Colloquium

601 talks

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Displaying 325 - 336 of 601

Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions

Sara Pasquetti
University of Milan
March 19, 2014

PIRSA:14030084
Particle Physics
Black Holes- the Harmonic Oscillators of the 21st Century

Andrew Strominger
Harvard University
March 12, 2014

PIRSA:14030104
Quantum Fields and Strings
The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Quantum Physics in Modern Mathematics

Robbert Dijkgraaf
Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)
March 05, 2014

PIRSA:14030083
Mathematical physics
À la recherche du temps perdu - Templeton Frontiers Colloquia

Flavio Mercati
University of Naples Federico II
February 26, 2014

PIRSA:14020100
Quantum Gravity
The Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model and its diluted version

Dmitry Panchenko
Texas A&M University
February 20, 2014

PIRSA:14020151
Mathematical physics
Non equilibrium thermodynamic of gravitational screens

Laurent Freidel
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
February 19, 2014

PIRSA:14020144
Quantum Gravity

Mathematical physics
The National Ignition Facility (NIF):Pathway to Energy Security and Physics of the Cosmos

Edward Moses
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
February 05, 2014

PIRSA:14020098
Cosmology
Time, Dynamics, Chaos, and the Brain

Dean Buonomano
University of California, Los Angeles

January 29, 2014

PIRSA:13010117
Beyond the Standard Paradigm

Paul Langacker
Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)
January 15, 2014

PIRSA:13010116
Particle Physics
Partially Massless Gravity
December 11, 2013

PIRSA:13120005
Cosmology
The Galactic Real Estate Market: The Physics and Chemistry of Habitability

Penelope Boston
National Cave and Karst Research Institute

December 04, 2013

PIRSA:13120044
Insightful supersymmetry

Erich Poppitz
University of Toronto
November 27, 2013

PIRSA:13110061
Particle Physics

Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions

Sara Pasquetti
University of Milan
March 19, 2014

PIRSA:14030084
Particle Physics
One of the central challenges in theoretical physics is to develop non-perturbative methods to describe quantitatively the dynamics of strongly coupled quantum fields. Much progress in this direction has been made for theories with a higher degree of symmetry, such as conformal symmetry or supersymmetry. In recent years the method of localisation has allowed to obtain a great deal of exact results for supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions which has led to the discovery of new surprising correspondences such as the celebrated Alday-Gaiotto-Tachikawa correspondence. I will review some recent results which indicate that partition functions of supersymmetric theories formulated on compact manifolds can be expressed in terms of a small set of fundamental building blocks.
Black Holes- the Harmonic Oscillators of the 21st Century

Andrew Strominger
Harvard University
March 12, 2014

PIRSA:14030104
Quantum Fields and Strings
In the twentieth century, many problems across all of physics were solved by perturbative methods which reduced them to harmonic oscillators. Black holes are poised to play a similar role for the problems of twenty-first century physics. They are at once the simplest and most complex objects in the physical universe. They are maximally complex in that the number of possible microstates, or entropy, of a black hole is believed to saturate a universal bound. They are maximally simple in that, according to Einstein's theory, they are featureless holes in space characterized only by their mass, charge and angular momentum. This dual relation between simplicity and complexity, as expressed in black holes, has recently been successfully applied to problems in a disparate variety of physical systems. I will give an introduction to the subject intended for a general audience.
The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Quantum Physics in Modern Mathematics

Robbert Dijkgraaf
Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)
March 05, 2014

PIRSA:14030083
Mathematical physics
Mathematics has proven to be "unreasonably effective" in understanding nature. The fundamental laws of physics can be captured in beautiful formulae. In this lecture I want to argue for the reverse effect: Nature is an important source of inspiration for mathematics, even of the purest kind. In recent years ideas from quantum field theory, elementary particles physics and string theory have completely transformed mathematics, leading to solutions of deep problems, suggesting new invariants in geometry and topology, and, perhaps most importantly, putting modern mathematical ideas in a `natural’ context.
À la recherche du temps perdu - Templeton Frontiers Colloquia

