# BtSM Event Announcements

#### marcus

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The title of the talk Derek Wise is scheduled to give on Tuesday (in 5 days from now) has been posted. Here's the current ILQGS schedule as it stands so far.

Code:
DATE	Seminar Title	                                 Speaker      Institution
Sep 03 [B]Multiymplectic effective General Boundary Field Theory[/B] J.Zapata   Morelia
Sep 17 [B]Thermality of spherical causal domains–entanglement spectrum[/B] H.Haggard Marseille
Oct 01 [B]BH entropy from LQG: higher dim. and gen. theories[/B] N.Bodendorfer  PennState
Oct 15 [B]Holographic SR: observer space from conformal geometry[/B] Derek Wise Erlangen
Oct 29 TBA	                                     Asieh Karami	 Morelia
Nov 12 [B]What can we learn from shape dynamics?[/B]        Tim Koslowski     NewBrunswick
Nov 26 TBA	                                     Johannes Thürigen PotsdamAEI
Dec 10 TBA	                                     Saeed Rastgoo	 Morelia
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/

http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.3258
Holographic Special Relativity
Derek K. Wise
(Submitted on 14 May 2013)
We reinterpret special relativity, or more precisely its de Sitter deformation, in terms of 3d conformal geometry, as opposed to (3+1)d spacetime geometry. ...
... We conjecture a relationship between this kind of "holographic relativity" and the "shape dynamics" proposal of Barbour and collaborators, in which conformal space takes the place of spacetime in general relativity. We also briefly survey related pictures of observer space, including the AdS analog and a representation related to twistor theory.
17 pages, 5 illustrations

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#### MTd2

Gold Member
I found this:

http://www.claymath.org/workshops/CCC/ [Broken]

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#### marcus

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I found this:

http://www.claymath.org/workshops/CCC/ [Broken]
Interesting find! Here is the poster, with an elaborate drawing by Penrose illustrating his CCC idea:
http://www.claymath.org/workshops/CCC/CCCposter.jpg [Broken]
You can click on it to enlarge it, making it more legible.

I see that among those on the discussion panel and/or giving talks were Kris Meissner (Warsaw), George Ellis (Capetown), Ted Newman (Pittsburg). Meissner posted a paper in July presenting new statistical evidence of circular ripples in the CMB that might have emanated from events in prior aeon, thus supporting the CCC conjecture. The site has abstracts for some of the talks. Here is a partial list of titles:

9:00 Roger Penrose On CCC's motivations, equations, observational implications, and future research
10:00 Vahe Gurzadyan Positive lambda, the 2nd law and observations
11:30 Krzysztof Meissner
2:00 Paul Tod The equations of CCC
3:00 Michael Eastwood Twistors, tractors, and conformally invariant operators
4:30 Rod Gover Klein, Poincaré, and geometry at infinity

9:00 Gabriele Veneziano A bouncing cosmology from string theory's new symmetries?
10:00 Kostas Skenderis Holography and the very early universe
11:30 Tsou Sheung Tsun A theory of Fermion masses and mixing
2:00 Helmut Friedrich Existence and asymptotic behaviour of space-time with positive lambda
4:30 Tim Adamo Gravity in twistor space

9:00 Claude LeBrun
10:00 Jörg Frauendiener
11:30 Laszlo Szabados On the total mass of closed universes with positive cosmological constant
2:00 Neil Turok
3:00 George Ellis Indications that gravity is essentially a conformal theory

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#### marcus

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This semester's schedule for the International LQG Seminar was posted today.
To follow the ILQGS series, go here:
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
Links to audio and to slides PDF usually appear there around the time that the online seminar is scheduled to be given. Get the slides on a separate window before you start the audio, so you will be able to scroll through the slides along with the speaker.
==quote==
ILQGS SEMINAR SCHEDULE
SPRING 2014
Code:
1/21  [B]Matter matters in asymptotically safe quantum gravity[/B]  P. Dona (Sissa)
2/4   TBA	 	 	 	 	 B. Dittrich (Perimeter)
2/18  TBA	 	 	 	 	 S. Steinhaus (Perimeter)
3/4  [B]Simplicity constraints in spin foam models[/B]  M. Geiller, S. Speziale (PSU,Marseille)
3/18 [B]S-matrices for General Boundary QFT on Anti de Sitter spacetime[/B]  M. Dohse (Morelia)
4/1  [B]Continuum limit and renormalization[/B]  	 L. Freidel (Perimeter)
4/15 [B] Linking canonical and covariant LQG[/B]  	 A. Zipfel (Erlangen)
4/29  [B]LQC and the very early universe[/B] I.Agullo, A.Barrau, G.Mena (LSU, Grenoble, Madrid)
5/13  [B]Hawking radiation in LQG[/B]	 	 	 J. Pullin (LSU)
==endquote==

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#### marcus

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Dearly Missed
ILQGS SEMINAR SCHEDULE (update)
SPRING 2014
Code:
1/21  [B]Matter matters in asymptotically safe quantum gravity[/B]  P. Dona (Sissa)
2/4   [B]A new vacuum for loop quantum gravity[/B]      B. Dittrich (Perimeter)
2/18 [B]Quantum group spin nets:refinement & relation to spin foam[/B] S. Steinhaus (Perimeter)
3/4  [B]Simplicity constraints in spin foam models[/B]  M. Geiller, S. Speziale (PSU,Marseille)
3/18 [B]S-matrices for General Boundary QFT on Anti de Sitter spacetime[/B]  M. Dohse (Morelia)
4/1  [B]Continuum limit and renormalization[/B]  	 L. Freidel (Perimeter)
4/15 [B] Linking canonical and covariant LQG[/B]  	 A. Zipfel (Erlangen)
4/29  [B]LQC and the very early universe[/B] I.Agullo, A.Barrau, G.Mena (LSU, Grenoble, Madrid)
5/13  [B]Hawking radiation in LQG[/B]	 	 	 J. Pullin (LSU)
Links to audio and slides PDF posted here:
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
E.g. for the 21 Jan talk by Pietro Donà
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/dona012114.pdf
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/dona012114.wav

Hopefully the slides PDF for the 4 Feb talk by Bianca Dittrich will be posted well in advance of the talk so one can get an idea of the topic A new vacuum for loop quantum gravity ahead of time. If and when that happens, the link might be:
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/dittrich020414.pdf

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#### marcus

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Re the previous post, both slides and audio are online for all three of the ILQGS talks that have been given so far this semester. The link that works for me, for the audio of Steinhaus' talk is:
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/steinhaus021814.wav
although it currently does not appear in the main menu at http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/

Here are some QG and QG-related workshops, schools, or conferences scheduled for this year:

June http://www.centrovolta.it/sigrav2014/ [Broken]
Gravity and the Quantum

July http://ift.uni.wroc.pl/~mborn33/
Noncommutative geometry, quantum symmetries and quantum gravity

September http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/
Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity

The June 1-6 SIGRAV school, "Gravity and the Quantum", at a villa on the Lago di Como in Northern Italy sounds nice. Here are the introductory/survey courses being offered

