Scientific Calendar Event



Starts 19 Nov 2026 16:00
Ends 19 Nov 2026 17:00
Central European Time
Hybrid
Leonardo Building - Euler Lecture Hall and via Zoom
Abstract
I will present a new proposal to test conformal invariance in critical phenomena based on the measurement of a two-point correlation function in the presence of a boundary. This two-point function can be studied using X-ray or neutron scattering in the conditions of total reflection (so-called grazing scattering). The conformal Ward identity in momentum space is expressed as a differential constraint on the scattering cross-section, as a function of the momentum transfer and the scattering angle. Experimental verification, using e.g. binary alloys, appears well within the existing techniques. This would be the first direct experimental test of conformal invariance in classical critical phenomena, a symmetry widely assumed but never directly verified.