2021 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThomas Peter Devereaux (Stanford University) \nTitle:  Numerical investigations of models of the cuprates\n\nAbstract: Richard Feynman once said “Anyone who wants to analyze the properties of matter in a real problem might want to start by writing down the fundamental equations and then try to solve them mathematically. Although there are people who try to use such an approach\, these people are the failures in this field. . . ” \nI will summarize efforts to solve microscopic models of the cuprates using quantum Monte Carlo and density matrix renormalization group computational methods\, with emphasis on how far one can get before failing to describe the real materials. I will start with an overview of the quantum chemistry of the cuprates that guides our choices of models\, and then I will discuss “phases” of these models\, both realized and not. I will lastly discuss the transport properties of the models in the “not-so-normal” regions of the phase diagram.\n\n\n\n\nFebruary 3\, 2021 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPhilip Phillips (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) \nTitle: Beyond BCS: An Exact Model for Superconductivity and Mottness\n\nAbstract: High-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates remains an unsolved problem because the cuprates start off their lives as Mott insulators in which no organizing principle such a Fermi surface can be invoked to treat the electron interactions. Consequently\, it would be advantageous to solve even a toy model that exhibits both Mottness and superconductivity. Part of the problem is that the basic model for a Mott insulator\, namely the Hubbard model is unsolvable in any dimension we really care about. To address this problem\, I will start by focusing on the overlooked Z_2 emergent symmetry of a Fermi surface first noted by Anderson and Haldane. Mott insulators break this emergent symmetry. The simplest model of this type is due to Hatsugai/Kohmoto. I will argue that this model can be thought of a fixed point for Mottness. I will then show exactly[1] that this model when appended with a weak pairing interaction exhibits not only the analogue of Cooper’s instability but also a superconducting ground state\, thereby demonstrating that a model for a doped Mott insulator can exhibit superconductivity. The properties of the superconducting state differ drastically from that of the standard BCS theory. The elementary excitations of this superconductor are not linear combinations of particle and hole states but rather are superpositions of doublons and holons\, composite excitations signaling that the superconducting ground state of the doped Mott insulator inherits the non-Fermi liquid character of the normal state. Additional unexpected features of this model are that it exhibits a superconductivity-induced transfer of spectral weight from high to low energies and a suppression of the superfluid density as seen in the cuprates.\n[1] PWP\, L. Yeo\, E. Huang\, Nature Physics\, 16\, 1175-1180 (2020).\n\n\n\n\nFebruary 10\, 2021 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSenthil Todadri (MIT) \nTitle: Strange metals as ersatz Fermi liquids: emergent symmetries\, general constraints\, and experimental tests \nAbstract: The strange metal regime is one of the most prominent features of the cuprate phase diagram but yet has remained amongst the most mysterious. Seemingly similar metallic behavior is seen in a few other metals. In this talk\, I will discuss\, in great generality\, some properties of `strange metals’ in an ideal clean system. I will discuss general constraints[1] on the emergent low energy symmetries of any such strange metal. These constraints may be viewed as a generalization of the Luttinger theorem of ordinary Fermi liquids. Many\, if not all\, non-Fermi liquids will have the same realization of emergent symmetry as a Fermi liquid (even though they could have very different dynamics). Such phases – dubbed ersatz Fermi liquids – share some (but not all) universal properties with Fermi liquids. I will discuss the implications for understanding the strange metal physics observed in experiments . Combined with a few experimental observations\, I will show that these general model-independent considerations lead to concrete predictions[2] about a class of strange metals. The most striking of these is a divergent susceptibility of an observable that has the same symmetries as the loop current order parameter.\n[1]. Dominic Else\, Ryan Thorngren\, T. Senthil\, https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.07896\n[2]. Dominic Else\, T. Senthil\, https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.10523\n\n\n\n\nApril 1\, 2021 |9:00am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNaoto Nagaosa (University of Tokyo) \nTitle: Applied physics of high-Tc theories \nAbstract: Since the discovery of high temperature superconductors in cuprates in 1986\, many theoretical ideas have been proposed which have enriched condensed matter theory. Especially\, the resonating valence bond (RVB) state for (doped) spin liquids is one of the most fruitful idea. In this talk\, I would like to describe the development of RVB idea to broader class of materials\, especially more conventional magnets. It is related to the noncollinear spin structures with spin chirality and associated quantal Berry phase applied to many phenomena and spintronics applications. It includes the (quantum) anomalous Hall effect\, spin Hall effect\, topological insulator\, multiferroics\, various topological spin textures\, e.g.\, skyrmions\, and nonlinear optics. I will show that even though the phenomena are extensive\, the basic idea is rather simple and common in all of these topics.\n\n\n\n\nApril 22\, 2021 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDung-Hai Lee (UC Berkeley) \nTitle: “Non-abelian bosonization in two and three spatial dimensions and some applications” \nAbstract: In this talk\, we generalize Witten’s non-abelian bosonization in $(1+1)$-D to two and three spatial dimensions. Our theory applies to fermions with relativistic dispersion. The bosonized theories are non-linear sigma models with level-1 Wess-Zumino-Witten terms. As applications\, we apply the bosonization results to the $SU(2)$ gauge theory of the $\pi$ flux mean-field theory of half-filled Hubbard model\, critical spin liquids of “bipartite-Mott insulators” in 1\,2\,3 spatial dimensions\, and twisted bilayer graphene.\n\n\n\n\nMay 12\, 2021 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAndré-Marie Tremblay (Université de Sherbrooke) \nTitle: A unified theoretical perspective on the cuprate phase diagram \nAbstract: Many features of the cuprate phase diagram are a challenge for the usual tools of solid state physics. I will show how a perspective that takes into account both the localized and delocalized aspects of conduction electrons can explain\, at least qualitatively\, many of these features. More specifically\, I will show that the work of several groups using cluster extensions of dynamical mean-field theory sheds light on the pseudogap\, on the quantum-critical point and on d-wave superconductivity. I will argue that the charge transfer gap and oxygen hole content are the best indicators of strong superconductivity and that many observations are a signature of the influence of Mott physics away from half-filling. I will also briefly comment on what information theoretic measures tell us about this problem.\n\n\n\n\nAugust 11\, 2021 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPiers Coleman (Rutgers) \nTitle: Order Fractionalization* \nAbstract: I will discuss the interplay of spin fractionalization with broken\nsymmetry. When a spin fractionalizes into a fermion\, the resulting particle\ncan hybridize or pair with the mobile electrons to develop a new kind of\nfractional order parameter. The concept of “order fractionalization” enables\nus to extend the concept of off-diagonal order to encompass the formation of\nsuch order parameters with fractional quantum numbers\, such as spinorial\norder[1].\nA beautiful illustration of this phenomenon is provided by a model\nwhich incorporates the Yao-Lee-Kitaev model into a Kondo lattice[2]. This\nmodel explicitly exhibits order fractionalization and is expected to undergo a\ndiscrete Ising phase transition at finite temperature into an\norder-fractionalized phase with gapless Majorana excitations.\nThe broader implications of these considerations for Quantum\nMaterials and Quantum Field Theory will be discussed.\nWork done in collaboration with Yashar Komijani\, Anna Toth and Alexei\nTsvelik.\n[1] Order Fractionalization\, Yashar Komijani\, Anna Toth\, Premala Chandra\, Piers Coleman\, (2018).\n[2] Order Fractionalization in a Kitaev Kondo model\, Alexei Tsvelik and Piers Coleman\, (2021).\n\n\n\n\nSeptember 15\, 2021 |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLiang Fu (MIT) \nTitle: Three-particle mechanism for pairing and superconductivity \nAbstract: I will present a new mechanism and an exact theory of electron pairing due to repulsive interaction in doped insulators. When the kinetic energy is small\, the dynamics of adjacent electrons on the lattice is strongly correlated. By developing a controlled kinetic energy expansion\, I will show that two doped charges can attract and form a bound state\, despite and because of the underlying repulsion. This attraction by repulsion is enabled by the virtual excitation of a third electron in the filled band. This three-particle pairing mechanism leads to a variety of novel phenomena at finite doping\, including spin-triplet superconductivity\, pair density wave\, BCS-BEC crossover and Feshbach resonance involving “trimers”. Possible realizations in moire materials\, ZrNCl and WTe2 will be discussed. \n[1] V. Crepel and L. Fu\, Science Advances 7\, eabh2233 (2021)\n[2] V. Crepel and L. Fu\, arXiv:2103.12060\n[3] K. Slagle and L. Fu\,  Phys. Rev. B 102\, 235423 (2020)\n\n\n\n\nSeptember 29\, 2021 |11:30am ET (special time)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNai Phuan Ong (Princeton University)\n\nTitle:.Abstract: The layered honeycomb magnet alpha-RuCl3 orders below 7 K in a zigzag phase in zero field. An in-plane magnetic field H||a suppresses the zigzag order at 7 Tesla\, leaving a spin-disordered phase widely believed to be a quantum spin liquid (QSL) that extends to ~12 T. We have observed oscillations in the longitudinal thermal conductivity Kxx vs. H from 0.4 to 4 K. The oscillations are periodic in 1/H (with a break-in-slope at 7 T). The amplitude function is maximal in the QSL phase (7 –11.5 T). I will describe a benchmark for crystalline disorder\, the reproducibility and intrinsic nature of the oscillations\, and discuss implications for the QSL state. I will also show detailed data on the thermal Hall conductivity Kxy measured from 0.4 K to 10 K and comment on recent half-quantization results.*Czajka et al.\, Nature Physics 17\, 915 (2021).Collaborators: Czajka\, Gao\, Hirschberger\, Lampen Kelley\, Banerjee\, Yan\, Mandrus and Nagler.\n\n\n\n\nDate TBA |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSuchitra Sebastian (University of Cambridge) \nTitle: TBA\n\n\n\n\nDate TBA |10:30am ET\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJenny Hoffman (Harvard University) \nTitle: TBA
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/strongly-correlated-quantum-materials-and-high-temperature-superconductors-series/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Event,Strongly Correlated Quantum Materials and High-Temperature Superconductors
