Seminars and discussions on Aspects of Non-Relativistic Field Theories
15.30-16.10: Silvia Penati (University of Milano-Bicocca)
16.10-16.50: Dam Thanh Son (Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Chicago)
(seminar starting at 9.10 Chicago time)
break 16.50 - 17.00
17.00-17.40: Petr Horava (Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
(seminar starting at 8.00 Berkeley time)
18.00-19.00 discussion moderated by Shira Chapman
15.30-16.10: Silvia Penati (University of Milano-Bicocca)
16.10-16.50: Dam Thanh Son (Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Chicago)
(seminar starting at 9.10 Chicago time)
break 16.50 - 17.00
17.00-17.40: Petr Horava (Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
(seminar starting at 8.00 Berkeley time)
18.00-19.00 discussion moderated by Shira Chapman
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Titles and abstracts
Speaker: Silvia Penati
Title: An exact Galilean supersymmetric model
Abstract: I will present the formulation of a N=2 Wess-Zumino model in non-relativistic 2+1 superspace. Renormalisation properties of the model will be discussed. In particular, I will show that the well-known non-renormalization theorem of the F-term survives also in the non-relativistic set-up. More generally, I will discuss how supersymmetry and non-relativistic constraints nicely conspire to render the model one-loop exact.
Speaker: Dam Thanh Son
Title: Fractional quantum Hall effect as a nonrelativistic quantum field theory
Abstract: One of the obstacles for the theoretical description of the fractional quantum Hall effect is the constraint that all particles are on the same Landau level, which in a certain sense implies a noncommutative space. I will show how this obstacle can be overcome in the framework of a field theory. I will show how to derive the stress tensor of the fractional quantum Hall state from the field theory formalism. If time permits, I will also show how the stress tensor can be probed experimentally.
Speaker: Petr Horava
Title: Topological Quantum Gravity of the Ricci Flow
Abstract: We present a construction of topological quantum gravity, which connects three previously unrelated areas: (1) Topological quantum field theories of the cohomological type, as developed originally by Witten; (2) the mathematical theory of the Ricci flow on Riemannian manifolds in arbitrary spacetime dimension, developed originally by Hamilton and later by Perelman in his proof of the Poincare conjecture; and (3) nonrelativistic quantum gravity of the Lifshitz type. This connection should be useful both for physics and for mathematics: It puts the mathematical literature on the Ricci flow into a new perspective using the methods of path integrals and quantum field theory, and sheds new light on puzzles of quantum gravity (spacetime topology change, short-distance completeness, etc) in a controlled setting in which many powerful theorems have been proven by the mathematicians since Perelman.
Title: An exact Galilean supersymmetric model
Abstract: I will present the formulation of a N=2 Wess-Zumino model in non-relativistic 2+1 superspace. Renormalisation properties of the model will be discussed. In particular, I will show that the well-known non-renormalization theorem of the F-term survives also in the non-relativistic set-up. More generally, I will discuss how supersymmetry and non-relativistic constraints nicely conspire to render the model one-loop exact.
Speaker: Dam Thanh Son
Title: Fractional quantum Hall effect as a nonrelativistic quantum field theory
Abstract: One of the obstacles for the theoretical description of the fractional quantum Hall effect is the constraint that all particles are on the same Landau level, which in a certain sense implies a noncommutative space. I will show how this obstacle can be overcome in the framework of a field theory. I will show how to derive the stress tensor of the fractional quantum Hall state from the field theory formalism. If time permits, I will also show how the stress tensor can be probed experimentally.
Speaker: Petr Horava
Title: Topological Quantum Gravity of the Ricci Flow
Abstract: We present a construction of topological quantum gravity, which connects three previously unrelated areas: (1) Topological quantum field theories of the cohomological type, as developed originally by Witten; (2) the mathematical theory of the Ricci flow on Riemannian manifolds in arbitrary spacetime dimension, developed originally by Hamilton and later by Perelman in his proof of the Poincare conjecture; and (3) nonrelativistic quantum gravity of the Lifshitz type. This connection should be useful both for physics and for mathematics: It puts the mathematical literature on the Ricci flow into a new perspective using the methods of path integrals and quantum field theory, and sheds new light on puzzles of quantum gravity (spacetime topology change, short-distance completeness, etc) in a controlled setting in which many powerful theorems have been proven by the mathematicians since Perelman.
