The spin-statistics theorem for TFTs
CMSA EVENTS: CMSA QUANTUM FIELD THEORY AND PHYSICAL MATHEMATICS SEMINAR
When: October 25, 2024
9:00 am - 10:00 am
Where: CMSA, 20 Garden St, G10
Address:
20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States
Speaker: Luuk Stehouwer (Dalhousie University)
In quantum field theory (QFT) the spin-statistics theorem says that in a unitary QFT, a particle has half-integer spin if and only if it is a fermion. I show how to phrase this statement in the language of functorial field theories. More precisely, I explain when a functorial field theory “has fermions” and “has spinors” and when they are “related”. I will then restrict to topological field theories (TFTs) and define unitary TFTs. There are counterexamples of the spin-statistics theorem for non-unitary TFTs. I will prove that every unitary TFT satisfies the spin-statistics theorem.
https://harvard.zoom.us/j/97784644596
Password: cmsa