The Hidden Geometry of Particle Collisions

by Jesse Thaler (MIT)

Wednesday 20 May 2020, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Zurich

Zoom only (CERN)

In this colloquium, I explain how many concepts and techniques in quantum field theory and collider physics can be naturally translated into a new geometric language.  Using the energy mover's distance, which quantifies the minimal amount of "work" required to rearrange one event into another, we can define a distance between pairs of collider events.  This distance can then be used to triangulate the "space" of collider events and rigorously define various geometric objects.  Many well-known collider observables, jet algorithms, and pileup mitigation schemes have a simple geometric interpretation, as does the important concept of infrared and collinear safety.  Intriguingly, these ideas can be lifted from a distance between events into a distance between theories, with potential relevance for visualizing and interpreting data from the LHC.

Zoom connection details:
https://cern.zoom.us/j/92401905276?pwd=RGFZUjlPdmVxUEs1N1hmSys2bHRaQT09
Meeting ID: 924 0190 5276
Password: 033310
Connection by phone: see https://cern.zoom.us/u/acdHX3KPWQ

jesse-thaler-2020-05-20.mp4

jthaler_2020_05_CERN_Colloquium.pdf

SpeakerAgreement-Jesse-Thaler.pdf