Gauge theories describe the fundamental interactions, but their complexity makes questions involving real-time dynamics beyond the reach of classical computation. Quantum computers open a new path by naturally representing quantum fields and evolving them in real time thus circumventing for example the sign problem that limits classical Monte Carlo methods. In this talk, we will discuss the challenges and recent progress in encoding and simulating Gauge theories on fault-tolerant quantum computers.

Title: Better Together: Combining the Strengths of Rubin, LS4 and Euclid for Time-domain Science and Cosmology

Abstract: We have entered an exciting decade for survey science with such space-based surveys as Euclid and such ground-based surveys as LSST and LS4 providing overlapping imaging datasets across the optical and IR.  LSST will identify thousands of tidal disruption events (TDEs) and millions of AGN and supernovae, including hundreds of gravitationally lensed supernovae (gLSNe) from which we can measure the Hubble Constant. I will discuss how joint analysis of ground and space-based data via multi-resolution forward modeling methods will enable us to search for TDEs from non-nuclear massive black holes, undertake time delay cosmography with populations of gLSNe and study the environments of supernovae and dwarf galaxy AGN.

NB: non-standard time!

Title: Symmetry-weighted ensemble averaging from TQFT gravity

Abstract: In a recently proposed framework of TQFT gravity (2310.13044, 2405.20366) -- a toy model of AdS3 gravity -- a bulk 3d TQFT summed over all topologies is shown to be dual to a unitary ensemble of boundary 2d CFTs. I will show that the CFTs in this ensemble are weighted by the inverse of the order of their symmetry group (relative to the categorical symmetry provided by the bulk TQFT as a SymTFT). Mathematically, this is the natural measure over the groupoid of the TQFT Lagrangian algebras that construct the CFTs, and the holographic duality then provides a generalization of the Siegel-Weil formula beyond averaging over bosonic lattice-CFTs. I will also discuss some examples for rational CFTs as well as implications to noncompact TQFTs and pure gravity.

Dr. Matthew Bayliss, University of Cincinnati

Title: Taking Galaxies Apart and Putting Them Back Together Again

Abstract: Understanding the growth and evolution of stars and galaxies across cosmic time is a cornerstone of modern observational cosmology. After Cosmic Dawn, the first generation of galaxies powered much of cosmic re-ionization. Later, the global star-formation density accelerated toward its peak at Cosmic Noon, when most of the stellar mass in the Universe was formed. The industry standard is to use individual galaxies as the de facto measurement unit. There are practical reasons for counting galaxy-by-galaxy: galaxies grow and reside in dark matter haloes that map back to primordial mass over-densities, and even space-based observatories can only marginally resolve galaxies in the distant universe. However, the physical processes that drive galaxy growth and evolution -- cloud collapse, star formation, feedback, etc. -- operate on scales much smaller than a galaxy. I will present ongoing work using bright, strongly lensed galaxies to zoom in on the scales of individual star clusters to resolve the physics of what's happening inside distant galaxies.