The Virasoro TQFT approach to 3D gravity and the sum over topologies (QuIG Seminar)
- Date
- June 19 (Fri) 13:30 - 16:00, 2026 (JST)
- Speaker
-
- Mengyang Zhang (Project Researcher, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), The University of Tokyo)
- Venue
- via Zoom
- #359, Main Research Building
- Language
- English
- Host
- Masamichi Miyaji
In the first part of this talk, I will review the construction of Virasoro TQFT from the Chern–Simons formulation of pure AdS_3 gravity and its application to the statistics of two-dimensional holographic CFT data. I will then discuss its extension to three-dimensional de Sitter gravity and its relation to the double-scaled SYK model. In the second part, I will address the issue of topological invariance in Virasoro TQFT. Despite being “topological,” its partition function is not well-defined on arbitrary three-manifolds, distinguishing it from conventional
Reshetikhin–Turaev–Witten TQFTs. I will explain how far the standard proofs of topological invariance can be generalized to this framework.
Finally, I will comment on the role of the sum over topologies in the 3D gravitational path integral.
This is a closed event for scientists. Non-scientists are not allowed to attend. If you are not a member or related person and would like to attend, please contact us using the inquiry form. Please note that the event organizer or speaker must authorize your request to attend.