Quantum Fields and Strings

Over the years, various researchers have suggested connections between the octonions and the standard model of particle physics. The past few years, in particular, have been marked by an upsurge of activity on this subject, stimulated by the recent observation that the standard model gauge group and fermion representation can be elegantly characterized in terms of the octonions. This workshop, which will be the first ever on this topic, is intended to bring this new community together in an attempt to better understand these ideas, establish a common language, and stimulate further progress.

The workshop will consist of an hour-long talk every Monday at noon (EST), with the first talk on Monday February 8, and the final talk on Monday May 17.

Understanding the small-scale structure of spacetime is one of the biggest challenges faced by  modern theoretical physics. There are many different attempts to solve this problem and they reflect the diversity of approaches to quantum gravity. This workshop will bring together researchers from a wide range of quantum gravity approaches and give them an opportunity to exchange ideas and gain  new insights.

Boundaries and defects play central roles in quantum field theory (QFT) both as means to make contact with nature and as tools to constrain and understand QFT itself. Boundaries in QFT can be used to model impurities and also the finite extent of sample sizes while interfaces allow for different phases of matter to interact in a controllable way. More formally these structures shed light on the structure of QFT by providing new examples of dualities and renormalization group flows.  Broadly speaking this meeting will focus on three areas: 1) formal and applied aspects of boundary and defect conformal field theory from anomalies and c-theorems to topological insulators 2) supersymmetry and duality from exact computations of new observables to the construction of new theories and 3) QFT in curved space and gravity from holographic computations of entanglement entropy to ideas in quantum information theory. Registration for this event is now open.

Quantum field theory (QFT) is a universal language for theoretical physics describing the Standard Model gravity early universe inflation and condensed matter phenomena such as phase transitions superconductors and quantum Hall fluids. A triumph of 20th century physics was to understand weakly coupled QFTs: theories whose interactions can be treated as small perturbations of otherwise freely moving particles. However weakly coupled QFTs represent a tiny island in an ocean of possibilities. They cannot capture many of the most interesting and important physical phenomena from the strong nuclear force to high temperature superconductivity.The critical challenge for the 21st century is to understand and solve strongly coupled QFTs. Meeting this challenge will require new physical insight new mathematics and new computational tools. Our collaboration combines deep knowledge of novel non-perturbative techniques with a concrete plan for attacking the problem of strong coupling. The starting point is the astonishing discovery that in numerous physical systems there is a unique quantum field theory consistent with general principles of symmetry and quantum mechanics. By analyzing the full implications of these general principles one can make sharp predictions for physical observables without resorting to approximations.This strategy is called the Bootstrap the topic of this three week program.

The past decade has witnessed significant breakthroughs in understanding the quantum nature of black holes, with insights coming from quantum information theory, numerical relativity, and string theory.  At the same time, astrophysical and gravitational wave observations can now provide an unprecedented window into the phenomenology of black hole horizons.  This workshop seeks to bring together leading experts in these fields to explore new theoretical and observational opportunities and synergies that could improve our physical understanding of quantum black holes.