Higgs Centre School of Theoretical Physics 2022

The 7th edition of the Higgs Centre School of Theoretical Physics will take place from 30 May-3 June 2022. The scientific programme starts at 9:00 on Monday 30th, and ends at 17:30 on Friday 3rd.

The School comprises two in-depth lecture series, each involving five 2-hours lectures delivered on the blackboard, and a similar number of tutorials.

For this year's School we are delighted to have:

Ana-Maria Raclariu (Perimeter) - Asymptotic Symmetries and Flat Space Holography

This course is an introduction to a selection of recent developments in gravity and gauge theory in four-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes (AFS). We will first review their asymptotic symmetry structure and the precise equivalence that relates the associated conservation laws to soft theorems and memory effects. As a first application of this equivalence, we will discuss how it can be used to cast new light on the problem of infrared divergences in gauge theories and gravity. As a second application, we will show that the subleading soft graviton theorem implies the existence of a graviton boundary mode which behaves like the stress-tensor of a two-dimensional conformal field theory. The latter will motivate us to recast scattering problems in a basis of asymptotic boost eigenstates and lead to the definition of celestial amplitudes. We will discuss the evidence in favor of celestial amplitudes being candidate observables of a two-dimensional theory dual to quantum gravity in four-dimensional AFS. Topics covered will include: the general structure of massless celestial three- and four-point amplitudes and how UV aspects of 4D scattering are encoded in their analytic structure; IR aspects of celestial amplitudes and infrared divergences; the symmetries of generic celestial amplitudes and the associated constraints; celestial higher spin symmetries and their implications for asymptotic dynamics in general relativity. We will conclude with some open problems.

Alessandro Vichi (Pisa) - Conformal Bootstrap

The course will provide a pedagogical introduction to conformal field theory in two and higher spacetime dimensions. The first lectures will introduce the conformal symmetry in quantum field theory and discuss its general properties, such as the constraints on correlation functions and the role of unitarity. The last lectures will present concrete applications to the study of fixed points.

If you have any questions please contact sopa.events@ed.ac.uk.

Timetable can be viewed here

Recordings can be viewed via the timetable materials here