Joint cosmology seminar at Tufts:

Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 2:30 pm
Robinson Hall, Room 250
Tufts University
Refreshments at 2:00 in Knipp Library, Room 251

Dual description of a 4d cosmology

Misha Smolkin
Perimeter Institute

Abstract:

In my talk I will discuss our recent paper hep-th/1211.1322 where we construct a 3D conformal field theory dual to asymptotically AdS cosmology in four dimensions. Due to the scale invariance this dual theory allows an infinite family of instantons each of which breaks the conformal group O(3,2) down to cosmological symmetry O(3,1). These instantons might mediate an infinite instability, however we are able to sum over all of them completely. The resulting theory spontaneously breaks conformal symmetry but is manifestly stable, unitary and finite.