QUANTUM COSMOLOGY Abhay Ashtekar
NON-COMMUTATIVE GEOMETRY AND QUANTUM GRAVITY John Barrett
BLACK HOLES Eugenio Bianchi
QUANTUM SPACE Laurent Freidel
ASYMPTOTIC SAFETY Roberto Percacci
COVARIANT LOOP QUANTUM GRAVITY Carlo Rovelli

Here are some photos of the Villa del Grumello where it is being held and the Lake Como surroundings:

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#### marcus

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Princeton IAS will hold a one-week school focused on String Theory the week of June 16-20. This is part of the PiTP (Prospects in Theoretical Physics) annual series, aimed primarily at advanced graduate students and postdocs.
https://pitp2014.ias.edu

A partial list of topics to be covered:
"Application of AdS/CFT" (Steven Gubser, Princeton University)
"Introduction to Higher Spins" (Simone Giombi, Princeton University)
"Introduction to Topological String Theory" (Hirosi Ooguri, California Institute of Technology)
"String Compactification" (To Be Announced)
"Super-Symmetric Quantum Field Theories" (Nathan Seiberg, Institute for Advanced Study)

Other lecturers will be: Nima Arkani-Hamed (Institute for Advanced Study), Igor Klebanov (Princeton University), Juan Maldacena (Institute for Advanced Study), Alexander Polyakov (Princeton University), Herman Verlinde (Princeton University), and Edward Witten (Institute for Advanced Study).

The annual Strings conference will be held the following week June 23-27
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/Home.shtml

Strings 2015 will be held in Bangalore, India.

#### MTd2

Gold Member
Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity workshop

1-5 September SISSA/ISA Italy

http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/

Maurizio Gasperini (University of Bari)
Sabine Hossenfelder (NORDITA, Stockholm)
Stefano Liberati (SISSA)
Roberto Percacci (SISSA)
Lee Smolin (PI, Waterloo)
Stefano Liberati (SISSA)
Roberto Percacci (SISSA)
Alessio Belenchia (SISSA)
Dionigi Benincasa (SISSA)
Arif Mohd (SISSA)
Alejandro Castedo (SISSA)
David Marzocca (SISSA)
Bethan Cropp (SISSA)

#### marcus

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What I see at the ESQG workshop website is a list of confirmed speakers different from what just MTd2 posted:
==quote==
Talks

Confirmed speakers

Name--------- Institution
Giovanni Amelino-Camelia Sapienza, Rome
John Donoghue University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Astrid Eichhorn Perimeter Institute, Waterloo
Jonathan Granot Open University of Israel
John Kelley IMAPP, Radboud University, Nijmegen
Jerzy Kowalski-Glickman University of Wroclaw
Joao Magueijo Imperial College, London
David Mattingly University of New Hampshire
Jakub Mielczarek Jagiellonian University, Crakow
Igor Pikovski Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology
Floyd Stecker NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
==endquote==

Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity workshop

1-5 September SISSA/ISA Italy

http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/

Maurizio Gasperini (University of Bari)
Sabine Hossenfelder (NORDITA, Stockholm)
Stefano Liberati (SISSA)
Roberto Percacci (SISSA)
Lee Smolin (PI, Waterloo)
Stefano Liberati (SISSA)
Roberto Percacci (SISSA)
Alessio Belenchia (SISSA)
Dionigi Benincasa (SISSA)
Arif Mohd (SISSA)
Alejandro Castedo (SISSA)
David Marzocca (SISSA)
Bethan Cropp (SISSA)

#### marcus

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Great talks on YouTube from 10-12 June 2013 conference at Oxford
on Cosmology and Quantum Foundations
for example:

and

when these come up there will be also a menu of other talks at the same conference.

Thanks to Fuzzyfelt for putting me onto these links!

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#### marcus

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The fourth workshop on the Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity (ESQG) will be held in Trieste on 1-5 September
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/
Since it's still 3 months off, titles of talks have not yet been announced. Here's the list of invited speakers:
Code:
Stephon Alexander	Dartmouth
Giovanni Amelino-Camelia    Sapienza, Rome
Astrid Eichhorn	        Perimeter Institute, Waterloo
Agnes Ferte        	Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Julien Grain        	Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Jonathan Granot         Open University of Israel
Giulia Gubitosi	        Sapienza, University of Rome
Brian Keating	        University of California, San Diego
John Kelley	        IMAPP, Radboud University, Nijmegen
Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman	University of Wroclaw
Joao Magueijo	        Imperial College, London
David Mattingly	        University of New Hampshire
Jakub Mielczarek	Jagiellonian University, Crakow
Jonathan Miller	        Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria
Daniele Oriti	        Albert Einstein Institute
Igor Pikovski	        Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology
Carlo Rovelli	        Aix-Marseille University
Floyd Stecker	        NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
The purpose of the workshop is to bring together experimentalists, theoreticians, and phenomenologists interested in possible tests probing the quantum/discrete structure of spacetime. There will be a number of rather focussed talks discussing possible phenomenological tests of quantum gravity and proposing some new ideas in this direction.
===============
Strings 2014 is scheduled for 23-27 June at Princeton
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/Invited_speakers.shtml
The list of invited speakers has 74 names.
The titles of the talks have not been posted as yet.
================

The 2014 SIGRAV school "Gravity and the Quantum" was just held 1-6 June at Villa Grumello on Lake Como in Italy.
http://www.centrovolta.it/sigrav2014 [Broken]
Here's a list of the six courses given at the school:

QUANTUM COSMOLOGY Abhay Ashtekar
NON-COMMUTATIVE GEOMETRY AND QUANTUM GRAVITY John Barrett
BLACK HOLES Eugenio Bianchi
QUANTUM SPACE Laurent Freidel
ASYMPTOTIC SAFETY Roberto Percacci
COVARIANT LOOP QUANTUM GRAVITY Carlo Rovelli

I understand each course consisted of a series of lectures given on different days. Ashtekar's was a series of five. Links to slides for some of the talks have been posted.
=================

