Thermal Universality in Symmetric Product Orbifolds

In this one-hour lecture, explore thermal universality in symmetric product orbifolds with Suzanne Bintanja from BIMSA. Discover how symmetric product orbifolds form a class of two-dimensional CFTs with universal properties in the large-N limit that align with gravitational expectations, particularly regarding thermal partition functions. Learn about Bintanja's argument that thermal correlation functions in these CFTs are not only universal but identical to those computed in the BTZ background. Examine the implications of these findings for holography, especially in relation to recent developments using von Neumann algebras.