Colloquia & Seminars

Title: BV and the ThimTFT

Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Justin Kulp, Stony Brook Title: BV and the ThimTFT Abstract: The SymTFT (or “quiche”) construction relates different global forms of d-dimensional QFTs with discrete symmetry: realizing different global forms as a (d+1)-dimensional TFT on an interval, with a common "physical" boundary condition on one side, and different topological boundary conditions on the other. In my talk, I will describe an analogue of the SymTFT which relates theories with the same “perturbative equations of motion”, but different non-perturbative completions. I will start with a lightning overview of conformal blocks and relative QFT, then explain the BV formalism in some detail—focusing on the elegant (super)geometric story in 0d for simplicity. I will...

Title: Interaction of Statistics and Geometry: A New Landscape for Data Science

Colloquium Speaker: Zhigang Yao (National University of Singapore) Title: Interaction of Statistics and Geometry: A New Landscape for Data Science Abstract:  Classical statistics views data as real numbers or vectors in Euclidean space, but modern challenges increasingly involve data with intrinsic geometric structures. A central problem in this direction is manifold fitting, with origins in H. Whitney’s work of the 1930s. The Geometric Whitney Problems ask: given a set, when can we construct a smooth 𝑑-dimensional manifold that approximates it, and how accurately can we estimate it? In this talk, I will discuss recent progress on manifold fitting and its role in bridging geometry and data science. While many existing methods rely on restrictive assumptions, the manifold hypothesis—that data often...

Title: CMSA Q&A Seminar: Hugh Woodin

CMSA Q&A Seminar Speaker: Hugh Woodin, Harvard  

Title: Differentials and Singularities

Algebra Seminar Speaker: Dawei Chen, Boston College Title: Differentials and Singularities Abstract: Given a holomorphic differential on a smooth algebraic curve, we associate to it a Gorenstein curve singularity with Gm-action.  Conversely, we show that every isolated Gorenstein curve singularity with Gm-action appears in this way.  This construction reveals a fascinating relation between differentials and singularities, where the zero orders of the differentials determine the combinatorial data of the singularities.  In this talk, I’ll provide many concrete examples of such singularities, and explain how the study of deformations of these singularities can help us better understand the geometry of moduli spaces of differentials.  This is based on joint work with Fei Yu (Zhejiang University).  

Title: Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar

Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar Speaker: Claudia Yao, Harvard      

Title: Member Seminar

Member Seminar Speaker: tba

Title: Coulomb branches and KLRW algebras

Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker:Vasily Krylov, CMSA Title: Coulomb branches and KLRW algebras  

Title: Colloquium

Colloquium Speaker: Yue Lu details TBA

Title: Homological mirror symmetry for Coulomb branches

Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker: Sebastian Haney, Harvard Title: Homological mirror symmetry for Coulomb branches  

Title: Machine learning tools for mathematical discovery

New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Adam Zsolt Wagner, Google DeepMind Title: Machine learning tools for mathematical discovery Abstract: I will discuss various ML tools we can use today to try to find interesting constructions to various mathematical problems. I will briefly mention simple reinforcement learning setups and PatternBoost, but the talk will mainly focus on LLM-based tools such as FunSearch and AlphaEvolve. We will discuss the pros and cons of several of these methods, and try to figure out which one is best for the problems we care about. Joint work with François Charton, Jordan Ellenberg, Bogdan Georgiev, Javier Gómez-Serrano, Terence Tao, and Geordie Williamson.

Title: Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar

Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar Speaker: Surya Raghavendran, Yale      

Title: Member Seminar

Member Seminar Speaker: tba

Title: Aganagic’s invariant is Khovanov homology

Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker: Lorenzo Riva, CMSA Title: Aganagic’s invariant is Khovanov homology    

Title: Member Seminar

Member Seminar Speaker: tba

Title: Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar

Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker: tba