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/unnamed-3-600x338-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210913T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220513T170000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20230904T083009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240213T113945Z
UID:10000053-1631523600-1652461200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Swampland Program
DESCRIPTION:During the 2021–2022 academic year\, the CMSA will host a program on the so-called “Swampland.” \nThe Swampland program aims to determine which low-energy effective field theories are consistent with nonperturbative quantum gravity considerations. Not everything is possible in String Theory\, and finding out what is and what is not strongly constrains the low energy physics. These constraints are naturally interesting for particle physics and cosmology\,  which has led to a great deal of activity in the field in the last years. \nThe Swampland is intrinsically interdisciplinary\, with ramifications in string compactifications\, holography\, black hole physics\, cosmology\, particle physics\, and even mathematics. \nThis program will include an extensive group of visitors and a slate of seminars. Additionally\, the CMSA will host a school oriented toward graduate students. \nMore information will be posted here. \nSeminars\nSwampland Seminar Series & Group Meetings \nProgram Visitors\n\nPieter Bomans\, Princeton\, 10/30/21 – 11/02/21\nIrene Valenzuela\, Instituto de Física Teórica\, 02/14/22 – 02/21/22\nMariana Grana\, CEA/Saclay\, 03/21/22 – 03/25/22\nHector Parra De Freitas\, IPHT Saclay\, 03/21/22 – 04/01/22\nTimo Weigand\, 03/21/22 – 03/28/22\nGary Shiu\, University of Wisconsin-Madison\, 04/03/22 – 04/10/22\nThomas van Riet\, Leuven University\, 04/03/22 – 04/09/22\nLars Aalsma\, University of Wisconsin-Madison\, 04/11/22 – 04/15/22\nSergio Cecotti\, 05/08/22 – 05/21/22\nTom Rudelius\, 05/09/22 – 05/13/22
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/swampland-program/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Programs
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210915T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220525T103000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T112446Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240502T160729Z
UID:10002496-1631698200-1653474600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Colloquium 9/15/2021 - 5/25/2022
DESCRIPTION:During the 2021–22 academic year\, the CMSA will be hosting a Colloquium\, organized by Du Pei\, Changji Xu\, and Michael Simkin. It will take place on Wednesdays at 9:30am – 10:30am (Boston time). The meetings will take place virtually on Zoom. All CMSA postdocs/members are required to attend the weekly CMSA Members’ Seminars\, as well as the weekly CMSA Colloquium series. The schedule below will be updated as talks are confirmed. \nSpring 2022\n\n\n\n\nDate\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n1/26/2022\nSamir Mathur (Ohio State University)\nTitle: The black hole information paradox \nAbstract: In 1975\, Stephen Hawking showed that black holes radiate away in a manner that violates quantum theory. Starting in 1997\, it was observed that black holes in string theory did not have the form expected from general relativity: in place of “empty space will all the mass at the center\,” one finds a “fuzzball” where the mass is distributed throughout the interior of the horizon. This resolves the paradox\, but opposition to this resolution came from groups who sought to extrapolate some ideas in holography. In 2009 it was shown\, using some theorems from quantum information theory\, that these extrapolations were incorrect\, and the fuzzball structure was essential for resolving the puzzle. Opposition continued along different lines\, with a postulate that information would leak out through wormholes. Recently\, it was shown that this wormhole idea had some basic flaws\, leaving the fuzzball paradigm as the natural resolution of Hawking’s puzzle. \nVideo\n\n\n2/2/2022\nAdam Smith (Boston University)\nTitle: Learning and inference from sensitive data \nAbstract: Consider an agency holding a large database of sensitive personal information—say\,  medical records\, census survey answers\, web searches\, or genetic data. The agency would like to discover and publicly release global characteristics of the data while protecting the privacy of individuals’ records. \nI will discuss recent (and not-so-recent) results on this problem with a focus on the release of statistical models. I will first explain some of the fundamental limitations on the release of machine learning models—specifically\, why such models must sometimes memorize training data points nearly completely. On the more positive side\, I will present differential privacy\, a rigorous definition of privacy in statistical databases that is now widely studied\, and increasingly used to analyze and design deployed systems. I will explain some of the challenges of sound statistical inference based on differentially private statistics\, and lay out directions for future investigation.\n\n\n2/8/2022\nWenbin Yan (Tsinghua University)\n(special time: 9:30 pm ET)\nTitle: Tetrahedron instantons and M-theory indices \nAbstract: We introduce and study tetrahedron instantons. Physically they capture instantons on $\mathbb{C}^{3}$ in the presence of the most general intersecting codimension-two supersymmetric defects. In this talk\, we will review instanton moduli spaces\, explain the construction\, moduli space and partition functions of tetrahedron instantons. We will also point out possible relations with M-theory index which could be a generalization of Gupakuma-Vafa theory. \nVideo\n\n\n2/16/2022\nTakuro Mochizuki (Kyoto University)\nTitle: Kobayashi-Hitchin correspondences for harmonic bundles and monopoles \nAbstract: In 1960’s\, Narasimhan and Seshadri discovered the equivalence\nbetween irreducible unitary flat bundles and stable bundles of degree $0$ on compact Riemann surfaces. In 1980’s\, Donaldson\, Uhlenbeck and Yau generalized it to the equivalence between irreducible Hermitian-Einstein bundles\nand stable bundles on smooth projective varieties. This is a surprising bridge connecting differential geometry and algebraic geometry. Since then\, many interesting generalizations have been studied. \nIn this talk\, we would like to review a stream in the study of such correspondences for Higgs bundles\, integrable connections\, $D$-modules and periodic monopoles.\n\n\n2/23/2022\nBartek Czech (Tsinghua University)\nTitle: Holographic Cone of Average Entropies and Universality of Black Holes \nAbstract:  In the AdS/CFT correspondence\, the holographic entropy cone\, which identifies von Neumann entropies of CFT regions that are consistent with a semiclassical bulk dual\, is currently known only up to n=5 regions. I explain that average\nentropies of p-partite subsystems can be checked for consistency with a semiclassical bulk dual far more easily\, for an arbitrary number of regions n. This analysis defines the “Holographic Cone of Average\nEntropies” (HCAE). I conjecture the exact form of HCAE\, and find that it has the following properties: (1) HCAE is the simplest it could be\, namely it is a simplicial cone. (2) Its extremal rays represent stages of thermalization (black hole formation). (3) In a time-reversed picture\, the extremal rays of HCAE represent stages of unitary black hole evaporation\, as stipulated by the island solution of the black hole information paradox. (4) HCAE is bound by a novel\, infinite family of holographic entropy inequalities. (5) HCAE is the simplest it could be also in its dependence on the number of regions n\, namely its bounding inequalities are n-independent. (6) In a precise sense I describe\, the bounding inequalities of HCAE unify (almost) all previously discovered holographic inequalities and strongly constrain future inequalities yet to be discovered. I also sketch an interpretation of HCAE in terms of error correction and the holographic Renormalization Group. The big lesson that HCAE seems to be teaching us is about the universality of black hole physics.\n\n\n3/2/2022\nRichard Kenyon (Yale University)\n\n\n\n3/9/2022\nRichard Tsai (UT Austin)\n\n\n\n3/23/2022\nJoel Cohen (University of Maryland)\n\n\n\n3/30/2022\nRob Leigh (UIUC)\n\n\n\n4/6/2022\nJohannes Kleiner (LMU München)\n\n\n\n4/13/2022\nYuri Manin (Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik)\n\n\n\n4/20/2022\nTBA\n\n\n\n4/27/2022\nTBA\n\n\n\n5/4/2022\nMelody Chan (Brown University)\n\n\n\n5/11/2022\nTBA\n\n\n\n5/18/2022\nTBA\n\n\n\n5/25/2022\nHeeyeon Kim (Rutgers University)\n\n\n\n\n\nFall 2021\n\n\n\n\nDate\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n9/15/2021\nTian Yang\, Texas A&M\nTitle: Hyperbolic Geometry and Quantum Invariants \nAbstract: There are two very different approaches to 3-dimensional topology\, the hyperbolic geometry following the work of Thurston and the quantum invariants following the work of Jones and Witten. These two approaches are related by a sequence of problems called the Volume Conjectures. In this talk\, I will explain these conjectures and present some recent joint works with Ka Ho Wong related to or benefited from this relationship.\n\n\n9/29/2021\nDavid Jordan\, University of Edinburgh\nTitle: Langlands duality for 3 manifolds \nAbstract: Langlands duality began as a deep and still mysterious conjecture in number theory\, before branching into a similarly deep and mysterious conjecture of Beilinson and Drinfeld concerning the algebraic geometry of Riemann surfaces. In this guise it was given a physical explanation in the framework of 4-dimensional super symmetric quantum field theory by Kapustin and Witten.  However to this day the Hilbert space attached to 3-manifolds\, and hence the precise form of Langlands duality for them\, remains a mystery. \nIn this talk I will propose that so-called “skein modules” of 3-manifolds give natural candidates for these Hilbert spaces at generic twisting parameter Psi \, and I will explain a Langlands duality in this setting\, which we have conjectured with Ben-Zvi\, Gunningham and Safronov. \nIntriguingly\, the precise formulation of such a conjecture in the classical limit Psi=0 is still an open question\, beyond the scope of the talk.\n\n\n10/06/2021\nPiotr Sulkowski\, U Warsaw\nTitle: Strings\, knots and quivers \nAbstract: I will discuss a recently discovered relation between quivers and knots\, as well as – more generally – toric Calabi-Yau manifolds. In the context of knots this relation is referred to as the knots-quivers correspondence\, and it states that various invariants of a given knot are captured by characteristics of a certain quiver\, which can be associated to this knot. Among others\, this correspondence enables to prove integrality of LMOV invariants of a knot by relating them to motivic Donaldson-Thomas invariants of the corresponding quiver\, it provides a new insight on knot categorification\, etc. This correspondence arises from string theory interpretation and engineering of knots in brane systems in the conifold geometry; replacing the conifold by other toric Calabi-Yau manifolds leads to analogous relations between such manifolds and quivers.