Symmetry and Topology in Partical Physics

Collection Symmetry and Topology in Partical Physics

Organizer(s) Lea Bottini, Julio Parra Martinez, Alessandro Podo, Giovanni Rizi
Date(s) 09/03/2026 - 12/03/2026
linked URL https://indico.math.cnrs.fr/event/16013/
00:00:00 / 00:00:00
3 8

In this talk, I will examine the dynamics of the fermion–rotor system, originally introduced by Polchinski as a toy model for monopole–fermion scattering. Despite its simplicity, the system is surprisingly subtle, with ingoing and outgoing fermion fields carrying different quantum numbers. I will show that the rotor acts as a twist operator in the low-energy theory, changing the quantum numbers of excitations that have previously passed through the origin to ensure scattering consistent with all symmetries, thereby resolving the long-standing Unitarity puzzle. I will then discuss generalizations of this setup with multiple rotors and unequal charges, and demonstrate how the system can be viewed as a UV-completion of boundary states for chiral theories, establishing a connection to the boundary conformal field theory based proposal for resolving the puzzle.

Information about the video

  • Date of recording 10/03/2026
  • Date of publication 11/03/2026
  • Institution IHES
  • Language English
  • Audience Researchers
  • Format MP4

Last related questions on MathOverflow

You have to connect your Carmin.tv account with mathoverflow to add question

Ask a question on MathOverflow




Register

  • Bookmark videos
  • Add videos to see later &
    keep your browsing history
  • Comment with the scientific
    community
  • Get notification updates
    for your favorite subjects
Give feedback