Topic: Shockwaves and Time Delays in Einstein-Maxwell Effective Field Theory

Speaker: Prof. Minyuan Jiang

Coordinates: PCFT C1124, 16:00, Friday, May 15

Abstract: Causality is one of the most fundamental principles in nature, and it can be used to place powerful constraints on effective field theories (EFTs). The first half of this talk will provide an introduction and brief review of how causality can be used to derive bounds on EFTs, as well as the subtleties that arise when gravitational EFTs are considered. In the second half, I will discuss our analysis of shockwaves and time delays in Einstein-Maxwell EFT. We find that two EFT effects—the correction to the shockwave geometry and the backreaction induced by the probe photon—are both essential for obtaining a physical time delay that is invariant under metric field redefinitions.