## Holography and large-N dualities

### News

Beginning May 8, talks will begin at 13h30 (sharp!) No talk on May 1st (Tag der Arbeit)

First meeting on April 17.

### Organization

A organizational meeting was held on February 5. Each session will be devoted to a fairly broad topic that should be split among two (or more) responsible speakers. Each team will be tutored by one of the organizers. The current distribution of topics and speakers is here. There are still a few open slots, please contact us or come to the first meeting for further information.

Meeting time and place: Tuesday 1 p.m.c.t., MATHEMATIKON SR 9

### Description

The holographic principle has been identified as one of the cornerstones of a complete theory of quantum gravity. Its most compelling incarnation to date is the celebrated AdS/CFT correspondence, which has taught many important lessons over the past 20 years and also found numerous applications to understanding the dynamics of strongly coupled quantum systems in geometric terms. Like other dualities that have emerged from string theory, the correspondence is expected to have a deep mathematical counterpart. The aims of the seminar are two-fold:
1. We will learn the physics motivation behind holography and the basic working of the AdS/CFT correspondence, including its classic tests, hopefully reaching some recent developments.
2. We will study mathematical versions of large-N duality in examples such as the correspondence between Chern-Simons theory on the three-sphere and the topological string on the resolved conifold.

Prerequisites: The seminar is aimed at Masters and Doctoral students in physics and mathematical physics. Participants should have at least nodding acquaintance with any or all of the following: General Relativity, Quantum Field Theory, Supersymmetry, String Theory, Differential Geometry and Representation Theory.

### Schedule of Talks

Schedule still subject to change.

Date Speakers TitleAbstractNotes
April 17 Johannes The Holographic Principle; Introduction and Overview
April 24 Sebastian, Felipe Classical geometry of anti deSitter space
May 1st No Seminar Tag der Arbeit
May 8 Felipe, Martin Conformal compactification, Field theory in Anti de Sitter space
May 15 Menelaos, Jannik Ambient construction, Conformal field theory I
May 22 Oskar, Torben, Conformal Field Theory II
May 29 Fabio, Michael ${\mathcal N}=4$ Super Yang-Mills
June 5 Fabio, Ade More on ${\mathcal N}=4$, Branes in supergravity
June 12 Ade, Richard, Ingmar The AdS/CFT Correspondence
June 19 Ingmar, Richard Tests of AdS/CFT I
June 26 Markus Chern-Simons Theory at large-N
July 3 Aitor, Fengjun Chern-Simons Theory and Topological Strings
July 10 Sascha, Tobias Deformations of AdS/CFT
July 17 Lukas, Paul AdS/CFT and Physics
some other time anybody everything else