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Observers, wormholes and complex saddles in cosmology

→ Europe/Zurich
Bernoulli Center for Fundamental Studies, EPFL

Bernoulli Center for Fundamental Studies, EPFL

GA 3 34, Bâtiment GA, Station 5, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Andreas Blommaert (IAS), Oliver Janssen (EPFL)
Description

We will explore the following open questions in theoretical cosmology, related to the quantization of gravity:

  1. How does one describe gauge-invariant observables in quantum gravity that resemble measurements carried out by an observer residing in the spacetime (such as ourselves)?
  2. Should effects of topology change (spacetimes with wormholes) be considered? Which wormhole spacetimes contribute to physical observables in quantum gravity?
  3. Important contributions to observables can originate from “complexified” spacetimes. A key example is the Hartle-Hawking geometry which contributes to the wavefunction of the universe. Can we formulate a general principle for which complex saddles contribute, and which do not?

The goal of this workshop is to bring together a representative part of the research community responsible for recent progress on these questions, which spans several fields.

Some useful links

Andreas Blommaert Oliver Janssen
Participants
  • Adam Levine
  • Alejandro Vilar Lopez
  • Alessandro Fumagalli
  • Altay Etkin
  • Andreas Blommaert
  • Antony Speranza
  • Bahman Najian
  • Beatrix Muehlmann
  • Chang-Han Chen
  • David Kolchmeyer
  • Diego Liska
  • Dionysios Anninos
  • Eyoab Bahiru
  • Fabio Ori
  • Jacopo Papalini
  • Joel Karlsson
  • Jonah Kudler-Flam
  • Kamran Salehi Vaziri
  • Katarina Trailović
  • Kristan Jensen
  • Mattia Varrone
  • Mehrdad Mirbabayi
  • Mikhail Shaposhnikov
  • Oliver Janssen
  • Orr Sela
  • Pietro Benetti Genolini
  • Pratik Rath
  • Priyadarshi Paul
  • Ricardo Schiappa
  • Ruben Monten
  • Samuel Brian
  • Shota Komatsu
  • Tarek Anous
  • Thomas Hertog
  • Tim Schuhmann
  • Victor Godet
  • Victor Gorbenko
  • Vineeth Krishna Talasila
  • Yiming Chen
  • zhenbin yang
  • +12
  • Monday 18 May
    • 1
      Review talk
      Speaker: Dionysios Anninos (Kings)
    • 10:15
      Coffee break
    • 2
      Talk
      Speaker: Beatrix Muehlmann (IAS)
    • 3
      Talk
      Speaker: Ellie Harris (ICTP)
    • 12:15
      Lunch
    • 13:15
      Free discussion
    • 4
      Talk
      Speaker: Tarek Anous (Queen Mary)
  • Tuesday 19 May
    • 5
      Review talk
      Speaker: Jonah Kudler-Flam (IAS)
    • 10:15
      Coffee break
    • 6
      Talk
      Speaker: Erez Urbach (IAS)
    • 7
      Talk
      Speaker: Shreya Vardhan* (Caltech)
    • 12:15
      Lunch
    • 13:15
      Free discussion
    • 8
      Talk
      Speaker: David Kolchmeyer (IAS)
  • Wednesday 20 May
    • 9
      Review talk
      Speaker: Zhenbin Yang (Tsinghua)
    • 10:15
      Coffee break
    • 10
      Talk
      Speaker: Herman Verlinde (Princeton)
    • 11
      Talk
      Speaker: Jacopo Papalini (Ghent)
    • 12:15
      Lunch
    • 13:15
      Free discussion
    • 16:30
      Workshop dinner

      At Domaine de la Crausaz (Chem. de la Creuse 9, 1091 Grandvaux). We will leave together from the Bernoulli Center at 4:30PM and travel by public transport (included in your hotel reservation).

  • Thursday 21 May
    • 09:00
      Coffee break
    • 12
      Talk
      Speaker: Pratik Rath (Tata)
    • 13
      Talk
      Speaker: Chris Akers (Boulder)
    • 12:15
      Lunch
    • 13:15
      Free discussion
    • 14
      Talk
      Speaker: Kristan Jensen (Victoria)
  • Friday 22 May
    • 15
      Review talk
      Speaker: Thomas Hertog (Leuven)
    • 10:15
      Coffee and discussion
    • 16
      Talk
      Speaker: Alessandro Fumagalli (Amsterdam)
    • 12:15
      Lunch
    • 17
      Talk
      Speaker: Onkar Parrikar (Tata)