BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CMSA - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:CMSA X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu X-WR-CALDESC:Events for CMSA REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251216T150000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251210T174651Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251211T144851Z UID:10003845-1765893600-1765897200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Electrical networks\, Grassmannians\, and cluster algebras DESCRIPTION:Algebra Seminar \nSpeaker: Lazar Guterman\, Hebrew University of Jerusalem \nTitle: Electrical networks\, Grassmannians\, and cluster algebras \nAbstract: An electrical network with $n$ boundary vertices induces a matrix called the response matrix which measures the electrical properties of the network. The set of response matrices of all electrical networks has a characterization in terms of positivity of circular minors. Alman\, Lian and Tran constructed a cluster algebra on the set of circular minors\, which encodes the tests for positivity of these minors. Lam established the embedding of the set of electrical networks with $n$ boundary vertices into the totally nonnegative Grassmannian $Gr_{\ge0}(n-1\,2n)$. The coordinate ring of the Grassmannian has a cluster algebra structure as was proved by Scott. Given an electrical network\, we find a relation between circular minors of its response matrix and Plücker coordinates of its image in the Grassmannian. Using this property\, we prove that for an odd $n$ the two cluster algebras\, on circular minors and on the Grassmanian\, become isomorphic after a natural freezing and subsequent trivialization of certain variables in their initial seeds. We apply this isomorphism in order to relate the tests for positivity of circular minors to tests for positivity in the Grassmannian. The talk is based on a joint work with Boris Bychkov and Anton Kazakov. \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/algebra-seminar_121625/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Algebra Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Algebra-Seminar-12.16.25.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251215T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251215T173000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251124T150428Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251211T145044Z UID:10003836-1765816200-1765819800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:The active Young-Dupré equation DESCRIPTION:Colloquium \nSpeaker: Julien Tailleur\, MIT \nTitle: The active Young-Dupré equation \nAbstract: The Young-Dupré equation is a cornerstone of the equilibrium theory of capillary and wetting phenomena. In the biological world\, interfacial phenomena are ubiquitous\, from the spreading of bacterial colonies to tissue growth and flocking of birds\, but the description of such active systems escapes the realm of equilibrium physics. I will show how a microscopic\, mechanical definition of surface tension allows building an Active Young-Dupré equation able to account for the partial wetting observed in simulations of active particles interacting via pairwise forces. Remarkably\, the equation shows that the corresponding steady interfaces do not result from a simple balance between the surface tensions at play but instead emerge from a complex feedback mechanism. The interfaces are indeed stabilized by a drag force due to the emergence of steady currents\, which are themselves a by-product of the symmetry breaking induced by the interfaces. These currents also lead to new physics by selecting the sizes and shapes of adsorbed droplets\, breaking the equilibrium scale-free nature of the problem. Finally\, I will demonstrate a spectacular consequence of the negative value of the liquid-gas surface tensions in systems undergoing motility-induced phase separation: partially-immersed objects are expelled from the liquid phase\, in stark contrast with what is observed in passive systems. These results lay the foundations for a theory of wetting in active systems. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/colloquium-121525/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Colloquium ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-12.15.2025.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251211T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251211T150000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251202T153632Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T161106Z UID:10003842-1765461600-1765465200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Covers of curves\, Ceresa cycles\, and unlikely intersections DESCRIPTION:Algebra Seminar \nSpeaker: Padamavathi Srinivasan\, Boston University \nTitle: Covers of curves\, Ceresa cycles\, and unlikely intersections \nAbstract: The Ceresa cycle is a canonical homologically trivial algebraic cycle associated to a curve in its Jacobian. In his 1983 thesis\, Ceresa showed that this cycle is algebraically nontrivial for a very general complex curve of genus at least 3. In the last few years\, there have been many new results shedding light on the locus in the moduli space of genus g curves where the Ceresa cycle becomes torsion. We will survey these recent results and provide new examples of positive dimensional families of curves where only finitely many members of the family have torsion Ceresa cycle. The main idea is to study covers of curves with many automorphisms\, and we will explain how we use the covering maps together with results on unlikely intersections in abelian varieties to construct such families. This is joint work with Tejasi Bhatnagar\, Sheela Devadas and Toren D’Nelly Warady. \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/algebra-seminar_121125/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Algebra Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Algebra-Seminar-12.11.25.