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#### marcus

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Dearly Missed
Talk titles for the Strings 2014 conference speaker list were posted today, about 9 days in advance of the conference. Here's the link:
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/Talk_titles.shtml
Name Title
Code:
Anderson	Hidden geometry in heterotic string and F-theory compactifications
Basso		Scattering amplitudes at strong coupling beyond the area paradigm
Baumann		B-modes and the Nature of Inflation
Bizon		Gravitational turbulent instability of AdS5
de Boer		The entropy of a hole in space-time
Bousso		A Proof of the Covariant Bound
Cachazo		Scattering Equations
Casini		Entropy and Energy on null surfaces
Cheng		Umbral Moonshine and String Theory
Chesler		A holographic perspective on the Kibble-Zurek mechanism
Conlon	Moduli, 0.1-1 keV Cosmic Axion Background and the Galaxy Cluster Soft Excess
Cordova		Toda CFT from Six Dimensions
Cremonini	Probing the structure of quantum phases of matter with holography
Dabholkar	Quantum Black Holes and Quantum Holography
Dolan		Amplitudes and the Scattering Equations, Proofs and Polynomials
Erdmenger	Applications of AdS/CFT to high energy and condensed matter physics*
Esole		Singularities and Gauge Theory Phases
Freedman	Precision Tests of the AdS/CFT Correspondence
Gaiotto		Topological order in N=1 Super Yang Mills theory
Gauntlett	Holographic Lattices, Metals and Insulators
Gomis	Sphere Partition Functions, the Zamolodchikov Metric and Surface Operators
Gopakumar	From Higher Spins to Strings
Graham		New methods for discovering light fields
Green		Visionary
Gromov		Quantum spectral curve and AdS/CFT spectral problem
Gross		Visionary
Guica		A toy model for the Kerr/CFT correspondence
Hanada		Monte Carlo approach to string/M-theory
Hellerman	String Theory of the Regge Intercept
Hubeny		Holographic Entanglement
Kachru		Mock Modular Moonshine for M22 and M23
Klevers		Recent Progress on the Abelian Sector of F-theory
Komargodski	A Cardy-like formula in four dimensions
Kovac		Detection of B-mode Polarization at Degree Angular Scales with BICEP2
Lee,Sungjay	New Exact Results on D-branes and Orientifolds in Calabi Yau Spaces
Lee,Sangmin	Scattering amplitudes in three dimensions
Leigh		The Exact are normalization Group and Higher Spin Holography
Liu		Entanglement Tsunami
Mafra		The closed-string 3-loop amplitude
Maldacena	Visionary
Marchesano	F-term axion monodromy inflation
Marino		Non-perturbative effects in M-theory
Minahan		Three-point correlators from string theory amplitudes
Moore 		Visionary
Murugan 	Meromorphic functions and the topology of giants
Neitzke		A smooth R3 index for N=2 theories in four dimensions
Nekrasov Nonperturbative Dyson-Schwinger identities in gauge theories and sigma models
Polchinski	Black Hole Information: Spacetime versus Quantum Mechanics*
van Raamsdonk	Gravitation from Entanglement
Raju		State dependent operators and the information paradox
Rastelli	The Superconformal Bootstrap
Sen 		Mass renormalization and vacuum shift in string theory
Silverstein	The powers of monodromy
Simmons-Duffin	Bootstrapping the 3d Ising Model
Staudacher	N=4 Scattering Amplitudes and the Regularized Graßmannian
Steinhardt	TBA
Stieberger	Unity of tree–level superstring amplitudes
Strominger	Visionary
Sundrum		BTZ/CFT
Takayanagi 	Quantum Entanglement and Local Operators
Tomasiello	New gravity duals for higher-dimensional superconformal theories
Tonni		Entanglement negativity in conformal field theory
Trnka		Four-point scattering from Amplituhedron
Tseytlin	Strings in AdS and their deformations
Vafa		On 6d SCFT's
Vasiliev	Higher-rank fields and currents
Warner		Resolving Black Holes via Microstate Geometries
Witten		Opening Remarks
Weigand		Mordell-Weil torsion and matter spectra in F-theory
Zaldarriaga	The dawn of B-mode cosmology
The five "vision/outlook" talks come at the end. Green Gross Maldacena Moore Strominger. Here's the entire schedule if anyone is interested:
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/Scientific_Program.shtml
All the talks have 30 minute slots, except that the opening remarks get 15 minutes and three review talks get an hour each (Polchinski, Erdenmenger, Tachikawa on BH info, nonstring AdS/CFT apps, Susy status)
Plenary talks will be broadcast at http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/

Note: to distinguish between the two speakers named Lee, here is Sungjay Lee's profile:
http://inspirehep.net/author/profile/Sungjay.Lee.1
and for Sangmin Lee:
http://inspirehep.net/author/profile/S.Lee.61

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#### marcus

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In case anyone is interested, the slides and videos of the Strings 2014 talks are being posted here:
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/Talk_titles.shtml

So far no videos (it is just the second day of the conference), but slides for several of the talks are now up. Here's a sample:

Polchinski: "Black Hole Information: Spacetime versus Quantum Mechanics"
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/slides/Polchinski.pdf (this works)

Steinhardt: "What has been learned from BICEP2?"
My computer cannot open the file which is labeled "Steinhardt.pptx" and has size 28 MB.
It seems to be asking for "Office" or "OpenOffice". You may be better prepared than I, to view the slides.

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#### marcus

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Andy Strominger gave one of the 4 "vision" talks at the end of Strings 2014. His slides are online:
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/slides/Strominger.pdf
He lists here 74 research questions (some with hints) that he collected from colleagues who proposed them as ones which might be answered in the next 5-10 years. Plus he put in his own favorite such question: explain why S = A/(4[STRIKE]h[/STRIKE]G)
So a list of 75 including some inspiring/challenging ones. Not all are specific to Superstring/M theory and so some could be of general interest. E.g. see question #30 from Nathan Seiberg, or for that matter Strominger's own "question zero".
Peter Woit reports planned locations of future conferences: Strings 2015 will be in Bangalore, Strings 2016 in Tsinghua, Strings 2017 in Israel, Strings 2018 in Japan and Strings 2019 in Belgium.

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#### marcus

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Videos for some talks are now online.
Here's link to an excellent talk by Paul Steinhardt:
http://physics.princeton.edu/strings2014/videos/talk1h.mp4 [Broken]

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#### Rexcirus

I want to report this:

Sapienza University of Rome 8 -12 september 2014
Conceptual and Technical Challenges for Quantum Gravity 2014

This conference will provide an opportunity for an encounter between different approaches and different perspectives on the quantum-gravity problem. Its main goal is to contribute to a higher level of shared knowledge among the quantum-gravity communities pursuing each specific research program.
We plan to have plenary talks on many different approaches, including in particular string theory, loop quantum gravity, spacetime noncommutativity, causal dynamical triangulations, asymptotic safety and causal sets. We shall also welcome contributions from the perspective of philosophy of science.

http://ctcqg2014.relativerest.org/

#### marcus

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...
Sapienza University of Rome 8 -12 september 2014
Conceptual and Technical Challenges for Quantum Gravity 2014
...
We plan to have plenary talks on many different approaches, including in particular string theory, loop quantum gravity, spacetime noncommutativity, causal dynamical triangulations, asymptotic safety and causal sets. We shall also welcome contributions from the perspective of philosophy of science...
http://ctcqg2014.relativerest.org/
Thanks! I saw this earlier but neglected to post it. It comes right on the heels of the Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity conference at ISAS Trieste. Here is the list of plenary speakers so far.
Eric A. Bergshoeff, University of Groningen (NL)
Massimo Bianchi, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata” (IT)
Jeremy Butterfield, Trinity College, University of Cambridge (UK)
Fay Dowker, Imperial College (London, UK)
Laurent Freidel, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (Waterloo, CA)
Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman, University of Wrocław (PL)
Helge Kragh, Aarhus University (DK)
Stefano Liberati, SISSA (Trieste, IT)
Daniel Litim, University of Sussex (Brighton, UK)
Renate Loll, Radboud University (Nijmegen, NL)
João Magueijo, Imperial College (London, UK)
Shahn Majid, Queen Mary, University of London (UK)
Daniele Oriti, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Postdam-Golm, DE)
Carlo Rovelli, Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy (Marseille, FR)

It's an interesting lineup: speakers from lines of research like AsymSafeQG, CDT, NCG, Group Field Theory, QG Phenomenology, Causal Sets, Covariant LQG,...

