Speaker: Tian Yang (Texas A&M University) Title: Hyperbolic Geometry and Quantum Invariants Abstract: 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 […]
https://youtu.be/3Nxe7J07TQY Speaker: Francois Chollet, Google Title: Why abstraction is the key to intelligence, and what we’re still missing Abstract: This talk provides a personal perspective on the way forward towards more human-like and more intelligent artificial systems. Traditionally, symbolic and probabilistic methods have dominated the domains of concept formation, abstraction, and automated reasoning. More recently, deep […]
Title: Three-particle mechanism for pairing and superconductivity Abstract: 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 […]
Title: The Hilbert Space of large N Chern-Simons matter theories Abstract: We demonstrate that all known formulae for the thermal partition function for large N Chern Simons matter theory admit a simple Hilbert Space interpretation. In each case this quantity equals the partition function of an associated ungauged large $N$ matter theory with a particular […]
Title: Stable Big Bang formation for the Einstein equations Abstract: 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 […]
Member Seminar Speaker: Itamar Shamir Title: Geometry, Entanglement and Quasi Local Data Abstract: I will review some general ideas about gravity as motivation for an approach based on quasi local quantities.
Title: Strong Coupling Theory of Magic-Angle Graphene: A Pedagogical Introduction Abstract: In this talk, I will review a recently developed strong coupling theory of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. An advantage of this approach is that a single formulation can capture both the insulating and superconducting states, and with a few simplifying assumptions, can be treated […]
Abstract: We construct supersymmetric AdS4 vacua of type IIB string theory in compactifications on orientifolds of Calabi-Yau threefold hypersurfaces. We first find explicit orientifolds and quantized fluxes for which the superpotential takes the form proposed by Kachru, Kallosh, Linde, and Trivedi. Given very mild assumptions on the numerical values of the Pfaffians, these compactifications admit […]
Speaker: Nima Arkani-Hamed, IAS Title: Surfacehedra and the Binary Positive Geometry of Particle and “String” Amplitudes
Abstract: Gromov-Witten invariants count pseudo-holomorphic curves on a symplectic manifold passing through some fixed points and submanifolds. Similarly, open Gromov-Witten invariants are supposed to count disks with boundary on a Lagrangian, but in most cases such counts are not independent of some choices as we would wish. Motivated by Fukaya’11, J. Solomon and S. Tukachinsky constructed […]
Title: Symmetry types in QFT and the CRT theorem Abstract: I will discuss ideas around symmetry and Wick rotation contained in joint work with Mike Hopkins (https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.06527). This includes general symmetry types for relativistic field theories and their Wick rotation. I will then indicate how the basic CRT theorem works for general symmetry types, focusing […]
Speaker: Michael Simkin, Harvard CMSA Title: The number of n-queens configurations Abstract: The n-queens problem is to determine Q(n), the number of ways to place n mutually non-threatening queens on an n x n board. The problem has a storied history and was studied by such eminent mathematicians as Gauss and Polya. The problem has also […]