Zohar Komargodski

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Zohar Komargodski
Born10 March 1983 (1983-03-10) (age 40)
Ukraine, Soviet Union
Alma mater Tel-Aviv University
Weizmann Institute of Science
Known for a-theorem
Awards Gribov Medal (2013)
New Horizons in Physics Prize (2013)
Sackler Prize (2018)
Scientific career
Fields Theoretical physics
Institutions Simons Center for Geometry and Physics
Stony Brook University
Weizmann Institute of Science
Thesis  (2008)
Doctoral advisor Ofer Aharony
Micha Berkooz

Zohar Komargodski (born 10 March 1983) [1] [2] is an Israeli theoretical physicist who works on quantum field theory, including conformal field theories, gauge theories and supersymmetry. [3]

Contents

Komargodski received his Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute in 2008 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton afterwards. [4] [5] He currently holds a professor position at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics [6] at Stony Brook University in New York.

Research

In 2011 he and Adam Schwimmer from the Weizmann Institute proved a long-standing conjecture in quantum field theory, [7] the a-theorem, conjectured in 1988 by John Cardy. [8] Cardy's conjecture was a generalization of the c-theorem by Alexander Zamolodchikov (1986) [9] for two-dimensional quantum field theories on higher dimensions. The c-theorem ensures the existence of a function that decreases monotonically with the flow of the renormalization group (RG) (a function of the coupling constants and energy scale), which assumes constant values independent of the energy scale at the fixed points of the RG. This means that cycles in the flow of the RG are excluded; the flow is irreversible. The theorem also makes statements about the number of degrees of freedom in quantum field theory depending on the energy scale. In 1988 Cardy [10] proposed the existence of an analog function (a-function, as an integral of the expected value of the trace of the energy-momentum tensor over the four-dimensional sphere) in four dimensions. The a-function in four dimensions was proven to exist to all orders in perturbation theory in 1989 by Hugh Osborn. [11] Komargodski and Schwimmer proved the existence of the a-function for four dimensions beyond perturbation theory. [12] The application of the a-theorem enables connections to be made between predictions of a quantum field theory at low (observable) energies and high energies in the four-dimensional case relevant for physics.

Additional contributions include:

Honors and awards

In 2013 he received the New Horizons in Physics Prize [8] and the Gribov Medal. [18] In 2018 he was awarded the Sackler Prize [19] in Physics. In 2021 he was awarded Tomassoni awards. [20]

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Prof. Zohar Komargodski".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ "New Horizons Solvay Lectures" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Conversation with Zohar Komargodski" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ "IAS Member". 9 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ "INSPIRE". inspirehep.net. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Zohar Komargodski | SCGP" . Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  7. ↑ Komargodski, Zohar; Schwimmer, Adam (20 July 2011). "On Renormalization Group Flows in Four Dimensions". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2011 (12): 99. arXiv: 1107.3987v2 . Bibcode:2011JHEP...12..099K. doi:10.1007/JHEP12(2011)099. S2CID   119231010.
  8. 1 2 "2013 New Horizons in Physics Prize".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ Zamolodchikov, A.; Zamolodchikov, Al. (1997), "Conformal Bootstrap in Liouville Field Theory", Low-Dimensional Applications of Quantum Field Theory, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 319–334, doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-1919-9_17, ISBN   978-1-4899-1921-2 , retrieved 16 March 2021
  10. ↑ Cardy, John L. (December 1988). "Is there a c-theorem in four dimensions?". Physics Letters B. 215 (4): 749–752. Bibcode:1988PhLB..215..749C. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(88)90054-8. ISSN   0370-2693.
  11. ↑ Osborn, Hugh (1989). "Derivation of a Four-Dimensional c Theorem". Physics Letters B. 222 (1): 97. Bibcode:1989PhLB..222...97O. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(89)90729-6.Ian, Jack; Osborn, Hugh (1990). "Analogs for the c Theorem for Four-Dimensional Renormalizable Field Theories". Nuclear Physics B. 343 (3): 647–688. Bibcode:1990NuPhB.343..647J. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(90)90584-Z.
  12. ↑ Samuel Reich, Eugenie (14 November 2011). "Proof found for unifying quantum principle". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2011.9352. ISSN   0028-0836. S2CID   211729430.
  13. ↑ Komargodski, Zohar; Zhiboedov, Alexander (November 2013). "Convexity and Liberation at Large Spin". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2013 (11): 140. arXiv: 1212.4103 . Bibcode:2013JHEP...11..140K. doi:10.1007/JHEP11(2013)140. ISSN   1029-8479. S2CID   119305593.
  14. ↑ Closset, Cyril; Dumitrescu, Thomas T.; Festuccia, Guido; Komargodski, Zohar (January 2014). "The Geometry of Supersymmetric Partition Functions". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2014 (1): 124. arXiv: 1309.5876 . Bibcode:2014JHEP...01..124C. doi:10.1007/JHEP01(2014)124. ISSN   1029-8479. S2CID   119224380.
  15. ↑ Di Pietro, Lorenzo; Komargodski, Zohar (December 2014). "Cardy Formulae for SUSY Theories in d=4 and d=6". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2014 (12): 31. arXiv: 1407.6061 . Bibcode:2014JHEP...12..031D. doi:10.1007/JHEP12(2014)031. ISSN   1029-8479. S2CID   52995161.
  16. ↑ Gerchkovitz, Efrat; Gomis, Jaume; Komargodski, Zohar (November 2014). "Sphere Partition Functions and the Zamolodchikov Metric". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2014 (11): 1. arXiv: 1405.7271 . Bibcode:2014JHEP...11..001G. doi:10.1007/JHEP11(2014)001. ISSN   1029-8479. S2CID   53663195.
  17. ↑ Gaiotto, Davide; Kapustin, Anton; Komargodski, Zohar; Seiberg, Nathan (May 2017). "Theta, Time Reversal, and Temperature". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2017 (5): 91. arXiv: 1703.00501 . Bibcode:2017JHEP...05..091G. doi:10.1007/JHEP05(2017)091. ISSN   1029-8479. S2CID   119528151.
  18. ↑ "The Gribov Medal Prizes".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ↑ "Past Laureates of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Physics". Tel Aviv University. 5 September 2012.
  20. ↑ "Caterina Tomassoni and Felice Pietro Chisesi Prize".
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