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251210T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251210T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251209T223200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251209T223544Z UID:10003844-1765368000-1765371600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:CMSA Q&A Seminar: Dan Freed\, CMSA DESCRIPTION:CMSA Q&A Seminar \nSpeaker: Dan Freed\, CMSA \nTopic: Constructions of homotopy types in geometry and physics \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsaqa_121025/ LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:CMSA Q&A Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Q-A-Seminar-12.10.2025-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251209T161500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251209T183000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251031T145823Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251208T150959Z UID:10003830-1765296900-1765305000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeaker: Lorenzo Riva\, CMSA \nTitle: Aganagic’s invariant is Khovanov homology \nAbstract: Webster computed the Khovanov homology of (the closure of) a braid in terms of the action of that braid on a certain KLRW category. Aganagic proposed that the same computation could be done in the Fukaya-Seidel category of the multiplicative Coulomb branch associated to a weighted quiver. In this talk we will recap the story so far and then sketch LePage and Shende’s proof of Aganagic’s proposal. \n  \nSpeaker: Bowen Yang\, CMSA \nTitle: Some groups from Condensed matter physics \nAbstract: I would like to talk about some groups coming from the study of quantum spin systems. They inspired a construction of generalized homology theories related to Azumaya algebras. \n  \n  \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_12925/ LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138 CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-12.9.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251208T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251208T173000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251202T153625Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T162404Z UID:10003843-1765211400-1765215000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Recent Advances in Probabilistically Checkable Proofs DESCRIPTION:Colloquium \nSpeaker: Dor Minzer (MIT) \nTitle: Recent Advances in Probabilistically Checkable Proofs \nAbstract: The PCP Theorem is a cornerstone of computer science\, with applications to hardness of approximation\, verification\, interactive protocols and more. It asserts a witness for the satisfiability of a given 3CNF formula can be encoded in a robust way that allows local checking.In this talk we discuss recent developments in PCPs\, and their connection with distributed protocols\, high-dimensional expanders and discrete Fourier analysis. Based on joint works with Kai Zhe Zheng\, Mitali Bafna\, Noam Lifshitz\, Nikhil Vyas. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/colloquium-12825/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Colloquium ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-12.8.2025.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251208T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251208T160000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251202T152832Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T160431Z UID:10003841-1765206000-1765209600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Computing WKB periods  DESCRIPTION:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Max Meynig\, University of Connecticut \nTitle: Computing WKB periods \nAbstract:  In one dimensional quantum mechanics\, the all-orders WKB method leads to ‘quantum periods’ which are formal power series in \hbar whose coefficients are certain period integrals. These periods\, which limelight in supersymmetric/string theories\, have rich structure and can be computed in a number of ways. I will discuss a new perspective on them and their computation. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/qft_12825/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G02\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138 CATEGORIES:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-QFT-and-Physical-Mathematics-12.8.25.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251205T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251205T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20250827T142953Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T160532Z UID:10003772-1764936000-1764939600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:A combinatorial formula for interpolation Macdonald polynomials DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Houcine Ben Dali\, Harvard CMSA \nTitle: A combinatorial formula for interpolation Macdonald polynomials \nAbstract: In 1996\, Knop and Sahi introduced a remarkable family of inhomogeneous symmetric polynomials\, defined via vanishing conditions\, whose top homogeneous parts are exactly the Macdonald polynomials. Like the Macdonald polynomials\, these interpolation Macdonald polynomials are closely connected to the Hecke algebra\, and admit nonsymmetric versions\, which generalize the nonsymmetric Macdonald polynomials. I will present a combinatorial formula for interpolation Macdonald polynomials in terms of signed multiline queues. This formula generalizes the combinatorial formula for Macdonald polynomials in terms of multiline queues given by Corteel–Mandelshtam–Williams. This is based on a joint work with Lauren Williams. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-12525/ LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Member Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-12.5.25.