Tuesday 18th February 2025, 7pm, Sibson Lecture Theatre 3
Nabil Iqbal (University of Durham)
The two principles of quantum mechanics and gravity have given us a remarkably detailed understanding of most observable phenomena in the universe. However, combining these two principles into a theory of quantum gravity is a challenging problem that has motivated decades of research in theoretical physics. I will review how the combination of these two fundamental ideas leads to the idea of holographic duality. This is the notion that systems of quantum gravity are secretly exactly equivalent to systems of interacting particles living in one lower dimension. I’ll also discuss how this idea continues to be developed today. No prior knowledge of physics should be needed to understand the talk.
About the speaker
Nabil is a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Durham. He works in string theory, quantum field theory, and gravity. Much of his research deals with the idea that these seemingly diverse concepts are sometimes just different parts of the same elephant.
The talk is free and open to all. Doors open about half an hour before the talk begins.
For directions to the lecture theatre, see here.