General Physics Colloquium and Bethe Lecture Series, Professor Nathan Seiberg, School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study

Title:  Quantum Field Theory, Separation of Scales, and Beyond

Host:  Tom Hartman

Abstract:  We will review the role of Quantum Field Theory (QFT) in modern physics.  We will highlight how QFT uses a reductionist perspective as a powerful quantitative tool relating phenomena at different length and energy scales.  We will then discuss various examples motivated by string theory and lattice models that challenge this separation of scales and seem outside the standard framework of QFT.  These lattice models include theories of fractons and other exotic systems.