Triangle Seminars
Tuesday, 4 Dec 2018
Coulomb branches and mock modular forms
๐ London
Giorgios Korpas
(Trinity College, Dublin)
Abstract:
รขโฌลWe revisit Donaldson-Witten theory, that is the N=2 topologically twisted super Yang-Mills theory with gauge group SU(2) or SO(3) on compact 4-manifolds. We study the effective action in the Coulomb branch of the theory and by considering a specific Q-exact deformation to the theory we find interesting connections to mock modular forms. A specific operator of this theory computes the famous Donaldson invariants and our analysis makes their computation more accessible than previously. We also extend these ideas to the case of ramified Donaldson-Witten theory, that is the theory in the presence of embedded surfaces. Our results make calculations of correlation functions of Coulomb branch operators more trackable and we hope that they can help in the search of new 4-manifold invariants.รขโฌย
รขโฌลWe revisit Donaldson-Witten theory, that is the N=2 topologically twisted super Yang-Mills theory with gauge group SU(2) or SO(3) on compact 4-manifolds. We study the effective action in the Coulomb branch of the theory and by considering a specific Q-exact deformation to the theory we find interesting connections to mock modular forms. A specific operator of this theory computes the famous Donaldson invariants and our analysis makes their computation more accessible than previously. We also extend these ideas to the case of ramified Donaldson-Witten theory, that is the theory in the presence of embedded surfaces. Our results make calculations of correlation functions of Coulomb branch operators more trackable and we hope that they can help in the search of new 4-manifold invariants.รขโฌย
Posted by: KCL
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018
Graphene and Boundary Conformal Field Theory
Christopher Herzog
(KCL)
Abstract:
The infrared fixed point of graphene under the renormalization group flow is a relatively under studied yet important example of a boundary conformal field theory with a number of remarkable properties. It has a close relationship with three dimensional QED. It maps to itself under electric-magnetic duality. Moreover, it along with its supersymmetric cousins all possess an exactly marginal coupling – the charge of the electron – which allows for straightforward perturbative calculations in the weak coupling limit. I will review past work on this model and also discuss my own contributions, which focus on understanding the boundary contributions to the anomalous trace of the stress tensor and their role in helping to understand the structure of boundary conformal field theory.
The infrared fixed point of graphene under the renormalization group flow is a relatively under studied yet important example of a boundary conformal field theory with a number of remarkable properties. It has a close relationship with three dimensional QED. It maps to itself under electric-magnetic duality. Moreover, it along with its supersymmetric cousins all possess an exactly marginal coupling – the charge of the electron – which allows for straightforward perturbative calculations in the weak coupling limit. I will review past work on this model and also discuss my own contributions, which focus on understanding the boundary contributions to the anomalous trace of the stress tensor and their role in helping to understand the structure of boundary conformal field theory.
Posted by: QMW
How to Build the Thermofield Double State
Diego Hofman
(Amsterdam)
Abstract:
Given two copies of any quantum mechanical system, one may want to prepare them in the thermofield double state for the purpose of studying thermal physics or black holes. However, the thermofield double is a unique entangled pure state and may be difficult to prepare. We propose a local interacting Hamiltonian for the combined system whose ground state is approximately the thermofield double. The energy gap for this Hamiltonian is of order the temperature. Our construction works for any quantum system satisfying the Eigenvalue Thermalization Hypothesis.
Given two copies of any quantum mechanical system, one may want to prepare them in the thermofield double state for the purpose of studying thermal physics or black holes. However, the thermofield double is a unique entangled pure state and may be difficult to prepare. We propose a local interacting Hamiltonian for the combined system whose ground state is approximately the thermofield double. The energy gap for this Hamiltonian is of order the temperature. Our construction works for any quantum system satisfying the Eigenvalue Thermalization Hypothesis.
Posted by: QMW