Jim Halverson is an assistant professor of physics at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
His research is at some of the interfaces between string theory, particle physics, cosmology, mathematics, and deep learning. He is particularly interested in the string landscape and its implications for particle physics and cosmology beyond their standard models. These implications often follow from the structure of extra-dimensional geometries, of which there are many possibilities. Halverson’s research therefore requires importing techniques from mathematics and computer science.
Recently, Halverson’s interest in the interface of physics and deep learning has continued to grow. To that end, he is a co-PI and serves on the institute board of the NSF AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI) and co-organizes Physics ∩ ML.
Board Member and co-PI, from 2020
NSF AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions
Assistant Professor, from 2015
Northeastern University
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012-2015
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
PhD in Physics, 2012
University of Pennsylavania
My papers in high energy physics and mathematics can be found on inSPIRE, including journal information.
Physics Meets AI,
LMU Munich, September 2020.
Canceled due to COVID-19.
Machine Learning for Theory,
CERN, July 2020.
Canceled due to COVID-19.
New Ideas in String Phenomenology,
DESY, May 2020.
Canceled due to COVID-19.
Strings and Geometry 2020,
University of Utretcht, April 2020.
Canceled due to COVID-19.
American Physics Society (APS) April Meeting 2020,
Washington DC, April 2020.
String Theory and Deep Learning.
The String Swampland and Quantum Gravity Constraints on Effective Theories,
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, March 2020.
Lessons and Challenges in the Landscape.
Deep Learning and Physics 2019,
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, October 2019.
Generative Models and Statistical Predictions in String Theory.
Lectures on Machine Learning and String Theory,
Osaka University, October 2019.
Machine Learning and the String Landscape.
Lectures on Machine Learning and String Theory,
Osaka University, October 2019.
Introduction to Machine Learning.
Lectures on Machine Learning and String Theory,
Osaka University, October 2019.
Computational Complexity in Theoretical Physics.
Geometry and Strings 2019,
Oxford University, September 2019.
F-theory on Singular Spaces.
Hammers and Nails 2019,
Weizmann Institute of Science, August 2019.
Applications of Machine Learning to String Theory.
SIAM Conference on Applied Algebraic Geometry,
University of Bern, July 2019.
Knot Theory and Machine Learning.
String Phenomenology 2019,
CERN, June 2019.
Complexity and Random Matrix Approximations.
Simons Collaboration on Special Holonomy in Geometry, Analysis, and Physics,
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, April 2019.
Cosmological Questions for G2 Compactifications at Large N.
At the Crossroads of Machine Learning and Physics,
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, February 2019.
Machine Learning Geometry and String Theory.
Machine Learning Landscape,
International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, December 2018.
Complexity of Machine Learning and Landscapes.
Simons Summer Workshop,
Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, August 2018.
de Sitter Vacua and Computational Complexity.
String Theory Challenges in Particle Physics and Cosmology,
University of Bonn, July 2018.
Geometries, Agents, and Remnants.
Machine Learning and Physics,
Tsinghua University, July 2018.
Reinforcement Learning and the String Landscape.
String Phenomenology 2018,
Warsaw, July 2018.
String Theory and Data Science.
Strings 2018,
Okinawa, June 2018.
String Theory and Data Science.
Machine Learning in Geometry and Physics,
Yau Mathematical Science Center, TSIMF Sanya, June 2018.
On Finding Small Cosmological Constants with Deep Reinforcement Learning.
Strings, Geometry, and Black Holes,
King’s College London, April 2018.
Deep Reinforcement Learning and the Boundary of Weak Coupling.
Workshop on Data Science and String Theory,
LMU Munich, March 2018, with Fabian Ruehle.
Machine Learning Tools for String Theory
Workshop on Data Science and String Theory,
LMU Munich, March 2018.
Anomaly Detection: Mapping the IIB Lamppost with Reinforcement Learning.
Physics and Geometry of F-theory,
IFT-Madrid, March 2018.
A Large Ensemble of F-theory Geometries: the Weak, the Strong, and the Non-Higgsable
Workshop on String Field Theory and String Phenomenology
Harish-Chandra Research Institute, February 2018.
Big Data and the Landscape: A Case Study in F-theory.
String Phenomenology 2017
Virginia Tech, July 2017.
Universality in a Large Ensemble of Geometries.
Theoretical Advanced Studies Institute (TASI)
University of Colorado, Boulder, June 2017.
String Remnants 2.
Theoretical Advanced Studies Institute (TASI)
University of Colorado, Boulder, June 2017.
String Remnants 1.
International Conference on the Interconnection between Particle Physics and Cosmology,
Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, May 2017.
GUTs, Remnants, and the String Landscape.
Superconformal Field Theories in Four or More Dimensions,
Aspen Center for Physics, March 2017.
Dualities of Deformed N=2 SCFTs from Link Monodromy on D3-brane States.