#### marcus

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Dearly Missed
The ILQGS Fall schedule is posted!
Code:
Sep 2	 [B]Casimir effect on a quantum geometry[/B]	 Javier Olmedo	 LSU
Sep 16   [B]Cov LQG: classical action, phase space & gauge symmetries[/B]  Wolfgang Wieland PSU
Sep 30	 TBA	 Brajesh Gupt	 PSU
Oct 14	 [B]White holes[/B]	 Carlo Rovelli	 CNRS Marseille
Oct 28	 [B]New applications for LQG[/B]	 Jerzy Lewandowski	 University of Warszaw
Nov 11	 [B]Lorentz transformations from abstract quantum theory[/B]	 Philip Hoehn  PI
Nov 25	 TBA	 Derek Wise	 FAU Erlangen
Dec 9	 [B]Invariance of Connections and Measures in LQC[/B]  Maximilian Hanusch Uni Paderborn

#### marcus

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Dearly Missed
The fourth workshop on the Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity (ESQG) will be held in Trieste on 1-5 September
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/
... Here's the list of invited speakers:
Code:
Stephon Alexander	Dartmouth
Giovanni Amelino-Camelia    Sapienza, Rome
Astrid Eichhorn	        Perimeter Institute, Waterloo
Agnes Ferte        	Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Julien Grain        	Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Jonathan Granot         Open University of Israel
Giulia Gubitosi	        Sapienza, University of Rome
Brian Keating	        University of California, San Diego
John Kelley	        IMAPP, Radboud University, Nijmegen
Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman	University of Wroclaw
Joao Magueijo	        Imperial College, London
David Mattingly	        University of New Hampshire
Jakub Mielczarek	Jagiellonian University, Crakow
Jonathan Miller	        Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria
Daniele Oriti	        Albert Einstein Institute
Igor Pikovski	        Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology
Carlo Rovelli	        Aix-Marseille University
Floyd Stecker	        NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
The purpose of the workshop is to bring together experimentalists, theoreticians, and phenomenologists interested in possible tests probing the quantum/discrete structure of spacetime. There will be a number of rather focussed talks discussing possible phenomenological tests of quantum gravity and proposing some new ideas in this direction.
...
The schedule of ESQG talks has been posted.
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/schedule.php
Some titles and abstracts are still TBA, here are those that have been posted so far:
Astrid Eichhorn (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo)
Testing asymptotically safe quantum gravity through coupling to dynamical matter
I will discuss the main idea of asymptotically safe quantum gravity. I will then focus on the effect of dynamical matter degrees of freedom, and discuss the evidence for the consistency of the asymptotic safety scenario for gravity with the Standard Model. Further, I will explain why only some models of "New Physics" seem to be compatible with asymptotic safety, thus providing a possibility to experimentally rule out asymptotic safety at the LHC or future colliders.

Igor Pikovski (Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology)
Exploring gravitational phenomena in low-energy quantum theory
We discuss how the ability to manipulate and to control quantum systems to very high precision opens the route for new experiments on the interplay between quantum theory and general relativity. It is shown how quantum optical systems can be used for testing low energy quantum mechanics on a fixed background space-time and quantum gravity phenomenology. We consider gravitational time dilation in low-energy quantum theory and derive the resulting decoherence of composite quantum systems [1]. We also show how pulsed opto-mechanical systems can provide a means to probe possible quantum gravitational modifications of the center-of-mass canonical commutator [2]. The results demonstrate that the interplay between quantum theory and general relativity can affect even low-energy quantum systems and that it offers novel phenomena which can be probed in experiments. [1] I. Pikovski, M. Zych, F. Costa, and C. Brukner, Universal decoherence due to gravitational time dilation, arXiv:1311.1095 (2013). [2] I. Pikovski, M. R. Vanner, M. Aspelmeyer, M. Kim, and C. Brukner, Probing Planck-scale physics with quantum optics, Nature Physics 8, 393 (2012).

Jose Manuel Carmona (Universidad de Zaragoza)
Thresholds in the presence of Lorentz violating kinematics including modified conservation laws
We discuss the leading Lorentz violations in the kinematics of particle processes with modified dispersion relations and modified composition law of momenta and some phenomenological implications on thresholds in different reactions.

Giampiero Esposito (INFN, Sezione di Napoli)
Three-body problem in effective field theories of gravity
The quantum corrections to the Newtonian potential obtained in effective field theories of gravity are shown to produce tiny but nonnegligible effects. For example, in the restricted problem of 3 bodies, the coordinates of Lagrangian points are slightly modified, and the planetoid is no longer at equal distance from the two bodies of large mass in the configuration of stable equilibrium. The equations of the full 3-body problem are also under investigation in the presence of quantum corrections.

Brian Keating (University of California, San Diego )
The Discovery of B-mode Polarization by the BICEP2 Experiment
BICEP2 is a Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarimeter designed to search for the signal of gravitational waves from inflation in B-mode polarization at large angular scales. BICEP2 observed from the South Pole for three seasons from 2010-2012 and recently published results showing an excess of B-modes in the range 30 < ell < 150 with >5 sigma significance. We find that this excess can not be explained by instrumental systematics or foreground models; it is confirmed in cross-correlation with BICEP1 (at 100 and 150 GHz) and preliminary data from the Keck Array. The observed B-mode power spectrum is well fit by a lensed-LCDM cosmological model with the addition of primordial tensor fluctuations with tensor-to-scalar ratio r=0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}. I will discuss the BICEP2 experiment, observations, and data analysis, as well as current and planned efforts to follow up this detection

Giulio Fabbian (SISSA)
POLARBEAR experiment: results from the first observational campaign and the prospects
I will present the POLARBEAR experiment, an ongoing ground-based CMB polarization experiment located in northern Chile. I will review its latest results obtained from the analysis of the data collected during the first observational campaign and discuss their implication for cosmology and fundamental physics.

Stephon Alexander (Dartmouth)
Parity Violating Gravitational Waves and the Standard Model
I show how parity violating gravitational waves can simultaneously generate the observed baryon asymmetry and provide a natural period of parametric resonance of preheating at the end of inflation . I discuss how this signal of parity violation may also be observable in other sectors in theories beyond the standard model.