\n\n\n10/13/2021\nAlexei Oblomkov\, University of Massachusetts\nTitle: Knot homology and sheaves on the Hilbert scheme of points on the plane. \nAbstract: The knot homology (defined by Khovavov\, Rozansky) provide us with a refinement of the knot polynomial knot invariant defined by Jones. However\, the knot homology are much harder to compute compared to the polynomial invariant of Jones. In my talk I present recent developments that allow us to use tools of algebraic geometry to compute the homology of torus knots and prove long-standing conjecture on the Poincare duality the knot homology. In more details\, using physics ideas of Kapustin-Rozansky-Saulina\, in the joint work with Rozansky\, we provide a mathematical construction that associates to a braid on n strands a complex of sheaves on the Hilbert scheme of n points on the plane.  The knot homology of the closure of the braid is a space of sections of this sheaf. The sheaf is also invariant with respect to the natural symmetry of the plane\, the symmetry is the geometric counter-part of the mentioned Poincare duality.\n\n\n10/20/2021\nPeng Shan\, Tsinghua U\nTitle: Categorification and applications \nAbstract: I will give a survey of the program of categorification for quantum groups\, some of its recent development and applications to representation theory.\n\n\n10/27/2021\nKarim Adiprasito\, Hebrew University and University of Copenhagen\nTitle: Anisotropy\, biased pairing theory and applications \nAbstract: Not so long ago\, the relations between algebraic geometry and combinatorics were strictly governed by the former party\, with results like log-concavity of the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of matroids shackled by intuitions and techniques from projective algebraic geometry\, specifically Hodge Theory. And so\, while we proved analogues for these results\, combinatorics felt subjugated to inspirations from outside of it.\nIn recent years\, a new powerful technique has emerged: Instead of following the geometric statements of Hodge theory about signature\, we use intuitions from the Hall marriage theorem\, translated to algebra: once there\, they are statements about self-pairings\, the non-degeneracy of pairings on subspaces to understand the global geometry of the pairing. This was used to establish Lefschetz type theorems far beyond the scope of algebraic geometry\, which in turn established solutions to long-standing conjectures in combinatorics. \nI will survey this theory\, called biased pairing theory\, and new developments within it\, as well as new applications to combinatorial problems. Reporting on joint work with Stavros Papadaki\, Vasiliki Petrotou and Johanna Steinmeyer.\n\n\n11/03/2021\nTamas Hausel\, IST Austria\nTitle: Hitchin map as spectrum of equivariant cohomology \nAbstract: We will explain how to model the Hitchin integrable system on a certain Lagrangian upward flow as the spectrum of equivariant cohomology of a Grassmannian.\n\n\n11/10/2021\nPeter Keevash\, Oxford\nTitle: Hypergraph decompositions and their applications \nAbstract: Many combinatorial objects can be thought of as a hypergraph decomposition\, i.e. a partition of (the edge set of) one hypergraph into (the edge sets of) copies of some other hypergraphs. For example\, a Steiner Triple System is equivalent to a decomposition of a complete graph into triangles. In general\, Steiner Systems are equivalent to decompositions of complete uniform hypergraphs into other complete uniform hypergraphs (of some specified sizes). The Existence Conjecture for Combinatorial Designs\, which I proved in 2014\, states that\, bar finitely many exceptions\, such decompositions exist whenever the necessary ‘divisibility conditions’ hold. I also obtained a generalisation to the quasirandom setting\, which implies an approximate formula for the number of designs; in particular\, this resolved Wilson’s Conjecture on the number of Steiner Triple Systems. A more general result that I proved in 2018 on decomposing lattice-valued vectors indexed by labelled complexes provides many further existence and counting results for a wide range of combinatorial objects\, such as resolvable designs (the generalised form of Kirkman’s Schoolgirl Problem)\, whist tournaments or generalised Sudoku squares. In this talk\, I plan to review this background and then describe some more recent and ongoing applications of these results and developments of the ideas behind them.\n\n\n11/17/2021\nAndrea Brini\, U Sheffield\nTitle: Curve counting on surfaces and topological strings \nAbstract: Enumerative geometry is a venerable subfield of Mathematics\, with roots dating back to Greek Antiquity and a present inextricably linked with developments in other domains. Since the early 90s\, in particular\, the interaction with String Theory has sent shockwaves through the subject\, giving both unexpected new perspectives and a remarkably powerful\, physics-motivated toolkit to tackle several traditionally hard questions in the field.\nI will survey some recent developments in this vein for the case of enumerative invariants associated to a pair (X\, D)\, with X a complex algebraic surface and D a singular anticanonical divisor in it. I will describe a surprising web of correspondences linking together several a priori distant classes of enumerative invariants associated to (X\, D)\, including the log Gromov-Witten invariants of the pair\, the Gromov-Witten invariants of an associated higher dimensional Calabi-Yau variety\, the open Gromov-Witten invariants of certain special Lagrangians in toric Calabi–Yau threefolds\, the Donaldson–Thomas theory of a class of symmetric quivers\, and certain open and closed Gopakumar-Vafa-type invariants. I will also discuss how these correspondences can be effectively used to provide a complete closed-form solution to the calculation of all these invariants.\n\n\n12/01/2021\nRichard Wentworth\, University of Maryland\nTitle: The Hitchin connection for parabolic G-bundles \nAbstract: For a simple and simply connected complex group G\, I will discuss some elements of the proof of the existence of a flat projective connection on the bundle of nonabelian theta functions on the moduli space of semistable parabolic G-bundles over families of smooth projective curves with marked points. Under the isomorphism with the bundle of conformal blocks\, this connection is equivalent to the one constructed by conformal field theory. This is joint work with Indranil Biswas and Swarnava Mukhopadhyay.\n\n\n12/08/2021\nMaria Chudnovsky\, Princeton\nTitle: Induced subgraphs and tree decompositions \nAbstract: Tree decompositions are a powerful tool in both structural\ngraph theory and graph algorithms. Many hard problems become tractable if the input graph is known to have a tree decomposition of bounded “width”. Exhibiting a particular kind of a tree decomposition is also a useful way to describe the structure of a graph. \nTree decompositions have traditionally been used in the context of forbidden graph minors; bringing them into the realm of forbidden induced subgraphs has until recently remained out of reach. Over the last couple of years we have made significant progress in this direction\, exploring both the classical notion of bounded tree-width\, and concepts of more structural flavor. This talk will survey some of these ideas and results.\n\n\n12/15/21\nConstantin Teleman (UC Berkeley)\nTitle: The Kapustin-Rozanski-Saulina “2-category” of a holomorphic integrable system \nAbstract: I will present a construction of the object in the title which\, applied to the classical Toda system\, controls the theory of categorical representations of compact Lie groups\, along with applications (some conjectural\, some rigorous) to gauged Gromov-Witten theory. Time permitting\, we will review applications to Coulomb branches and the categorified Weyl character formula.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-colloquium_2021-22/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211004T025100
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211005T025100
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20230705T081940Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200226Z
UID:10000071-1633315860-1633402260@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott
DESCRIPTION:On October 4th and October 5th\, 2021\, Harvard CMSA will host its annual Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott. This year’s speaker will be Michael Freedman (Microsoft). The lectures will take place from 11:00am – 12:15pm (ET) on Zoom. \nThis will be the third annual lecture series held in honor of Raoul Bott. \n\n\n\n\nLecture 1\nOctober 4th\, 11:00am (Boston time)\nTitle: The Universe from a single Particle \nAbstract: I will explore a toy model  for our universe in which spontaneous symmetry breaking – acting on the level of operators (not states) – can produce the interacting physics we see about us from the simpler\, single particle\, quantum mechanics we study as undergraduates. Based on joint work with Modj Shokrian Zini\, see arXiv:2011.05917 and arXiv:2108.12709. \nVideo\n\n\nLecture 2\nOctober 5th\, 11:00am (Boston time)\nTitle: Controlled Mather Thurston Theorems. \nAbstract: The “c-principle” is a cousin of Gromov’s h-principle in which cobordism rather than homotopy is required to (canonically) solve a problem. We show that in certain well-known c-principle contexts only the mildest cobordisms\, semi-s-cobordisms\, are required. In physical applications\, the extra topology (a perfect fundamental group) these cobordisms introduce could easily be hidden in the UV. This leads to a proposal to recast gauge theories such as EM and the standard model in terms of flat connections rather than curvature. See arXiv:2006.00374   \nVideo\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/math-science-lectures-in-honor-of-raoul-bott/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211004T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211004T123000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240212T110410Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T192600Z
UID:10002032-1633345200-1633350600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott: Michael Freedman
DESCRIPTION:On October 4th and October 5th\, 2021\, Harvard CMSA hosted the annual Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott. This year’s speaker was Michael Freedman (Microsoft). The lectures took place on Zoom. \nThis will be the third annual lecture series held in honor of Raoul Bott. \n\n\n\n\nLecture 1\nOctober 4th\, 11:00am (Boston time)\nTitle: The Universe from a single Particle \nAbstract: I will explore a toy model  for our universe in which spontaneous symmetry breaking – acting on the level of operators (not states) – can produce the interacting physics we see about us from the simpler\, single particle\, quantum mechanics we study as undergraduates. Based on joint work with Modj Shokrian Zini\, see arXiv:2011.05917 and arXiv:2108.12709. \nVideo\n\n\nLecture 2\nOctober 5th\, 11:00am (Boston time)\nTitle: Controlled Mather Thurston Theorems. \nAbstract: The “c-principle” is a cousin of Gromov’s h-principle in which cobordism rather than homotopy is required to (canonically) solve a problem. We show that in certain well-known c-principle contexts only the mildest cobordisms\, semi-s-cobordisms\, are required. In physical applications\, the extra topology (a perfect fundamental group) these cobordisms introduce could easily be hidden in the UV. This leads to a proposal to recast gauge theories such as EM and the standard model in terms of flat connections rather than curvature. See arXiv:2006.00374   \nVideo\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/math-science-lectures-in-honor-of-raoul-bott-3/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott,Special Lectures