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251204T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251204T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20250904T163130Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251203T150446Z UID:10003786-1764849600-1764853200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Towards a Dolbeault AGT correspondence DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar \nSpeaker: Surya Raghavendran\, Yale \nTitle: Towards a Dolbeault AGT correspondence \nAbstract: The AGT correspondence and its extensions propose geometric constructions of vertex algebras and their modules from the cohomology of various moduli spaces of sheaves on surfaces. Physically\, the correspondence is illuminated throgh the holomorphic–topological twist of the six-dimensional N=(2\,0) superconformal field theories. In this talk\, I will describe a variant of AGT arising instead from the so-called minimal twist of these theories. In this setting\, the natural algebraic structures are holomorphic factorization algebras in three complex dimensions. From these\, one can extract an associative algebra together with a natural module\, which we conjecture to coincide with a quantization of the moduli of Higgs sheaves on surfaces. In examples\, this pair is furthermore expected to admit a Hodge–de Rham deformation to the Heisenberg algebra and its action on the cohomology of Hilbert schemes of surfaces\, as constructed by Grojnowski and Nakajima. \n  \n  \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys_12425/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-12.4.2025.docx-1-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251203T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251203T150000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251110T191407Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251110T225824Z UID:10003833-1764770400-1764774000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Machine learning tools for mathematical discovery DESCRIPTION:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Adam Zsolt Wagner\, Google DeepMind \nTitle: Machine learning tools for mathematical discovery \nAbstract: 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.\nJoint work with François Charton\, Jordan Ellenberg\, Bogdan Georgiev\, Javier Gómez-Serrano\, Terence Tao\, and Geordie Williamson. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/newtech_12325/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-NTM-Seminar-12.3.2025-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251202T161500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251202T183000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251021T202125Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251201T192115Z UID:10003822-1764692100-1764700200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Homological mirror symmetry for Coulomb branches DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeaker: Sebastian Haney\, Harvard \nTitle: Homological mirror symmetry for Coulomb branches \nAbstract: I will describe a result of Aganagic\, Danilenko\, Li\, Shende\, and Zhou which constructs a embeddings of certain cylindrical KLRW categories into Fukaya-Seidel categories of multiplicative Coulomb branches. This can be thought of as a homological mirror symmetry statement relating the Fukaya category of a multiplicative Coulomb branch to the derived category of a resolved additive Coulomb branch. I will describe the construction of the relevant Fukaya–Seidel categories\, and explain how the KRLW relations are realized by counts of holomorphic disks in symmetric products of surfaces. \n\n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_12225/ LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138 CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-12.2.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251201T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251201T173000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251007T152747Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251201T144411Z UID:10003807-1764606600-1764610200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Asymptotic Theory of Attention: In-Context Learning and Sparse Token Detection DESCRIPTION:Colloquium \nSpeaker: Yue M. Lu\, Harvard University \nTitle: Asymptotic Theory of Attention: In-Context Learning and Sparse Token Detection \nAbstract: Attention-based architectures exhibit striking emergent abilities—from learning tasks directly from context to detecting rare\, weak features in long sequences—yet a rigorous theory explaining these behaviors remains limited. In this talk\, I will present two recent exactly solvable models that develop a high-dimensional asymptotic theory of attention. \n(i) In-context learning. For linear attention pretrained on linear regression tasks\, we derive sharp asymptotics in a regime where token dimension\, context length\, and task diversity all scale proportionally\, while the number of pretraining examples scales quadratically. The resulting learning curve exhibits double descent and a phase transition separating a low-diversity memorization regime from a high-diversity regime of genuine in-context generalization. These predictions closely track empirical behavior in both linear-attention models and nonlinear Transformer architectures. \n(ii) Sparse-token classification. For detecting weak signals embedded in a small\, randomly located subset of tokens\, we analyze a single-layer attention classifier and determine its representational and learnability thresholds. Attention succeeds with only logarithmic signal scaling in the sequence length L\, outperforming linear baselines that require √L scaling. In a proportional high-dimensional regime\, we prove that two gradient descent steps yield nontrivial alignment between the query vector and the hidden signal\, leading to signal-adaptive attention. Exact formulas for the test error\, training loss\, and separability capacity quantify this advantage. