Program

• Fabio Apruzzi (Oxford)
  Title: "Geometric Engineering and Holography of 6d and 5d Superconformal Field Theories"
  Abstract: In these lectures I will describe how to construct 6d and 5d superconformal field theories (SCFTs) from string theory. In particular the focus of the first two lectures will be about perturbative Hanany-Witten-type brane systems, which naturally lead to holographic setups. I will also show some examples of observables which can be computed holographically using the AdS dual. In the third lecture I will introduce non-perturbative setups coming from F- and M-theory on Calabi-Yau threefolds. The lecture will be mainly focused on the connection between 6d and 5d SCFTs via circle compactifications, which is geometrically engineered by M/F-theory duality. I will highlight the advantages of this perspective especially for 5d SCFTs.

Notes for Lecture 1 /Lecture 1 Complete Video of Lecture 1

Notes for Lecture 2 /Lecture 2 Complete Video of Lecture 2

Notes for Lecture 3 / Lecture 3 Complete Video of Lecture 3

• Kantaro Ohmori (Simons Center for Geometry and Physics)
  Title: "Topological phases and Anomalies"
  Abstract: Symmetry and its ’t Hooft anomaly are powerful tools because they are invariant along an RG flow. It is particularly important for the strongly coupled system to which more direct methods, e.g. perturbation, are not applicable. In the first lecture I will give an overview on anomalies from a modern perspective. In the rest of the lectures I will describe examples of anomalies in strongly coupled systems: 6d N=(1,0) SCFTs and 4d pure YM with theta = pi
  
  Notes for Lecture 1 /Lecture 1 Complete Video of Lecture 1

Notes for Lecture 2/Lecture 2 Complete Video of Lecture 2

Notes for Lecture 3/Lecture 3 Complete Video of Lecture 3

• Irene Valenzuela (Harvard)
  Title: "The Swampland Program in String Compactifications"
  Abstract: The Swampland program aims to determine the criteria that low energy effective field theories must satisfy to admit an ultraviolet embedding into quantum gravity. A number of such criteria, known as Swampland Conjectures, have been proposed in the literature, triggering research on string compactifications, holography, black hole physics, cosmology, particle physics and even mathematics. In the context of string theory, the Swampland Conjectures translate to constraints on the structure of possible compactifications, or string geometries. In these lectures, I will explain the most important Swampland conjectures and the evidence we have gathered for them in the context of string theory compactifications. I will start discussing the conjecture regarding the absence of global symmetries and then focus on the Weak Gravity Conjecture and the Distance Conjecture, which are at the core of the Swampland program. I will finally briefly discuss some more recent conjectures regarding the structure of the scalar potential and the landscape of vacua arising in string theory.
  
  Notes for Lecture 1 Video of Lecture 1
  
  Notes for Lecture 2 Video of Lecture 2
  
  Notes for Lecture 3 Video of Lecture 3
  

• Yifan Wang (Harvard)
  Title: "Aspects of Superconformal field theories in 4d, 5d, and 6d"
  Abstract: In these lectures I will give an overview of superconformal field theories (SCFT) in 4d, 5d and 6d, that come from string/M-theory constructions. I will discuss how to extract CFT observables and understand field theory dualities from the geometric setup.
  
  Notes for Lecture 1 Video of Lecture 1
  
  Notes for Lecture 2 Video of Lecture 2
  
  Notes for Lecture 3 Video of Lecture 3