Title: From quantum information to black holes and cosmology, Abstract: Black holes have not just become laboratories for astronomers, but also present some of the deepest unsolved problems in theoretical physics. During the past decade surprising connections have been made between ideas from quantum information and gravitational physics. In this talk I will explain several aspects […]

Title: Cauchy-characteristic matching, Abstract: Cauchy-characteristic matching is a novel numerical-relativity technique that enables the evolution of Einstein’s equations on an effectively infinite computational domain. In this talk, I will present our recent successful applications of this method to binary black hole mergers, and demonstrate its transformative potential for modeling tail and memory effects in eccentric binaries.

Title: Where is tree-level string theory? Abstract: Tree-level string theory extends Einstein gravity by an infinite set of massive higher spin particles. From a purely spacetime perspective (if we didn’t know about the worldsheet picture) the consistency of string amplitudes would appear truly miraculous. This prompts the question: is string theory the unique framework for a higher […]

TITLE: Cosmological results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, ABSTRACT: A quarter-century after the discovery of the accelerated expansion of theuniverse, the constraints on dark energy that powers this acceleration havebecome very good, but physical nature of dark energy remains elusive.  I willpresent and discuss cosmological results from the measurement of baryonacoustic oscillations (BAO) in […]