Organizers:
● Timothy Budd (Radboud University)
● Frank Ferrari (Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
● Scott Sheffield (MIT)
● Herman Verlinde (Princeton University)
● Yilin Wang (IHES / ETH Zürich)
● Zhenbin Yang (Tsinghua University)
The study of low dimensional models for quantum gravity, in particular Liouville and JT gravity, is at the heart of a very rich interaction between physics and mathematics. On the physics side, the aim is to address profound questions in 2d and 3d quantum gravity, in relation with the information paradox, quantum black holes and holography. On the mathematics side, the probabilistic and combinatorial interpretations of the models have opened new avenues of research at the interface with other mathematical research areas, including complex analysis, Teichmüller theory, and the study of conformally invariant processes in statistical physics. The aim of the program is to boost this interplay by bringing together physicists and mathematicians around the theme of random geometry. Some key problems of interest will be the construction of JT theory at finite cut-off, the study of applications in supersymmetric set-ups, the study of 3d random manifolds in relation with the AdS3/CFT2 correspondence, probabilistic aspects of SLE in relation with the Kähler geometry of the universal Teichmüller space, etc.
The program aims to boost this interplay by bringing together physicists and mathematicians around the theme of random geometry to:
● explore novel applications of random geometry methods in ongoing research directions in high energy physics;
● develop new physics-inspired research directions in random geometry, particularly beyond planar cases;
● deepen our understanding of physics theories based on the level of detail provided by recent insights in random geometry
This peogeam will also have a workshop assoicated with it: Workshop: Random Geometry in Math and Physics – April 13-17, 2026