SCGP Weekly Talk: WHAT IS … F-theory? by David Morrison

David Morrison, UC Santa Barbara

Title: “WHAT IS … F-theory?”
Speaker: David Morrison, UC Santa Barbara
Date: Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center

 

 

 

 

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Abstract:  In the spirit of the “WHAT IS …” series of articles in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, I will give a description of F-theory from first priniciples.  On the one hand, F-theory is a theory of quantum gravity which arose from string theory but which is not exactly part of string theory.  (I will explain these things to non-physicists.)  On the other hand, F-theory provides a fascinating application of the Weierstrass p-function and the theory of elliptic curves, including the height pairing and the Mordell-Weil and Tate-Shafarevich groups.  (I will explain these things to non-mathematicians.)