Scientific Calendar Event



Starts 27 May 2014 15:30
Ends 27 May 2014 18:00
Central European Time
ICTP
Strada Costiera, 11 I - 34151 Trieste (Italy)
Abstract: The success of gauge theory descriptions of Nature follows simply, in hindsight, from Lorentz symmetry, quantum mechanics, and the existence of interacting massless particles with spin. Yet, remarkably, the most generic type of massless particle spin has never been seriously examined: Wigner's so-called "continuous spin" particles (CSPs), which have a tower of polarization states carrying all integer or half-integer helicities that mix under boosts. In this talk, I will explain how to think about CSPs, and some hints from the symmetry constraints on scattering amplitudes not only that CSP theories may be consistent, but that they could be relevant to understanding long-range forces in Nature. Further progress in understanding free CSPs in field theory will be discussed in Philip Schuster's seminar to follow.