Related papers: Partition functions on slightly squashed spheres a…
The partition function of four-dimensional N=2 superconformal field theories on S^4 computes the exact Kahler potential on the space of exactly marginal couplings [1]. We present a new elementary proof of this result using supersymmetry…
We present a new approach to computing event shape distributions or, more precisely, charge flow correlations in a generic conformal field theory (CFT). These infrared finite observables are familiar from collider physics studies and…
We conjecture, and show in a plethora of examples, that the sphere partition function of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ Chern-Simons-matter theories equals a sum of twisted traces on tensor products of Verma modules over the quantization of the moduli…
The quantization of the Teichm\"uller theory has led to the formulation of the so-called Teichm\"uller TQFT for 3-manifolds. In this paper we initiate the study of "supersymmetrization" of the Teichm\"uller TQFT, which we call the super…
We show that thermal effective field theory controls the long-distance expansion of the partition function of a $d$-dimensional QFT, with an insertion of any finite-order spatial isometry. Consequently, the thermal partition function on a…
We review the literature on scaled particle theory (SPT) and its extensions and discuss results applied to describe the thermodynamics of hard particle mixtures. After explaining the basic concepts of scaled particle theory to compute the…
A scalar--tensor theory of gravity, containing an arbitrary coupling function $F(\phi)$ and a general potential $V(\phi)$, is considered in the context of a spatially flat FLRW model. The use of reparametrization invariance enables a…
In this thesis, we focus on higher-curvature extensions of Einstein gravity as toy models to probe universal properties of conformal field theory (CFT) using the gauge/gravity duality. In this context, we are particularly interested in…
As in the case of Einstein or Lovelock gravity, the action of quartic quasitopological gravity has not a well-defined variational principle. In this paper, we first introduce a surface term that makes the variation of quartic…
We analyze aspects of the holographic principle relevant to the quantum gravity partition functions in Euclidean sector of AdS$_3$. The sum of the known contributions to the partitions functions can be presented exactly, including…
Fractons and other subdimensional particles are an exotic class of emergent quasi-particle excitations with severely restricted mobility. A wide class of models featuring these quasi-particles have a natural description in the language of…
The Weak Gravity Conjecture has recently been re-formulated in terms of a particle with non-negative self-binding energy. Because of the dual conformal field theory (CFT) formulation in the anti-de Sitter space the conformal dimension…
In this paper, we study the logarithmic terms in the partition functions of CFTs with boundaries (BCFTs). In three dimensions, their coefficients give the boundary central charges, which are conjectured to be monotonically decreasing…
We consider $\mathcal{N}=4$ supersymmetric gauge theories on the squashed three-sphere with six preserved supercharges. We first discuss how Wilson and vortex loops preserve up to four of the supercharges and we find squashing independence…
This is a status report on a research program aimed at obtaining quantum-gravitational physics inside a cosmological horizon through dS/CFT, i.e. through a holographic description at past/future infinity of de Sitter space. The program aims…
We consider a model of 3d quantum gravity defined by $n$ copies of a rational Virasoro TQFT with central charge $1/2$, summed over all 3d topologies. This theory is holographically dual to an ensemble of all 2d CFTs with central charge…
We consider a twisted version of the abelian $(2,0)$ theory placed upon a Lorenzian six-manifold with a product structure, $M_6=C \times M_4 $. This is done by an investigation of the free tensor multiplet on the level of equations of…
We study the thermal partition function of Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity in asymptotically Euclidean $AdS_2$ background using the matrix model description recently found by Saad, Shenker and Stanford [arXiv:1903.11115]. We show that the…
Recursion relations for the sphere $4$-point and torus $1$-point ${\cal W}_3$ conformal blocks, generalizing Alexei Zamolodchikov's famous relation for the Virasoro conformal blocks are proposed. One of these relations is valid for any…
We consider a class of metric-affine gravitational theories with action quadratic in curvature and torsion tensors. Using the heat kernel technique, we compute the torsion contributions to the one-loop counterterms in the ultraviolet limit.…