High Energy Physics - Theory
The most impressively prolific exploration of superstring models (aiming for our physical reality) has been focused on worldsheet-supersymmetric gauged linear sigma models and the closely associated complex-algebraic toric geometry. Mirror…
We study the real time quantum dynamics of a matrix model consisting two bosonic fields on the fuzzy sphere using the Gaussian state approximation. Starting from the Hamiltonian formulation and using Wick's theorem, we derive a closed set…
We develop the second-order quantum perturbation theory of gravity in the Null Surface Formulation (NSF) of asymptotically flat spacetimes. In this framework all dynamical degrees of freedom are radiative data defined at null infinity; no…
We introduce a formalism for conformal field theory in four dimensions: a symplectic bi-Grassmannian representation of CFT$_4$ Wightman correlators. Working in Klein space with off-shell spinor-helicity variables, we show that correlators…
We derive the three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ effective theories obtained by compactifying all five ten-dimensional string theories on generic seven-dimensional manifolds with $G_2$ structure. The resulting flux compactifications are…
We propose a sharpened version of Dynamical Cobordism, where the physical structure $\xi$ of the theory in question determines an allowed range $R^\xi$ for the critical exponent $\delta$. We interpret a singularity with $\delta \in R^\xi$…
Recent developments have shown that some semiclassical spacetimes cannot emerge from a traditional application of the rules of holography, prompting proposals for restoring their emergence with "observer rules". In this paper, we propose a…
We propose a new class of infrared dualities relating three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ $USp(2N)$ Chern--Simons SQCD to planar Abelian quiver gauge theories. These dual descriptions are constructed via real mass deformations of established…
We show that for both QED and perturbative quantum gravity, finite-time Faddeev-Kulish dressings can be fully constrained by symmetry, and that this gives the unique choice which reproduces the classical memory effect. For gravity, we show…
It is usually assumed that a healthy EFT should not allow superluminal propagation. In the presence of gravity, however, the notion of superluminality becomes subtle, since there is no invariant way to compare with an underlying Minkowski…
M-theory on ${\mathbf{S}}^1\vee{\mathbf{S}}^1$ has recently been proposed to yield, via quotients, ten-dimensional non-supersymmetric string theories. We revisit the construction that leads to the heterotic theories, finding a consistent…
We develop a rigid $\mathscr{N} =(1,1)$ superspace framework for spatially inhomogeneous impurity deformations in $D=1+1$ dimensions by embedding the impurity profile into a real background superfield (spurion). This spurionic completion…
Employing the Schwinger-Keldysh formalism, we formulate an effective field theory for s-wave superconducting phase transition, where the dynamical variables consist of electromagnetic gauge field and complex scalar order parameter.…
We revisit the holographic description of the thermal first order phase transition of N=4 SYM compactified on a spatial circle. At the transition, the dominant bulk saddle exchanges between a geometry with a compact spatial circle and one…
We revisit the renormalization of the gauge coupling in massless QED coupled to a scaleless quadratic theory of gravity. We compare two alternative prescriptions for the running of the electric charge: (i) the conventional $\mu$-running in…
We study a single-sided black hole with an end-of-the-world (EoW) brane behind the horizon in the double-scaled SYK (DSSYK). The new Hamiltonian is a deformation of the original DSSYK Hamiltonian with an extra exponential wormhole length…
In arXiv:2509.02905 [hep-th], we introduced an approximation that allows one to study Horowitz-Polchinski backgrounds beyond the weak coupling regime. In this paper we describe the resulting solutions, and discuss a few related issues.
String theory relies on spacetime supersymmetry to guarantee the existence of stable vacua. In this review, we survey two features of non-supersymmetric strings that challenge both aspects: the appearance of tachyons and worldsheet…
The spectral curve of quasinormal modes for a massive real scalar field in the background of a non-conformal black brane geometry has been obtained by utilizing a Frobenius type near-horizon expansion. The gauge/gravity duality maps this to…
We propose a SymTFT interpretation of ensemble averaging in low-dimensional holography. The central operation is to keep fixed both the SymTFT and the physical boundary condition, while averaging over topological boundary conditions at the…