Julien Grain (Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale)
A brief overview of loop quantum cosmology and its potential observational signatures
Loop quantum cosmology (a symmetry-reduced quantum model of the Universe inspired by loop quantum gravity) extends the inflationary paradigm to the Planck era: the big bang singularity is replaced by a quantum bounce naturally followed by inflation. Testing for these models requires to compute the amount of cosmological perturbations produced in this quantum background and subsequently derives their footprints on the cosmic microwave background. I propose to review two theoretical approaches treating for cosmological perturbations in a quantum background (see Barrau et al. 2014 and Agullo et al. 2013), making their respective assumptions and methodology as explicit as possible. I will then show the observational consequences of those treatments focusing on the specific case of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies as a probe of the primordial Universe.

Agnes Ferte (Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale)
Constraints on chiral gravity through the CMB polarization
If parity invariance is broken in the primordial universe, the cosmic microwave background TB and EB cross-correlations, usually vanishing, become non zero. Their detection would then constrain the level of parity violation. I propose to present forecasts on the detection of this parameter by realistically estimating the uncertainties on the TB and EB spectra via the pure pseudo spectrum method, which efficiency has been shown. I will present the results of this forecast in the case of two typical experimental setups: a small-scale experiment and a large scale survey. Our results show that no constraints can be put on the level of parity violation in the former case. However a range of model would be accessible with a future CMB satellite-like mission: for instance, a parity violation of at least 50% with r = 0.2 could be detected.

Echoes of the early Universe
By applying quantum informational and optical tools to quantum gravity theories in the very early universe, we show that the fluctuations of quantum fields as seen by late comoving observers are significantly influenced by the history of the early universe, transmitting information about the nature of the universe in timescales when quantum gravitational effects where non-negligible. This might be observable even nowadays thus used to build falsifiability tests of quantum gravity theories.

Jonathan Granot (Open University of Israel)
Experimental Bounds on Quantum Gravity from Fermi Observations of GRBs
I will discuss recent searches for quantum gravity signatures using high-energy photons from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), focusing on the search for Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) in the form of a dependence of the photon propagation speed on its energy. Fermi gamma-ray space telescope observations of ~8 keV to ~30 GeV photons from the short (< 1 s) GRB 090510 at a cosmological distance (z = 0.903), enabled for the first time to put a direct time of flight limit on a possible linear variation of the speed of light with photon energy that is beyond the Planck scale. Parameterizing |v/c-1| = E/E_{QG}, for deterministic LIV our most conservative limits are E_{QG}/E_{Planck} > 1.2, while less conservative limits are up to 1-2 orders of magnitude stricter. Using the same data, we have now also set Planck-scale limits on stochastic (or fuzzy) LIV - the first of this kind. I will finish by briefly outlining the prospects for future GRB observations by the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) - the next generation ground based very high energy (from ~20-30 GeV to ~300 TeV) observatory.

Carlo Rovelli (Aix-Marseille University)
Planck Stars
I describe a new suggestion for measurable quantum gravity effects: the bounce of a primordial Planck star.

Anupam Mazumdar (Lancaster University)
Resolution of Cosmological and Blackhole Singularities
I will discuss how non-local action of higher derivative extension of Einstein's gravity could yield ghost free and devoid of any space or time like singularities.

Francesco Cianfrani (University of Wroclaw)
Quantum Reduced Loop Gravity: status and perspectives.
I will present the status and the perspectives of Quantum Reduced Loop Gravity. Instead of discussing in details all the technical issues, I will focus on the relevance of this approach for grounding Loop Quantum Cosmology and for inferring a proper phenomenology for the early Universe.

Tomasz Trzesniewski (University of Wroclaw)
Dimensional Flow in kappa-Minkowski Spacetime
Running of the spacetime dimension in small scales is predicted by many different approaches to Quantum Gravity, usually using a notion of the spectral dimension. This is also the case for the kappa-Minkowski spacetime, which appears in the Deformed Special Relativity and Relative Locality. The spectral dimension can easily be calculated in the (Euclidean) momentum space representation. Meanwhile, kappa-Minkowski momenta belong to the group AN(n), which can be represented as half of the de Sitter space. A novel prescription shows it can also be mapped to (half of) the Euclidean anti-de Sitter space, which gives the Euclidean version of momentum space. This allows us to calculate the kappa-Minkowski spectral dimension for different possible Laplacians, extending the known results and providing us with a possible hint for the choice of a physical Laplacian.

Goffredo Chirco (CPT, Universite' Aix-Marseille)
Thermally correlated states of Loop Quantum Gravity
We define a class of states of LQG characterized by thermal correlations at the ultralocal level, which may reproduce the structure of correlations known for the perturbative quantum gravity states, in the appropriate limit. We show that these states have a consistent semiclassical interpretation, being peacked on classical values of the intrinsic geometry; and we study how these correlations propagate non-locally on the spin network. We propose these states as the fundamental quantum bricks defining the architecture of spacetime at the non perturbative level and we elaborate on the possible relevance of this proposal in the definition of a continuum limit for LQG.

Jonathan Miller (Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria)
The effect of Quantum Gravity on astrophysical neutrino flavor observables.
At the quantum level, an interaction of a neutrino with a graviton may trigger the collapse of the neutrino flavor eigenstate to a neutrino mass eigenstate. I will present that such an essentially quantum gravity effect may have strong consequences for neutrino oscillation phenomena in astrophysics due to the relatively large scattering cross section of relativistic neutrinos off massive sources of gravitational fields (the case of gravitational Bethe-Heitler scattering). This results in a new technique for the indirect detection of gravitons by measuring the flavor composition of astrophysical neutrinos.

Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman (University of Wroclaw)
Relative locality in 2+1 dimensions
The relative locality framework is based on two general premises: nontrivial geometry of momentum space and deformed momentum conservation rule. In my talk I will show how these premises take a concrete shape in the case of particles coupled to 2+1 gravity. Then I will briefly discuss the relevance of this construction to the case of physical 3+1 dimensions.

Giulia Gubitosi (Sapienza, University of Rome)
Dimensional Reduction in the Early Universe

Giacomo Rosati (ITP, University of Wroclaw)
Deformed Lorentz Symmetry and relative locality in FRW spacetime
An opportunity to test Planck-scale modifications of Lorentz symmetry is represented by propagation of particles from cosmological distances (as from GRBs). DSR has been investigated so far only for flat (Minkowskian) spacetimes, providing no room for interplay with cosmological redshift. Only recently a generalization to deSitter spacetime has been proposed (Phys.Rev.D86(2012)124035), relying on the recent understanding of relativity of locality in DSR. I here propose a formulation of DSR in FRW spacetimes, discussing some of the differences with the most studied scenario for broken Lorentz symmetries.

Niccolo' Loret (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo)
Finsler geometry and deSitter momentum space
Finsler geometry provides a well studied generalization of Riemannian geometry which allows to account for possibly non-trivial structure of the space of con?gurations of a massive relativistic particle. Another recently developed framework for the description of modi?ed relativistic particle kinematics relies on the description of the particle momentum-space as a curved (pseudo-Riemannian) manifold. We will show that in some cases these two frameworks give equivalent descriptions of the physical properties of a relativistic particle, when its momentum-space is characterized by a deSitter metric and the spacetime is ?at. The generalization of this result could provide a useful mathematical tool to formalize Deformed Special Relativity phenomenology to curved spacetimes.