Physics and Geometry of F-theory 2017
International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, February 2017.
Dualities from Braids and Landscapes from Trees.
The Mathematics and Physics of F-theory,
Virginia Tech, October 2016.
Dualities of Deformed N=2 SCFTs from Link Monodromy on D3-brane States.
Simons Collaboration on Special Holonomy in Geometry, Analysis, and Physics,
Background Lecture, Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, September 2016.
Gauge Enhancement in M-theory on G2 Spaces.
Simons Collaboration on Special Holonomy in Geometry, Analysis, and Physics,
Background Lecture, Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, September 2016.
More on Gauge Enhancement in M-theory on Calabi-Yau Varieties.
Geometry and Topology of Particle Physics,
The Fields Institute, Toronto, August 2016.
D3-brane SCFTs from N=2 Deformations, String Junctions, and Knots.
The Amsterdam String Workshop
University of Amsterdam, July 2016.
Non-Higgsable Clusters and Symmetry in the Landscape.
Special Holonomy Geometry, Mirror, and Supersymmetry,
National Science Foundation FRG Workshop, Harvard University, May 2016.
Gauge Enhancement and Landscapes in G2 Compactifications of M-theory.
F-theory at 20,
Walter Burke Institute, CalTech, February 2016.
Strong coupling and geometrically non-Higgsable seven-branes.
String-Pheno-Cosmo 2015,
Galileo Galilei Institute, October 2015.
The Complex Structure of the F-theory Landscape.
String Phenomenology 2015,
University of Madrid, June 2015.
Gauge Enhancement and Landscapes in G2 Compactifications of M-theory.
Stratified Spaces in Geometric and Computational Topology and Physics,
the University of Wisconsin, Madison, April 2015.
Kodaira’s Alternative to Grand Unification.
String / M-Theory Compactifications and Moduli Stabilization,
University of Michigan, March 2015.
Symmetry in the Landscape, Non-Higgsable Clusters, and the Standard Model.
Physics and Geometry of F-theory,
MPI Munich, February 2015.
Symmetry in the Strongly Coupled Landscape.
Physics Colloquium,
Northeastern University, February 2015.
Formal Theory and its Applications to the Standard Model and Beyond.
Physics Colloquium,
Baylor University, January 2015.
Setting Sail in the String Landscape.
Hidden Sector Dark Matter,
Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics, November 2014.
Hidden and Visible Sectors from Non-Higgsable Clusters.
Model Building in the LHC Era,
Aspen Center for Physics, July 2014.
Theoretically Motivated Electroweak Exotics in String Theory.
Geometry and Physics of F-theory,
Heidelberg University, February 2014.
Non-Abelian Gauge Symmetry and the Higgs Mechanism in F-theory.
APS Divisional Meeting,
UC Santa Cruz, August 2013.
New Motivation for WIMP Dark Matter.
Simons Summer Workshop,
Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, July 2013.
Matter in F-theory from Singular Elliptic Fibrations.
String Phenomenology 2011,
the University of Wisconsin, Madison, August 2011.
Instantons in F-theory from Heterotic Duality.
String Vacuum Project Meeting,
University of Pennsylvania, May 2011.
Three Looks at Instantons in F-theory.
String Vacuum Project Meeting,
Ohio State University, November 2014.
Approaching the Landscape: Computability of IIB / F-theory Instantons and Insights from MSSM-containing quivers.
String Vacuum Project Meeting,
Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, May 2010.
Instanton Effects in Semi-Realistic MSSM Quivers and F-theory.
String Phenomenology 2020,
Northeastern University, 2020.
member of the organizing committee.
Machine Learning: where to apply in Theoretical Physics,
Bethe Forum, University of Bonn, 2020.
member of the organizing committee.
Neural Networks and the Data Science Revolution: from Theoretical Physics to Neuroscience, and Back,
Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, January 2020.
member of the organizing committee.
Strings, Geometry, and Data Science,
Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, January 2020.
member of the organizing committee.
String Theory and the Hidden Universe,
Aspen Center for Physics, June 2019.
member of the organizing committee.
Modern Trends in Particle Physics,
A conference in honor of Pran Nath,
Northeastern University, May 2019.
member of the organizing committee.
Physics ∩ ML,
Microsoft Research, April 2019.
member of the organizing committee.
PASCOS 2018,
Case Western Reserve University, June 2018.
convener of session on “Unification and String Theory.”
Workshop on Data Science and String Theory,
Northeastern University, November 2017.
member of the organizing committee.
Workshop on String/M-theory Compactifications and Particle Physics,
Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics, March 2015.
member of the organizing committee.
String Vacuum Project Spring Meeting,
University of Pennsylvania, May 2011.
co-organizer.
I teach physics courses at Northeastern University, including:
GitHub repositories contain the most recent iteration of the course. Information regarding past courses are available upon request.