Colloquium- “Ultraviolet divergences and the breakdown of quantum field theory at short distance” with Prof. Michael Miller (University of Toronto)
Colloquium
March 5, 2025
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location
238 2SES
Calendar
Download iCal FileAbstract: Ultraviolet divergences have plagued quantum field theory since the earliest days of its development and they have often been claimed to signal that the theory, or at least specific models of the theory, will break down at short distances. In this talk, I distinguish between a mathematical and physical sense in which a theory might break down in the ultraviolet regime. I argue that perturbative ultraviolet divergences signal a mathematical breakdown which can be overcome by attending to the distributional character of the terms in the perturbative expansion. I contrast this with case of non-perturbative ultraviolet divergences which I argue signal a genuine physical breakdown of the models in which they arise. By focusing attention on the question of why ultraviolet divergences arise in the first place, we arrive at a better understanding of whether or not they signal that a model will break down.
Co-Sponsored by the Laboratory for Quantum Theory at the Extremes (LQuTE)
Date posted
Dec 19, 2024
Date updated
Feb 27, 2025