Name: GGI Tea Breaks' Seminars
Start: 2021-01-01T17:00:00+01:00
End: 2021-12-31T18:30:00+01:00
Location: GGI Zoom Room

Monday, December 28, 2020
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Friday, January 1, 2021
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Sunday, January 3, 2021

Monday, January 4, 2021
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Friday, January 8, 2021
Saturday, January 9, 2021
Sunday, January 10, 2021

Monday, January 11, 2021
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "Is the ΛCDM model in trouble?" - Marc Kamionkowsky (Johns Hopkins University)
Theory Colloquium "Is the ΛCDM model in trouble?"
- Marc Kamionkowsky (Johns Hopkins University)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
We’ve known since the late 1920s that the Universe is expanding. However, the expansion rate currently inferred from measurements of the cosmic microwave background now disagrees with that obtained from supernova measurements. Over the past few years, theorists have been exploring the possibility that this Hubble tension is explained by some new “early dark energy”: a new component of matter that may have been dynamically important several hundred thousand years after the Big Bang.
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Friday, January 15, 2021
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Sunday, January 17, 2021

Monday, January 18, 2021
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "What are T-Tbar deformations?" - Roberto Tateo (TO)
Theory Colloquium "What are T-Tbar deformations?"
- Roberto Tateo (TO)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
The presence of an irrelevant field in a quantum field theory is usually not good news, as far as understanding the high-energy physics of the model is concerned. In two space-time dimensions, the T-Tbar deformation is solvable. We can describe physical observables of interest, such as the S-matrix and the finite-volume spectrum, in terms of the corresponding undeformed quantities. For this irrelevant perturbation, we can reverse the renormalization group trajectory and gain exact information about ultraviolet physics. The outcome is stunning: low-energy physics resembles that of a conventional local quantum field theory while at high-energy the density of states on a cylinder shows Hagedorn growth similar to that of a string theory.
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Friday, January 22, 2021
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Sunday, January 24, 2021

Monday, January 25, 2021
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Friday, January 29, 2021
Saturday, January 30, 2021
Sunday, January 31, 2021

Monday, February 1, 2021
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "The Hunt for the Axion" - Andreas Ringwald (DESY)
Theory Colloquium "The Hunt for the Axion"
- Andreas Ringwald (DESY)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
We review the physics case for the axion and discuss different methods to hunt for it in current and future experiments.
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Friday, February 5, 2021
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Sunday, February 7, 2021

Monday, February 8, 2021
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "Axion Dark Matter" - Giovanni Villadoro
Theory Colloquium "Axion Dark Matter"
- Giovanni Villadoro
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
While providing a simple dynamical explanation for the smallness of CP violation in strong interactions, the QCD axion is also one of the most compelling candidates of dark matter in the Universe. While the presence of relic QCD axions is almost guaranteed if such particle exists, a reliable computation of its abundance is still lacking. Such information could be pivotal in both focusing the experimental efforts and drawing the right theoretical conclusions should such particle be found. In this talk I will review the challenges of such computation and the most recent developments.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
Friday, February 12, 2021
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Sunday, February 14, 2021

Monday, February 15, 2021
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "Tangles to Narnia" - Hirosi Ooguri (Caltech & Kavli IPMU)
Theory Colloquium "Tangles to Narnia"
- Hirosi Ooguri (Caltech & Kavli IPMU)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Recently, a new type of holographic pair has been found, in which quantum gravity theories are dual to random ensembles of quantum mechanical systems in one and two dimensions. This discovery has revived questions on role of wormholes in quantum gravity and its implications in the holography. I will discuss their generalization in the context of three-dimensional gravity theories. Mathematical theory of knots and hyperbolic geometries associated to them plays an important role.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Friday, February 19, 2021
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Sunday, February 21, 2021

Monday, February 22, 2021
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Friday, February 26, 2021
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Sunday, February 28, 2021

