Title: Ricci-Flat Metrics, Gauge Connections and Scalar Lagrangians on Calabi-Yau Threefolds Speaker: Burt Ovrut Date: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 Time: 1:00pm-2:15pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video. View the slides[/box] Abstract: A brief review of physically realistic vacua in the E_8 X E_8 heterotic string theory will be given. A formula for […]
Title: Nondegenerate curves and pentagram maps Speaker: Boris Khesin, University of Toronto Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video.[/box] Abstract: A plane curve is called nondegenerate if it has no inflection points. How many classes of closed nondegenerate curves exist on a sphere? We are going to see […]
Title: “Moduli spaces of J-holomorphic curves” Speaker: Dusa McDuff, Columbia Date: Tuesday February 4 Time: 1:00pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video.[/box] Abstract: This talk is aimed at nonspecialists, and will try to explain what the current Moduli Spaces program is hoping to achieve. Why are J-holomorphic curves important in symplectic topology today? What […]
Title: Open questions in supersymmetric Wess-Zumino-Witten models Speaker: Martin Rocek, YITP Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video.[/box] Abstract: I will introduce Wess-Zumino Witten models and explain what are the requirements to make them supersymmetric. I will then discuss two examples […]
Title: Bethe Ansatz for Yangian Invariants: Towards Super Yang-Mills Scattering Amplitudes Speaker: Matthias Staudacher Date: Friday, December 6, 2013 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video.[/box] Abstract: We propose that Baxter’s Z-invariant six-vertex model at the rational gl(2) point on a planar but in general not rectangular […]
Title: The Black Hole Information Paradox, Alive and Kicking Speaker: Joe Polchinski, KITP Date: Monday, November 18, 2013 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm Place: Auditorium 103, Simons Center Abstract: Thought experiments have played an important role in figuring out the laws of physics. For the unification of quantum mechanics and gravity, where the phenomena take place in […]
Title: Cluster Polylogarithms and Scattering Amplitudes Speaker: Marcus Spradlin Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video.[/box] Abstract: I will define cluster polylogarithms and discuss their properties. Roughly speaking, a cluster polylogarithm on a cluster algebra A is a linear combination of polylogarithm functions […]
Title: Moduli Spaces and the Mapping Class Group Speaker: Misha Verbitsky, Higher School of Economics (Moscow) Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2013 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video. View the Slides[/box] Abstract Let Comp be an infinite-dimensional space of all complex structures on a manifold, and […]
Title: A primer to Anomalies and Hydrodynamics Speaker: Kristan Jensen, YITP Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 Time: 1:00pm – 2:30pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video.[/box] Abstract: In the spring of next year, there will be a program and two workshops at the Simons Center devoted to recent developments […]
Title: Liouville Quantum Gravity & Schramm-Loewner Evolution Speaker: Bertrand Duplantier, Institute for Theoretical Physics, IPhT-Saclay Date: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm Place: Lecture Hall 102, Simons Center [box, type=”download”]Watch the video. View the Slides[/box] Abstract: Liouville quantum gravity in two dimensions is described by the “random Riemannian manifold” obtained […]