Gianluca Castignani (SISSA)
Gamma-ray bursts as laboratories for quantum effects of gravity
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the Universe. Most GRBs detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope exhibit a possible delay of up to about 10 seconds between the trigger time of the hard X-ray signal as measured by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and the onset of the MeV-GeV counterpart detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). This delay may hint at important physics, whether it is due to the intrinsic variability of the inner engine or related to quantum dispersion effects (e.g. modified dispersion relations) in the velocity of light propagation from the sources to the observer. We searched for the presence of time lags between the LAT and GBM light curves for the five brightest GRBs of the 1st Fermi-LAT Catalog by means of cross correlation analysis. Time lags that are significantly different from zero and consistent with those reported in the literature are found for all the GRBs in our sample by mean of cross correlation analysis. Our analysis reveals the complexity of the time behavior of the GBM and LAT light curves and suggests that the delays should be ascribed to intrinsic physical mechanisms. Better sensitivity and a larger sample might put constraints on a possible origin of the delays in the context of modified dispersion relations and will allow to assess whether time lags are universally present in the early GRB emission.

John Kelley (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison)
Observation of High-energy Astrophysical Neutrinos with the IceCube Detector
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer-scale neutrino detector built into the ice sheet at the geographic South Pole. IceCube has recently observed a diffuse flux of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos with deposited energies up to 2 PeV. The detection of neutrinos at such energies, as well as features of their energy spectrum and flavor ratios, can be used to constrain potential phenomenological effects of quantum gravity. I will discuss the latest measurements from IceCube of these high-energy neutrinos and the implications for such constraints.

David Mattingly (University of New Hampshire)
Lorentz violating effective field theories

Sabine Hossenfelder (Nordita)
Space-time Defects
One of the most important questions in quantum gravity is whether or not space-time is fundamentally discrete or continuous. However, directly finding evidence for space-time discreteness has turned out to be difficult if not impossible. In my talk I will discuss the possibility to look for defects in the discrete structure rather than the discrete structure itself. Interestingly, these space-time defects can be modeled without violating Lorentz-invariance, and they can become observable by affecting the propagation of particles.

Daniele Oriti (Albert Einstein Institute)
The universe as a quantum gravity condensate
We discuss the geometrogenesis scenario in quantum gravity and the role it may play in the context of loop quantum gravity and group field theory. We also emphasise the connection with other ideas of emergent space-time and with analogue gravity models. We report on recent results, in the group field theory formalism, aiming at realising this scenario and in particular at the derivation of effective cosmological dynamics from group field theory condensates. In light of these results, we suggest several directions to explore to extract testable consequences of this picture of the early universe.

#### marcus

Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Slides for some of the ESQG talks have been put online
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/
Here is the speaker list with asterisks marking those who have already given their talks and whose slides have already been posted:
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/speakers.php

Code:
Stephon Alexander	Dartmouth
Dionigi Benincasa	SISSA
Pawel Bielewicz	        SISSA
Jose Manuel Carmona*	Universidad de Zaragoza
Gianluca Castignani	SISSA
Goffredo Chirco	        CPT, Universite' Aix-Marseille
Francesco Cianfrani	University of Wroclaw
Paolo Creminelli*	ICTP, Trieste
Astrid Eichhorn*	Perimeter Institute, Waterloo
Giampiero Esposito*	INFN, Sezione di Napoli
Giulio Fabbian	        SISSA
Agnes Ferte*	        Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Julien Grain*	        Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Jonathan Granot	        Open University of Israel
Giulia Gubitosi	        Sapienza, University of Rome
Sabine Hossenfelder	Nordita
Brian Keating*	        University of California, San Diego
John Kelley	        Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison
Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman	University of Wroclaw
Niccolo' Loret	        Perimeter Institute, Waterloo
Joao Magueijo	        Imperial College, London
Francesco Marin*	Universita' di Firenze and INFN
David Mattingly	        University of New Hampshire
Anupam Mazumdar	        Lancaster University
Jakub Mielczarek	Jagiellonian University, Crakow
Jonathan Miller	        Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria
Daniele Oriti	        Albert Einstein Institute
Igor Pikovski	        Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology
Giacomo Rosati	        ITP, University of Wroclaw
Carlo Rovelli	        Aix-Marseille University
Floyd Stecker	        NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
Tomasz Trzesniewski	University of Wroclaw
Francesca Vidotto	Radboud University Nijmegen

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#### marcus

Gold Member
Dearly Missed
I've gathered the titles and abstracts of ESQG talks for which the slides have already been posted. Hopefully more links will show up tomorrow, as the workshop proceeds.
Links to the slides PDF are included alongside the speaker's name in the schedule, here:
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/schedule.php

Jose Manuel Carmona (Universidad de Zaragoza) (slides)
16:30, Mon 1st Sep 2014
Thresholds in the presence of Lorentz violating kinematics including modified conservation laws
We discuss the leading Lorentz violations in the kinematics of particle processes with modified dispersion relations and modified composition law of momenta and some phenomenological implications on thresholds in different reactions.

Paolo Creminelli (ICTP, Trieste) (slides)
11:15, Tue 2nd Sep 2014
B-mode cosmology
The experimental sensitivity to B-modes is now in an interesting regime for primordial tensor modes. I will review the robustness of the tensor mode prediction in inflation and speculate about what we can learn if tensor modes are detected.

Astrid Eichhorn (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo) (slides)
10:45, Mon 1st Sep 2014
Testing asymptotically safe quantum gravity through coupling to dynamical matter
I will discuss the main idea of asymptotically safe quantum gravity. I will then focus on the effect of dynamical matter degrees of freedom, and discuss the evidence for the consistency of the asymptotic safety scenario for gravity with the Standard Model. Further, I will explain why only some models of "New Physics" seem to be compatible with asymptotic safety, thus providing a possibility to experimentally rule out asymptotic safety at the LHC or future colliders.

Giampiero Esposito (INFN, Sezione di Napoli) (slides)
17:00, Mon 1st Sep 2014
Three-body problem in effective field theories of gravity
The quantum corrections to the Newtonian potential obtained in effective field theories of gravity are shown to produce tiny but nonnegligible effects. For example, in the restricted problem of 3 bodies, the coordinates of Lagrangian points are slightly modified, and the planetoid is no longer at equal distance from the two bodies of large mass in the configuration of stable equilibrium. The equations of the full 3-body problem are also under investigation in the presence of quantum corrections.

Agnes Ferte (Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale) (slides)
17:00, Tue 2nd Sep 2014
Constraints on chiral gravity through the CMB polarization
If parity invariance is broken in the primordial universe, the cosmic microwave background TB and EB cross-correlations, usually vanishing, become non zero. Their detection would then constrain the level of parity violation. I propose to present forecasts on the detection of this parameter by realistically estimating the uncertainties on the TB and EB spectra via the pure pseudo spectrum method, which efficiency has been shown. I will present the results of this forecast in the case of two typical experimental setups: a small-scale experiment and a large scale survey. Our results show that no constraints can be put on the level of parity violation in the former case. However a range of model would be accessible with a future CMB satellite-like mission: for instance, a parity violation of at least 50% with r = 0.2 could be detected.