Flavio Mercati
University of Naples Federico II
February 26, 2014

PIRSA:14020100
Quantum Gravity
Augustine of Hippo declared he knew what time is until someone asked him. After 16 centuries we still largely ignore the true essence of time, but we made definite progress in studying its properties. The most striking, and somewhat intuitively (and tragically) obvious one is the irreversibility of its flow. And yet, our fundamental theories are time-reversal invariant, they do not distinguish between past and future. This is usually accounted for by assuming an immensely special initial condition of the Universe, dressed with statistical arguments. In this talk, I will show how an irreversible behaviour, and with it a growth of complexity and information, can emerge from time-reversal invariant laws, without assuming any special initial condition and without thermodynamical arguments. This phenomenon is present in General Relativity, our most advanced theory of the Universe. This irreversibility will also allow me to propose a solution of another puzzle associated with time, namely the incompatibility between the quantum and the general-relativistic notions of time.
The Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model and its diluted version

Dmitry Panchenko
Texas A&M University
February 20, 2014

PIRSA:14020151
Mathematical physics
I will talk about two types of random processes -- the classical Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model of spin glasses and its diluted version. One of the main motivations in these models is to find a formula for the maximum of the process, or the free energy, in the limit when the size of the system is getting large. The answer depends on understanding the structure of the Gibbs measure in a certain sense, and this structure is expected to be described by the so called Parisi solution in the SK model and Mézard-Parisi solution in the diluted SK model. I will explain what these are and mention some results in this direction.
Non equilibrium thermodynamic of gravitational screens

Laurent Freidel
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
February 19, 2014

PIRSA:14020144
Quantum Gravity

Mathematical physics
In this talk I will review the evidence for a mysterious and deep relationship between gravitational dynamics and thermodynamics. I will show how we can extend this connection to non equilibrium thermodynamics. Using the fact that the gravitational equations are fundamentally holographic, we express them in a way that shows a deep connection between gravity and the dynamics of viscous bubbles. We will explore some aspects of this surprising correspondence.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF):Pathway to Energy Security and Physics of the Cosmos

Edward Moses
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
February 05, 2014

PIRSA:14020098
Cosmology
NIF is the world's most energetic laser system capable of producing over 1.8 MJ and 500 TW of ultraviolet light, about 100 times more than any other operating laser of its kind. This talk describes the unprecedented experimental capabilities of NIF, its role in fundamental science, the pathway to achieving fusion ignition and energy security missions, and the status of progress in these areas.
Time, Dynamics, Chaos, and the Brain

Dean Buonomano
University of California, Los Angeles

January 29, 2014

PIRSA:13010117

Time poses a fundamental problem in neuroscience, in part, because at its core the brain is a prediction machine: the brain evolved to allow animals to anticipate, adapt, and prepare for future events. To accomplish this function the brain tells time on scales spanning 12 orders of magnitude. In contrast to most man made clocks that share a very simply underlying principle-counting the "tics" of an oscillator-evolution has devised many different solutions to the problem of telling time. On the scale of milliseconds and seconds experimental and computational evidence suggests that the brain relies on neural dynamics to tell time. For this strategy to work two conditions have to be met: the states of the neural network must evolve in a nonrepeating pattern over the relevant interval, and the sequence of states must be reproducible every time the system is reengaged. Recurrently connected networks of neurons can generate rich dynamics, but a long standing challenge is that the regimes that create computationally powerful dynamics are chaotic-and thus cannot generate reproducible patterns. We have recently demonstrated that by tuning the weights (the coupling coefficients) between the units of artificial neural networks it is possible to generate locally stable trajectories embedded within chaotic attractors. These stable patterns function as "dynamic attractors" and can be used to encode and tell time. They also exhibit a novel feature characteristic of biological systems: the ability to autonomously "return" to the pattern being generated in the face of perturbations.
Beyond the Standard Paradigm

