Seminar
Speaker
Yuji Tachikawa (IPMU)
Date & Time
Wed, 25 May 2022, 11:30 to 12:30
Venue
Online Seminar
Abstract

We point out that some questions in quantum field theory are undecidable in a precise mathematical sense. More concretely, it will be demonstrated that there is no algorithm answering whether a given 2d supersymmetric Lagrangian theory breaks supersymmetry or not. It will also be shown that there is a specific 2d supersymmetric Lagrangian theory which breaks supersymmetry if and only if the standard Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory with the axiom of choice is consistent, which can never be proved or disproved as the consequence of Gödel's second incompleteness theorem. The article includes a brief and informal introduction to the phenomenon of undecidability and its previous appearances in theoretical physics. This talk is based on 2203.16689.

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