Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory
Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2016.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106452 |
| _version_ | 1826198459509637120 |
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| author | Wang, Yifan, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author2 | Hong Liu and Xi Yin. |
| author_facet | Hong Liu and Xi Yin. Wang, Yifan, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author_sort | Wang, Yifan, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2016. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:05:17Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/106452 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:05:17Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1064522019-04-10T11:54:39Z Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory Wang, Yifan, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hong Liu and Xi Yin. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics. Physics. Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2016. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-194). In this thesis, we use string theory constructions and dualities to explore various features of interacting quantum field theories. We begin with an overview in Chapter 1, of past and recent developments in quantum field theories, explaining the advantages of string theoretic techniques over traditional approaches in answering a range of questions about interacting dynamics. In Chapter 2 we study the holographic duality between the 6d (1, 1) Ak-1 little string theory (LST) and type II string theory in the double scaled limit. By identifying the low energy states, which are Cartan gluons in the 6d maximal super-Yang-Mills (SYM) that describes the massless sector of the LST, we compute the four-point amplitudes from both sides of the duality and demonstrate matching results. Since the two computations concern different regimes in the parameter space, their amazing agreement implies the presence of certain nonrenormalization theorems in the 6d SYM. In Chapter 3, motivated by the AdS/CFT duality, we develop a systematic procedure to derive an off-shell action for hydrodynamics from classical Einstein gravity. We first identity the boundary fluid degrees of freedom in the hydrodynamic regime, in terms of gapless modes of the metric in the bulk gravity. This allows us to derive an off-shell action, for relativistic fluids that have gravity duals, at leading order in derivative expansion, by explicitly integrating out gapped degrees of freedom in the bulk. We also explain the strategy to incorporate dissipation and higher order effects. In Chapter 4, we discuss 4d N = 2 superconformal field theories (SCFT) of the Argyres-Douglas (AD) type, which can be constructed in string/M theory by either wrapping M5 branes on punctured Riemann surface or probing 3-fold singularity by IIB string. We classify the punctures (irregular defects in Hitchin system) on the Riemann surface in the former construction, that will give rise to N = 2 SCFTs and demonstrate how to extract exact information about the Coulomb branch spectrum and central charges. We further identify these AD theories constructed from M5 branes with a special class of theories from IIB probing compound Du Val (cDV) singularities, thereby establishing a mathematical connection between singular Hitchin systems and cDV singularities through N = 2 SCFTs. We end with a short summary and outlook for future directions in Chapter 5. by Yifan Wang. Ph. D. 2017-01-12T18:34:04Z 2017-01-12T18:34:04Z 2016 2016 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106452 967722636 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 194 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Physics. Wang, Yifan, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory |
| title | Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory |
| title_full | Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory |
| title_fullStr | Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory |
| title_short | Lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory |
| title_sort | lessons on interacting quantum field theories from string theory |
| topic | Physics. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106452 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wangyifanphdmassachusettsinstituteoftechnology lessonsoninteractingquantumfieldtheoriesfromstringtheory |