Julien Grain (Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale) (slides)
16:30, Tue 2nd Sep 2014
A brief overview of loop quantum cosmology and its potential observational signatures
Loop quantum cosmology (a symmetry-reduced quantum model of the Universe inspired by loop quantum gravity) extends the inflationary paradigm to the Planck era: the big bang singularity is replaced by a quantum bounce naturally followed by inflation. Testing for these models requires to compute the amount of cosmological perturbations produced in this quantum background and subsequently derives their footprints on the cosmic microwave background. I propose to review two theoretical approaches treating for cosmological perturbations in a quantum background (see Barrau et al. 2014 and Agullo et al. 2013), making their respective assumptions and methodology as explicit as possible. I will then show the observational consequences of those treatments focusing on the specific case of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies as a probe of the primordial Universe.

Brian Keating (University of California, San Diego ) (slides)
9:00, Tue 2nd Sep 2014
The discovery of primordial B-mode polarization
The era of Cosmic Microwave Background B-mode polarization cosmology has recently begun. The BICEP2 telescope observed from the South Pole for three seasons (2010�2012) and released results showing an excess of B-modes in the range 30 < ell < 150 with >5 sigma significance. We find that this excess can not be explained by instrumental systematics or foregrounds. The signal was confirmed in cross-correlation with BICEP1 (at 100 and 150 GHz) and preliminary data from the Keck Array. The observed B-mode power spectrum is well-fit by a lensed-LCDM cosmological model with the addition of primordial tensor fluctuations with tensor-to-scalar ratio r=0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}. I will discuss the BICEP2 experiment, observations, and data analysis, as well as current and planned efforts to follow up this detection.

Francesco Marin (Universita' di Firenze and INFN) (slides)
14:30, Mon 1st Sep 2014
Tests of quantum gravity with macroscopic mechanical oscillators
General relativity and quantum physics are expected to merge at the Planck scale, defined by distances of the order of 1.6x10^-35 m and/or extremely high energies of the order of 1.2x10^19 GeV. Since the study of particles collisions around the Planck energy is well beyond the possibilities of current and foreseeable accelerators, high-energy astronomical events (e.g. gamma-ray bursts) have been considered as the privileged natural system to unveil quantum gravitational effects. This common view has been enriched in the last years thanks to a number of studies proposing that signatures of the Planck-scale physics could manifest also at low energies. It is indeed widely accepted that, when gravity is taken into account, deviations from standard quantum mechanics are expected. In particular, we have recently shown that the very low mechanical energy achieved and measured in a vibration mode of a massive object can set an upper limit to possible modifications of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, that are expected as an effect of gravity. We have indeed exploited the sub- millikelvin cooling of the normal modes of the ton-scale gravitational wave detector AURIGA at this purpose [1]. Here we will discuss some possible interpretations of our results, including possible consequences on deformed commutators, and an upper limit on the length scale at which quantum fluctuations of the space- time geometry should come into play[2]. We will also describe the preliminary results of a series of experiments devoted to investigate possible modifications to the dynamics of micro-oscillators, due to modified Heisenberg relations. [1] F. Marin et al., "Gravitational bar detectors set limits to Planck-scale physics on macroscopic variables", Nature Phys. 9, 71 (2013) [2] F. Marin et al., "Investigation of Planck scale physics by the AURIGA gravitational bar detector", to be published on New J. Phys.

Mercedes Martin-Benito (Radboud University Nijmegen) (slides)
17:30, Tue 2nd Sep 2014
Echoes of the early Universe
By applying quantum informational and optical tools to quantum gravity theories in the very early universe, we show that the fluctuations of quantum fields as seen by late comoving observers are significantly influenced by the history of the early universe, transmitting information about the nature of the universe in timescales when quantum gravitational effects where non-negligible. This might be observable even nowadays thus used to build falsifiability tests of quantum gravity theories.

#### marcus

Gold Member
Dearly Missed
More slide sets from the ESQG have been posted. Of particular interest, I think, is the talk by Vidotto on the Planck Star model of BH. I'll give the link here for easy access.
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/schedule.php
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/slides/Vidotto_Trieste_2014.pdf

Pawel Bielewicz (SISSA) (slides)
10:30, Tue 2nd Sep 2014
Planck 2013 cosmological results
I will present the Planck experiment and review the first cosmological results released in 2013. I will also briefly discuss prospects for the planned this year next release of the cosmological data.

Giulio Fabbian (SISSA) (slides)
14:30, Tue 2nd Sep 2014
POLARBEAR experiment: results from the first observational campaign and the prospects
I will present the POLARBEAR experiment, an ongoing ground-based CMB polarization experiment located in northern Chile. I will review its latest results obtained from the analysis of the data collected during the first observational campaign and discuss their implication for cosmology and fundamental physics.

Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman (University of Wroclaw) (slides)
11:15, Thu 4th Sep 2014
Relative locality in 2+1 dimensions
The relative locality framework is based on two general premises: nontrivial geometry of momentum space and deformed momentum conservation rule. In my talk I will show how these premises take a concrete shape in the case of particles coupled to 2+1 gravity. Then I will briefly discuss the relevance of this construction to the case of physical 3+1 dimensions.

Anupam Mazumdar (Lancaster University) (slides)
15:15, Wed 3rd Sep 2014
Resolution of Cosmological and Blackhole Singularities
I will discuss how non-local action of higher derivative extension of Einstein's gravity could yield ghost free and devoid of any space or time like singularities.

Jonathan Miller (Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria) (slides)
9:00, Thu 4th Sep 2014
The effect of Quantum Gravity on astrophysical neutrino flavor observables.
At the quantum level, an interaction of a neutrino with a graviton may trigger the collapse of the neutrino flavor eigenstate to a neutrino mass eigenstate. I will present that such an essentially quantum gravity effect may have strong consequences for neutrino oscillation phenomena in astrophysics due to the relatively large scattering cross section of relativistic neutrinos off massive sources of gravitational fields (the case of gravitational Bethe-Heitler scattering). This results in a new technique for the indirect detection of gravitons by measuring the flavor composition of astrophysical neutrinos.

Tomasz Trzesniewski (University of Wroclaw) (slides)
17:00, Wed 3rd Sep 2014
Dimensional Flow in kappa-Minkowski Spacetime
Running of the spacetime dimension in small scales is predicted by many different approaches to Quantum Gravity, usually using a notion of the spectral dimension. This is also the case for the kappa-Minkowski spacetime, which appears in the Deformed Special Relativity and Relative Locality. The spectral dimension can easily be calculated in the (Euclidean) momentum space representation. Meanwhile, kappa-Minkowski momenta belong to the group AN(n), which can be represented as half of the de Sitter space. A novel prescription shows it can also be mapped to (half of) the Euclidean anti-de Sitter space, which gives the Euclidean version of momentum space. This allows us to calculate the kappa-Minkowski spectral dimension for different possible Laplacians, extending the known results and providing us with a possible hint for the choice of a physical Laplacian.

