QCD AND STRINGS

Organisers: C. Anastasiou, Matthias Gaberdiel, Thomas Gehrmann, Zoltan Kunszt

In recent years, very interesting progress has been made towards the understanding of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions. These insights may also have implications for (non-supersymmetric) QCD, the theory of the strong interactions.
Some of the advances were stimulated by insights coming out of string theory, such as  an intriguing relation between twistor string theory and N=4 super Yang-Mills.

Novel recursion relations for tree amplitudes in SYM and QCD were found. Combining recursion relations with new powerful techniques for multi-loop integrations in quantum field theory has led to the discovery of an iterative structure of multi-loop amplitudes in MSYM. These developments have provided  new  evidence that N=8 supergravity in 4 dimensions may be  UV finite. The same conclusion has also been supported by string theory arguments.

Somewhat independently, starting from an analysis of the AdS/CFT correspondence in the plane wave limit, evidence has been accumulating that planar N=4 SYM is integrable. There have also been interesting developments in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence.  It has been possible to predict properties of QCD-like theories from a dual supergravity point of view.  Explicit ways of relating string theory to SYM amplitudes have also emerged.

During the 3 month programme we plan to cover some of these aspects.

Dates and visits

The CTS in Zürich will host researchers with overlapping interests during the period May-July 2008. 

Structure of the programme

The participants will have opportunities for daily discussions. Topical seminars and introductory lectures will take place throughout the duration of the programme. 



Lectures and Talks:

TIME      :       Friday 6, June  10-12 am
PLACE    :       HPZ E9
Speaker  :       Radu Roiban
Lecture   :       On-shell methods  in gauge theories

TIME      :       Tuesday 10, June  10-12 am
PLACE    :       HPZ E9
Speaker  :       Radu  Roiban
Lecture   :       On-shell methods  in gauge theories


TIME      :       Wednesday 11, June  10-12 am
PLACE    :       HPZ E9
Speaker  :       Gabriele Travaglini
Lecture   :       MHV amplitudes and Wilson loops
Speaker  :       Radu Roiban
Lecture   :       On-shell methods  in gauge theories



TIME      :      Wednseday 18, June  10-12 am
PLACE    :      HPZ E9
Speaker  :      Valya Khoze
Lecture   :      MHV amplitudes and Wilson loops in
                    the superconformal N=2  SQCD
Speaker  :      Paul Heslop
Lecture   :      Four-point amplitudes and Wilson loops in N=8 supergravity

TIME      :      Monday 7, July  10-12 am
PLACE    :      HPZ E9
Speaker  :      Zvi Bern (UCLA)
Lecture   :      Supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory and Supergravity

VISITORS

          Anastasia Volovich (June 29 - July 13)

      
         
WORKSHOP 

An international workshop on  Gauge Theory and String Theory is organized in July 2-4 under the aegis of this programme.