Zohar Komargodski

In 2011 he and Adam Schwimmer from the Weizmann Institute proved a long-standing conjecture in quantum field theory,[7] the a-theorem, conjectured in 1988 by John Cardy.[8] Cardy's conjecture was a generalization of the c-theorem by Alexander Zamolodchikov (1986)[9] for two-dimensional quantum field theories on higher dimensions. The c-theorem ensures the existence of a function that decreases monotonically with the flow of the renormalization group (RG) (a function of the coupling constants and energy scale), which assumes constant values ​​independent of the energy scale at the fixed points of the RG. This means that cycles in the flow of the RG are excluded; the flow is irreversible. The theorem also makes statements about the number of degrees of freedom in quantum field theory depending on the energy scale. In 1988 Cardy[10] proposed the existence of an analog function (a-function, as an integral of the expected value of the trace of the energy-momentum tensor over the four-dimensional sphere) in four dimensions. Komargodski and Schwimmer proved the existence of such a function for four dimensions.[11] The application of the theorem enables connections to be made between predictions of a quantum field theory at low (observable) energies and high energies in the four-dimensional case relevant for physics.

Additional contributions include:

• Together with Alexander Zhiboedov, the universal large-spin limit of operators in Conformal Field Theories[12]
• Contributions to supersymmetric localization, including the geometry of supersymmetric partition functions[13] the Cardy limit,[14] and the metric on the space of theories[15]
• Anomalies and their consequences for dynamics of strongly coupled systems, including Yang-Mills theory in 3+1 dimensions[16] (with Davide Gaiotto, Anton Kapustin, and Nathan Seiberg).
• Dualities and new phases of 2+1 dimensional theories.

In 2013 he received the New Horizons in Physics Prize[8] and the Gribov Medal.[17] In 2018 he was awarded the Sackler Prize[18] in Physics. In 2021 he was awarded Tomassoni awards.[19]