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SUMMARY:Gravity and string theory in general spacetime signature - Thomas 
 Mohaupt (University of Liverpool)
DTSTART:20231101T103000Z
DTEND:20231101T120000Z
UID:TALK204208@talks.cam.ac.uk
DESCRIPTION:The analytic continuation from Lorentzian to Euclidean signatu
 re is a well-developed tool in quantum (field) theory. Since the Euclidean
  path integral may have relevant complex saddle points\, complexified spac
 etimes have come into focus recently following work by Witten. Multiple-ti
 me signatures have also been contemplated\, both in the context of higher-
 dimensional theories (F-theory\, S-theory) as well as in four dimensions (
 Self-dual Yang-Mills and gravity\, gauge theories based on Lie supergroups
 \, string theory with local N=2 worldsheet supersymmetry).&nbsp\;\nNon-Lor
 entzian signatures and complexified spacetimes are generally accepted as t
 echnical tools\, but in the context of quantum gravity one may well consid
 er spacetime signature as dynamical. Examples are Hawking&rsquo\;s no-boun
 dary proposal and type-II superstring theories.\nIn this talk I will revie
 w the reasons why non-Lorentzian signatures and dynamical signature change
  may exist in string theory despite the obvious conceptual issues this pos
 es. After presenting a selection of recent results\, which were obtained i
 n joint work with Louis Gall\, Giacomo Pope and Maxime Medevielle\, I&rsqu
 o\;ll try to clearly formulate open problems which may be amenable to meth
 ods from the areas of integrability and deep learning.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Newton Institute
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