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Jamboree presentation, 2026-09-10

Of all known interactions in the universe, gravity is my favourite.
Einstein's general relativity is a pretty successful theory of classical gravitational fields, consistent with experiments all the way from terrestrial scales out to cosmological scales.
Remember Schrödinger's cat ⚛️☢️🐈? That is really about where the quantum world ends and the classical world begins. I want to know where this transition occurs for gravitational systems.
Black holes provide a very fruitful theoretical laboratory for investigating how to unify quantum theory and gravity.
Einstein's theory breaks down at the singularity at the heart of a black hole. We need a quantum theory of gravity (like string theory, for example) to describe what happens there.

How much further out do the tentacles of quantum gravity reach? The answer to this is not yet known.
Holography suggests that a gravitational universe can sometimes be described in a completely different language. Much of my research explores this big idea, for specific cases.
You don't need to already know string theory or holography to work with me. Most students start by building up their Quantum Field Theory knowledge and their General Relativity knowledge. Statistical Mechanics is also a useful course.
My students work on projects involving some combinatin of black holes, quantum gravity, holography, and string theory. Projects typically involve analytical calculations rather than experiments or large-scale numerical simulations.

Are you curious about research in theoretical high-energy physics, but also nervous about what you might get asked if you visit me?
Here's a simple way to decide: if black holes and fundamental questions appeal to you, please do come and chat. It's perfectly fine if you are unsure whether my research field is your jam.
I promise that I won't be mean or judgey. 🙂 Begin by asking me about whatever is on your mind about being a grad student here, general or specific. I am to give students really good advice, even when it doesn't directly benefit me. It's my job to help you.
Pro tip: if your mind goes blank when you walk into a professor's office, you can always ask: Can you tell me a bit about your research?. Academics always like to talk about that. 😂

These were provided to the audience in a QR code.