Monday, March 1, 2021
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "The String Landscape and the Swampland" - Cumrun Vafa (Harvard University)
Theory Colloquium "The String Landscape and the Swampland"
- Cumrun Vafa (Harvard University)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
String theory landscape of vacua point to new consistency conditions that a quantum gravitational system must satisfy. There are only a small number of quantum field theories that satisfy these conditions and all the rest belong to the `Swampland' which cannot be consistently coupled to gravity. In this talk I review some of these conditions and their implications for cosmology and particle physics.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Friday, March 5, 2021
Saturday, March 6, 2021
Sunday, March 7, 2021

Monday, March 8, 2021
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "Gravitational Wave Astrophysics with LIGO/VIRGO Data" - Matias Zaldarriaga (Institute for Advanced Study)
Theory Colloquium "Gravitational Wave Astrophysics with LIGO/VIRGO Data"
- Matias Zaldarriaga (Institute for Advanced Study)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
I will describe our recent work re-analyzing the GW data made public by the LIGO collaboration. More broadly I will discuss some of the outstanding questions related to binary black hole mergers, what the data might be saying and what we might expect in the near future.
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Friday, March 12, 2021
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Sunday, March 14, 2021

Monday, March 22, 2021
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "Portals to the Dark Sector" - Brian Batell (University of Pittsburgh)
Theory Colloquium "Portals to the Dark Sector"
- Brian Batell (University of Pittsburgh)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
A handful of open questions, such as the nature of the cosmic dark matter, compel the search for a new paradigm of matter and forces. A novel, yet plausible, element of this framework may be a hidden or dark sector of new elementary particles, which does not experience the familiar strong and electroweak interactions. Such a hidden world may still influence our visible world if there is a very weak interaction, or portal, between the two sectors. I will introduce the basic theoretical framework of dark sectors and portals and highlight the growing experimental program to search for a variety of novel phenomena associated with these theories.
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Friday, March 26, 2021
Saturday, March 27, 2021
Sunday, March 28, 2021

Monday, March 29, 2021
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Friday, April 2, 2021
Saturday, April 3, 2021
Sunday, April 4, 2021

Monday, April 5, 2021
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Thursday, April 8, 2021
Friday, April 9, 2021
Saturday, April 10, 2021
Sunday, April 11, 2021

Monday, April 12, 2021
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "How to test quantum theory with thought experiments" - Renato Renner (ETH Zurich)
Theory Colloquium "How to test quantum theory with thought experiments"
- Renato Renner (ETH Zurich)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Quantum theory is one of our most accurate theories ever when it comes to the description of small systems. It is therefore often assumed that the theory can equally well be applied to large objects, sometimes even astronomical ones like black holes. In my talk I will present a thought experiment that indicates that the range of validity of (current) quantum theory may be limited to small systems. (The talk is based on work with Daniela Frauchiger and Nuriya Nurgalieva.)
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Friday, April 16, 2021
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Sunday, April 18, 2021

Monday, April 19, 2021
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "Muon g-2: the showdown" - Massimo Passera (INFN Padova)
Theory Colloquium "Muon g-2: the showdown"
- Massimo Passera (INFN Padova)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
The Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab has recently confirmed Brookhaven's earlier measurement of the muon anomalous magnetic moment aμ. This new result increases the discrepancy Δaμ with the Standard Model (SM) prediction and strengthens its "new physics" interpretation as well as the quest for its underlying origin. In this talk I will review the SM prediction of the muon g-2, focusing on some of the latest developments, and discuss the connection of the discrepancy Δaμ to precision electroweak predictions via their common dependence on hadronic vacuum polarization effects.
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Friday, April 23, 2021
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Sunday, April 25, 2021

