Thermal Giant Graviton Expansion - Kasia Budzik

**Introduction** This lecture focuses on the topic of "hot graviton" at the forefront of string theory. The graviton is the quantum description of the D3-brane膨胀 state within the AdS/CFT duality framework and has long played a key role in high-energy theoretical research; introducing thermodynamic effects enriches its physical picture and makes it even more challenging. The speaker, Kasia Budzik from Harvard University, has long worked in the fields of conformal field theory and gravitational duality. This seminar will systematically present the perturbative expansion methods for hot gravitons and demonstrate their correspondence with the operator spectrum of gauge theory. The core highlights include how to handle strong-coupling dynamics at finite temperature using controlled expansion techniques, as well as the resulting spectral analysis and signs of phase transitions. This lecture is suitable for graduate students and researchers working in string theory, AdS/CFT, and high-energy theory; physics enthusiasts interested in the field may also use it as supplementary reading material. A basic understanding of the duality framework is recommended in advance to keep pace with the derivations.