Triangle Seminars

Week of 3 Feb 2014 - 9 Feb 2014

Wednesday, 5 Feb 2014

Exceptional geometry, gauged supergravity and the tensor hierarchy
๐Ÿ“ London
Mariana Grana (IPhT Saclay)
Venue: KCL ยท Room: S -1.04 ยท Time: 13:15 ยท Type: Regular Seminar
Abstract:
Exceptional generalised geometry (or exceptional field theory) is an extension of generalised complex geometry (or double field theory) "geometrising" all degrees of freedom of 11d or type II supergravity. Concentrating on the case in which the 11d tangent space is split into four and seven dimensional spaces, we will discuss the geometry and gauge structure of these exceptional theories. We will show how closure of the "exceptional Lie algebra" requires adding a tower of four-dimensional p-form fields, known in the 4d gauged supergravity language as the tensor hierarchy. This indicates the existence of an underlying structure compatible with the E_{11} construction.
Posted by: KCL
A Holographic Model of the Kondo Effect
Andy O'Bannon (Oxford)
Venue: IC ยท Room: H503 ยท Time: 14:00 ยท Type: Regular Seminar
Abstract:
The Kondo effect occurs in metals doped with magnetic impurities: in the ground state the electrons form a screening cloud around each impurity, leading to dramatic changes in the thermodynamic and transport properties of the metal. Although the single-impurity Kondo effect is considered a solved problem, many questions remain, especially about the fate of the Kondo effect in the presence of multiple impurities. In particular, for a sufficiently dense concentration of impurities, a competition between the Kondo effect and inter-impurity interactions can lead to quantum criticality and non-Fermi liquid behavior, which remains poorly understood. In this talk I will present a model of the single-impurity Kondo effect based on holography, also known as gauge-gravity duality or the AdS/CFT correspondence, which may serve as a foundation for a new approach to the multiple-impurity system.
Posted by: IC

Week of 3 Feb 2014 - 9 Feb 2014