Symmetries Graduate School 2023

America/Toronto
PI/1-100 - Theatre (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

PI/1-100 - Theatre

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

190
Aldo Riello (Perimeter Institute ), Barbara Soda (Perimeter Institute), Chong Wang (Perimeter Institute ), Cliff Burgess (Perimeter Institute & McMaster University), Emilie Huffman (Perimeter Institute ), Justin Hilburn (Perimeter Institute ), Maxence Corman (Perimeter Institute )
Description

The goal of this Winter School on Symmetries is to introduce graduate students to the effectiveness of symmetry principles across subjects and energy scales. 

From Noether’s celebrated theorem to the development of the standard model of particle physics, from Landau’s to Wilson’s classification of phases of matter and phase transitions, symmetries have been key to 20th century physics. But in the last decades novel and more subtle incarnations of the symmetry principle have shown us the way to unlocking new and unexpected phases of quantum matter, infrared and holographic properties of the quantum gravitational interaction, as well as to advancements in pure mathematics to mention a few.  

The Graduate Winter School on Symmetries will introduce students and young researchers to a variety of applications of the symmetry principle. These will be chosen across contemporary research topics in both theoretical physics and mathematics. Our goal is to create a synergistic environment where ideas and techniques can ultimately spread across disciplines. This will be achieved through a combination of mini-courses, colloquia, and discussion sessions led in collaboration with the students themselves.

https://pirsa.org/C23008


Territorial Land Acknowledgement

Perimeter Institute acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples.

Perimeter Institute is located on the Haldimand Tract. After the American Revolution, the tract was granted by the British to the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation as compensation for their role in the war and for the loss of their traditional lands in upstate New York. Of the 950,000 acres granted to the Haudenosaunee, less than 5 percent remains Six Nations land. Only 6,100 acres remain Mississaugas of the Credit land. 

We thank the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Neutral peoples for hosting us on their land.

Participants
  • Ailier Rivero Acosta
  • Alexander Roman
  • Alexandra Chanson
  • Amirreza Negari
  • Amit Anand
  • Anderson Roque Meneses
  • Andrew Samuel
  • Anna Knörr
  • Archishna Bhattacharyya
  • Athanasios Kogios
  • Barbara Mack
  • Bharat Kuchhal
  • Bhuvaneswari S
  • Bruno Giménez Umbert
  • Caroline de Lima Vargas Simoes
  • Catherine Lee
  • Chan Bae
  • Chandrapir Sar
  • Chenguang Guan
  • Christopher Pollack
  • Clara Roldan
  • Cliff Burgess
  • Conner Dailey
  • Debabrata Mondal
  • Eivind Joerstad
  • Elnaz Bakhshi
  • Emilie Huffman
  • Erickson Tjoa
  • Francisco Borges Zapata
  • Guillaume Dideron
  • H Hrisheekesh Prabhakar
  • Hank Chen
  • Harish Murali
  • Hassan Khalvati
  • Jacob Barnett
  • Jinmin Yi
  • Johanna Borissova
  • Jordan Krywonos
  • José Andrés Enríquez López
  • José Polo-Gómez
  • Juan Antonio Fernandez de la Garza
  • Justin Hilburn
  • Kala Perkins
  • Kamil Nadaf
  • Ketya Portela
  • Kiana Salehi
  • Kiran Adhikari
  • Leonardo Lessa
  • Loki Lin
  • Luca Novelli
  • Manu Srivastava
  • Marcus Edwards
  • Marisha Singh
  • Maxence Corman
  • Mouhsen Rouhirad
  • Nayeong Kim
  • Nicholas Zutt
  • Nico Cooper
  • Nicolas Cresto
  • Nils Siemonsen
  • Omar Hussein
  • Riccardo Natale
  • Roukaya Dekhil
  • Ruochen Ma
  • Rushikesh Patil
  • Sa-ad Ibrahim Yinbil
  • Sara Bogojevic
  • SAURABH RAI
  • Shad Azmi
  • Shuwei Liu
  • Siddharth Vadnerkar
  • Sotirios Mygdalas
  • Sudip Sinha
  • Taillte May
  • Utkarsh Bajaj
  • Weicheng Ye
  • Xiuzhe Luo
  • Xuzhe Ying
  • Yangrui Hu
  • Youssef Mousaaid
  • Yuanjie Ren
  • Yushao Chen
  • Zheng Zhou
Stephanie Mohl
    • 08:30 09:00
      Registration 30m Reception

      Reception

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

    • 09:00 09:10
      Welcome and Opening Remarks 10m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Aldo Riello (Perimeter Institute)
    • 09:10 10:30
      Noether’s theorems and gauge symmetries 1h 20m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190

      This lecture is devoted to Noether’s theorems and the study of the interplay between symmetries and conservation laws, from ordinary mechanics to general relativity. In order to start on a common ground and interest a broad audience, we will begin with a review of Noether’s (first) theorem in ordinary non-relativistic mechanics. This will enable us to settle some subtleties, agree on conventions, and especially explore some curious and lesser-known symmetry features of familiar models (such as particles and celestial mechanics). We will then move on to field theory, and discuss the construction of conserved currents and energy-momentum tensors. This will include a discussion of conserved quantities in general relativity. Finally, we will turn to the core of the topic, which is Noether’s (second) theorem for gauge symmetries. After recalling the basic properties of gauge theories in Lagrangian and Hamiltonian form, we will derive the consequences of gauge symmetry for the construction of conserved charges. For this, we will introduce the so-called covariant phase space formalism, which enables to construct symmetry charges and algebras, and derive (non) conservation laws. This will be illustrated in Maxwell’s theory and in general relativity. In particular, we will focus in depth on the example of three-dimensional gravity as an exactly soluble model in which all aspects of symmetries can be understood. We will end with an outlook towards the notion of asymptotic symmetries and their use in classical and quantum gravity.