Monday, May 3, 2021
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
5:00 PM Theory Colloquium "Flavor Physics: Status and Prospects" - Jure Zupan (U. of Cincinnati)
Theory Colloquium "Flavor Physics: Status and Prospects"
- Jure Zupan (U. of Cincinnati)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Measurements of rare flavor changing transitions with either quarks or leptons can be used to search for signs of new physics. I will review the status of the field, including the recent anomalies in B physics and anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. I will try to give sense of where the field is going next, driven in a large extent with several ambitious experimental programs coming on line in the near to midterm future (the LHCb upgrade, Belle II, Mu2e, MEG-II, etc).
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Friday, May 7, 2021
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Sunday, May 9, 2021

Monday, May 24, 2021
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Friday, May 28, 2021
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Sunday, May 30, 2021

Monday, May 31, 2021
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Friday, June 4, 2021
Saturday, June 5, 2021
Sunday, June 6, 2021

Monday, June 21, 2021
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Friday, June 25, 2021
Saturday, June 26, 2021
Sunday, June 27, 2021

Monday, July 5, 2021
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
5:00 PM Reflections on 50+ years of success stories - Gabriele Veneziano (CERN and College de France)
Reflections on 50+ years of success stories
- Gabriele Veneziano (CERN and College de France)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
I will share some thoughts prompted by the amazing successes but also by some puzzling aspects of our present description of Nature from the smallest scales of elementary particle physics to the largest ones of gravity and cosmology.
Thursday, July 8, 2021
Friday, July 9, 2021
Saturday, July 10, 2021
Sunday, July 11, 2021

Monday, July 19, 2021
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Friday, July 23, 2021
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Sunday, July 25, 2021

Monday, July 26, 2021
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Friday, July 30, 2021
Saturday, July 31, 2021
Sunday, August 1, 2021

Monday, August 2, 2021
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Thursday, August 5, 2021
Friday, August 6, 2021
Saturday, August 7, 2021
Sunday, August 8, 2021

Monday, August 9, 2021
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Thursday, August 12, 2021
Friday, August 13, 2021
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Sunday, August 15, 2021

Monday, August 16, 2021
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Friday, August 20, 2021
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Sunday, August 22, 2021

Monday, August 23, 2021
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Friday, August 27, 2021
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Sunday, August 29, 2021

Monday, August 30, 2021
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Friday, September 3, 2021
Saturday, September 4, 2021
Sunday, September 5, 2021

Monday, September 6, 2021
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Thursday, September 9, 2021
Friday, September 10, 2021
Saturday, September 11, 2021
Sunday, September 12, 2021

Monday, September 13, 2021
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Friday, September 17, 2021
Saturday, September 18, 2021
Sunday, September 19, 2021

Monday, September 20, 2021
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Friday, September 24, 2021
Saturday, September 25, 2021
Sunday, September 26, 2021

Monday, September 27, 2021
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Friday, October 1, 2021
Saturday, October 2, 2021
Sunday, October 3, 2021

Monday, October 4, 2021
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
5:00 PM The Black Hole Information Paradox in the Age of Holographic Entanglement Entropy - Netta Engelhardt (MIT)
The Black Hole Information Paradox in the Age of Holographic Entanglement Entropy
- Netta Engelhardt (MIT)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
The black hole information paradox — whether information escapes an evaporating black hole or not — remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of theoretical physics. The apparent conflict between validity of semiclassical gravity at low energies and unitarity of quantum mechanics has long been expected to find its resolution in the deep quantum gravity regime. Recent developments in the holographic dictionary and in particular its application to entanglement, however, have shown that a semiclassical analysis of gravitational physics has a hallmark feature of unitary evolution. I will describe this recent progress and discuss some potential new avenues for working towards a resolution of the information paradox.
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Friday, October 8, 2021
Saturday, October 9, 2021
Sunday, October 10, 2021

Monday, October 11, 2021
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
5:00 PM Particle Physics Circa 2021 - Savas Dimopoulos (Stanford University)
Particle Physics Circa 2021
- Savas Dimopoulos (Stanford University)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
I will share my personal view of what we learned after half a century of Beyond-the-Standard Model theory and searches
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Friday, October 15, 2021
Saturday, October 16, 2021
Sunday, October 17, 2021

