Mock Modular Forms, Moonshine, and String Theory Organized by Miranda Cheng, Matthias Gaberdiel, and Terry Gannon August 26 – September 27, 2013 Modular functions, Jacobi forms and mock modular forms appear naturally in various contexts in string theory and conformal field theory. In particular, characters of conformal field theories (CFTs) define (vector-valued) modular functions, while … Read more
Topological Phases of Matter Organized by Nick Read, Paul Fendley, Andreas Ludwig, Xiao-Liang Qi, Steven Simon, and Zhenghan Wang April 1, 2013 – June 30, 2013 The subject of Topological Phases of Matter has been building over a number of years, and is currently very active. The field includes many diverse experimental aspects, but this … Read more
Conformal Geometry Organized by Ilia Binder, John Cardy, Andrei Okounkov, and Paul Wiegmann January 7 – May 3, 2013 The Simons Center will host a program on `Conformal Geometry’ for the Spring semester of 2013. This will cover subjects representing some of the most successful examples of the cross-fertilization between mathematics and physics in this … Read more
Organized by Nikita Nekrasov and Samson Shatasvili Fall 2012 Exactly solvable quantum many body systems, lattice models of statistical physics and integrable 1+1 dimensional quantum field theories have very rich and long history which substantially influenced the development of the mathematical physics in the 20th century. During the recent years it has become clear … Read more
Organized by Peter Ozsváth and Yakov Eliashberg Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 In the last 2 decades, and especially in recent years there were symplectic geometric ideas and methods brought significant progress in low-dimensional topology, while the methods developed in 3- and 4-dimensional topology found applications to symplectic geometric problems. For instance, the Lagrangian intersection … Read more
Simons Center Program on Algebraic Topology with Applications to Physics Spring 2012 During the Spring of 2012, the Simons Center will have a program in various aspects of algebraic topology with applications to physics. The program is organized by Dan Freed and Greg Moore, who will make regular week-long visits to the Center during the … Read more
Simons Center Program on String Compactification Spring 2012 Program Description. In 1985, it was shown by Candelas et al that compactification of the heterotic string on a Calabi-Yau manifold could lead to models similar to the Standard Model of particle physics, and `beyond the Standard Model’ extensions such as grand unification and supersymmetry. Over the … Read more
Simons Center Program in Homological Mirror Symmetry, Symplectic Topology, and Invariants of Low Dimensional Manifolds Spring 2011 Program Description. The subprogram in Homological Mirror Symmetry and Symplectic Topology is organized by Paul Seidel. The subprogram on Invariants of Low Dimensional Manifolds is organized by Mikhail Khovanov and Peter Ozsvath. In addition to Khovanov and Seidel, … Read more
Simons Center Program in Complex Geometry and Generalized Geometry with Applications to Physics Fall 2011 Program Description. In the Fall of 2011 the Simons Center will have a program on complex and differential geometry and its interface with theoretical physics. The topics will include generalized geometry, Poisson geometry, hyperkähler metrics and Higgs bundles. Nigel Hitchin … Read more
