High Energy Theory Seminar

Pure 3d gravity and 2d (JT) gravity have only boundary degrees of freedom.  These interact nontrivially if the spacetime has finite size.  I will describe the results of a straightforward program to understand the observables and (large) gauge symmetries in these theories, first classically and then in canonical quantization.  Going to high orders in perturbation theory around AdS3 suggests that the all-orders result takes the form of a Nambu-Goto action. This leads to a finite-size energy spectrum that is compatible with the predictions of the TTbar deformation. We also calculate stress tensor correlation functions on the plane.  For AdS2 with two boundaries, the theory is nothing but the quantum mechanics that describes their mutual repulsion.

The talk is in 469 Lauritsen.

Contact theoryinfo@caltech.edu for Zoom information.