Prof. Sunil Mukhi
IISER Pune
17th October, 2024
String Theory: Model and Framework
Abstract: String theory is a family of models attempting to describe nature in a unified approach. It is also a (maybe unique) consistent framework that generalizes quantum field theory in striking ways. I will try to highlight these two rather distinct goals, and describe what successes they have achieved over the last four decades.
Prof. Diptarka Das
IIT Kanpur
18th October, 2024
Statistical chaos in string scattering.
Abstract: We will introduce the tree level bosonic string scattering formula involving excited states. The explicit answers will be computed for some special polarizations that simplify the amplitude. Numerically, the closed formula for the S-matrix can be shown to have either GOE or GUE random matrix statistics depending on asymptotic state configurations. Upon coarse-grainings, for large asymptotic levels, the amplitudes exponentiate and start to give certain semiclassical indications consistent with the Horowitz-Polchinski-Susskind proposal.
Prof. Srubabati Goswami
Physical Research Laboratory
17th January, 2025
The Neutrino Odyssey: From an impossible dream to the unreachable stars
Abstract: Wolfgang Pauli proposed the existence of a particle devoid of electric charge and mass to explain the conservation of energy in nuclear beta decay. This elusive, electrically neutral particle, later christened the "neutrino" by Enrico Fermi, was detected almost three decades later by Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines. Since then, neutrino physics has remained an active area of research, offering insights into physics beyond our established ideas. Neutrinos also carry information from distant stars. This talk will trace the journey of the neutrino, from Pauli’s once-impossible dream to the observation of neutrinos from unreachable stars, culminating in the state-of-the-art ICECUBE detector at the South Pole.