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211005T083000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211005T093000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T111744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T104852Z
UID:10002487-1633422600-1633426200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Angular momentum in general relativity
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: The definition of angular momentum in general relativity has been a subtle issue since the 1960′\, due to the discovery of “supertranslation ambiguity”: the angular momentums recorded by two distant observers of the same system may not be the same. In this talk\, I shall show how the mathematical theory of optimal isometric embedding and quasilocal angular momentum identifies a correction term\, and leads to a new definition of angular momentum that is free of any supertranslation ambiguity. This is based on joint work with Po-Ning Chen\, Jordan Keller\, Ye-Kai Wang\, and Shing-Tung Yau.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-5-2021-joint-harvard-cuhk-ymsc-differential-geometry-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Joint Harvard-CUHK-YMSC Differential Geometry
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211005T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211005T100000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T113617Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T085033Z
UID:10002508-1633424400-1633428000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:10/5/2021 Combinatorics\, Physics and Probability Seminar
DESCRIPTION:Title: Geodesic Geometry on Graphs \nAbstract: In a graph G = (V\, E) we consider a system of paths S so that for every two vertices u\,v in V there is a unique uv path in S connecting them. The path system is said to be consistent if it is closed under taking subpaths\, i.e. if P is a path in S then any subpath of P is also in S. Every positive weight function w: E–>R^+ gives rise to a consistent path system in G by taking the paths in S to be geodesics w.r.t. w. In this case\, we say w induces S. We say a graph G is metrizable if every consistent path system in G is induced by some such w. \nWe’ll discuss the concept of graph metrizability\, and\, in particular\, we’ll see that while metrizability is a rare property\, there exists infinitely many 2-connected metrizable graphs. \nJoint work with Nati Linial.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-5-2021-combinatorics-physics-and-probability-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Combinatorics Physics and Probability
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211006T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211006T103000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T044013Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240501T205719Z
UID:10002532-1633512600-1633516200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Strings\, knots and quivers
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Piotr Sułkowski (University of Warsaw) \nTitle: Strings\, knots and quivers \nAbstract: I will discuss a recently discovered relation between quivers and knots\, as well as – more generally – toric Calabi-Yau manifolds. In the context of knots this relation is referred to as the knots-quivers correspondence\, and it states that various invariants of a given knot are captured by characteristics of a certain quiver\, which can be associated to this knot. Among others\, this correspondence enables to prove integrality of LMOV invariants of a knot by relating them to motivic Donaldson-Thomas invariants of the corresponding quiver\, it provides a new insight on knot categorification\, etc. This correspondence arises from string theory interpretation and engineering of knots in brane systems in the conifold geometry; replacing the conifold by other toric Calabi-Yau manifolds leads to analogous relations between such manifolds and quivers.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/strings-knots-and-quivers/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211006T114900
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211006T134900
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T090718Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240301T093241Z
UID:10002606-1633520940-1633528140@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Line defects in CFTs: Renormalization group flows and semiclassical limits
DESCRIPTION:Title: Line defects in CFTs: Renormalization group flows and semiclassical limits \nAbstract: I will discuss line defects in d-dimensional Conformal Field Theories (CFTs). In the first part of the talk\, I will argue that the ambient CFT places nontrivial constraints on Renormalization Group (RG) flows on such line defects. I will show that the flow on line defects is consequently irreversible and furthermore a canonical decreasing entropy function exists. This construction generalizes the g theorem to line defects in arbitrary dimensions.  In the second part of the talk\, I will present some applications. In particular\, I will discuss impurities with large isospin S for some O(3) symmetric theories in the epsilon expansion.  For sufficiently large S diagrammatic perturbation theory breaks down\, and these are studied in a semiclassical expansion at fixed epsilon S.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-6-2021-quantum-matter-in-mathematics-and-physics/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Quantum Matter
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211006T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211006T160000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T092921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240517T200621Z
UID:10002630-1633532400-1633536000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:New results in Supergravity via ML Technology
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Thomas Fischbacher\, Google \nTitle: New results in Supergravity via ML Technology \nAbstract: The infrastructure built to power the Machine Learning revolution has many other uses beyond Deep Learning. Starting from a general architecture-level overview over the lower levels of Google’s TensorFlow machine learning library\, we review how this has recently helped us to find all the stable vacua of SO(8) Supergravity in 3+1 dimensions\, has allowed major progress on other related questions about M theory\, and briefly discuss other applications in field theory and beyond.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-6-2021-new-technologies-in-mathematics-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T115400
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T135400
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T090253Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240301T092837Z
UID:10002604-1633607640-1633614840@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:A tour of categorical symmetry
DESCRIPTION:Title: A tour of categorical symmetry \nAbstract: I will discuss some perspectives on symmetry coming from the study of topological defects in quantum field theory. I will argue that we should take topological defects themselves to define the symmetries of QFT. This gives us a view of the “category of QFTs”. I will describe some examples of these “categorical symmetries”\, their applications\, and some open problems.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-7-2021-quantum-matter-in-mathematics-and-physics/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Quantum Matter
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T140000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T053935Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T063527Z
UID:10002541-1633611600-1633615200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:A mirror theorem for GLSMs
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: A gauged linear sigma model (GLSM) consists roughly of a complex vector space V\, a group G acting on V\, a character \theta of G\, and a G-invariant function w on V.  This data defines a GIT quotient Y = [V //_\theta G] and a function on that quotient.  GLSMs arise naturally in a number of contexts\, for instance as the mirrors to Fano manifolds and as examples of noncommutative crepant resolutions. GLSMs provide a broad setting in which it is possible to define an enumerative curve counting theory\, simultaneously generalizing FJRW theory and the Gromov-Witten theory of hypersurfaces. Despite a significant effort to rigorously define the enumerative invariants of a GLSM\, very few computations of these invariants have been carried out.  In this talk I will describe a new method for computing generating functions of GLSM invariants.  I will explain how these generating functions arise as derivatives of generating functions of Gromov-Witten invariants of Y.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/a-mirror-theorem-for-glsms/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Algebraic Geometry in String Theory Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T184100
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T184100
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T083403Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240214T083403Z
UID:10002590-1633632060-1633632060@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:10/7/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
DESCRIPTION:Title: SiRNA Targeting TCRb: A Proposed Therapy for the Treatment of Autoimmunity \nAbstract: As of 2018\, the United States National Institutes of Health estimate that over half a billion people worldwide are affected by autoimmune disorders. Though these conditions are prevalent\, treatment options remain relatively poor\, relying primarily on various forms of immunosuppression which carry potentially severe side effects and often lose effectiveness over time. Given this\, new forms of therapy are needed. To this end\, we have developed methods for the creation of small-interfering RNA (siRNA) for hypervariable regions of the T-cell receptor β-chain gene (TCRb) as a highly targeted\, novel means of therapy for the treatment of autoimmune disorders. \nThis talk will review the general mechanism by which autoimmune diseases occur and discuss the pros and cons of conventional pharmaceutical therapies as they pertain to autoimmune disease treatment. I will then examine the rational and design methodology for the proposed siRNA therapy and how it contrasts with contemporary methods for the treatment of these conditions. Additionally\, the talk will compare the efficacy of multiple design strategies for such molecules by comparison over several metrics and discuss how this will be guiding future research.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-7-2021-interdisciplinary-science-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T203000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211007T220000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240301T093101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240301T093101Z
UID:10002891-1633638600-1633644000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:UV/IR and Effective Field Theory
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Nima Arkani-Hamed (IAS Princeton) \nTitle: UV/IR and Effective Field Theory
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-7-2021-quantum-matter-in-mathematics-and-physics-2/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Quantum Matter
