Special Theoretical Physics Seminar - Victor Gorbenko, Institute for Advanced Study, “Long-Distance Dynamics of Quantum Fields and Cosmology”

Event time: 
Thursday, February 13, 2020 - 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Location: 
Sloane Physics Laboratory (SPL), Room 51 See map
217 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

“Long-Distance Dynamics of Quantum Fields and Cosmology”
After reviewing some open problems in the early universe cosmology, I will focus on a particular one — the infrared behavior of light fields in de Sitter space. This problem, relevant both for phenomenology and for our conceptual understanding of stability of cosmological spacetimes and eternal inflation, requires somewhat non-standard techniques for its solution. In a generic case the perturbative analysis fails and the theory enters a strongly coupled non-perturbative regime. Using a simple model, I will introduce the formalism, which nevertheless allows to study this regime of interest systematically. In the remainder of the talk I will point to several more general applications and exciting ongoing developments.
Host: Witold Skiba, witold.skiba@yale.edu