Anomalies: From Magnets to the Nuclear Force

Abstract: Anomaly matching is one of the few universally applicable tools to constrain the dynamics of strongly coupled quantum systems. I will give an overview of 't Hooft anomalies and their applications. Anomalies arise in a wide range of physical systems, ranging from pedagogical quantum mechanical models to Heisenberg spin chains to quantum chromodynamics. I will then discuss implications of anomalies in gapless phases described by conformal field theory. Using the conformal bootstrap techniques, I will prove rigorous constraints on the spectrum from anomalies.

Dr. Shao is a quantum field theorist, with a 2016 PhD, presently a long-term member of the IAS, Princeton. He explores foundational issues in quantum field theory, and has worked on a variety of topics including anomalies, conformal field theories and dualities.