Twistors and Quantum Field Theory: Strong fields, holography and beyond

扭量和量子场论：强场、全息术及其他

• 批准号: EP/Z000157/1
• 负责人: Timothy Adamo
• 金额: $ 162.74万
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FZ000157%2F1
• 关键词: Twistors; Quantum; Field; Theory; Strong

This proposal concerns new strategies for the study of quantum field theory (QFT) in non-perturbative settings. There are complementary experimental and theoretical incentives for pushing QFT beyond standard perturbation theory around a trivial vacuum. Upcoming experiments will probe strong field effects from quantum electrodynamics to gravity, and proposals for extending the holographic principle to asymptotically flat spacetimes require detailed knowledge of QFT beyond Minkowski space. The fundamental quantity underlying these twin imperatives is the S-matrix: the operator encoding the scattering of asymptotic states.Unfortunately, the vast majority of techniques employed in modern approaches to the S-matrix break down as soon as strong background fields or spacetime curvature are introduced. A crucial exception to this is provided by twistor theory, a framework encoding physics in terms of complex geometry. My recent work has demonstrated that twistor theory can deliver precision frontier calculations in strong field QFT and is intimately connected with approaches to asymptotically flat holography. These breakthroughs open the door on new approaches to QFT in strong backgrounds and holography in asymptotically flat spacetimes, as well as pushing twistor theory itself in novel directions. The team will deliver state-of-the-art calculations for scattering amplitudes and physical observables (both classical and quantum) in strong gauge and gravitational backgrounds including plane waves, beams, instantons and black holes, directly linked to detection targets at current or upcoming experiments. We will provide detailed bottom-up data for holography in asymptotically flat spacetimes, as well as using conformal and holomorphic field theory methods to create top-down models for the boundary dual. In parallel, we will develop new applications for twistor theory in its own right, in higher-spin theories, higher-dimensions and algebraic geometry.

该提案涉及非微扰环境下研究量子场论（QFT）的新策略。有互补的实验和理论激励来推动 QFT 超越微不足道真空的标准微扰理论。即将进行的实验将探讨从量子电动力学到引力的强场效应，并将全息原理扩展到渐近平坦时空的建议需要对闵可夫斯基空间之外的量子场论的详细了解。这些孪生命令背后的基本量是 S 矩阵：编码渐近态散射的算子。不幸的是，一旦强背景场或时空曲率出现，现代 S 矩阵方法中采用的绝大多数技术就会崩溃。介绍了。扭转量理论提供了一个重要的例外，这是一种用复杂几何来编码物理学的框架。我最近的工作表明，扭量理论可以在强场 QFT 中提供精确的前沿计算，并且与渐近平面全息方法密切相关。这些突破为强背景下量子场论和渐近平坦时空全息术的新方法打开了大门，并将扭量理论本身推向了新的方向。该团队将在强规范和引力背景（包括平面波、光束、瞬子和黑洞）中提供最先进的散射振幅和物理可观测值（经典和量子）计算，与当前或即将到来的探测目标直接相关实验。我们将为渐进平坦时空中的全息术提供详细的自下而上的数据，并使用共形和全纯场论方法为边界对偶创建自上而下的模型。与此同时，我们将开发扭量理论本身在高自旋理论、高维和代数几何中的新应用。