Week 01.11.2009 – 07.11.2009

In this seminar, I will give an introduction to a series of ideas which suggest that many aspects of quantum fied theories, including the celebrated N=4 super Yang-Mills, may be most simply understood in terms of a dual theory in twistor space. No previous knowledge of string theory or twistor theory will be assumed.

Statistical properties of quantum transport are considered for a chaotic cavity with an arbitrary number of open channels. In the framework of the random matrix approach, we establish the relevance of the Selberg integral theory to the problematic and apply it to calculate exact explicit expressions of low-order cumulants of the conductance and shot-noise. By further exploiting the marriage of the Selberg integral with the theory of symmetric functions (Schur functions), we develop a powerful method for computing the moments of the conductance and shot-noise (including their joint moments) of arbitrary order and at any number of open channels. The approach is applicable equally well for systems with and without time-reversal symmetry. We also give a detailed discussion of the corresponding cumulants, the distribution functions, etc.

I will present a phenomenological model of the quark-gluon plasma that stem from 5 dimensional holography. The model is superior to the previous 5D models as it incorporates the running of the gauge coupling. It is constructed by requirements from QCD and a few lattice data. I will describe the transport properties of the quark-gluon plasma such as the bulk viscosity, energy loss of heavy quarks etc and their effects on the observables.

I will present two recent results in the are of Gauge-Strings dualities, applied to field theories with a possible interest in phenomenology.