Talks

Physicists are often so awestruck by the lofty achievements of the past, we end up thinking all the big stuff is done, which blinds us to the revolutions ahead. We are still firmly in the throes of the quantum revolution that began a hundred years ago. Quantum gravity, quantum computers, qu-bits and quantum phase transitions, are manifestations of this ongoing revolution. Nowhere is this more so, than in the evolution of our understanding of the collective properties of quantum matter. Fifty years ago, physicists were profoundly shaken by the discovery of universal power-law correlations at classical second-order phase transitions. Today, interest has shifted to Quantum Phase Transitions: phase transitions at absolute zero driven by the violent jigglings of quantum zero-point motion. Quantum, or Qu-transitions have been observed in ferromagnets, helium-3, ferro-electrics, heavy electron and high temperature superconductors. Unlike its classical counterpart, a quantum critical point is a kind of 'black hole' in the materials phase diagram: a singularity at absolute zero that profoundly influences wide swaths of the material phase diagram at finite temperature. I'll talk about some of the novel ideas in this field including 'avoided criticality' - the idea that high temperature superconductivity nucleates about quantum critical points - and the growing indications that electron quasiparticles break up at a quantum critical point.

Particle physics, cosmology, and the study of a wide variety of theoretical models – most notably ones involving extra dimensions of space. Randall works on several of the competing models of string theory in the quest to explain the fabric of the universe.

This course provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string based on the Polyakov path integral and conformal field theory. We introduce central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory, the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. We discuss string interactions and cover the tree-level and one loop amplitudes. More advanced topics such as T-duality and D-branes will be taught as part of the course. The course is geared for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students enrolled in Collaborative Ph.D. Program in Theoretical Physics. Required previous course work: Quantum Field Theory (AM516 or equivalent). The course evaluation will be based on regular problem sets that will be handed in during the term. The primary text is the book: 'String theory. Vol. 1: An introduction to the bosonic string. J. Polchinski (Santa Barbara, KITP) . 1998. 402pp. Cambridge, UK: Univ. Pr. (1998) 402 p.' All interested students should contact Alex Buchel at [email protected] as soon as possible.

This course provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string based on the Polyakov path integral and conformal field theory. We introduce central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory, the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. We discuss string interactions and cover the tree-level and one loop amplitudes. More advanced topics such as T-duality and D-branes will be taught as part of the course. The course is geared for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students enrolled in Collaborative Ph.D. Program in Theoretical Physics. Required previous course work: Quantum Field Theory (AM516 or equivalent). The course evaluation will be based on regular problem sets that will be handed in during the term. The primary text is the book: 'String theory. Vol. 1: An introduction to the bosonic string. J. Polchinski (Santa Barbara, KITP) . 1998. 402pp. Cambridge, UK: Univ. Pr. (1998) 402 p.' All interested students should contact Alex Buchel at [email protected] as soon as possible.

Entanglement is one of the most fundamental and yet most elusive properties of quantum mechanics. Not only does entanglement play a central role in quantum information science, it also provides an increasingly prominent bridging notion across different subfields of Physics --- including quantum foundations, quantum gravity, quantum statistical mechanics, and beyond. Arguably, the property of a state being entangled or not is by no means unambiguously defined. Rather, it depends strongly on how we decide to regard the whole as composed of its part or, more generally, on the restricted ways in which we are able to observe and control the system at hand. Acknowledging the implications of such an operationally constrained point of view naturally has led to a notion of 'generalized entanglement,' which is directly based on quantum observables and offers added flexibility in a variety of contexts. In this talk, I will survey some of the main accomplishments of the generalized entanglement program to date, with an eye toward recent developments and open problems.

This course provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string based on the Polyakov path integral and conformal field theory. We introduce central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory, the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. We discuss string interactions and cover the tree-level and one loop amplitudes. More advanced topics such as T-duality and D-branes will be taught as part of the course. The course is geared for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students enrolled in Collaborative Ph.D. Program in Theoretical Physics. Required previous course work: Quantum Field Theory (AM516 or equivalent). The course evaluation will be based on regular problem sets that will be handed in during the term. The primary text is the book: 'String theory. Vol. 1: An introduction to the bosonic string. J. Polchinski (Santa Barbara, KITP) . 1998. 402pp. Cambridge, UK: Univ. Pr. (1998) 402 p.' All interested students should contact Alex Buchel at [email protected] as soon as possible.

This course provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string based on the Polyakov path integral and conformal field theory. We introduce central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory, the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. We discuss string interactions and cover the tree-level and one loop amplitudes. More advanced topics such as T-duality and D-branes will be taught as part of the course. The course is geared for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students enrolled in Collaborative Ph.D. Program in Theoretical Physics. Required previous course work: Quantum Field Theory (AM516 or equivalent). The course evaluation will be based on regular problem sets that will be handed in during the term. The primary text is the book: 'String theory. Vol. 1: An introduction to the bosonic string. J. Polchinski (Santa Barbara, KITP) . 1998. 402pp. Cambridge, UK: Univ. Pr. (1998) 402 p.' All interested students should contact Alex Buchel at [email protected] as soon as possible.