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/colloquium-12125/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Colloquium ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-12.1.2025-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251125T161500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251125T183000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251021T202057Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251124T145931Z UID:10003821-1764087300-1764095400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Coulomb branches and KLRW algebras DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeaker:Vasily Krylov\, CMSA \nTitle: Coulomb branches and KLRW algebras \nAbstract: I will introduce Coulomb branches associated to a pair of a reductive group G and its complex representation N. We will discuss their main geometric properties and examine explicit examples. I will also highlight the connection to the moduli space of monopoles. Time permitting\, we will see how KLRW naturally arise in this context. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_112525/ LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138 CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-11.25.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251124T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251124T173000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20251119T163856Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251119T184001Z UID:10003834-1764001800-1764005400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Geometric Simplicity in Quantum Field Theory and Gravity DESCRIPTION:Colloquium \nSpeaker: Thomas Grimm\, Utrecht University \nTitle: Geometric Simplicity in Quantum Field Theory and Gravity \nAbstract: In physics we attribute much value to the emergence of simplicity\, both conceptually and for computations. Familiar examples include algebraic relations among Feynman amplitudes\, the surprising descriptions arising in large-N or duality limits\, and the central role played by symmetries. In this colloquium we discuss how tame geometry allows one to quantitatively describe such simplifications by introducing a measure of complexity. This framework relies on finiteness: the information content of the functions and domains required to specify a theory\, or an observable is finite. A key strength of the proposal is its generality as it applies to any physical quantity and can therefore be used both to analyze complexities within an individual Quantum Field Theory and to study the entire space of such theories. We present several applications and explain how this perspective ties in with our understanding of the expected properties of effective theories that can be coupled to Quantum Gravity. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/colloquium-112425/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Colloquium ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-11.24.2025.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251121T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251121T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20250827T142348Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251118T150222Z UID:10003771-1763726400-1763730000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Optimal learning protocols via statistical physics and control theory DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Francesco Mori\, CMSA \nTitle: Optimal learning protocols via statistical physics and control theory \nAbstract: Behind the impressive performance of modern machine learning lies a toolkit of training tricks\, from tuning learning rates to curating training data. These heuristics are powerful but hard to interpret and possibly suboptimal\, leaving open the challenge of finding general principles for protocol design. In this talk\, I will present a framework that combines tools from statistical physics and control theory to identify optimal training strategies in simple yet insightful neural network models. In the high-dimensional limit\, the training dynamics can be reduced to closed-form ordinary differential equations for a small set of order parameters that track learning. This reduction allows us to pose the design of training protocols as an optimal control problem directly on the order-parameter dynamics\, with the objective of minimizing the generalization error. This formulation encompasses a variety of learning scenarios and yields principled training strategies that clarify\, and in some cases improve upon\, standard heuristic practices. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-112125/ LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Member Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-11.21.25.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251120T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251120T170000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114906 CREATED:20250904T163048Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251117T220513Z UID:10003785-1763654400-1763658000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Tropical-Topological(Tropological) Sigma Models DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar \nSpeaker: Andrés Franco Valiente\, UC Berkeley \nTitle: Tropical-Topological (Tropological) Sigma Models \nAbstract: Tropical geometry provides a powerful bridge between complex and combinatorial worlds\, allowing certain curve-counting invariants to be computed in a piecewise-linear “tropical” limit. Building on Mikhalkin’s insight that Gromov–Witten invariants can be recovered from tropical curves\, this talk revisits Mikhalkin’s result from the viewpoint of topological field theory and functional integration.  I will first review the topological sigma model and explain how the localization equations admit a natural notion of tropicalization which allows us to reproduce the Gromov-Witten invariants using standard cohomological BRST methods without having to reformulate the functional integral in terms of the tropical semifield. We find that the relevant geometries associated to the tropical limit of the topological sigma models no longer require a complex structure but they are instead based on nilpotent structures on singular foliated manifolds. We close with a discussion on recent progress on how the tropological sigma model has a close connection to Hořava’s topologicial quantum gravity for Ricci Flow in a joint work with Emil Albrychiewicz and Viola Zixin Zhao. \n  \n  \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys_112025/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-11.20.2025.