Paul Langacker
Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)
January 15, 2014

PIRSA:13010116
Particle Physics
I reexamine the current situation in particle and neutrino physics from a top-down perspective, discussing such underlying issues as uniqueness versus environment, minimality versus remnants, and naturalness versus tuning.
Partially Massless Gravity
December 11, 2013

PIRSA:13120005
Cosmology
On de Sitter space, there exists a special value for the mass of a graviton for which the linear theory propagates 4 rather than 5 degrees of freedom. If a fully non-linear version of the theory exists and can be coupled to known matter, it would have interesting properties and could solve the cosmological constant problem. I will describe evidence for and obstructions to the existence of such a theory.
The Galactic Real Estate Market: The Physics and Chemistry of Habitability

Penelope Boston
National Cave and Karst Research Institute

December 04, 2013

PIRSA:13120044

Exoplanets, planets circling distant stars, are proving to be an extraordinary source of new thinking about the potential for life beyond Earth. Until recently, we have assumed that our Solar System and its planets were probably representative of such systems elsewhere. But the amazing array of very odd exoplanets that are being uncovered have stimulated a renaissance of thought on the subject of potential homes for life in the universe. Combined with work on extreme lifeforms here on Earth and intensive study of Mars and several other planets and moons in our system, new paradigms for life search missions are emerging. Science fiction has long drawn from and extrapolated out from science, but the cross-fertilization has gone both ways. Some of the more outrageous planets incorporated into fiction in the past may not be so outrageous after all. I will discuss what we think we know about exoplanets so far, how they are detected, how we are beginning to characterize their environments, and ideas about what this means for our search for living neighbors in our galaxy, whether they be microbes or folks we can actually chat with some day.
Insightful supersymmetry

Erich Poppitz
University of Toronto
November 27, 2013

PIRSA:13110061
Particle Physics
It has recently been realized that some studies of supersymmetric gauge theories, when properly interpreted, lead to insights whose importance transcends supersymmetry. I will illustrate the insightful nature of supersymmetry by two examples having to do with the microscopic description of the thermal deconfinement transition, in non-supersymmetric pure Yang-Mills theory and in QCD with adjoint fermions. A host of strange ``topological" molecules will be seen to be the major players in the confinement-deconfinement dynamics. Interesting connections between topology, ``condensed-matter" gases of electric and magnetic charges, and attempts to interpret the divergent perturbation series will emerge. Much of the presentation will be aimed at non-experts.

Title	Speaker(s)	Date	Talk Type	Info
Exact results in supersymmetric gauge theories in various dimensions	Sara Pasquetti	2014-03-19	Scientific Series	View details
Black Holes- the Harmonic Oscillators of the 21st Century	Andrew Strominger	2014-03-12	Scientific Series	View details
The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Quantum Physics in Modern Mathematics	Robbert Dijkgraaf	2014-03-05	Scientific Series	View details
À la recherche du temps perdu - Templeton Frontiers Colloquia	Flavio Mercati	2014-02-26	Scientific Series	View details
The Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model and its diluted version	Dmitry Panchenko	2014-02-20	Scientific Series	View details
Non equilibrium thermodynamic of gravitational screens	Laurent Freidel	2014-02-19	Scientific Series	View details
The National Ignition Facility (NIF):Pathway to Energy Security and Physics of the Cosmos	Edward Moses	2014-02-05	Scientific Series	View details
Time, Dynamics, Chaos, and the Brain	Dean Buonomano	2014-01-29	Scientific Series	View details
Beyond the Standard Paradigm	Paul Langacker	2014-01-15	Scientific Series	View details
Partially Massless Gravity		2013-12-11	Scientific Series	View details
The Galactic Real Estate Market: The Physics and Chemistry of Habitability	Penelope Boston	2013-12-04	Scientific Series	View details
Insightful supersymmetry	Erich Poppitz	2013-11-27	Scientific Series	View details

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