Introduction to Gauge/Gravity dualities - From strings & black holes to condensed matter systems and back
Abstract:
What do black holes, heavy ion collisions and strongly coupled superfluids have in common? Besides being interesting systems on their own and currently investigated by many different groups, they may be intimately connected by intriguing relations between gravitational and non-gravitational theories, known as AdS/CFT correspondence.
The AdS/CFT correspondence is considered to be one of the most exciting conceptual developments in theoretical physics within the last two decades. In the first four lectures I will review the basic theoretical arguments leading to the AdS/CFT correspondence. The last lecture is devoted to exciting applications of AdS/CFT towards strongly coupled field theories near quantum critical points relevant for condensed matter systems. I also will discuss implications for quantum gravity due to the AdS/CFT correspondence.