ELEANOR MARCH
QFT² (quite fun things about QFT) is a reading group on the physics, mathematics, and philosophy of QFT, started by myself and James Read in February 2025. In the 2025/26 academic year, we'll be meeting during term on a Friday from 16:30-18:00 UK time. The group is run in a hybrid format. Get in touch with me or James to be added to our mailing list and for the link to join online.
A provisional schedule of topics and readings for the current term is below (subject to change). There is some expectation to do some of the reading in advance, but the aim of this group is to develop (collective) understanding - so if you just want to focus on one item/sub-topic or get stuck on something, that's totally fine and you'll probably be helping the rest of us out! Everyone is welcome to suggest topics, readings, or to present if they would like - get in touch with me or James. A provisional schedule of topics for future terms is at the bottom of this page.
Hilary/Winter 2026 - von Neumann algebras and type reduction
This term, we'll be working through these notes by Liu on von Neumann algebras and type reduction, alongside some other 'classic' papers on the subject.
Week 1 (23rd Jan.)
Liu notes, sections I-II
Week 2 (30th Jan.)
Witten (2022) - Gravity and the Crossed Product. doi:10.1007/JHEP10(2022)008
Week 3 (6th Feb.)
Liu notes, sections III-V
Week 4 (13th Feb.)
CLPW (2023) - An Algebra of Observables for de Sitter Space. doi:10.1007/JHEP02(2023)082
Week 5 (20th Feb.)
Liu notes, sections VI-VII
Week 6 (27th Feb.)
Speranza (2025) - An Intrinsic Cosmological Observer. doi:10.1088/1361-6382/ae134c
Week 7 (6th March)
Liu notes, sections VIII-IX
Week 8 (13th March)
Kudler-Flam & Witten (2025) - Emergent Mixed States for Baby Universes and Black Holes. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2510.06376
Topic schedule for future terms
Trinity/Spring 2026 (April 3rd-June 5th): TBC
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The Hadamard condition
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Duncan's book
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Energy and energy conditions in QFT
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Seiberg-Witten theory
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BV/BFV formalism
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Measurement in QFT
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Spectrum conditions and the duality condition in QFT
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Locality and non-locality in QFT
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Causality in QFT