In this talk, Prof. Minwalla will review two of the foundational frameworks of physics, namely quantum mechanics and general relativity. He then will describe some lessons that have been learned from the ongoing efforts to quantize gravity. In particular, he explains how the AdS/CFT correspondence of String Theory may be the complete quantization of one class of gravitational theories, and discusses some consequences.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Prof. Shiraz Minwalla is a theoretical physicist who studies quantum field theory, gravity, and string theory. He did his Ph.D. at Princeton University and then went on to Junior Fellow and Assistant Professor positions at Harvard University, before moving to the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, where he currently holds the position of Senior Professor. Prof Minwalla's several contributions include the discovery of the so-called Fluid Gravity correspondence: the demonstration of a tight connection between the equations of fluid dynamics and Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity. Prof. Minwalla's honors include the ICTP Prize, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the Infosys Prize, the New Horizons Prize, the inaugural Nishina Asia Award, and The World Academy of Sciences Prize.