New Frontiers In Fields And Strings (Tasi 2015) - Proceedings Of The 2015 Theoretical Advanced Study Institute In Elementary Particle Physics

New Frontiers In Fields And Strings (Tasi 2015) - Proceedings Of The 2015 Theoretical Advanced Study Institute In Elementary Particle Physics
Author: Joseph Polchinski
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2016-11-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9813149450

This volume is a compilation of lectures delivered at the TASI 2015 summer school, 'New Frontiers in Fields and Strings', held at the University of Colorado Boulder in June 2015. The school focused on topics in theoretical physics of interest to contemporary researchers in quantum field theory and string theory. The lectures are accessible to graduate students in the initial stages of their research careers.

Applied Holography

Applied Holography
Author: Matteo Baggioli
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2019-11-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 303035184X

This primer is a collection of notes based on lectures that were originally given at IIT Madras (India) and at IFT Madrid (Spain). It is a concise and pragmatic course on applied holography focusing on the basic analytic and numerical techniques involved. The presented lectures are not intended to provide all the fundamental theoretical background, which can be found in the available literature, but they concentrate on concrete applications of AdS/CFT to hydrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics and condensed matter. The idea is to accompany the reader step by step through the various benchmark examples with a classmate attitude, providing details for the computations and open-source numerical codes in Mathematica, and sharing simple tricks and warnings collected during the author’s research experience. At the end of this path, the reader will be in possess of all the fundamental skills and tools to learn by him/herself more advanced techniques and to produce independent and novel research in the field.

Weigh Them All!

Weigh Them All!
Author: Sunny Vagnozzi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2020-08-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030535029

The three neutrinos are ghostly elementary particles that exist all across the Universe. Though every second billions of them fly through us, they are extremely hard to detect. We used to think they had no mass, but recently discovered that in fact they have a tiny mass. The quest for the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering (specifying how the three masses are distributed) is an extremely exciting one, and will open the door towards new physics operating at energy scales we can only ever dream of reaching on Earth. This thesis explores the use of measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (the oldest light reaching us, a snapshot of the infant Universe) and maps of millions of galaxies to go after the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering. Neutrinos might teach us something about the mysterious dark energy powering the accelerated expansion of the Universe, or about cosmic inflation, which seeded the initial conditions for the Universe. Though extremely baffling, neutrinos are also an exceptionally exciting area of research, and cosmological observations promise to reveal a great deal about these elusive particles in the coming years.

Why Trust a Theory?

Why Trust a Theory?
Author: Radin Dardashti
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2019-03-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 110860515X

Do we need to reconsider scientific methodology in light of modern physics? Has the traditional scientific method become outdated, does it need to be defended against dangerous incursions, or has it always been different from what the canonical view suggests? To what extent should we accept non-empirical strategies for scientific theory assessment? Many core aspects of contemporary fundamental physics are far from empirically well-confirmed. There is controversy on the epistemic status of the corresponding theories, in particular cosmic inflation, the multiverse, and string theory. This collection of essays is based on the high profile workshop 'Why Trust a Theory?' and provides interdisciplinary perspectives on empirical testing in fundamental physics from leading physicists, philosophers and historians of science. Integrating different contemporary and historical positions, it will be of interest to philosophers of science and physicists, as well as anyone interested in the foundations of contemporary science.

Points, Lines, and Surfaces at Criticality

Points, Lines, and Surfaces at Criticality
Author: Edoardo Lauria
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2019-07-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030257304

This thesis offers a fascinating journey through various non-perturbative aspects of Conformal Theories, in particular focusing on the Conformal Bootstrap Programme and its extensions to theories with various degrees of symmetry. Because of the preeminent role of Conformal Theories in Nature, as well as the great generality of the results here obtained, this analysis directly applies to many different areas of research. The content of this thesis is certainly relevant for the physics community as a whole and this relevance is well motivated and discussed along the various chapters of this work. The work is self-contained and starts with an original introduction to conformal theories, defects in such theories and how they lead to constraints on data and an extension of the bootstrap programme. This situation is often realized by critical systems with impurities, topological insulators, or – in the high-energy context – by Wilson and 't Hooft operators. The thesis continues with original research results of the author, including supersymmetric extensions. These results may be relevant non only in the high energy physics context - where supersymmetry is required for the theory to be consistent - but also for condensed matter systems that enjoy supersymmetry emergence at long distances.

Cosmological Implications of Quantum Anomalies

Cosmological Implications of Quantum Anomalies
Author: Neil David Barrie
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2018-07-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 331994715X

The successes of the standard models of particle physics and cosmology are many, but have proven incapable of explaining all the phenomena that we observe. This book investigates the potentially important role of quantum physics, particularly quantum anomalies, in various aspects of modern cosmology, such as inflation, the dynamical generation of the visible and dark matter in the universe, and gravitational waves. By doing so, the authors demonstrate that exploring the links between cosmology and particle physics is key to helping solve the mysteries of our Universe.

On Generalised Statistical Equilibrium and Discrete Quantum Gravity

On Generalised Statistical Equilibrium and Discrete Quantum Gravity
Author: Isha Kotecha
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2022-01-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030909697

Absolute concepts of time and energy are integral to standard thermal physics, but background independent systems are devoid of them. This thesis explores the foundational question of generalising equilibrium statistical mechanics to background independent systems, and applies the resulting formulation to non-perturbative discrete quantum gravity. It offers a discussion of the rich interface of thermal physics and quantum gravity in this context, providing a broad contextualisation of such topics. This work details how standard tools from many-body physics can be generalised to discrete quantum gravity labelled with graph-based, or dual polyhedral, quanta that are common to various approaches like tensorial group field theory, loop quantum gravity, dynamical triangulations and lattice quantum gravity. It provides a systematic investigation, both conceptual and technical, of quantum gravitational Gibbs states, thermofield double vacuum states, and their application in condensate cosmology to probe questions of Big Bang singularity resolution and geometric inflation.

Black Hole Information and Thermodynamics

Black Hole Information and Thermodynamics
Author: Dieter Lüst
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2019-01-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030109194

Based on Prof. Lüst's Masters course at the University of Munich, this book begins with a short introduction to general relativity. It then presents black hole solutions, and discusses Penrose diagrams, black hole thermodynamics and entropy, the Unruh effect, Hawking radiation, the black hole information problem, black holes in supergravity and string theory, the black hole microstate counting in string theory, asymptotic symmetries in general relativity, and a particular quantum model for black holes. The book offers an up-to-date summary of all the pertinent questions in this highly active field of physics, and is ideal reading for graduate students and young researchers.

Quantum Fields

Quantum Fields
Author: Michael Kachelriess
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 546
Release: 2018
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0198802870

Coherent approach leading to a more comprehensive understanding of quantum field theory and cosmology. Includes discussion of a variety of applications, has numerous worked examples and problems, and is self-contained and suitable for self study.--