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211008T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211008T103000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T110012Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T101810Z
UID:10002469-1633685400-1633689000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Causality Comparison and Postive Mass
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Xiaoning Wu\, Chinese Academy of Sciences \nTitle: Causality Comparison and Postive Mass \nAbstract: Penrose et al. investigated the physical incoherence of the space-time with negative mass via the bending of light. Precise estimates of the time-delay of null geodesics were needed and played a pivotal role in their proof. In this paper\, we construct an intermediate diagonal metric and reduce this problem to a causality comparison in the compactified space-time regarding time-like connectedness near conformal infinities. This different approach allows us to avoid encountering the difficulties and subtle issues that Penrose et al. met. It provides a new\, substantially simple\, and physically natural non-partial differential equation viewpoint to understand the positive mass theorem. This elementary argument modestly applies to asymptotically flat solutions that are vacuum and stationary near infinity
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-8-2021-general-relativity-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:General Relativity Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211008T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211008T103000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T074201Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240301T111834Z
UID:10002568-1633685400-1633689000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Knowledge Graph Embeddings and Inference
DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Michael Douglas \nTitle: Knowledge Graph Embeddings and Inference \nAbstract: A knowledge graph (KG) is a data structure which represents entities and relations as the vertices and edges of a directed graph. Two examples are Wikidata for general knowledge and SemMedDB for biomedical data.\nA popular KG representation method is graph embedding\, which facilitates question answering\, inferring missing edges\, and logical reasoning tasks. In this talk we introduce the topic and explain relevant mathematical results on graph embedding. We then analyze KG inference into several mechanisms: motif learning\, network learning\, and unstructured statistical inference\, and describe experiments to measure the contributions of each mechanism. \nJoint work with M. Simkin\, O. Ben-Eliezer\, T. Wu\, S. P. Chin\, T. V. Dang and A. Wood.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-8-2021-member-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Member Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211012T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211012T100000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T114547Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T100222Z
UID:10002513-1634029200-1634032800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:10/12/2021 Combinatorics\, Physics and Probability Seminar
DESCRIPTION:Title: On counting algebraically defined graphs \nAbstract: For many classes of graphs that arise naturally in discrete geometry (for example intersection graphs of segments or disks in the plane)\, the edges of these graphs can be defined algebraically using the signs of a finite list of fixed polynomials. We investigate the number of n-vertex graphs in such an algebraically defined class of graphs. Warren’s theorem (a variant of a theorem of Milnor and Thom) implies upper bounds for the number of n-vertex graphs in such graph classes\, but all the previously known lower bounds were obtained from ad hoc constructions for very specific classes. We prove a general theorem giving a lower bound for this number (under some reasonable assumptions on the fixed list of polynomials)\, and this lower bound essentially matches the upper bound from Warren’s theorem.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-12-2021-combinatorics-physics-and-probability-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Combinatorics Physics and Probability
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211012T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211012T140000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T053342Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T063443Z
UID:10002540-1634043600-1634047200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Derived projectivizations of two-term complexes
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: For a given two-term complex of vector bundles on a derived scheme (or stack)\, there are three natural ways to define its “derived projectivizations”: (i) as the derived base-change of the classical projectivization of Grothendieck; (ii) as the derived moduli parametrizing one-dimensional locally free quotients; (iii) as the GIT quotient of the total space by $\mathbb{G}_m$-action. In this talk\, we first show that these three definitions are equivalent. Second\, we prove a structural theorem about the derived categories of derived projectivizations and study the corresponding mutation theory. Third\, we apply these results to various moduli situations\, including the moduli of certain stable pairs on curves and the Hecke correspondences of one-point modification of moduli of stable sheaves on surfaces. If time allowed\, we could also discuss the generalizations of these results to the derived Quot schemes of locally free quotients.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/derived-projectivizations-of-two-term-complexes/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Algebraic Geometry in String Theory Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211013T030000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211013T040000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T113713Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T100928Z
UID:10002509-1634094000-1634097600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Some remarks on contact Calabi-Yau 7-manifolds
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: In geometry and physics it has proved useful to relate G2 and Calabi-Yau geometry via circle bundles. Contact Calabi-Yau 7-manifolds are\, in the simplest cases\, such circle bundles over Calabi-Yau 3-orbifolds. These 7-manifolds provide testing grounds for the study of geometric flows which seek to find torsion-free G2-structures (and thus Ricci flat metrics with exceptional holonomy). They also give useful backgrounds to examine the heterotic G2 system (also known as the G2-Hull-Strominger system)\, which is a coupled set of PDEs arising from physics that involves the G2-structure and gauge theory on the 7-manifold. I will report on recent progress on both of these directions in the study of contact Calabi-Yau 7-manifolds\, which is joint work with H. Sá Earp and J. Saavedra.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-13-2021-joint-harvard-cuhk-ymsc-differential-geometry-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Joint Harvard-CUHK-YMSC Differential Geometry
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211013T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211013T103000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T043728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T193448Z
UID:10002531-1634117400-1634121000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Knot homology and sheaves on the Hilbert scheme of points on the plane
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Alexei Oblomkov (University of Massachusetts) \nTitle: Knot homology and sheaves on the Hilbert scheme of points on the plane \nAbstract: The knot homology (defined by Khovavov\, Rozansky) provide us with a refinement of the knot polynomial knot invariant defined by Jones. However\, the knot homology are much harder to compute compared to the polynomial invariant of Jones. In my talk I present recent developments that allow us to use tools of algebraic geometry to compute the homology of torus knots and prove long-standing conjecture on the Poincare duality the knot homology. In more details\, using physics ideas of Kapustin-Rozansky-Saulina\, in the joint work with Rozansky\, we provide a mathematical construction that associates to a braid on n strands a complex of sheaves on the Hilbert scheme of n points on the plane. The knot homology of the closure of the braid is a space of sections of this sheaf. The sheaf is also invariant with respect to the natural symmetry of the plane\, the symmetry is the geometric counter-part of the mentioned Poincare duality.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/knot-homology-and-sheaves-on-the-hilbert-scheme-of-points-on-the-plane/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-10.13.21-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211013T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211013T150000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T093531Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240515T204354Z
UID:10002637-1634133600-1634137200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Computer-Aided Mathematics and Satisfiability
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Marijn Heule\, Carnegie Mellon University \nTitle: Computer-Aided Mathematics and Satisfiability \nAbstract: Progress in satisfiability (SAT) solving has made it possible to determine the correctness of complex systems and answer long-standing open questions in mathematics. The SAT solving approach is completely automatic and can produce clever though potentially gigantic proofs. We can have confidence in the correctness of the answers because highly trustworthy systems can validate the underlying proofs regardless of their size. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the SAT approach by presenting some recent successes\, including the solution of the Boolean Pythagorean Triples problem\, computing the fifth Schur number\, and resolving the remaining case of Keller’s conjecture. Moreover\, we constructed and validated a proof for each of these results. The second part of the talk focuses on notorious math challenges for which automated reasoning may well be suitable. In particular\, we discuss our progress on applying SAT solving techniques to the chromatic number of the plane (Hadwiger-Nelson problem)\, optimal schemes for matrix multiplication\, and the Collatz conjecture.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-13-2021-new-technologies-in-mathematics-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211014T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211014T100000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T082843Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240529T180858Z
UID:10002588-1634202000-1634205600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:D3C: Reducing the Price of Anarchy in Multi-Agent Learning
