In first passage percolation, we place i.i.d. non-negative weights on the nearest-neighbor edges of Z^d and study the induced random metric. A long-standing conjecture gives a relation between two "scaling exponents": one describes the variance of the distance between two points and the other describes the transversal fluctuations of optimizing…

A non-trivial test of the string vs. integrability correspondence is suggested: exact equivalence is established between strings in AdS4 x CP3 and the Gromov-Vieira all-loop integrable chain. To do that, the complete one- and two-magnon sector of each respective theory are calculated. In the single-magnon sector a direct perturbative one-loop…

Eleni Katifori, Rockefeller

We consider asymptotics of the correlation functions of characteristic polynomials of the hermitian Wigner matrices $H_n=n^{-1/2}W_n$ and the hermitian sample covariance matrices $X_n=n^{-1}A_{m,n}^*A_{m,n}$. We use the integration over the Grassmann variables to obtain a convenient integral representation. Then we show that the asymptotics of…

Taking String Theory as a ``theoretical laboratory'', I will present handy expressions for bosonic and fermionic (SUSY) higher-spin Noether currents. I will also describe a class of non-local higher-spin Lagrangian couplings that are generically required by the Noether procedure starting from four-points. The construction clarifies the origin of…

Abstract: Since the pioneering proposal by Anderson that the superconducting state of high-Tc cuprates can be described by the resonanting-valence-bond (RVB) state, a number of important results to support the idea were obtained by using the variational approach to study the t-J model. However, two major issues were not addressed at the…

“On the Verge of Mechanical Instability

Abstract: I will review a method to control irrelevant terms in the renormalisation group and describe an application to self-repelling walk in four dimensions.

We consider a passive scalar field under the action of pumping, diffusion and advection by a smooth flow with a Lagrangian chaos. We present theoretical arguments showing that scalar statistics is not conformal invariant and formulate new effective semi-analytic algorithm to model the scalar turbulence. We then carry massive numerics of passive…

Abstract: I discuss how to combine the physical constraints, in particular the operator product expansion for Wilson loops, with the technical power of the "symbol" of pure transcendental functions. The combination can be used to evaluate the (symbol for the) Wilson loop corresponding to the scattering amplitude for six (MHV) gluons in planar N…

Dan Needleman, Harvard Title of talk: "Physical Aspects of Spindle Assembly"
This lecture is part of the Home & Away Harvard-Princeton series.

The holographic principle is puzzling: how can it be that degrees of freedom on the boundary of a spacetime region give rise to approximately local physics in the interior? I will review some aspects of the emergence of local AdS physics from the boundary field theory and then discuss a construction of boundary operators that measure local bulk…

“Entanglement and Quantum Algorithms with Superconducting Circuits

Abstract: Quantum fluctuations can drive phase transitions in ice. This happens when the protons tunnel between the two equivalent sites on a hydrogen bond. The corresponding dynamics is collective and dominated by strong local correlations originating from the ice rules. As a result, the state of the proton is entangled, an effect that can be…

It has been conjectured in numerous physics papers that in ordinary first-passage percolation on integer lattices, the fluctuation exponent \chi and the wandering exponent \xi are related through the universal relation \chi=2\xi -1, irrespective of the dimension. This is sometimes called the KPZ relation between the two exponents. I will give a…

" Quest for new frontier at the LHC" Abstract: The 7 TeV center of mass energy proton-proton machine built in the LEP tunnel is housing 4 major experiments ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb in its 100 meter underground cavern. These experiments will be recording the particles left by the debris from the collisions and looking for new physics…

2011 has been the year when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) became the world's leading experimental facility in the area of the fundamental particle interactions. The amount of data available for analysis is increasing exponentially. The search for the Higgs boson is entering its final phase and it is very likely that we will know for sure if…

First Prize: “Glass, Darkly

http://www.princeton.edu/~arcadia/PSPC.html