Research

Holographic defect conformal field theories

According to the AdS/CFT paradigm, the strongly coupled (i.e. highly quantum) dynamics of certain supersymmetric field theories admit an emergent description in terms of weakly coupled theories of gravity in higher dimensions. This insight allows one to recast once-intractable calculations in a gauge theory into relatively straightforward string theory questions. I am particularly interested in exploring defect superconformal field theories of various (co)dimensions by engineering intersections of black branes, generalisations of black holes to superstring theory and M-theory.

Peer-reviewed publications:

• "Holographic Weyl Anomalies for 4d Defects in 6d SCFTs" with John Estes, Brandon Robinson, and Benjamin Suzzoni. Published in Journal of High Energy Physics (JHEP). DOI: 10.1007/JHEP04(2024)120.

• "From Large to Small N = (4, 4) Superconformal Surface Defects in Holographic 6d SCFTs" with JE, BR, and BS. Published in Journal of High Energy Physics (JHEP). DOI: 10.1007/JHEP08(2024)094.

Further work in progress with Andy O'Bannon, James Ratcliffe, Ronnie Rodgers, and BS.

Supersymmetric quantum field theories

Work in progress with Elisa Iris Marieni, BS, and Itamar Yaakov.

Machine learning in theoretical physics

The space of supersymmetric quantum field theories is extraordinarily rich and multifaceted. In particular, it admits many dualities which relate seemingly different theories and their phases. I am interested in constructing and training machine learning algorithms to learn, identify, and predict these dualities. For instance, my collaborators and I developed neural networks capable of distinguishing different toric phases of certain supersymmetric gauge theories arising on the worldvolumes of D3-branes probing toric Calabi-Yau 3-fold singularities in type IIB superstring theory.

Peer-reviewed publication:

• "Machine learning toric duality in brane tilings" with Tancredi Schettini Gherardini and BS. Available as pre-print arXiv:2409.15251. To appear in Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics.

Pre-print:

• "Conformal Defects in Neural Network Field Theories" with BR and BS. Available as pre-print arXiv:2512.07946. 

Further work in progress with BR and BS, and TSG and BS.

Geometry and topology for superstring theory and M-theory

I have a broad interest in leveraging topological and algebro-geometric formalisms to elegantly describe the objects, structures, and spaces which arise in theoretical physics, and in particular in supersymmetry and string theory. In my MSc dissertation, I explored the framework of complex and exceptional generalised geometry and its use in superstring theories and M-theory.

MSc dissertation:

• "(Exceptional) Generalised Geometry for Superstring Theory and M-Theory", written under the supervision of Prof. Chris Hull FRS. Hosted on the Imperial College webpages here.

Financial market modelling

I am interested in understanding and modelling the stochastic nature of financial markets. For instance, the problem of option pricing is equivalent to modelling the Schrödinger evolution of a quantum state in imaginary time; my collaborators and I used this duality to develop a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method based on a path integral formulation of option pricing.

Peer-reviewed publication:

• "Path integral Monte Carlo method for option pricing" with Emanuele Panella, TSG, and Dimitri D. Vvedensky. Published in Phys. A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications 581 (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2021.126231.