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ian Gemp\, DeepMind \nTitle: D3C: Reducing the Price of Anarchy in Multi-Agent Learning \nAbstract: In multi-agent systems the complex interaction of fixed incentives can lead agents to outcomes that are poor (inefficient) not only for the group but also for each individual agent. Price of anarchy is a technical game theoretic definition introduced to quantify the inefficiency arising in these scenarios– it compares the welfare that can be achieved through perfect coordination against that achieved by self-interested agents at a Nash equilibrium. We derive a differentiable upper bound on a price of anarchy that agents can cheaply estimate during learning. Equipped with this estimator agents can adjust their incentives in a way that improves the efficiency incurred at a Nash equilibrium. Agents adjust their incentives by learning to mix their reward (equiv. negative loss) with that of other agents by following the gradient of our derived upper bound. We refer to this approach as D3C. In the case where agent incentives are differentiable D3C resembles the celebrated Win-Stay Lose-Shift strategy from behavioral game theory thereby establishing a connection between the global goal of maximum welfare and an established agent-centric learning rule. In the non-differentiable setting as is common in multiagent reinforcement learning we show the upper bound can be reduced via evolutionary strategies until a compromise is reached in a distributed fashion. We demonstrate that D3C improves outcomes for each agent and the group as a whole on several social dilemmas including a traffic network exhibiting Braess’s paradox a prisoner’s dilemma and several reinforcement learning domains.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-14-2021-interdisciplinary-science-seminar/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Interdisciplinary-Science-Seminar-10.14.21.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211014T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211014T143000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T113426Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T084942Z
UID:10002506-1634216400-1634221800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Stochastic PDE as scaling limits of interacting particle systems
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: Interacting particle models are often employed to gain understanding of the emergence of macroscopic phenomena from microscopic laws of nature. These individual-based models capture fine details\, including randomness and discreteness of individuals\, that are not considered in continuum models such as partial differential equations (PDE) and integral-differential equations. The challenge is how to simultaneously retain key information in microscopic models as well as efficiency and robustness of macroscopic models. In this talk\, I will illustrate how this challenge can be overcome by elucidating the probabilistic connections between models of different levels of detail. These connections explain how stochastic partial differential equations (SPDE) arise naturally from particle models. \nI will also present some novel scaling limits including SPDE on graphs and coupled SPDE. These SPDE not only interpolate between particle models and PDE\, but also quantify the source and the order of magnitude of stochasticity. Scaling limit theorems and duality formulas are obtained for these SPDE\, which connect phenomena across scales and offer insights about the genealogies and the time-asymptotic properties of the underlying population dynamics.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/stochastic-pde-as-scaling-limits-of-interacting-particle-systems/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Active Matter Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211015T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211015T103000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T105113Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T101004Z
UID:10002463-1634290200-1634293800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Peeling properties of the spinor fields and the solutions to nonlinear Dirac equations
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: The Dirac equation is a relativistic equation that describes the spin-1/2 particles.  We talk about Dirac equations in Minkowski spacetime. In a geometric viewpoint\, we can see that the spinor fields satisfying the Dirac equations enjoy the so-called peeling properties. It means the null components of the solution will decay at different rates along the null hypersurface. Based on this decay mechanism\, we can obtain a fresh insight to the spinor null forms which is used to prove a small data global existence result especially for some quadratic Dirac models.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-15-2021-general-relativity-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:General Relativity Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211015T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211015T103000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T073928Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240301T111732Z
UID:10002566-1634290200-1634293800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:C-P-T Fractionalization\, and Quantum Criticality Beyond the Standard Model
DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Juven Wang \nTitle: C-P-T Fractionalization\, and Quantum Criticality Beyond the Standard Model \nAbstract: Discrete spacetime symmetries of parity P or reflection R\, and time-reversal T\, act naively as a Z2-involution on the spacetime coordinates; but together with a charge conjugation C and the fermion parity (−1)^F\, these symmetries can be further fractionalized forming nonabelian C-P-R-T-(−1)^F group structures\, in various examples such as relativistic Lorentz invariant Dirac spinor quantum field theories (QFT)\, or nonrelativistic quantum many-body systems (involving Majorana zero modes). This result answers Prof. Shing-Tung Yau’s question on “Can C-P-T symmetries be fractionalized more than involutions?” based on arxiv:2109.15320. \nIn the second part of my talk\, I will sketch to explain how can we modify the so(10) Grand Unified Theory (GUT) by adding a new topological term such that two GUTs of Georgi-Glashow and Pati-Salam can smoother into each other in a quantum phase transition\, where the Standard Model and new dark sector physics can occur naturally near the critical region. The new modified so(10) GUT requires a double Spin structure that we name DSpin. This phenomenon is inspired by the “deconfined quantum criticality” in condensed matter. Based on arxiv:2106.16248.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-15-2021-member-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Member Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211015T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211015T113000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240125T164122Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240125T164122Z
UID:10001336-1634293800-1634297400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:General Relativity 2021-22
DESCRIPTION:During the 2021–22 academic year\, the CMSA will be hosting a seminar on General Relativity\, organized by Aghil Alaee\, Jue Liu\, Daniel Kapec\, and Puskar Mondal. This seminar will take place on Thursdays at 9:30am – 10:30am (Eastern time). The meetings will take place virtually on Zoom. To learn how to attend\, please fill out this form. \nThe schedule below will be updated as talks are confirmed. \nSpring 2022\n\n\n\n\nDate\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n2/10/2022\nTin Yau Tsang (UC Irvine)\nTitle: Dihedral ridigity and mass \nAbstract: To characterise scalar curvature\, Gromov proposed the dihedral rigidity conjecture which states that a positively curved polyhedron having dihedral angles less than those of a corresponding flat polyhedron should be isometric to a flat one. In this talk\, we will discuss some recent progress on this conjecture and its connection with general relativity (ADM mass and quasilocal mass).\n\n\n2/17/2022\nShiraz Minwalla\n(Tata Institute of Fundamental Research\, Mumbai)\nTitle: Black Hole dynamics at Large D \nAbstract: I demonstrate that black hole dynamics simplifies – without trivializing – in the limit in which the number of spacetime dimensions D in which the black holes live is taken to infinity. In the strict large D limit and under certain conditions I show the equations that govern black hole dynamics reduce to the equations describing the dynamics of a non gravitational membrane propagating in an unperturbed spacetime (e.g. flat space). In the stationary limit black hole thermodynamics maps to membrane thermodynamics\, which we formulate in a precise manner. We also demonstrate that the large D black hole membrane agrees with the fluid gravity map in the appropriate regime.\n\n\n2/24/2022\nAchilleas Porfyriadis\n(Harvard Black Hole Initiative)\nTitle: Extreme Black Holes: Anabasis and Accidental Symmetry \nAbstract: The near-horizon region of black holes near extremality is universally AdS_2-like. In this talk I will concentrate on the simplest example of  AdS_2 x S^2 as the near-horizon of (near-)extreme Reissner-Nordstrom. I will first explain the SL(2) transformation properties of the spherically symmetric linear perturbations of\nAdS_2 x S^2 and show how their backreaction leads to the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole. This backreaction with boundary condition change is called an anabasis. I will then show that the linear Einstein equation near AdS_2 x S^2\, with or without additional matter\, enjoys an accidental symmetry that may be thought of as an on-shell large diffeomorphism of  AdS_2.\n\n\n3/10/2022\nDavid Fajman (University of Vienna)\nTitle: The Einstein-flow on manifolds of negative curvature\n\nAbstract: We consider the Cauchy problem for the Einstein equations for cosmological spacetimes\, i.e. spacetimes with compact spatial hypersurfaces. Various classes of those dynamical spacetimes have been constructed and analyzed using CMC foliations or equivalently the CMC-Einstein flow. We will briefly review the Andersson-Moncrief stability result of negative Einstein metrics under the vacuum Einstein flow and then present various recent generalizations to the nonvacuum case. We will emphasize what difficulties arise in those generalizations\, how they can be handled depending on the matter model at hand\, and what implications we can draw from these results for cosmology. We then turn to a scenario where the CMC Einstein flow leads to a large data result in 2+1-dimensions.\n\n\n3/21/2022\nProf. Arick Shao (Queen Mary University of London)\nTitle: Bulk-boundary correspondence for vacuum asymptotically Anti-de Sitter spacetimes \nAbstract: The AdS/CFT conjecture in physics posits the existence of a correspondence between gravitational theories in asymptotically Anti-de Sitter (aAdS) spacetimes and field theories on their conformal boundary. In this presentation\, we prove rigorous mathematical statements toward this conjecture. \nIn particular\, we show there is a one-to-one correspondence between aAdS solutions of the Einstein-vacuum equations and a suitable space of data on the conformal boundary (consisting of the boundary metric and the boundary stress-energy tensor). We also discuss consequences of this result\, as well as the main ingredient behind its proof: a unique continuation property for wave equations on aAdS spacetimes. \nThis is joint work with Gustav Holzegel (and makes use of joint works with Alex McGill and Athanasios Chatzikaleas).\n\n\n3/24/2022\nQian Wang\, University of Oxford\nTitle: Rough solutions of the $3$-D compressible Euler equations \nAbstract: I will talk about my work on the compressible Euler equations. We prove the local-in-time existence the solution of the compressible Euler equations in $3$-D\, for the Cauchy data of the velocity\, density and vorticity $(v\,\varrho\, \omega) \in H^s\times H^s\times H^{s’}$\, $2<s'<s$.  