Speaker
Dr
Robie Hennigar
(Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Description
Quantum gravitational effects are expected to produce higher-curvature modifications to general relativity, but the complete structure of these modifications is unknown. Nonetheless, the study of generic higher-curvature gravities has proven useful, providing valuable insights into the nature of black hole thermodynamics and helping to uncover universal properties for field theories via AdS/CFT. In this talk I will introduce a class of higher-curvature theories – generalized quasi-topological gravities – and discuss their applications as useful higher-curvature toy models. I will discuss the properties of these theories, their black hole solutions, and some applications in context of squashed-sphere holography.
Author
Dr
Robie Hennigar
(Memorial University of Newfoundland)