Holography explains why black hole horizons have thermodynamic and hydrodynamic properties and inspires researchers to re-visit foundations and explore limits of relativistic hydrodynamics Since the work of Bekenstein, Hawking and others in the early 1970s, it was known that the laws of black hole mechanics are closely related if not identical to the laws of thermodynamics. A natural question to ask, then, is whether this analogy or the correspondence extends beyond the equilibrium state. The affirmative answer, given by various authors during the 1980s and 90s, became known as the "black hole membrane paradigm". It was shown that black hole horizons can be viewed as being endowed with fluid-like properties such as viscosity, thermal conductivity and so on, whose values remained mysterious. The development of holography 15-20 years ago clarified many of these issues and has led to the quantitative correspondence between Navier-Stokes and Einstein equations. It became possible to study the long-standing problems such as thermalization and turbulence by re-casting them in the dual gravity language. We review those developments focusing, in particular, on the issue of the "unreasonable effectiveness" of hydrodynamic description in strongly interacting quantum systems. Final remarks, Prof Julia Yeomans FRS, Head of Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics

Theoretical Physics - From Outer Space to Plasma

Fluid-gravity duality and hydrodynamics of black holes

Can we apply hydrodynamics to systems with extensively many conservation laws Can we apply hydrodynamics to systems with extensively many conservation laws

Hydrodynamics of Quantum Many-Body Systems Out of Equilibrium

What is hydrodynamics and why does it apply over 20 orders of magnitude in energy and length. Welcome, Prof Julia Yeomans FRS, Head of Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics Why Hydrodynamics? Prof Steve Simon

Why Hydrodynamics?

Will strings be the theory of everything?, presented by Prof Luis Fernando Alday.

Strings and Fields

Prof March-Russell explains our latest understanding of black holes, some of the most mysterious objects in the Universe.

Classical and Quantum Black Holes

A pressing question in our quest to understand the Universe is how to unify quantum mechanics and gravity, the very small and the very large.

Why is Quantum Gravity so hard?

In this talk, Dr Elliott Bentine shall discuss how recent experiments have exploited machine-learning techniques, both to optimize the operation of these devices and to interperet the data they produce. Modern table-top experiments can engineer physical systems that are deeply into the quantum mechanical regime. These cutting-edge instruments provide new insights into fundamental physics, and a pathway to future devices that will harness the power of quantum mechanics. They typically require complex operations to prepare and control the quantum state, involving time-dependent sequences of magnetic, electric and laser fields. This presents experimental physicists with an overwhelming number of tunable parameters, which may be subject to uncertainty or fluctuations.

Machine learning techniques in modern quantum-mechanics experiments

Professor Andre Lukas will discuss how string theorists have started to use methods from data science - particularly machine learning - to analyse the vast landscape of string data.

Machine Learning and String Theory

Professor Ard Louis gives a basic introduction to deep learning for physicists and addresses a few questions such as: Is the hype around deep learning justified, or are we about to hit some fundamental limitations? In less than ten years, machine learning techniques based on deep neural networks have moved from relative obscurity to central stage in the AI industry. Large firms such as Google and Facebook are pouring billions into research and development of these new technologies. The use of deep learning in physics is also growing exponentially. Can physics help us understand why deep learning works so well? And conversely: How can deep learning provide new insight into the world around us?

An Introduction to deep learning

Ian Shipsey give an update on the department and introduces the next three talk on 'AI in Physics'.

Welcome by Ian Shipsey Head of the Department of Physics

In this talk Subir Sarkar will explain how deflagration supernovae have been used to infer that the Hubble expansion rate is accelerating, and critically assess whether the acceleration is real and due to `dark energy’.

Cosmic acceleration revealed by Type la supernovae?

In this talk, Philipp Podsiadlowski will explain how this energy (sometimes) creates a visible fireball, before going on to explain the role of supernovae in the production of the heaviest elements in the periodic table.

Supernova Explosions and their Role in the Universe

In this talk, James Binney will outline the physics that leads to prodigeous release of energy in core-collapse and deflagration supernovae.

What makes stars go bang?

To study the Higgs boson at the LHC we also need to understand how highly energetic quarks and gluons interact, among themselves and with the Higgs. These interactions are described by quantum field theory, a beautiful mathematical framework that combines quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of special relativity. In recent years, our understanding of quantum field theory has progressed significantly, allowing us to develop a new generation of accurate theoretical predictions for key LHC reactions. In this talk, I will highlight some of the ideas behind this progress, and illustrate how they are being applied to investigate the Higgs sector at the LHC.

... from collisions to the Higgs boson

We learn about the Higgs Boson and its interactions at the LHC by examining the debris produced by colliding protons head-on at unprecedented high energies. However, we know from our theory of strong interactions - quantum chromodynamics (QCD) - that protons themselves are highly complex bound states of more fundamental 'quarks', held together by the force carriers of QCD, the 'gluons'. The question is then: how do we go from the collision of these complicated protons to a theoretical prediction that we can use to test the properties of the Higgs boson itself? In this talk, I will discuss what we know about the proton, and how we apply this to LHC collisions and our understanding of the Higgs sector.

From protons to collisions…

Members of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics host a morning of Theoretical Physics roughly three times a year on a Saturday morning. The mornings consist of three talks pitched to explain an area of our research to an audience familiar with physics at about the second-year undergraduate level and are open to all Oxford Alumni. Topics include Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes, Dark Matter, Plasma, Particle Accelerators and The Large Hadron Collider.

hubhopper

Theoretical Physics - From Outer Space to Plasma

hubhopper