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(19.12.) Event shapes and the light-ray OPE in CFTs

Alexander Zhiboedov (CERN)

19.12.2019 at 16:15 

I will review recent progress in our understanding of light-ray operators in abstract CFTs.
Light-ray operators first appeared in QCD and were later studied in N=4 Super Yang-Mills
theory and holography by Hofman and Maldacena. More recently, they attracted new
interest due to an important role played by the averaged null energy condition (ANEC)
operator in various contexts. However, it is only during the last few years it became
possible to start developing a more general theory of light-ray operators. I will explain a
nonperturbative, convergent operator product expansion (OPE) for null-integrated
operators on the same null plane in a CFT. I will discuss its application to energy-energy
correlators in N=4 Super Yang-Mills theory and constraints on consistent gravitational
EFTs.

Arnold Sommerfeld Center
Theresienstrasse 37
Room 348