      Ideally, the audience should be familiar with:

      Hamiltonian mechanics
      differential forms
      basic features of general relativity

      Speaker: Marc Geiler (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Lightening Talks 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch Break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:00
      Fitting models to data using Markov Chain Monte Carlo 1h PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Dustin Lang (Perimeter Institute)
    • 15:00 15:15
      Coffee Break 15m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 15:15 16:30
      Fitting models to data using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (tutorial) 1h 15m PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60
      Speaker: Dustin Lang (Perimeter Institute)
    • 09:00 10:30
      Noether’s theorems and gauge symmetries 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Marc Geiler (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Noether’s theorems and gauge symmetries (Q&A) 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Marc Geiler (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
    • 11:00 12:30
      Noether’s theorems and gauge symmetries 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Marc Geiler (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch Break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:30
      Knot categorification from mirror symmetry 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190

      Two of the most beautiful examples of the interaction between mathematics and physics involve knot theory and mirror symmetry. In this talk, I will describe a new connection between them. The solution to a central problem in knot theory, the knot categorification problem, comes from a new application of mirror symmetry.

      Speaker: Mina Aganagic (University of California, Berkeley)
    • 15:30 16:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 16:00 18:00
      Meet and Greet with Mina Aganagic 2h PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60
    • 09:00 10:30
      Noether’s theorems and gauge symmetries 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Marc Geiler (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Topological quantum matter and quantum computing 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190

      Interacting quantum particles can form non-trivial states of matter characterized by topological order, which features several unconventional properties such as topological degeneracy and fractionalized quasiparticles. In addition, it also provides a promising platform for realizing quantum computing in a robust manner. In this series of lectures, I will introduce the basics of topological order and its connection to quantum computing from various aspects involving lattice models, symmetry, and entanglement structure. Several frontier topics such as fracton topological phases, self-correcting quantum memory, state preparation, and quantum LDPC codes will be briefly discussed.

      Speaker: Peter Lu (Perimeter Institute)
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch Break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:00
      Informal Networking over Coffee 1h PI/2-251 - Upper Bistro

      PI/2-251 - Upper Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60
    • 15:00 16:30
      Noether’s theorems and gauge symmetries (tutorial) 1h 30m PI/4-400 - Space Room

      PI/4-400 - Space Room

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      48
      Speaker: Marc Geiler (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon)
    • 09:00 10:30
      Topological quantum matter and quantum computing 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Peter Lu (Perimeter Institute)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Group Activity 1h 30m PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60
    • 09:00 10:30
      Topological quantum matter and quantum computing 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Peter Lu (Perimeter Institute)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Topological quantum matter and quantum computing (Q&A) 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Peter Lu (Perimeter Institute)
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch Break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:00
      Fitting models to data using Markov Chain Monte Carlo 1h PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Dustin Lang (Perimeter Institute)
    • 15:00 15:15
      Coffee Break 15m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 15:15 16:30
      Fitting models to data using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (tutorial) 1h 15m PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60
      Speaker: Dustin Lang (Perimeter Institute)
    • 09:00 10:30
      Topological quantum matter and quantum computing 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: Peter Lu (Perimeter Institute)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Effective Field Theory and Symmetries 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190

      These lectures will cover the concepts and techniques of effective field theory. I will try to introduce several of the useful techniques which do not usually get covered in the standard QFT courses and books. We will start with the effective field theory aspects of QED, and end with the treatment of general relativity as a quantum field theory using effective field theory techniques.

      Speaker: John Donoghue (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch Break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:30
      Topological quantum matter and quantum computing (tutorial) 1h 30m PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60
      Speaker: Peter Lu (Perimeter Institute)
    • 15:30 17:00
      Free Time 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
    • 17:00 19:00
      Networking Dinner 2h PI/2-251 - Upper Bistro

      PI/2-251 - Upper Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60
    • 09:00 10:30
      Introduction to Colloquium 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Effective Field Theory and Symmetries 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: John Donoghue (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch Break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:30
      The structure of translational tilings 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190

      Translational tiling is a covering of a space (e.g., Euclidean space) using translated copies of a building block, called a "tile'', without any positive measure overlaps. What are the possible ways that a space can be tiled?
      One of the most well known conjectures in this area is the periodic tiling conjecture. It asserts that any tile of Euclidean space can tile the space periodically. This conjecture was posed 35 years ago and has been intensively studied over the years. In a joint work with Terence Tao, we disprove the periodic tiling conjecture in high dimensions. In the talk, I will motivate this result and discuss our proof.

      Speaker: Rachel Greennfeld (Institute for Advanced Study)
    • 15:30 16:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 09:00 10:30
      Effective Field Theory and Symmetries 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: John Donoghue (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Effective Field Theory and Symmetries (Q&A) 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: John Donoghue (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
    • 12:30 14:00
      Lunch Break 1h 30m
    • 14:00 15:30
      Effective Field Theory and Symmetries (tutorial) 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: John Donoghue (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
    • 09:00 10:30
      Effective Field Theory and Symmetries 1h 30m PI/1-100 - Theatre

      PI/1-100 - Theatre

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      190
      Speaker: John Donoghue (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
    • 10:30 11:00
      Coffee Break 30m PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      120
    • 11:00 12:30
      Concluding Remarks followed by Group Activity 1h 30m PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      PI/4-405 - Bob Room

      Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

      60