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Black Holes and Quantum Information, Fall 2021

Lecture notes

General info



Lectures

1. 8/26/2021
video
The problem of quantum gravity. Handwritten notes.
Read: QGBH section 1.
2. 8/31/2021
video
Path integrals and quantum states. Handwritten notes on path integrals.
Read: QGBH section 4.
3. 9/2/2021
video
Correlators in Euclidean vs Lorentzian. Handwritten notes on analytic properties of correlators.
Read: section 3 of 1509.00014. :
4. 9/7/2021
video
Unruh radiation. Handwritten notes on Unruh radiation.
Read: Carroll Chapter 9 (QFT in curved spacetime), QGBH section 3 and section 4.
5. 9/9/2021
video
Unruh radiation continued + thermofield double. Handwritten notes on thermofield double.
Read: QGBH Thermofield double exercise in section 5, plus section 17.1
6. 9/14/2021
video
Finishing thermofield double + starting black hole thermodynamics.
Read: QGBH Section 2.
(I am following QGBH closely for this lecture, so not posting handwritten notes.)
7. 9/16/2021
video
More black hole thermodynamics + starting Hawking radiation.
Handwritten notes on Hawking radiation.
Read: QGBH Section 5.
8. 9/21/2021
video
More Hawking radiation.
9. 9/23/2021
video
Even more Hawking radiation.
10. 9/28/2021
video
The area theorem.
Handwritten notes on hypersurfaces and the area theorem.
Read: Carroll Appendix D and Wald 9.2. (For more details see Poisson chapters 2 and 3.)
11. 9/30/2021
video
Energy conditions; starting gravitational path integrals.
Handwritten notes on energy conditions.
Read: Poisson 2.1.
12. 10/5/2021
video
More on gravitational path integrals.
Handwritten notes on gravitational path integrals.
Read: QGBH Section 6.
13. 10/7/2021
video
Quantum corrections in semiclassical gravity; Intro to AdS/CFT.
Handwritten notes on intro to AdS/CFT.
Read: QGBH Sections 10 and 14.
14. 10/14/2021
video
Intro to AdS/CFT continued; CFT
Read: QGBH section 11.1 and Simmons-Duffin TASI lectures, sections 1-2
15. 10/19/2021
video
CFT
Handwritten notes on CFT basics
Read: Simmons-Duffin TASI lectures, sections 3-4
(Skip/skim the parts of the Simmons-Duffin s dealing with spinning operators.)
16. 10/21/2021
video
CFT
Read: Simmons-Duffin TASI lectures, sections 5-6
17. 10/26/2021
video
2d CFT
Handwritten notes on 2d CFT
Read: Simmons-Duffin 299 notes, sections 15.1-15.8
18. 10/28/2021
video
2d CFT
To prime or not to prime: notes on conformal transformations. These are the promised notes in which I tried to carefully explain the relationships among coordinate transformations, Poincare transformations, conformal transformations, and Weyl transformations.
19. 11/2/2021
video
Quantum entropy
Handwritten notes on quantum entropy
Read: QGBH sections 18-19.
20. 11/4/2021
video
More quantum entropy; quantum information in Hawking radiation
Read: Harlow's Jerusalem Lectures section 5.
21. 11/9/2021
video-
More on QI in Hawking radiation: Page curve, Mathur's small corrections argument
Handwritten notes on intro to the Page curve
22. 11/16/2021
video
Replica calculation of entanglement entropy in 2d CFT
Handwritten notes on entanglement entropy in 2d CFT
23. 11/18/2021
video
Generalized entropy: Definition, generalized second law, and derivation from replicas
Handwritten notes on generalized entropy
24. 11/23/2021
video
Holographic entanglement entropy
Handwritten notes on holographic entanglement entropy
Read: QGBH sections 21 and 22.
25. 11/30/2021
video
More holographic entanglement entropy
26. 12/2/2021
video
Island effect
Handwritten notes on the island effect
Read: this review paper
27. 12/3/2021
video
Replica wormholes
Handwritten notes on replica wormholes


Problem sets

1. Problem set 1 due 9/14/2021
2. Problem set 2 due 9/23/2021
3. Problem set 3 due 10/14/2021
4. Problem set 4 due 10/28/2021
5. Problem set 5 due 11/16/2021
Choose a final presentation topic by 11/19/2021
6. Problem set 6 due Dec 17 (optional)