Address:
Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics & Astronomy
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Texas A&M University
576 University Drive
College Station, TX 77843, U.S.A.
email: monicak@tamu.edu
Office: MIST M522
Hello! I am an Assistant Professor in the Physics & Astronomy Department of Texas A&M. Previously, I was a Center of Particle Cosmology Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Center of Particle Cosmology and the High Energy Theory group, and a Sherman Fairchild Postdoctoral Fellow at California Institute of Technology Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Particle Theory Group. As a mathematical physicist, I explore the fundamental nature of quantum gravity and quantum field theory through discovering their mathematical and quantum error correcting structures, using and developing techniques from a variety of branches of theoretical physics and mathematics such as conformal field theory, (supersymmetric) field theory, string theory, semiclassical gravity, quantum information theory, lattice gauge theory, algebraic geometry, and operator algebra.
My research is driven by my deep desire to understand quantum gravity, a theory essential for describing our universe from large to small scales. A central challenge is determining the low-energy observables in these 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, which do not admit Lagrangian. My approach leverages existing dualities and uncovers new ones by constructing invariants, offering new computational tools where traditional methods fall short. To this end, I have drawn on techniques from algebraic geometry and operator algebra, leading to my approach to quantum gravity and non-perturbative aspects of quantum field theory, along with new theorems in mathematics.
I received Ph.D in Physics at Harvard University in May 2019 on "Two Views on Gravity: F-theory and Holography." My thesis is based on works with my collaborators Mboyo Esole, Shing-Tung Yau, and others. I graduated from UC Berkeley for Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Physics in May 2012 where I was fortunate to be guided in condensed matter physics, geometry, and analysis. Before my undergraduate studies, I attended Korea Science Academy.
I have organized a conference on "Integrability, geometry, and QFTs: 1st MaPhyAg Workshop" with mathematicians at Universidad Complutense de Madrid on October 7-11th of 2024, at Madrid, Spain. We are organizing the next conference on "Integrability, geometry, and QFTs: 2nd MaPhyAg Workshop" on June 22-26th of 2026 at Madrid, Spain. The aim of these conferences are to bring together mathematicians and physicists working at the interface of integrability, geometry, topology, and quantum field theory. I have organized a conference on "Stringy Geometry for Junior Researchers" on Friday, September 28th of 2018, at Northeastern University with Mboyo Esole. This was a conference for (graduate) students and postdocs in near Boston area; the speakers and their talk titles can be seen in the linked website.
Outside of math and physics, I enjoy dancing, singing, and playing the violin. Throughout grade school and secondary school I danced lyrical and contemporary competitively; I have danced ballroom/latin as a member of the Harvard Ballroom Dance Team.