In the context of planar conformal gauge theory, we study five-point correlation functions between the interaction Lagrangian and four of the lightest single-trace, gauge-invariant scalar primaries. After performing two light-cone OPEs, we express this correlator in terms of the three-point functions between two leading-twist spinning operators and the Lagrangian. For finite values of spin, we...
We discuss the radial canonical formalism for asymptotically AdS$_3$ gravity. We employ an ADM deparametrization procedure that allows the identification of a preferred 'time' before quantization, the volume time, which is canonically conjugate to York time. This leads to the identification of the (radial) Wheeler-DeWitt (WdW) equation with the Schr\"odinger equation in volume time. In the...
In this work we study families of Z2 orbifolds of toroidal conformal field theories based on both factorizable and non-factorizable target space tori. For these classes of theories, we analyze their moduli spaces, and compute their partition functions. Building on previous work, we express the calculated partition functions in terms of suitable Siegel-Narain theta functions that allow us to...
In this talk, I will present recent progress in the Swampland Program, which I will briefly introduce, focusing primarily on one of its less established conjectures, usually referred to as the Emergence Proposal. This postulates that the low energy effective action of a quantum gravity theory may be obtained by integrating out light towers of states appearing in various asymptotic regions of...
There is growing evidence that the geometries associated to rational conformal field theories (RCFTs) which have a target space interpretation are distinguished by the fact that they admit complex multiplication (CM). I will show where this intuition naturally originates from in the context of toroidal CFTs (Work by Gukov, Vafa and Moore) and generalize the idea to higher dimensions. In...
Abstract: The study of the spectral problem of planar $\mathcal{N}=2$ SCFTs and their corresponding spin chains have been an inauspicious problem. In this talk I want to present a novel approach to the coordinate Bethe Ansatz which allowed the computation of the three-magnon wave function (paper to appear) for the spin chains that capture the spectral problem of the marginally deformed...
The Post-Minkowskian expansion can efficiently describe the scattering of two massive compact objects emitting gravitational waves. In particular, the results at fourth order in Newton's constant already show remarkable agreement with numerical simulations. However, although the boundary-to-bound dictionary allows analytic continuation of local-in-time results to the case of two coalescing...
We adapt the well-known functional instanton method to allow for the computation of excited state decay widths, efficiently bypassing the traditionally enforced infinite-time limit. With conventional instanton calculations relying on the behavior of the Euclidean propagator at late times, such investigations are, per construction, constrained to solely studying the ground state energy. By...
We propose new classes of inflation models based on the modular symmetry, where the modulus field $\tau$ serves as the inflaton. We establish a connection between modular inflation and modular stabilization, wherein the modulus field rolls towards a fixed point along the boundary of the fundamental domain. We find the modular symmetry strongly constrain the possible shape of the potential and...
The standard reheating process after inflation can be preceded by preheating, a phase where the oscillations of the inflaton field at the bottom of its potential lead to explosive production of particles via parametric resonance, potentially altering the history of the universe.
I will discuss an inflating modulus, coupled to an axion via a typical potential coupling coming from type iib...
I will discuss recent progress in constructing models of inflation and dark energy from string theory which are theoretically robust, can fit current data and can lead to observable predictions. In particular, I will focus on inflation driven by a Kaehler modulus and I will argue that axions are the best candidates to drive dark energy.
False vacuum decay is believed to have played an important role in the history of the universe, in particular in the context of phase transitions in the very early universe. As such, a microscopic understanding of the process is crucial to our ability to make predictions. In this talk, we review the traditional instanton method for the computation of the false vacuum decay rate, and we improve...
