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Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP)

While it is widely acknowledged that string theory provides a framework for addressing quantum gravitational (and even quantum field theoretic) questions, the precise nature of its organizational principle remains obscure. Nearly three decades ago, when the question “What is string theory?” was asked, the perturbative string worldsheet viewpoint played the starring role. Since then, the discovery of D-branes, string dualities, and the holographic AdS/CFT correspondence has had spacetime dynamics taking center-stage. Much insight has been gleaned from these developments. We now have, for example, a much broader class of string backgrounds with better control over compactifications; strong constraints on the low energy effective field theories; a plethora of gauge-string dualities as well as applications of holographic techniques to a wide class of physical problems; and new angles on semiclassical gravitational physics from a fruitful interplay with quantum information in holography. Together with an influx of new tools and techniques, we have a very rich set of perspectives that illuminate the subject we continue to call string theory. While all these developments are interesting in and of themselves, it is an opportune moment to attempt to synthesize these, often disparate, strands and arrive at a deeper answer to the question in the title.

Mathematical Physics,    Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

The international conference Loops ‘24 is the most recent in a long tradition of biennial meetings focused on loop quantum gravity and background independent approaches to quantum gravity. The conference will be held from Monday, May 6 through Friday, May 10, 2024, at the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA). The program will feature morning plenary talks complemented by contributed talks. Plenary sessions will be held in the auditorium of the Broward County Main Library one block away from the campus. The conference will highlight recent developments in canonical loop quantum gravity, covariant loop quantum gravity (spin foams), and other approaches to quantum gravity, as well as applications to symmetry-reduced models, quantum cosmology, black holes in quantum gravity, and other topics. Foundational, mathematical, numerical and phenomenological aspects will be covered.

Gravitation and Cosmology

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology,    Mathematical Physics

The 12th edition of the LHCP Conference is hosted by Northeastern University, in Boston, USA

The main goal of the conference is to provide intense and lively discussions between experimenters and theorists in such research areas as the Standard Model Physics and Beyond, the Higgs Boson Physics, Heavy Quark Physics and Heavy Ion Physics, as well as to share recent progress in the high luminosity upgrades and future collider developments.

Particle Accelerators,    Nuclear Physics

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will host its third annual summer school on Physical Mathematics of Quantum Field Theory during the week of June 10 - 14, 2024. The aim of the workshop is to introduce young researchers on the boundary between mathematics and physics to recent ideas in classical and quantum field theory using notions from complex geometry and algebraic topology. The target audience of the workshop is advanced graduate students and post-docs, from both mathematics and theoretical physics. The schedule will be designed to include a large amount of time for participants to interact. We hope especially to encourage conversations between mathematicians and physicists.

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

Courses and Events for Physics Students,    Mathematical Physics

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara

The 21st century has seen tremendous progress towards understanding the elementary constituents of matter, the forces that bind them, and the organizing principles that unite them. Concerted experimental and theoretical efforts have culminated in the discovery of the Higgs boson and the observation of gravitational waves, while also excluding countless proposed new phenomena. Today the central questions of particle physics are sharper than ever – from the nature of dark matter and dark energy, to the patterns of flavor and unification, to the origin of mass and the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking -- but answering them will require both the energetic synthesis of existing methods and the genesis of entirely new ones.

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Santa Barbara

Generalized symmetries have recently emerged as a unifying theme in high energy theory, phenomenology, condensed matter physics, mathematics, and quantum gravity. This field has witnessed a literal explosion of new results within all these different areas. This program will bring together experts from this diverse set of fields, to first consolidate recent progress and more importantly, to find common ground to explore, across disciplines, the exciting physical implications of generalized symmetries. To date, the isolated development has led to several related concepts being developed independently, in different contexts and without much cross-interaction. The program aims to consolidate these divergent approaches and foster interactions between researchers in high energy, condensed matter physics and mathematics, hopefully identifying synergies that drive future joint developments. Due to the truly interdisciplinary character of this subject, this program will convene scientists to discuss 1. Generalized Symmetries: hep-th meets cond-mat 2. Non-Invertible Symmetries 3. Topological Order 4. Generalized Symmetries in String Theory, Holography and Quantum Gravity 5. Phenomenological Applications, and, 6. Mathematics, in particular Higher Category Theory.

UC Santa Barbara, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics

Over the past ten years tremendous progress has been achieved in quantum field theory thanks to the realization that symmetries can be interpreted in terms of the action of topological defects on the space of operators. This gives a generalization of the notion of symmetries, explicitly realized in many instances exploiting Lagrangian field theory techniques, uncovering a rich and unexpected landscape of physical effects in condensed matter, high energy physics, and quantum gravity. This conference will bring together the major experts in the subject, and strives to be an opportunity for participants to quickly get up to speed with the most recent advances and open problems in the field.

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology,    Condensed Matter Physics and Materials