University of Cambridge > Talks.cam > Mathematical Physics Seminar > On a Quantum Construction for Classical Space-Times: Palatial Twistor Theory

On a Quantum Construction for Classical Space-Times: Palatial Twistor Theory

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  • UserRoger Penrose (Oxford)
  • ClockTuesday 07 March 2017, 16:00-17:00
  • HouseMR3.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Professor Maciej Dunajski.

Twistor theory was originally motivated from a desire to bring together basic mathematical ingredients of quantum mechanics and relativistic space-time structure. Many results were achieved, including the “non-linear graviton” construction which enabled the negative-helicity complex solutions of the Einstein vacuum equations to be encoded as curved twistor spaces, obtained by patching together portions of flat twistor space. But for some 40 years, the so-called “googly problem” has frustrated the encoding of both positive and negative helicities—and hence real space-times—into the same twistor framework. The procedures of “palatial twistor theory”, which borrow ideas from quantum theory, offer genuine hope of a solution to this problem, so that real space-times can be treated using the complex-holomorphic procedures of twistor theory.

This talk is part of the Mathematical Physics Seminar series.

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