Sebastian de Haro

Senior lecturer in theoretical physics at the Amsterdam University College (AUC) of the University of Amsterdam. I did my PhD in theoretical physics in 2001 under Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel Prize in Physics 1999). My area of research is quantum gravity and string theory. I am currently doing a second PhD, in philosophy of science, at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Cambridge with Jeremy Butterfield.

My reserach in theoretical physics focuses on the holographic description of gravity and topological aspects of quantum field theories. In particular I am working on the extension of the holographic principle to space-times with a positive cosmological constant, as well as on the holographic principle of a special class of solutions called 'instantons'.

My research in philosophy of science is on the philosophy of quantum gravity and string theory and focuses on the interpretation of dualities and the emergence of space-time and gravity. I also work on the relation between gravity and quantum information.

Latest

• Invited speaker at the conference Equivalent Theories in Physics and Metaphysics (20-22 March 2015), Princeton University, NJ, USA.
• Spreaker at the Philosophy of Physics section of the conference on Philosophy of Science in Dubrovnik, Croatia (13-17 April 2015).
• My paper Dualities and Emergence: AdS/CFT and Verlinde's Scheme, for a special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, edited by Elena Castellani and Dean Rickles. 27 January 2015.
• My abstract for the 1st Munich Graduate Workshop in Mathematical Philosophy: Philosophy of Physics (9-11 April 2015) at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, LMU, just got accepted! 
• A Holographic Universe?, slides from my talk for a general physics audience at the 17th International Interdisciplinary Seminar, London, 1-6 January, 2015, available here.
• Emergent Time and Emergent Space in Quantum Gravity, Max-Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, 15-18 Dec. 2014, Potsdam. Slides available here.
• Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, 6-9 November 2014, Chicago, USA, where I gave a joint talk with Jeremy Butterfield on "Two kinds of Under-Determination of Space-Time Structure". Slides available here.
• Foundations of Dualities, Florence, 15-16 September, 2014. Paper coming out soon! "Dual and Emergent Gravity: AdS/CFT and Verlinde's Scenario". Slides available here. 
• Latest paper: Instantons and the Hartle-Hawking-Maldacena Proposal for dS/CFT, published in JHEP.
• Foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Gravity, 24-25 April 2014, Imperial College, London, working group meeting for EU COST Action MP1006.
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 27 April 4 May 2014, colaboration financed by EU COST project The String Theory Universe.
• Emergence in Holographic Scenarios for Gravity, preprint on PhilSci (with D. Dieks and J. van Dongen), 9 April 2014.
• I am teaching a course on AdS/CFT: Student Seminar Theoretical Physics, March-May 2014.
• Reduction and Emergence in Holographic Scenarios for Quantum Gravity, talk given at the conference Reduction and Emergence in the Sciences, LMU Munich, 14-16 November 2013.
• Science and Philosophy: A Love-Hate Relationship, talk given at the conference Rethinking Liberal Education, Amsterdam, 15 June 2013.
• Lecture notes Symmetries and the Quantum Universe, see link below.
• Forty Years of String Theory: Reflecting on the Foundations, Special Issue of Foundations of Physics. Editors: G. 't Hooft, E. Verlinde, S. de Haro, D. Dieks.
• Seminar at École Polytechnique, Paris, 23 October 2012.
• My book on recent results in physics, in Dutch at Prometheus/BertBakker. 2014.
• Follow the developments on Twitter @sebastiandeharo.

• Symmetries and the Quantum Universe, lecture notes course number SCI332 (draft).

• Recent Advances in Topological Quantum Field Theory (September 2012)

• Some of my talks on Slideshare

Talks for a General Audience

• The Universe from Information? 
• Strings and Quantum Gravity. Consequences for Reductionism. University of Navarre, Pamplona, Spain. June 21, 2011.
• The Quest for a Theory of Everything,  Het Wereldbeeld, June 6, 2011, Amsterdam.
• De zoektocht naar een unificerende theorie. De Leidsche Fles, symposium 'De randvan de wetenschap', Universiteit Leiden, 10 november 2011.
• Hiërarchisch of democratisch? Over de eenheid van de natuurwetenschap. Jaarlijkse nationale natuurkundeconferentie Fysica 2011, sessie  Interdisciplinariteit van de realiteit,  VU, April 15, 2011.
• Black Hole Horizons: The Gravity of Paradigms.  CREA lecture series, March 9, 2011, Amsterdam.
• Wat rechtvaardigt de eenheid van de wetenschap? Waar alfa, bèta en gamma samenkomen. College StudieMarathon, Oude Manhuispoort, UvA. 19 januari 2011.

• DLF Symposium Op de rand van de wetenschap

• Studiemarathon UvA

List of Publications

See my full list of publications from my Google scholar profile here. 

Publications in theoretical and mathematical physics:

 

• List of Selected Publications

• Full list of physics publications

Lecture Notes (download)

• Symmetries and the Quantum Universe

• Understanding Quantum Mechanics

Bachelor Theses:

General fields in which I can supervise your thesis:

• General relativity
• Quantum Field Theory
• String Theory/Quantum Gravity
• Mathematical Physics
• Philosophical Foundations of Physics

 

Downloads:

• Jens Maluck - An Introduction to Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics and Shape Invariant Potentials (awarded 'thesis of distinction') - 2013

• Davide Dispenza - Symmetry Breaking and the Higgs Mechanism - 2013

• Thomas Nutz - The Instanton Approach to Quantum Gravity - 2013

• Djuna Croon - The Holographic Framework for the Coleman-De Luccia Instanton (awarded 'thesis of distinction') - 2012

• Stefano Lorini - On the Emergence of Spacetime and the Origin or Gravity - 2012

• Emma Winkels - The Black Hole Information Paradox - 2012

• Onno Huygen - The Superconductor as a Hologram - 2012

• Stefan van der Sterren - Black Hole Entropy - 2012

• Transition from AUC to Physics Master

Master Theses:

Generally, I will supervise theses on one of the two following broad topics:

• AdS/CFT and the Holographic  Principle
• Quantum Information and Origin of Gravity

 

• Prometheus/Bert Bakker
  Writing a popular science book