Alain Connes (Collège de France) Title: Noncommutative Geometry, the Spectral Aspect Abstract: This talk will be a survey of the spectral side of noncommutative geometry, presenting the new paradigm of spectral triples and showing its relevance for the fine structure of space-time, its large scale structure and also in number theory in connection with the zeros […]
Zhengwei Liu (Tsinghua University) Title: Subfactors–in Memory of Vaughan Jones Abstract: Jones initiated modern subfactor theory in the early 1980s and investigated this area for his whole academic life. Subfactor theory has both deep and broad connections with various areas in mathematics and physics. One well-known peak in the development of subfactor theory is the discovery […]
Eduard Jacob Neven Looijenga (Tsinghua University & Utrecht University) Title: Theorems of Torelli type Abstract: Given a closed manifold of even dimension 2n, then Hodge showed around 1950 that a kählerian complex structure on that manifold determines a decomposition of its complex cohomology. This decomposition, which can potentially vary continuously with the complex structure, extracts from a […]
Arthur Jaffe (Harvard University) Title: Is relativity compatible with quantum theory? Abstract: We review the background, mathematical progress, and open questions in the effort to determine whether one can combine quantum mechanics, special relativity, and interaction together into one mathematical theory. This field of mathematics is known as “constructive quantum field theory.” Physicists believe that such […]
Nigel Hitchin (University of Oxford) Title: Michael Atiyah: Geometry and Physics Abstract: In mid-career, as an internationally renowned mathematician, Michael Atiyah discovered that some problems in physics responded to current work in algebraic geometry and this set him on a path to develop an active interface between mathematics and physics which was formative in the links […]