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251120T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251120T150000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251009T132440Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251009T132850Z UID:10003809-1763647200-1763650800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Differentials and Singularities DESCRIPTION:Algebra Seminar \nSpeaker: Dawei Chen\, Boston College \nTitle: Differentials and Singularities \nAbstract: 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). \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/algebra-seminar_112025/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Algebra Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Algebra-Seminar-11.19.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T173000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20250925T180503Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251106T161641Z UID:10003799-1763397000-1763400600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Interaction of Statistics and Geometry: A New Landscape for Data Science DESCRIPTION:Colloquium \nSpeaker: Zhigang Yao (National University of Singapore) \nTitle: Interaction of Statistics and Geometry: A New Landscape for Data Science \nAbstract:  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? \nIn 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 lie near non-Euclidean structures—remains fundamental in modern statistical learning. I will highlight both theoretical insights and algorithmic challenges\, drawing on recent works with\, as well as ongoing research. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/colloquium_111725/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Colloquium ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-11.17.2025-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T160000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251014T143757Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251112T173007Z UID:10003815-1763391600-1763395200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:BV and the ThimTFT DESCRIPTION:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Justin Kulp\, Stony Brook \nTitle: BV and the ThimTFT \nAbstract: 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.\nI 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 argue that there is a natural 1d cohomological TFT (called the ThimTFT) associated to the classical action S\, with different topological boundary conditions described by convergent path-integral contours in a complexified field space. Time permitting\, I will discuss extensions to higher dimensions. Based on WIP. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/qft_111725/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G02\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138 CATEGORIES:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-QFT-and-Physical-Mathematics-11.17.25.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251114T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251114T160000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251104T215810Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251105T144505Z UID:10003832-1763125200-1763136000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Freedman Seminar: Michael Freedman\, CMSA & Bowen Yang\, CMSA DESCRIPTION:Freedman Seminar \nSpeaker: Michael Freedman\, Harvard CMSA \nTitle: Sullivan’s work on Lipschitz structures Part II (but self-contained) \n  \nSpeaker: Bowen Yang\, CMSA \nTitle: Deligne and Sullivan’s work on complex bundles with discrete structure group \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/freedman_111425/ LOCATION:Virtual CATEGORIES:Freedman Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Freedman-Seminar-11.14.25.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251111T161500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251111T183000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251021T202013Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251110T161345Z UID:10003820-1762877700-1762885800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Khovanov homology from KLRW algebras DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeaker: Sunghyuk Park\, CMSA \nTitle: Khovanov homology from KLRW algebras \nAbstract: This is the first in a four-part series\, organized together with Vasily Krylov\, Sebastian Haney\, and Lorenzo Riva\, aimed at understanding Aganagic’s categorification of quantum link invariants through Coulomb branches and homological mirror symmetry. In this first talk\, I will lay the algebraic background for this story by explaining how Khovanov homology can be understood in terms of higher representation theory via Khovanov-Lauda-Rouquier-Webster (KLRW) algebras. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_111125/ LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138 CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-11.11.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251110T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251110T160000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251014T143715Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251103T155540Z UID:10003814-1762786800-1762790400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:The Moyal bracket and the BV cohomology of the spinning particle DESCRIPTION:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Ezra Getzler\, Northwestern \nTitle: The Moyal bracket and the BV cohomology of the spinning particle \nAbstract: The spinning particle is the one-dimensional reduction of the Neveu-Schwartz-Ramond superstring. It consists of a supersymmetric particle moving in a one-dimensional supergravity background\, and its quantization is the Hilbert superspace of harmonic spinors. (These models are classified by N\, the number of copies of fermionic fields. In this talk\, N=1. The extension to N=2 is work in progress with Ivo.) It is actually an AKSZ model (so a generalization of one-dimensional Chern-Simons)\, and so associated to a differential graded symplectic supermanifold\, by