Francesca Vidotto (Radboud University Nijmegen) (slides)
14:30, Wed 3rd Sep 2014
What can we learn from Loop Quantum Cosmology? The case of Planck Stars
Loop Quantum Cosmology suggests that cosmological singularities are generically resolved by quantum effects. This can be understood at the effective level as the appearance of a repulsive force in the deep quantum-gravity regime. A similar mechanism should take place in the interior of black holes, whose singularity would then be replaced by a core of Planckian energy density. Such Planck Star provides a remnant which can help avoid the information paradox. Furthermore, if the evaporation ends with an explosive event, the Planck star could provide a precise astrophysical signal. Using the current models for primordial black holes and the bounds given by dark-matter abundance, this signal could be compatible with a specific kind of gamma rays, that we have already observed.
http://www.sissa.it/app/esqg2014/slides/Vidotto_Trieste_2014.pdf

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#### marcus

Gold Member
Dearly Missed
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/schedulefa14.html
Wieland's talk is a couple of days from now, on Tuesday 16th.
The ILQGS schedule has been updated:
http://relativity.phys.lsu.edu/ilqgs/
Code:
Sep 2    Casimir effect on a quantum geometry     Javier Olmedo        LSU
Sep 16   Cov LQG: classical action, phase space & gauge symmetries  Wolfgang Wieland PSU
Sep 30   Phenomenological consequences of quantum geometries in LQC Brajesh Gupt  PSU
Oct 14   White holes     Carlo Rovelli     CNRS Marseille
Oct 28   New applications for LQG     Jerzy Lewandowski     University of Warszaw
Nov 11   Lorentz transformations from abstract quantum theory     Philip Hoehn  PI
Nov 25   SL(2,C)Chern-Simons&Spinfoam Gravity w Cosm.Const Hal Haggard, Aldo Riello Bard/PI
Dec 9    Invariance of Connections and Measures in LQC  Maximilian Hanusch Uni Paderborn
(

Last edited:

#### marcus

Gold Member
Dearly Missed
http://www.gravity.physik.fau.de/events/tux3/tux3.shtml

Third EFI Winter Conference on QG
Monday February 16 to Friday February 20 2015 Tux, Austria
General Information

The conference aims to bring together experts on canonical and covariant loop quantum gravity and related topics, in the scenic village of Tux, in the Austrian alps.

Hintertux Glacier
Topics covered by the conference include
• canonical and covariant LQG
• QFT in curved spacetime
• quantum physics of⁄near black holes
• physical observables of general relativity
Organizers of the conference are
• Jerzy Lewandowski <Jerzy.Lewandowski_at_fuw.edu.pl>
• Hanno Sahlmann <hanno.sahlmann_at_gravity.fau.de>
Universytet Warszawski
Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

The schedule will keep the mornings free for work, skiing or hiking. Talks will start around 13:00 and may run till 19:00 or 20:00.
Participants
... Here is a partial list that will be updated from time to time:
• Ivan Agullo, Louisiana State University
• Martin Ammon University of Jena
• Mehdi Assanioussi, Warsaw University
• Norbert Bodendorfer, Warsaw University
• Goffredo Chirco University Aix-Marseille
• Andrea Dapor, Warsaw University
• Andrzej Dragan, Warsaw University
• Maciej Dunajski, Cambridge University
• Maite Dupuis, University of Waterloo
• Beatriz Elizaga Complutense University of Madrid
• Marc Geiller, Pennsylvania State University
• Florian Girelli, University of Waterloo
• Muxin Han, University Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Jeff Hnybida Perimeter Institute
• Stefan Hollands*, Leipzig University
• Marcin Kisielowski, University Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Kamil Lacina*, Jagiellonian University Krakow
• Miklos Långvik, Helsinki University
• Jerzy Lewandowski, Warsaw University
• Ilkka Maekinen, Warsaw University
• Mercedes Martin-Benito Radboud University Nijmegen
• Guillermo Mena Marugan, Instituto de Estructura de la Materia - CSIC
• Tomasz Pawlowski, Andres Bello University
• Jorge Pulin, Louisiana State University
• Saeed Rastgoo, Autonomous University Mexico City
• Carlo Rovelli*, University Aix-Marseille
• Hanno Sahlmann, University Erlangen-Nürnberg
• John Schliemann, University Regensburg
• Atousa Shirazi* Florida Atlantic University
• Jan Sikorski, Warsaw University
• Simone Speziale, University Aix-Marseille
• Jedrzej Swiezewski, Warsaw University
• Francesca Vidotto, Radboud University Nijmegen
• Wolfgang Wieland, Pennsylvania State University
• Edward Wilson-Ewing Albert-Einstein-Institute
• Antonia Zipfel, Warsaw University

*: To be confirmed.

#### marcus

Gold Member
Dearly Missed
Loops '15 (Erlangen July 6-10):
http://www.gravity.physik.fau.de/events/loops15/loops15.shtml

MarcelGrossmann meeting (Rome July 12-18):
http://www.icra.it/mg/mg14/
The triennial MG meetings cover a wide range of topics (astrophysics, observational cosmology, classical gravity etc etc.) Abhay Ashtekar is one of the invited speakers. Some 70 parallel sessions are planned, of which 4 will be devoted to string topics and 3 to QG. Here are the topics and chairpersons of the latter:
Quantum Gravity
QG1
Loop Quantum Gravity, Quantum Geometry, Spin Foams (Jerzy Lewandowski)
QG2 Quantum Gravity Phenomenology (Giovanni Amelino-Camelia)
QG3 Loop quantum gravity: cosmology and black holes (Jorge Pullin, Parampreet Singh)
As a sample, here is Jerzy Lewandowski's brief statement about what's to be covered in session QG1:
==quote==
Jerzy LEWANDOWSKI
Parallel Session: QG1 - Loop Quantum Gravity, Quantum Geometry, Spin Foams
Description: Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), a framework suited to quantize general relativity, has seen rapid progress in the last three years. The results achieved strongly suggest that the goal of finding a working and predictive quantum theory of gravity is within reach. For specific kinds of matter couplings, a way to drastically simplify the dynamics and its physical interpretation has been discovered. It gives rise to a set of examples of theories of gravity coupled to the fields in which the canonical quantization scheme can be completed. Independently, there have been important breakthroughs in the path integral formulation of the theory related to the so called Spin Foam Models. The session will review the results of canonical Loop Quantum Gravity and Spin Foam Models with the emphasis on the models admitting local degrees of freedom without the symmetry (or any other) reduction. Related approaches to quantum gravity will be also welcome. The common theme is the background independent quantization of Einstein's gravity and the occurrence of quantum geometry.
==endquote==

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