Wednesday, January 17, 2024

M-theory (and F-theory) from D=27+3



As the M-theory and Mathematics conference takes place in Abu-Dhabi, it’s great time to reflect on talks from last year.  In D=26+1 the M-theory superalgebra permits a 10-brane, with D=10+1 worldvolume signature.  This gives a worldvolume interpretation of 11D M-theory in 27-dimensions.  However, to include F-theory as well one is required to have at least a D=11+3 worldvolume theory, whose superalgebra takes the form specified by Sezgin et al. in hep-th/9711127.  Such a worldvolume exists in D=27+3, where an 11-brane sweeps out an (11,3) signature worldvolume.  Here string dualities are related to the various geometric reductions of this 11-brane worldvolume theory.

Tuesday, January 09, 2024

The State of String Theory


Brian Greene hosted a discussion with Edward Witten, Andrew Strominger and David Gross to discuss the state of string theory.  Topics were covered from black holes to AdS/CFT, as well as a historical discussion of string theory since the late 60s.  It would have been nice to hear more about M-theory and F-theory models, but alas strings were center stage in this gathering.

Monday, December 18, 2023

Coding the Cosmos: Stephen Wolfram


Stephen Wolfram discusses his computational approach to fundamental physics which utilizes multiway graphs and branchial networks.



Sunday, February 12, 2023

M-theory & Math 2023

 


The M-theory and Mathematics workshop (2023) at NYUAD was a great success.  The quality of talks was excellent, especially with further progress on mysterious duality, K-theory and Cohomotopy (given hypothesis H).

Cheers to the organizers H. Sati, U. Schreiber and the Center for Quantum and Topological Systems.  Indeed, the quest for the underlying mathematics of M-theory continues.

Monday, November 07, 2022

Strings 2022

 


Ooguri gives an overview talk, mentioning wormholes, quantum chaos and compact Calabi-Yau spaces.  He ends with details of the organizational details of string conferences, including costs.  It is remarkable that during the pandemic, virtual conferences costed only 2k and 3k and enjoyed over 2,300 participants in 2020 and 2021.

Strings 2021

 


Continuing with a virtual format, talks included excellent reviews by Green, Schwarz and Witten.  The importance of understanding dualities was emphasized.  Indeed, string dualities require one to go beyond M-theory and F-theory in D=11 and D=12.

Monday, July 06, 2020

Strings 2020


A nice overview of Strings 2020, given by David Gross.  Fuzzballs and replica wormholes took center stage.



Sunday, April 12, 2020

In Memory of John Conway















John Conway, the legendary mathematician, has passed.  Conway will be remembered for his deep work in pure mathematics, especially in cellular automata and Monstrous moonshine.  When asked about one of his greatest life’s mysteries, he expressed his desire for the 196883 representation of the Monster to be properly understood.  The quest goes on, and hopefully, through physics this mystery can be solved.