Vivek Saxena

Welcome to my homepage. I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the New High Energy Theory Center at Rutgers University. I obtained a Ph.D. from Stony Brook University, where I was part of the C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics. Prior to that, I received B.Tech. and M.Tech. degrees in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.

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Research Outlook : Physical Mathematics, (T)QFT, String/M-Theory

I am interested in quantum field theory, string theory, and Physical Mathematics. For some background about the latter, please refer to the following articles:

I like to think of this pursuit more generally as the application of physics to mathematics. Broadly, my interests include, in no particular order:

  • Topological Quantum Field Theories (TQFTs); physical approaches to cohomological field theories.
  • Categorical and generalized symmetries.
  • Generalized cohomology theories in QFT/string/M-theory.
  • Supersymmetric gauge theories in curved space and supergravity.
  • Conformal field theory.

Research

TQFT and differential cohomology

Topological field theories, differential cohomology, electromagnetic duality, higher-form fields, and generalized symmetries.

Supersymmetric field theory

Topological twisting, generalized spin-c structures, family Donaldson invariants, curved-space supersymmetry, and supergravity.

String/M-theory and TMF

Heterotic strings, topological modular forms, M-theory fivebranes, K-theory, and Ramond-Ramond fields in supergravity.

Publications

Publication page →

Click [+] for a brief description.

Teaching

Graduate string theory materials from PHY 622/623, including lecture notes on T-duality, Buscher rules, complex manifolds, Calabi-Yau manifolds, heterotic strings, eleven-dimensional supergravity, M-theory, and branes.

Teaching materials

Miscellaneous resources