which we mean a pair (ω\,Q)\, where ω is a(n exact) symplectic form and Q is an odd function of degree 1. The cohomology of the ring of functions of this supermanifold with differential the Poisson bracket  with Q determines the classical BV cohomology of the spinning particle\, so is important for understanding perturbative BV quantization of this model. I calculated this cohomology in earlier work for N=1\, and showed that it is somewhat bizarre\, with two series of cohomology classes in arbitrary negative degrees\, each a copy of the functions on the target manifold. \nIn the study of quantum BFV\, we should instead consider the Moyal bracket on the target\, and lift Q to an element Q satisfying [Q\,Q]=0. The cohomology of the differential [Q\,-] is the Moyal cohomology of the differential graded symplectic supermanifold. (This lift corresponds to the choice of a Spinc structure on the target manifold.) In this talk\, I prove that the Moyal cohomology\, unlike the Poisson cohomology\, is well-behaved: in the spectral sequence from Poisson to Moyal cohomology\, the extra cohomology classes of negative degree cancel each other pairwise at the E1 page. \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/qft_111025/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-QFT-and-Physical-Mathematics-11.10.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251107T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251107T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20250827T141526Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251103T161856Z UID:10003769-1762516800-1762520400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Classification of 2D Stabilizer States DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Bowen Yang \nTitle: Classification of 2D Stabilizer States \nAbstract: I will explain how translation-invariant two-dimensional stabilizer states are completely classified by finite abelian groups with nondegenerate quadratic forms—that is\, by abelian anyon theories. The proof uses the algebraic structure of stabilizer codes as modules over Laurent polynomial rings\, revealing how their physical features reflect in this module-theoretic framework. arXiv:2509.10418 URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-11725/ LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Member Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-11.7.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251106T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251106T170000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20250904T163021Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251104T160806Z UID:10003784-1762444800-1762448400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Dimension Reduction and Adiabatic Limits of Generalized ASD Instantons DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar \nSpeaker: Dylan Galt\, Harvard \nTitle: Dimension Reduction and Adiabatic Limits of Generalized ASD Instantons \nAbstract: I will begin by explaining a dimension reduction result for Tian’s generalized ASD instantons over product manifolds\, which generalizes work of Yuanqi Wang on codimension-one reduction and includes the cases of G2 and Spin(7) instantons as well as degree zero Hermitian-Yang-Mills connections. The proof is inspired by a simple observation about the Yang-Mills energy and suggests a natural adiabatic picture for these generalized ASD connections. I will describe ongoing work towards establishing such an adiabatic scheme\, emphasizing some of the complications that arise in the general case and explaining what can be said for G2 instantons. Everything I will talk about is joint work with my collaborator Langte Ma. \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys_11625/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-11.6.2025.docx-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251105T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251105T150000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251027T142022Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251027T144043Z UID:10003826-1762351200-1762354800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Discovery of unstable singularity with machine precision DESCRIPTION:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Yongji Wang\, NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences \nTitle: Discovery of unstable singularity with machine precision \nAbstract: Whether singularities can form in fluids remains a foundational unanswered question in mathematics. This phenomenon occurs when solutions to governing equations\, such as the 3D Euler equations\, develop infinite gradients from smooth initial conditions. Historically\, numerical approaches have primarily identified stable singularities. However\, these are not expected to exist for key open problems\, such as the boundary-free Euler and Navier-Stokes cases\, namely the Millennium Prize problem. For these problems\, the true challenge lies in finding unstable singularities\, which are exceptionally elusive\, as any tiny perturbation can divert the system from its blow-up trajectory. \nIn this talk\, I will present a new computational framework which has led to the first systematic discovery of new families of unstable singularities in various fluid equations. Our approach merges curated machine learning architectures with a multi-stage training scheme and a high-precision Gauss-Newton optimizer\, creating a powerful tool for navigating the complex landscape of nonlinear PDEs. Beyond discovering these singularities\, the precision of this method is another key breakthrough\, achieving unprecedented accuracies on the order of $O(10^{-13})$—a level constrained only by the round-off errors of the GPU hardware. This level of precision meets the stringent requirements for rigorous mathematical validation of the discovered solution via computer-assisted proofs\, offering a new pathway to resolving long-standing challenges in mathematical physics. \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/newtech_11525/ LOCATION:CMSA 20 Garden Street Cambridge\, Massachusetts 