Aðalbygging
The Aula
Doctoral candidate:
Evangelos Tsolakidis
Title of thesis:
Irrelevant deformations, relevant masses
Opponents:
Dr. Sayed Fawad Hassan, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Stockholm University, Sweden
Dr. Roberto Tateo, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Turin, Italy
Advisor:
Dr. Valentina Giangreco M Puletti, Professor at the Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland
Other members of the doctoral committee:
Dr. Fridrik Freyr Gautason, Lecturer in String Theory at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Dr. Domenico Seminara, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Florence, Italy
Dr. Watse Sybesma, Assistant Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Nordic Institute of Theoretical physics (NORDITA), Sweden Dr. Lárus Thorlacius, Professor of Theoretical physics at the Faculty of Physical Sciences at the University of Iceland
Chair of Ceremony:
Dr. Birgir Hrafnkelsson, Professor and Head of the Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Iceland
Abstract:
The study of stress-tensor deformations is a newly-formed subfield in high energy theoretical physics and one of its main goals is to map out the space of all quantum field theories. Considering their connection to ghost-free massive gravity via the seminal example of TTbar in two dimensions, we develop a purely gravitational formalism for any deformation of this family in any dimension. Our approach indicates that the effect of the deformation reduces to coupling the undeformed theory with a carefully constructed mass term for the graviton. We employ this idea in various scenarios retrieving and extending known results in string theory and mathematics, ending up in higher dimensions where the dynamics are less explored. There, we establish a concrete connection between a ghost-free massive gravity theory and a holographically inspired deformation providing in parallel a direct derivation of the Polyakov form for branes in static gauge, based on the corresponding structure of the deformation.
About the doctoral candidate:
Evan studied physics at the University of Crete, followed by his master in theoretical physics at Uppsala University. Since 2022, he is pursuing his doctoral degree under the guidance of Valentina Giangreco Marotta Puletti.
Share
Buses 14, 1, 6, 3 and 12 stop at the University of Iceland in Vatnsmýri. Buses 11 and 15 also stop nearby. Let's travel in an ecological way!