PHYS 879U - Introduction to Holographic Duality
Syllabus - Spring 2019
University of Maryland, Prof. Ted Jacobson
Initially discovered in 1997 by Juan Maldacena in the context of string theory, holographic duality is a (partial or complete) equivalence between certain quantum gravity theories and certain quantum field theories in fewer spacetime dimensions without gravity. The subject has been vigorously explored and developed for two decades, and is still very much in a stage of discovery. Viewed from one direction, it provides the most complete formulation of a theory of quantum gravity yet achieved, in which the gravitating spacetime is nonlocally emergent from quantum entanglement of other degrees of freedom. From a very different direction, holography provides a geometrization of the scale dependence of physics in quantum field theories, including those describing many-body systems. These descriptions just barely begin to describe what appears to be a tectonic revolution in physics.
This course will attempt to introduce students to the subject, assuming no more than familiarity with general relativity and quantum field theory. Our focus will be from the quantum gravity viewpoint. The student project will give individual students the opportunity to add a focus related to their particular interests.
Class meetings: M11:00-12:15pm, PSC3150; W11:00-12:15, PHY1219
Professor: Ted Jacobson, jacobson_at_umd.edu, Room 3151 PSC, 301-405-6020
Office hours: After class, by appointment, or drop by.
TA: none
Prerequisites: Familiarity with general relativity and quantum field theory.
Sources: We'll make use of lecture notes and papers available online.
Class Notes: May be posted at course webpage, or at Piazza.
.Course web site: https://sites.google.com/physics.umd.edu/holoduality. Course plan, resources, homework, and possibly my notes will be posted.
Piazza course web forum https://piazza.com/umd/spring2019/phys879u/home: Please use piazza for questions and discussion on course material. You can often get a response via piazza very quickly, even at surprising times. Solutions and grades will be posted at piazza.
E-mail: Students are responsible for making sure I have their correct email address and checking their email daily. Important messages will sometimes be sent to the class by email or via piazza.
Homework:
+ Usually assigned weekly or biweekly, and graded for effort only, not for accuracy. I plan to keep the homework workload rather light (feel free to complain if it isn't), to leave students time for learning the material and working on their research projects and reports (see below).
+ Please make sure you include your name and the homework and course numbers, and staple the pages together. Late homework accepted only under dire circumstances: if you know it will be impossible to turn in an assignment on time, you must discuss this with me in advance of the due date.
+ You're allowed and encouraged to discuss homework with others. Please utilize the Piazza web site (see above) for questions and discussions, so that all students may benefit.
+ However, don't just copy someone else's solutions. The write-up you turn in should be your own formulation, and should reflect your own understanding. See Academic Honesty section below for consequences of violation.
Project: Each student will choose a project (to be approved by me) according to their interest, and pursue it during the semester, culminating in a written report of around ten pages (or more). The project will involve either (i) reading, digesting, and working out details of one or more research papers or review articles, (ii) expanding on homework or other class material, or (iii) attempting original research (which need not be successful). The report should aim to explain as clearly as possible what you learned, should cite all the references you consulted, and obviously shouldn't just copy things you find.
Grading: The grade will be based on the homework effort (75%), and the final project paper (25%). The letter grades will be inflated: A: good or better, B: adequate, C: not adequate, F: did very few of the assignments.
Academic Integrity: The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.shc.umd.ed