02138 United States CATEGORIES:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-NTM-Seminar-11.5.2025-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251105T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251105T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251014T151053Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251014T151917Z UID:10003817-1762344000-1762347600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:CMSA Q&A Seminar: Paul Seidel\, MIT DESCRIPTION:CMSA Q&A Seminar \nSpeaker: Paul Seidel\, MIT \nTopic: Fukaya categories of Landau-Ginzburg models URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsaqa_11525/ LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:CMSA Q&A Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Q-A-Seminar-11.5.2025-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251104T161500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251104T183000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251021T201937Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251031T151517Z UID:10003819-1762272900-1762281000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:A fully local extension of Chern-Simons theory DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeaker: Dan Freed \nTitle: A fully local extension of Chern-Simons theory \nAbstract: The Reshetikhin-Turaev-Witten invariants of 3-manifolds fit into a 3-dimensional topological field theory that also attaches invariants to 2-manifolds and 1-manifolds. It has long been asked to extend to invariants of 0-manifolds as well\, a question that often takes the form: What does Chern-Simons theory attach to a point?. In joint work with Claudia Scheimbauer and Constantin Teleman we use the cobordism hypothesis to construct a fully local version of Chern-Simons theory. We also consider different versions with different tangential structures\, as I will explain. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_11425/ LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138 CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-11.4.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251031T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251031T130000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20250827T141457Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251027T151940Z UID:10003768-1761912000-1761915600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Skein remain the same DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Sunghyuk Park\, CMSA \nTitle: Skein remain the same \nAbstract: The count of holomorphic curves in a Calabi-Yau 3-fold ending on a Lagrangian is famously not deformation invariant\, but Ekholm and Shende have shown that it can be made invariant by counting in the skein. Given a 3-manifold M and a branched cover arising from the projection of a Lagrangian 3-manifold L in the cotangent bundle of M\, we use the skein-valued curve count to construct a map from the skein of M to that of L. When M and L are products of surfaces and intervals\, deforming L within the space of Lagrangians yields a skein-valued lift of the Kontsevich-Soibelman wall-crossing formula. After all\, the skeins remain the same. Based on joint work (arXiv:2510.19041) with Tobias Ekholm\, Pietro Longhi\, and Vivek Shende. \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-103125/ LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Member Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-10.31.25-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251030T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251030T170000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20250904T162918Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251027T145519Z UID:10003782-1761840000-1761843600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:RCD structures on singular Kahler varieties DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar \nSpeaker: Jian Song\, Rutgers University \nTitle: RCD structures on singular Kahler varieties \nAbstract: Let X be a 3-dimensional projective variety with klt singularities. We prove that every singular Kahler metric on X with bounded Nash entropy and Ricci curvature bounded below induces a unique compact RCD space homeomorphic to the projective variety X itself. In particular\, singular Kahler- Einstein spaces of complex dimension 3 with bounded Nash entropy are compact RCD spaces topologically and holomorphically equivalent to the underlying projective variety.  Such results establish connections among algebraic\, geometric and analytic structures of klt singularities from birational geometry and provide abundant examples of RCD spaces from algebraic geometry via complex Monge-Ampere equations. URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys_103025/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-10.30.2025-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251030T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251030T150000 DTSTAMP:20260515T114907 CREATED:20251014T143046Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251030T144718Z UID:10003812-1761832800-1761836400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu SUMMARY:Affine Springer fibers and representations DESCRIPTION:Algebra Seminar \nSpeaker: Roman Bezrukavnikov\, MIT \nTitle: Affine Springer fibers and representations \nAbstract: Relating representation categories of interest\, such of modules over the quantum group\, to topology of loop spaces has been an important theme in representation theory for some decades. I will describe a result of this sort involving a geometric object that has not appeared in this context until now\, an affine Springer fiber\, and mention its applications. Based on a joint work with Pablo Boixeda Alvarez\, Michael McBreen and Zhiwei Yun. \n  \n  URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/algebra-seminar_103025/ LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States CATEGORIES:Algebra Seminar ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Algebra-Seminar-10.30.25.docx-2-scaled.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR