Unorientable Quantum Field Theories: from crosscaps to holography

par Joao Caetano

jeudi 8 févr. 2024, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Paris

Salle des Sommets (LAPTh)

In two dimensions, one can study quantum field theories on unorientable manifolds by introducing crosscaps. This defines a class of states called crosscap states which share a few similarities with the notion of boundary states. In this talk, I will show that integrable theories remain integrable in the presence of crosscaps, and this allows to exactly determine the crosscap state. I will also discuss the spin chain counterpart and generalizations thereof, called orientifold-defects.

In four dimensions, the analog is to place the quantum field theory on the real projective space, the simplest unorientable 4-manifold. I will show how to do this in the example of N=4 Supersymmetric Yang-Mills, and if time permits, discuss its holographic description and present a new solvable setup of AdS/CFT.