Does Richard Feynman Dream of Electric Sheep? Topics on Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Computing, and Computer Science

Author: Liu, Junyu

Year: 2021

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisors: Cheung, Clifford W.; Preskill, John P.; Simmons-Duffin, David

Committee Members: Patterson, Ryan B.; Cheung, Clifford W.; Preskill, John P.; Simmons-Duffin, David

Option: Physics

DOI: 10.7907/adtc-ss13

Abstract

In this thesis, we mainly discuss three topics in theoretical physics: a proof of the weak gravity conjecture, a basic statement in the string theory landscape using the black hole entropy, solving the critical O(3) model using the conformal bootstrap method involving semidefinite programming, and numerical simulation of the false vacuum decay using tensor network methods. Those topics cover different approaches to deep understanding of quantum field theories using concepts and methods of information theory, and computer science with classical and quantum computations.

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• liu-junyu_2021-thesis.pdf (application/pdf)