Santiago Agüí Salcedo sa2013@cam.ac.uk
Spain
Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Churchill College
PhD thesis: Analyticity in the Cosmological Bootstrap
Research interests:
1. Cosmological Bootstrap
2. Quantum field theory in curved spacetimes
3. Analytic S-matrix
My doctoral research centres on integrating analytic S-matrix techniques into the framework of the Cosmological Bootstrap. Both programs share a common goal: utilizing nature's fundamental principles (locality, causality, and unitarity) and symmetries to restrict physical observables. The analytic S-matrix emerged in the 1960s to study particle scattering, while the Cosmological Bootstrap emerged in the 2010s to understand night sky observables. Recently, my supervisor and I have concentrated on examining the analytic composition of wavefunction coefficients and cosmological correlators. We explore how causality places a constraint in the latter and explains the analytical structure identified in prior research.
Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?
My inspiration to pursue this project is the riveting nature of universality in Physics. I find it very surprising that we can use the same techniques to study particle physics and the cosmic microwave background. The Cosmological Bootstrap opens a window of opportunity to study the universe in a model independent way. This is the same spirit as the analytic S-matrix with particle physics. The idea that nature may be so constraint by symmetries and fundamental principles that it could only yield one answer is always enticing.