Speaker: Tom Hartman (Stanford)
Title: Conformal Turaev-Viro Theory and 3D Gravity
Abstract: I will discuss recent work on the path integral of pure 3D gravity, which computes averaged observables in the dual 2D CFT. The gravity path integral can be calculated exactly using a Chern-Simons description (Virasoro/Teichmueller TQFT), or from a different point of view using Conformal Turaev-Viro theory. The two different TQFTs are related by a modular S-transform, or in gravity language, a change in boundary conditions from fixed lengths to fixed angles. The Turaev-Viro theory is non-compact, which distinguishes it from standard examples and can lead to divergences. It is nonetheless well defined on manifolds relevant to the AdS/CFT correspondence.