The result extends the sharp result of Smith-Tataru and Wang\, established in the irrotational case\, i.e $\omega=0$\, which is known to be optimal for $s>2$. At the opposite extreme\, in the incompressible case\, i.e. with a constant density\,  the result is known to hold for $\omega\in H^s$\, $s>3/2$ and fails for $s\le 3/2$\, see the work of Bourgain-Li. It is thus natural to conjecture that the optimal result should be  $(v\,\varrho\, \omega) \in H^s\times H^s\times H^{s’}$\, $s>2\, \\, s’>\frac{3}{2}$. We view our work as an important step in proving the conjecture. The main difficulty in establishing sharp well-posedness results for general compressible Euler flow is due to the highly nontrivial interaction between the sound waves\, governed by quasilinear wave equations\, and vorticity which is transported by the flow. To overcome this difficulty\, we separate the dispersive part of a sound wave from the transported part and gain regularity significantly by exploiting the nonlinear structure of the system and the geometric structures of the acoustic spacetime.\n\n\n3/28/2022\nEmanuele Berti\, Johns Hopkins University\nTitle: Black Hole Spectroscopy \nAbstract: According to general relativity\, the remnant of a binary black hole merger should be a perturbed Kerr black hole. Perturbed Kerr black holes emit “ringdown” radiation which is well described by a superposition of quasinormal modes\, with frequencies and damping times that depend only on the mass and spin of the remnant. Therefore the observation of gravitational radiation emitted by black hole mergers might finally provide direct evidence of black holes with the same certainty as\, say\, the 21 cm line identifies interstellar hydrogen. I will review the current status of this “black hole spectroscopy” program. I will focus on two important open issues: (1) When is the waveform well described by linear black hole perturbation theory? (2) What is the current observational status of black hole spectroscopy?\n\n\n4/7/2022\n\nCMSA General Relativity Conference\n\n\n4/14/2022\nChao Liu\, Huazhong University of Science and Technology\nTitle: Global existence and stability of de Sitter-like solutions to the Einstein-Yang-Mills equations in spacetime dimensions n≥4 \nAbstract: In this talk\, we briefly introduce our recent work on establishing the global existence and stability to the future of non-linear perturbation of de Sitter-like solutions to the Einstein-Yang-Mills system in n≥4 spacetime dimension. This generalizes Friedrich’s (1991) Einstein-Yang-Mills stability results in dimension n=4 to all higher dimensions. This is a joint work with Todd A. Oliynyk and Jinhua Wang.\n\n\n4/21/2022\nJinhua Wang\,\nXiamen University\nTitle: Future stability of the $1+3$ Milne model for the Einstein-Klein-Gordon system \nAbstract: We study the small perturbations of the $1+3$-dimensional Milne model for the Einstein-Klein-Gordon (EKG) system. We prove the nonlinear future stability\, and show that the perturbed spacetimes are future causally geodesically complete.  For the proof\, we work within the constant mean curvature (CMC) gauge and focus on the $1+3$ splitting of the Bianchi-Klein-Gordon equations. Moreover\, we treat the Bianchi-Klein-Gordon equations as evolution equations and establish the energy scheme in the sense that we only commute the Bianchi-Klein-Gordon equations with spatially covariant derivatives while normal derivative is not allowed. We propose some refined estimates for lapse and the hierarchies of energy estimates to close the energy argument.\n\n\n4/28/2022\nAllen Fang\, Sorbonne University\nTitle: A new proof for the nonlinear stability of slowly-rotating Kerr-de Sitter \nAbstract: The nonlinear stability of the slowly-rotating Kerr-de Sitter family was first proven by Hintz and Vasy in 2016 using microlocal techniques. In my talk\, I will present a novel proof of the nonlinear stability of slowly-rotating Kerr-de Sitter spacetimes that avoids frequency-space techniques outside of a neighborhood of the trapped set. The proof uses vectorfield techniques to uncover a spectral gap corresponding to exponential decay at the level of the linearized equation. The exponential decay of solutions to the linearized problem is then used in a bootstrap proof to conclude nonlinear stability.\n\n\n\n\nFall 2021\n\n\n\n\nDate\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n9/10/2021 \n(10:30am – 11:30am (Boston time)\nPhilippe G. LeFloch\, Sorbonne University and CNRS\nTitle: Asymptotic localization\, massive fields\, and gravitational singularities \nAbstract: I will review three recent developments on Einstein’s field equations under low decay or low regularity conditions. First\, the Seed-to-Solution Method for Einstein’s constraint equations\, introduced in collaboration with T.-C. Nguyen generates asymptotically Euclidean manifolds with the weakest or strongest possible decay (infinite ADM mass\, Schwarzschild decay\, etc.). The ‘asymptotic localization problem’ is also proposed an alternative to the ‘optimal localization problem’ by Carlotto and Schoen. We solve this new problem at the harmonic level of decay. Second\, the Euclidian-Hyperboloidal Foliation Method\, introduced in collaboration with Yue Ma\, applies to nonlinear wave systems which need not be asymptotically invariant under Minkowski’s scaling field and to solutions with low decay in space. We established the global nonlinear stability of self-gravitating massive matter field in the regime near Minkowski spacetime. Third\, in collaboration with Bruno Le Floch and Gabriele Veneziano\, I studied spacetimes in the vicinity of singularity hypersurfaces and constructed bouncing cosmological spacetimes of big bang-big crunch type. The notion of singularity scattering map provides a flexible tool for formulating junction conditions and\, by analyzing Einstein’s constraint equations\, we established a surprising classification of all gravitational bouncing laws. Blog: philippelefloch.org\n\n\n9/17/2021 \n(10:30am – 11:30am (Boston time)\nIgor Rodnianski\, Princeton University\nTitle: Stable Big Bang formation for the Einstein equations \nAbstract: I will discuss recent work concerning stability of cosmological singularities described by the generalized Kasner solutions. There are heuristics in the mathematical physics literature\, going back more than 50 years\, suggesting that the Big Bang formation should be stable under perturbations of the Kasner initial data\, as long as the Kasner exponents are “sub-critical”. We prove that the Kasner singularity is dynamically stable for all sub-critical Kasner exponents\, thereby justifying the heuristics in the full regime where stable monotonic-type curvature blowup is expected. We treat the 3+1-dimensional Einstein-scalar field system and the D+1-dimensional Einstein-vacuum equations for D≥10. This is joint work with Speck and Fournodavlos.\n\n\n9/24/2021 \n(10:30am – 11:30am (Boston time)\nAlex Lupsasca\nTitle: On the Observable Shape of Black Hole Photon Rings \nAbstract: The photon ring is a narrow ring-shaped feature\, predicted by General Relativity but not yet observed\, that appears on images of sources near a black hole. It is caused by extreme bending of light within a few Schwarzschild radii of the event horizon and provides a direct probe of the unstable bound photon orbits of the Kerr geometry. I will argue that the precise shape of the observable photon ring is remarkably insensitive to the astronomical source profile and can therefore be used as a stringent test of strong-field General Relativity. In practice\, near-term interferometric observations may be limited to the visibility amplitude alone\, which contains incomplete shape information: for convex curves\, the amplitude only encodes the set of projected diameters (or “widths”) of the shape. I will describe the freedom in reconstructing a convex curve from its widths\, giving insight into the photon ring shape information probed by technically plausible future astronomical measurements.\n\n\n10/1/2021 \n(10:30am – 11:30am (Boston time)\nZhongshan An\, University of Connecticut\nTitle: Static vacuum extensions of Bartnik boundary data near flat domains \nAbstract: The study of static vacuum Riemannian metrics arises naturally in differential geometry and general relativity. It plays an important role in scalar curvature deformation\, as well as in constructing Einstein spacetimes.  Existence of static vacuum Riemannian metrics with prescribed Bartnik data is one of the most fundamental problems in Riemannian geometry related to general relativity. It is also a very interesting problem on the global solvability of a natural geometric boundary value problem. In this talk I will first discuss some basic properties of the nonlinear and linearized static vacuum equations and the geometric boundary conditions. Then I will present some recent progress towards the existence problem of static vacuum metrics based on a joint work with Lan-Hsuan Huang.\n\n\n10/8/2021 \n(10:30am – 11:30am (Boston time)\nXiaoning Wu\, Chinese Academy of Sciences\nTitle: Causality Comparison and Postive Mass \nAbstract: Penrose et al. investigated the physical incoherence of the space-time with negative mass via the bending of light. Precise estimates of the time-delay of null geodesics were needed and played a pivotal role in their proof. In this paper\, we construct an intermediate diagonal metric and reduce this problem to a causality comparison in the compactified space-time regarding time-like connectedness near conformal infinities. This different approach allows us to avoid encountering the difficulties and subtle issues that Penrose et al. met. It provides a new\, substantially simple\, and physically natural non-partial differential equation viewpoint to understand the positive mass theorem. This elementary argument modestly applies to asymptotically flat solutions that are vacuum and stationary near infinity\n\n\n10/15/2021 \n(10:30am – 11:30am (Boston time)\nJiong-Yue Li\, Sun Yat-Sen University\nTitle: Peeling properties of the spinor fields and the solutions to nonlinear Dirac equations \nAbstract: The Dirac equation is a relativistic equation that describes the spin-1/2 particles.  We talk about Dirac equations in Minkowski spacetime. In a geometric viewpoint\, we can see that the spinor fields satisfying the Dirac equations enjoy the so-called peeling properties. It means the null components of the solution will decay at different rates along the null hypersurface. Based on this decay mechanism\, we can obtain a fresh insight to the spinor null forms which is used to prove a small data global existence result especially for some quadratic Dirac models.\n\n\n10/22/2021 \n(11:00am – 12:30pm (Boston time)\nRoberto Emparan\, University of Barcelona\nTitle: The Large D Limit of Einstein’s Equations \nAbstract: Taking the large dimension limit of Einstein’s equations is a useful strategy for solving and understanding the dynamics that these equations encode. I will introduce the underlying ideas and the progress that has resulted in recent years from this line of research. Most of the discussion will be classical in nature and will concern situations where there is a black hole horizon. A main highlight of this approach is the formulation of effective membrane theories of black hole dynamics. These have made possible to efficiently study\, with relatively simple techniques\, some of the thorniest problems in black hole physics\, such as the non-linear evolution of the instabilities of black strings and black branes\, and the collisions and mergers of higher-dimensional black holes. Open directions and opportunities will also be discussed. To get a flavor of what this is about\, you may read the first few pages of the review (with C.P. Herzog) e-Print: 2003.11394.