Events

Date: 15 October 2025   Time: 15:00 - 18:00

Location: City St George's University, ELG03

15:00 - Silviu Pufu (Princeton University)
Abstract:
The 1+1-dimensional adjoint QCD theory (namely SU(N) gauge theory coupled to a Majorana fermion in the adjoint representation of the gauge group) has the curious property that at a certain non-zero ratio of the fermion mass to the gauge coupling, it exhibits (1, 1) supersymmetry. I will shed some new light onto the supersymmetry of 2d adjoint QCD using several analytical and numerical methods, including the construction of a gauge-invariant, Lorentz-covariant supercurrent, whose conservation relies on the presence of a quantum anomaly. Lastly, I will discuss generalizations of the adjoint QCD theory that exhibit supersymmetric sectors.

16:30 - Nikolay Bobev (KU Leuven)
Abstract: I will discuss precision holography for the non-conformal SYM theories arising on the worldvolume of coincident Dp-branes. I will show how the free energy of the planar SYM theory on the round sphere and the expectation values of fundamental BPS Wilson loops can be computed explicitly by utilizing supersymmetric localization. I will then present a class of supergravity backgrounds that capture the backreaction of spherical Dp-branes and provide a holographic description of the SYM theory. I will show that the supergravity calculations of the free energy and the Wilson loop expectation value are in precise agreement with the supersymmetric localization results. Finally, I will exploit the scaling similarity property of the Dp-brane supergravity solutions to derive simple Witten diagram rules for the calculation of n-point correlation functions and will show how to explicitly compute 2pt- and 3pt-functions. This leads to explicit results of the 2pt- and 3pt-functions of scalar BPS operators in the planar strongly-coupled SYM theory, including the cases of the BFSS model and the 3d maximally supersymmetric YM theory, that could be tested using lattice QFT methods.