Monica Jinwoo Kang

Prof. Kang's research is on understanding quantum gravity and quantum field theory, aiming to describe our universe from large to small scales. As a mathematical physicist, she investigates the fundamental nature of quantum gravity and quantum field theory through discovering their mathematical and quantum error correcting structures. Her work draws from and contributes to a wide array of disciplines in theoretical physics and mathematics, including conformal field theory, (supersymmetric) field theory, string theory, semiclassical gravity, quantum information theory, lattice gauge theory, algebraic geometry, and operator algebra.

A central challenge in this arena of research is determining the low-energy observables in quantum theories and understanding how they are correlated and entangled with one another. While quantum field theory serves as a universal language of physics capturing a broad range of phenomena, it often lacks a unique description for physical systems and struggles with computing key behaviors like correlations and entanglement, particularly in inherently strongly correlated theories where no Lagrangian formulation exists. Prof. Kang's approach addresses this challenge by leveraging existing dualities and discovering new ones through the construction of invariants, providing novel computational tools where conventional methods fall short. Her research program develops new mathematical formalisms based on operator algebras and algebraic geometry to compute key physical quantities such as entanglement entropy in modern approaches to quantum gravity and correlation data and particle contents in non-perturbative aspects of quantum field theory. By combining insights from both physics and mathematics, she has advanced non-perturbative aspects of quantum field theory and quantum gravity, while also proving new theorems in mathematics.

Institutional Partnerships

• Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics & Astronomy

News Highlights

• It from Qubit and the Gravity of a Quantum Universe — Simons Foundation
• Is Space Pixelated? The Quest for Quantum Gravity — SciTech Daily
• Writing in the Language of Math — Caltech Magazine
• What do black holes have in common with quantum error correction? — inSideQuantum (InsideQuantum Podcast)