Talks

Day 1: Tuesday, June 2

The 3D Structure of the Nucleon

Andreas Metz (Temple U.)

Abstract: In this presentation, we discuss key aspects of the three-dimensional (3D) parton structure of the nucleon, which is encoded in transverse-momentum-dependent parton distributions and generalized parton distributions. We present the main features of these quantities, explain how they can be measured, and summarize the current state of knowledge about them. We also highlight how the future Electron-Ion Collider can advance this field.

Slides

Video

Search for Baryon Junctions in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions

Prithwish Tribedy (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Abstract: Baryon number transport in high-energy collisions provides a unique experimental window into how baryon number is carried in QCD. While the conventional valence-quark picture associates baryon number with quarks, baryon-junction ideas suggest that nonperturbative gluonic topology may play an essential role. I will discuss recent experimental motivations for baryon-junction searches, including baryon stopping and baryon–antibaryon asymmetries, and outline possible observables that can test whether baryon number transport is driven by valence quarks or by gluonic junction dynamics. I will also briefly comment on how related ideas of connected gluonic geometry appear in small-(x) proton-structure studies and may provide complementary questions for the EIC. The emphasis will be on experimentally accessible signatures and how to formulate a robust search program.

Ref: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.15441, to appear in Science

Slides

Video

Do null defects dream of conformal symmetry?

Justin Kulp (Simons Center for Geometry and Physics)

Abstract: Lightlike conformal line defects should appear in a number of places in theoretical physics, from null Wilson lines, to impurities moving at the speed of sound in a material, and as exponentials of light-ray/detector operators. Surprisingly, little is known about their existence and correlation functions. In this talk, I will discuss some work towards understanding null line defects in Lorentzian CFTs. First, I will describe their exceptional kinematics and general constraints on Ward identities. Then I will study the (3+1)d free scalar pinning field example. Physical consistency conditions compel us to consider technical distributional subtleties of correlation functions, making ultraboosted limits sensible and unambiguous, showing symmetries match expectations, and modifying conformal anomalies. Applying these lessons to a massless charged particle in pure Maxwell theory, we understand symmetry breaking by null Wilson lines and obtain a resolution to a longstanding problem of ultrarelativistic limits of gauge potentials in classical E&M.

Video

From the sublime to the ridiculous: Neutron Stars, Extremal Black Holes, and Boson Stars

Steve Liebling (Long Island University)

Abstract: Numerical relativity encompasses a wide range of interesting problems, and I'll discuss three current efforts: understanding potential observables from the merger of neutron stars, dynamical formation of extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes in charged scalar collapse, and understanding boson stars as an exotic alternative to standard compact objects.

Slides

Video

Day 2: Wednesday, June 3

Light-ray Operators and the w_(1+infinity) Algebra

Monica Pate (New York University)

Abstract: I will present a universal class of light-ray operators constructed from null integrals of the stress tensor that generate the wedge algebra of w_(1+infinity) in generic interacting Lorentzian conformal field theories in four spacetime dimensions. This symmetry algebra was recently identified among the asymptotic symmetries of asymptotically flat spacetimes and plays an integral role in the development of a holographic correspondence for such spacetimes. The symmetry algebra presented herein can be regarded as an avatar of the asymptotic symmetry algebra that persists in the absence of dynamical gravity. I will also discuss a second universal class of light-ray operators in four-dimensional conformal field theories with an additional spin-one conserved current that generates the ``S algebra,'' which is the gauge-theoretic analog of w_(1+infinity). Finally, I will present a simple set of observables involving these light-ray operators, namely their one-point functions in scalar states, which turn out to be simply related to universal soft factors arising from an infinite tower of soft graviton theorems.

Slides

The Heart of the Matter: From RHIC to the EIC

Oleg Eyser (Brookhaven National Lab)

Abstract: After a quarter of a century of successful operations, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) delivered its last particle collisions on February 6, 2026. Over the next few years, the facility will be converted and largely expanded into the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), which opens new possibilities to study nuclear physics and explore in detail how quarks and gluons interact within the matter that makes up the universe as we see it. This talk will highlight the legacy of RHIC and how it informs future experiments at the EIC, starting from the polarized high-energy particle beams, the design of the experimental detectors, and the observables which address profound questions around the emergence of nuclear properties in nucleons and nuclei.

Slides

Video

Suface Operators and Exact Holography

Raquel Izquierdo Garcia (Perimeter Institute)

Abstract: Non-local operators in quantum field theory describe a wide range of physical phenomena (such as impurities, defects or boundaries) and play a central role in the study of generalized symmetries. In gauge theories, surface operators are nonlocal probes of gauge theories capable of distinguishing phases that are not discernible by the classic Wilson-'t Hooft criterion. In this talk, I will present exact results for correlation functions of 1/2-BPS surface operators in N=4 super Yang-Mills. I will show that correlators with chiral primary operators are finite polynomials in the coupling constant, computed by localizing N=4 SYM on the four-sphere to a deformed 2d Yang-Mills theory on the two-sphere. Surprisingly, despite receiving nontrivial quantum corrections, these correlators are exactly captured in the planar limit by supergravity in AdS5×S5. I will demonstrate the precise agreement between localization, perturbation theory, and supergravity, as well as a nontrivial realization of S-duality. This talk is based on 2406.08541, work in collaboration with Changha Choi and Jaume Gomis.

Slides

Video

Extraordinary Surface Criticalities for Interacting Fermions

Yifan Wang (New York University)

Abstract: Interacting fermions exhibit a rich landscape of surface defects and associated critical phenomena. We investigate novel surface critical behavior in the three-dimensional Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model. For a class of defect renormalization group flows, we obtain exact infrared solutions and show how fermionic anomalies are encoded in the resulting surface dynamics. We further uncover emergent topological and geometric structures in the defect coupling space, and comment on their relation to a defect analogue of the CFT distance conjecture.

Video

Vacua and Solitons in Holographic Brane Intersections

Sophia Domokos (New York Institute of Technology)

Abstract: Brane intersections have long been used in holography to shed light on strongly coupled defect- and boundary-CFTS, with QCD and CMT models. In this talk, I will describe our results from the past several years in supersymmetric defect-(C)FTs based on brane intersections, relating results from the gravity side of the duality for non-trivial flux vacua and unusual soliton states, as well as progress on identifying new soliton states from the field theory side of the duality. Based on work with A. Royston.