Monday, October 18, 2021
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
5:00 PM Planckian Metals and Black Holes - Sachdev Subir (Harvard & IAS Princeton)
Planckian Metals and Black Holes
- Sachdev Subir (Harvard & IAS Princeton)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Many modern materials feature a “Planckian metal”: a phase of electronic quantum matter without quasiparticle excitations, and relaxation in a time of order Planck's constant divided by the absolute temperature. The semiclassical theory of black holes predicts thermodynamic properties which are difficult to connect to a unitary quantum theory with a discrete spectrum. I will review recent progress in understanding these problems in very different fields of physics by using insights from the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model of many-particle quantum dynamics.
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Friday, October 22, 2021
Saturday, October 23, 2021
Sunday, October 24, 2021

Monday, October 25, 2021
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Thursday, October 28, 2021
Friday, October 29, 2021
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Sunday, October 31, 2021

Monday, November 1, 2021
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
5:00 PM Strong Interactions, Color Confinement, and Strings - Igor Klebanov (Princeton)
Strong Interactions, Color Confinement, and Strings
- Igor Klebanov (Princeton)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
In the 1950s and 60s many strongly interacting particles were discovered. String theory was originally invented to describe them, but Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD)emerged as the precise theory of the strong nuclear force. A quarter century later it was understood that string theory and certain gauge theories akin to QCD are different descriptions of the same physics. I will review the relations between gauge theories and strings. Their formation in QCD is a manifestation of the confinement of colored quarks and gluons. While the color confinement is observed numerically using Lattice Gauge Theory, its analytic proof remains a deep unsolved problem in theoretical physics. I will conclude by discussing some surprises in lower-dimensional models.
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Friday, November 5, 2021
Saturday, November 6, 2021
Sunday, November 7, 2021

Monday, November 8, 2021
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Friday, November 12, 2021
Saturday, November 13, 2021
Sunday, November 14, 2021

Monday, November 22, 2021
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
5:00 PM New physics from the CMB: the next decade - Raphael Flauger (UC San Diego)
New physics from the CMB: the next decade
- Raphael Flauger (UC San Diego)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Observations of the cosmic microwave background have been key to our understanding of the early universe. The cosmic microwave background also contains invaluable information about particle physics that can be revealed through precision observations of the polarization anisotropies. In this talk I will review the key areas where precision CMB experiments can provide new information and give an overview of the current and next generation CMB experiments.
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Friday, November 26, 2021
Saturday, November 27, 2021
Sunday, November 28, 2021

Monday, November 29, 2021
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
5:00 PM Decoding the Path Integral: Resurgence and Non-Perturbative Physics - Gerald Dunne (University of Connecticut)
Decoding the Path Integral: Resurgence and Non-Perturbative Physics
- Gerald Dunne (University of Connecticut)
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
There are several important conceptual and computational questions concerning path integrals which have recently been approached from new perspectives motivated by "resurgent asymptotics", a novel mathematical formalism that effectively unifies perturbative and non-perturbative physics. This talk will review the basic ideas behind the connections between resurgent asymptotics and physics, starting from the work of Airy and Stokes, and the development of trans-series by Ecalle, and then turn to several recent applications in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The main motivation is to develop a deeper understanding of field theoretic path integrals directly from a saddle point Lefschetz thimble decomposition, and also by reconstruction from perturbative information.
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Friday, December 3, 2021
Saturday, December 4, 2021
Sunday, December 5, 2021

Monday, December 6, 2021
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Friday, December 10, 2021
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Sunday, December 12, 2021

Monday, December 20, 2021
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Friday, December 24, 2021
Saturday, December 25, 2021
Sunday, December 26, 2021

Monday, December 27, 2021
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Thursday, December 30, 2021
Friday, December 31, 2021