Events

April 2026
Wed 22 Apr 2026   14:00 - 15:30	Centre colloquium: Ruth Gregory (King's College London)  Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy Title: Black Hole Spectroscopy from a Giant Quantum Vortex Abstract: Black-hole spectroscopy aims to infer physical properties of black holes by detecting the spectrum of quasi-normal modes (QNMs) they emit while settling towards equilibrium. Gravitational analogs aim to explore aspects of black hole systems by building laboratory experiments that share features of the black hole and its perturbations. A particularly interesting aspect of QNMs is the phenomenon of spectral instability: the...
Thu 23 Apr 2026   14:00 - 15:00	Seminar: Mehregan Doroudiani (Southampton U.) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy Title: Scattering amplitude of massless closed strings at genus one Abstract: Perturbative calculations of string amplitudes are twofold: an expansion in the string coupling (the genus expansion of the worldsheet) and a low-energy expansion in the momenta. In this talk, I will focus on the low-energy expansion of closed string amplitudes at genus one, specifically for four- and five-point massless states of type IIB superstrings in flat spacetime. Evaluating these amplitudes involves...
Thu 30 Apr 2026   14:00 - 15:00	Seminar: Fabrizio Caola (Oxford) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy TBC
May 2026
Wed 6 May 2026   13:30 - 15:00	[Colloquium] Gravitational Waves: An Interface Across Scales and Disciplines - Gianluca Inguglia  - RESCHEDULED TO A DIFFERENT DATE Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy Since the first experimental detection of gravitational waves in 2015, observations in this field have profoundly transformed our understanding of the Universe, leading to discoveries that were once only anticipated and are now being realised. In this presentation, I will offer a personal (and admittedly biased) overview of gravitational wave science, emphasising how this field naturally operates at the interface of multiple disciplines, ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to particle...
Thu 7 May 2026   14:00 - 15:00	Zizang Qiu (Edinburgh) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy TBC
Thu 14 May 2026   14:00 - 15:00	Seminar: Facundo Rost (Scuola Normale Superiore) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy TBC
Thu 21 May 2026   14:00 - 15:00	Graham Brown (Edinburgh) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy TBC
Thu 28 May 2026   14:00 - 15:00	Seminar: Ana-Maria Raclariu (KCL) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy TBC
June 2026
Wed 3 Jun 2026   14:00 - 15:30	Centre colloquium - Claudia de Rham (Imperial College) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy
Thu 4 Jun 2026   14:00 - 15:00	Seminar: Ida Zadeh (Southampton U.) Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy TBC
Mon 29 Jun  - Fri 3 Jul 2026	Conference: Amplitudes 2026 Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy The Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astronomy at the School of Physical and Chemical Sciences is delighted to announce that Queen Mary University of London will host Amplitudes 2026, the international conference on scattering amplitudes, from 29 June to 3 July 2026. Amplitudes is an annual international conference series focused on scattering amplitudes in quantum field theory, string theory, and related areas of high-energy theoretical physics. The series has become since its inception in...