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Calendar of Physics Talks Vienna
| Spacetime is larger than you think |
| Speaker: | Peter West (King's College London) |
| Abstract: | I will argue that the solitonic objects which occur in quantum field theories require an enlarged spacetime to describe them. Indeed all of spacetime can be thought of arising in this way. The large infinite dimensional exceptional symmetries, that are found in the maximal supergravity theories, automatically come equipped with such an enlarged spacetime and I will explain progress towards finding the conditions on the enlarged spacetime required by the presence of local symmetry. |
| Date: | Mon, 02.11.2026 |
| Time: | 14:00 |
| Duration: | 60 min |
| Location: | ITP, TU Wien, Wiedner Hauptstr. 8-10, Sem.R. DB gelb 10 |
| Contact: | Daniel Grumiller, Gerben Oling |
| Inverting hamiltonian reduction: an introduction |
| Speaker: | Christopher Raymond (University of Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | A fundamental problem in the representation theory of vertex operator algebras (VOAs) is, given a VOA, to identify a category of its modules that can be used to build a conformal field theory. In rational cases, this problem is not too difficult. One determines the highest-weight V-modules, there are finitely many, and their fusion products are completely reducible (the category is semisimple). This leads to the theory of modular tensor categories. For logarithmic CFTs, this picture becomes significantly more complicated. The commonly studied examples, affine and W-algebra theories at fractional level, no longer have finitely many simple representations, and the fusion is not semisimple. Moreover, we need to consider more than just highest-weight modules to have closure under fusion. My talk will be an introduction to a new and unified approach to this problem known as inverse hamiltonia |
| Date: | Tue, 03.11.2026 |
| Time: | 14:00 |
| Duration: | 60 min |
| Location: | ESI - Schroedinger lecture hall, Boltzmanngasse 9, 1090 Wien |
| Contact: | S. Fredenhagen, M. Sperling |
| Solvent-Derived Radicals Drive Anthracene-Electrode Bond Formation in Single-Molecule Junctions |
| Speaker: | Emma York (Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Wien) |
| Abstract: | In single-molecule electronics, functional “linker” groups are typically appended to a molecular core to create mechanically stable, reproducible binding interactions with metallic electrodes. In turn, these linkers influence the molecular orbital energy landscape, strength of molecule-metal electronic coupling, and overall conductance. Most molecule-electrode binding interactions fall into one of three categories: π-donation, lone pair donation, or chemisorption, in which a molecular radical form a covalent bond with the electrode metal. Covalently bound junctions are of particular interest because they are mechanically robust and offer enhanced molecule-electrode electronic hybridization. Using the scanning tunneling microscope-based break junction (STM-BJ) technique, we characterize single-molecule junctions containing 4-(anthracen-2-ylethynyl)pyridine in which all three binding motif |
| Date: | Tue, 03.11.2026 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Location: | TU Wien, Institut für Angewandte Physik, E134 1040 Wien, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10 |
| Contact: | Prof. Markus Valtiner |
| Building a Temperature-Controlled Microflow Cell for CO₂ Electroreduction: Probing Catalyst-Layer Effects on Gas-Diffusion Electrodes |
| Speaker: | Wanderson Ferraz do Valle (TU Wien, IAP, FB Angewandte Grenzflächenphysik Wien) |
| Abstract: | The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction converts CO₂ and electricity into fuels and chemical feedstocks. The products can vary from CO and formate to ethylene and alcohols depending on the catalyst used in the cell. In this study, we present a temperature-controlled microflow cell and study the role of catalyst on CO₂ reduction. The standard laboratory configuration of the cell and the low solubility of CO₂ in aqueous electrolyte limits current densities to a few tens of mA cm⁻². Gas-diffusion electrodes in microflow cells supply CO₂ from the gas phase and reach much higher currents, but make the catalyst layer, the membrane and the gas–liquid interface integral part of the measurement. Temperature changes CO₂ solubility, ion transport and the barriers of competing pathways, so a single-temperature experiment cannot separate these contributions. Our microflow cell setup is built to pr |
| Date: | Tue, 03.11.2026 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Location: | TU Wien, Institut für Angewandte Physik, E134 1040 Wien, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10 |
| Contact: | Prof. Markus Valtiner |
| Speaker: | Enrico Nardi (INFN) |
| Abstract: | tbc |
| Date: | Tue, 03.11.2026 |
| Time: | 16:15 |
| Duration: | 60 min |
| Location: | Erwin-Schroedinger-HS, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Wien, 5.Stock |
| Contact: | A. Hoang, M. Procura, J. Pradler |
| Strong-coupling expansion in non-Hermitian Quantum Field Theory |
| Speaker: | Alexander Felski (AIMR, Tohoku U.) |
| Abstract: | The study of non-Hermitian quantum field theories beyond one-dimensional quantum-mechanical formulations still poses a series of open fundamental questions. Here the extension of the quantum-mechanical PT-symmetric Bender-Boettcher model to a d-dimensional field theoretic setting has served as a valuable testing ground to illustrate and tackle these challenges. A promising approach lies in the application of strong-coupling techniques, having recently been used at leading orders in the iφ3 model. I here examine the non-Hermitian −φ4 quantum field theory in zero to three dimensions using a strong-coupling analysis. The general diagrammatic strong-coupling approach is detailed and applied to the theory associated with the PT-symmetric contour connecting appropriate Stokes wedges/Lefschetz thimbles, as well as to the theory obtained from the conventional Hermitian +φ4 theory under complex |
| Date: | Thu, 05.11.2026 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Duration: | 60 min |
| Location: | ITP, TU Wien, Wiedner Hauptstr. 8-10, Sem.R. DB gelb 10 |
| Contact: | Paul Romatschke, Gerben Oling |
| Speaker: | Florian Piegsa (Universität Bern) |
| Date: | Fri, 06.11.2026 |
| Time: | 10:00 |
| Duration: | 45 min |
| Location: | Helmut Rauch Hörsaal, ATI |
| Contact: | Hartmut Abele |
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