\n\n\n10/28/2021\nJorge Santos\, University of Cambridge\nTitle: The classical interior of charged black holes with AdS asymptotics \nAbstract: The gravitational dual to the grand canonical ensemble of a large N holographic theory is a charged black hole. These spacetimes can have Cauchy horizons that render the classical gravitational dynamics of the black hole interior incomplete. We show that a (spatially uniform) deformation of the CFT by a neutral scalar operator generically leads to a black hole with no inner horizon. There is instead a spacelike Kasner singularity in the interior. For relevant deformations\, Cauchy horizons never form. We then consider charged scalars\, which are known to condense at low temperatures\, thus providing a holographic realization of superconductivity. We look inside the horizon of these holographic superconductors and find intricate dynamical behavior.  The spacetime ends at a spacelike Kasner singularity\, and there is no Cauchy horizon. Before reaching the singularity\, there are several intermediate regimes which we study both analytically and numerically. These include strong Josephson oscillations in the condensate and possible `Kasner inversions’ in which after many e-folds of expansion\, the Einstein-Rosen bridge contracts towards the singularity.  Due to the Josephson oscillations\, the number of Kasner inversions depends very sensitively on temperature\, and diverges at a discrete set of temperatures that accumulate at the critical temperature. Near this discrete set of temperatures\, the final Kasner exponent exhibits fractal-like behavior.\n\n\n11/4/2021\nat 10 am ET\nElena Giorgi\, Columbia University\nTitle: The stability of charged black holes \nAbstract: Black holes solutions in General Relativity are parametrized by their mass\, spin and charge. In this talk\, I will motivate why the charge of black holes adds interesting dynamics to solutions of the Einstein equation thanks to the interaction between gravitational and electromagnetic radiation. Such radiations are solutions of a system of coupled wave equations with a symmetric structure which allows to define a combined energy-momentum tensor for the system. Finally\, I will show how this physical-space approach is resolutive in the most general case of Kerr-Newman black hole\, where the interaction between the radiations prevents the separability in modes.\n\n\n11/11/2021\n*9:30 am ET*\nSiyuan Ma\, Sorbonne University\nTitle: Sharp decay for Teukolsky equation in Kerr spacetimes \nAbstract: Teukolsky equation in Kerr spacetimes governs the dynamics of the spin $s$ components\, $s=0\, \pm 1\, \pm 2$ corresponding to the scalar field\, the Maxwell field\, and the linearized gravity\, respectively. I will discuss recent joint work with L. Zhang on proving the precise asymptotic profiles for these spin $s$ components in Schwarzschild and Kerr spacetimes.\n\n\n11/19/2021 \n(10:30–11:30 am ET)\nNishanth Gudapati\, Clark University\nTitle: On Curvature Propagation and ‘Breakdown’ of the Einstein Equations on U(1) Symmetric Spacetimes \nAbstract: The analysis of global structure of the Einstein equations for general relativity\, in the context of the initial value problem\, is a difficult and intricate mathematical subject. Any additional structure in their formulation is welcome\, in order to alleviate the problem.  It is expected that the initial value problem of the Einstein equations on spacetimes admitting a translational\, fixed-point free\, spatial U(1) isometry group are globally well-posed. In our previous works\, we discussed the special structure provided by the dimensional reduction of 3+1 dimensional U(1) symmetric Einstein equations to 2+1 Einstein-wave map system and demonstrated global existence in the equivariant case for large data.  In this talk\, after discussing some preliminaries and background\, we shall discuss about yet another structure of the U(1) symmetric Einstein equations\, namely the analogy with Yang-Mills theory via the Cartan formalism and reconcile with the dimensionally reduced field equations. We shall also discuss implications for ‘breakdown’ criteria of U(1) symmetric Einstein equations.\n\n\n12/2/2021\nProfessor Geoffrey Comp\nére\, Université Libre de Bruxelles\nTitle: Kerr Geodesics and Self-consistent match between Inspiral and Transition-to-merger \nAbstract: The two-body motion in General Relativity can be solved perturbatively in the small mass ratio expansion. Kerr geodesics describe the leading order motion. After a short summary of the classification of polar and radial Kerr geodesic motion\, I will consider the inspiral motion of a point particle around the Kerr black hole subjected to the self-force. I will describe its quasi-circular inspiral motion in the radiation timescale expansion. I will describe in parallel the transition-to-merger motion around the last stable circular orbit and prove that it is controlled by the Painlevé transcendental equation of the first kind. I will then prove that one can consistently match the two motions using the method of asymptotically matched expansions.\n\n\n12/16/2021\nXinliang An\, University of Singapore\nTitle: Low regularity ill-posedness for 3D elastic waves and for 3D ideal compressible MHD driven by shock formation \nAbstract: We construct counterexamples to the local existence of low-regularity solutions to elastic wave equations and to the ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) system in three spatial dimensions (3D). Inspired by the recent works of Christodoulou\, we generalize Lindblad’s classic results on the scalar wave equation by showing that the Cauchy problems for 3D elastic waves and for 3D MHD system are ill-posed in $H^3(R^3)$ and $H^2(R^3)$\, respectively. Both elastic waves and MHD are physical systems with multiple wave speeds.  We further prove that the ill-posedness is caused by instantaneous shock formation\, which is characterized by the vanishing of the inverse foliation density. In particular\, when the magnetic field is absent in MHD\, we also provide a desired low-regularity ill-posedness result for the 3D compressible Euler equations\, and it is sharp with respect to the regularity of the fluid velocity.  Our proofs for elastic waves and for MHD are based on a coalition of a carefully designed algebraic approach and a geometric approach. To trace the nonlinear interactions of various waves\, we algebraically decompose the 3D elastic waves and the 3D ideal MHD equations into $6\times 6$ and $7\times 7$ non-strictly hyperbolic systems. Via detailed calculations\, we reveal their hidden subtle structures. With them\, we give a complete description of solutions’ dynamics up to the earliest singular event\, when a shock forms. This talk is based on joint works with Haoyang Chen and Silu Yin.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/general-relativity-2021-22/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:General Relativity Seminar
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DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T093528Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240301T082954Z
UID:10002636-1634562000-1634565600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:The Festina Lente Bound
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: I will explain what the Festina Lente bound means and where it comes from. Then I discuss its possible implications for phenomenology\, both top-down and bottom-up.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-18-2021-swampland-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Swampland Seminar
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211019T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211019T100000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240213T114112Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T100424Z
UID:10002511-1634634000-1634637600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:10/19/2021 Combinatorics\, Physics and Probability Seminar
DESCRIPTION:Title: Ising model\, total positivity\, and criticality \nAbstract: The Ising model\, introduced in 1920\, is one of the most well-studied models in statistical mechanics. It is known to undergo a phase transition at critical temperature\, and has attracted considerable interest over the last two decades due to special properties of its scaling limit at criticality.\nThe totally nonnegative Grassmannian is a subset of the real Grassmannian introduced by Postnikov in 2006. It arises naturally in Lusztig’s theory of total positivity and canonical bases\, and is closely related to cluster algebras and scattering amplitudes.\nI will give some background on the above objects and then explain a precise relationship between the planar Ising model and the totally nonnegative Grassmannian\, obtained in our recent work with P. Pylyavskyy. Building on this connection\, I will give a new boundary correlation formula for the critical Ising model
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-19-2021-combinatorics-physics-and-probability-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Combinatorics Physics and Probability
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211019T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211019T140000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240214T053044Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T063307Z
UID:10002539-1634648400-1634652000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:D-critical structure(s) on Quot schemes of points of Calabi-Yau 3-folds
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: D-critical schemes and Artin stacks were introduced by Joyce in 2015\, and play a central role in Donaldson-Thomas theory. They typically occur as truncations of (-1)-shifted symplectic derived schemes\, but the problem of constructing the d-critical structure on a “DT moduli space” without passing through derived geometry is wide open. We discuss this problem\, and new results in this direction\, when the moduli space is the Hilbert (or Quot) scheme of points on a Calabi-Yau 3-fold. Joint work with Michail Savvas.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/d-critical-structures-on-quot-schemes-of-points-of-calabi-yau-3-folds/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Algebraic Geometry in String Theory Seminar
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211019T203000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211019T213000
DTSTAMP:20260508T120513
CREATED:20240304T103826Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240304T103826Z
UID:10002901-1634675400-1634679000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Tropical disk counts
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: (joint with S. Venugopalan)  I will describe version of the Fukaya algebra that appears in a tropical degeneration with the Lagrangian being one of the “tropical fibers”. An example is the count of “twenty-one disks in the cubic surface” (suggested by Sheridan)  which is an open analog of the twenty-seven lines.  As an application\, I will explain why the Floer cohomology of such tropical fibers is well-defined; this is a generalization fo a result of Fukaya-Oh-Ohta-Ono for toric varieties.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-19-2021-joint-harvard-cuhk-ymsc-differential-geometry-seminar/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Joint Harvard-CUHK-YMSC Differential Geometry
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