Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speakers: Dan Freed and Bowen Yang, Harvard CMSA Title: More on Kubota's spectrum of invertible states Abstract: Bowen will explain a construction aptly dubbed “Kitaev’s pump” in Kubota’s paper. Time permitting, Bowen will demonstrate its ubiquity throughout the study of topological phases, where it appears under various guises. In the second hour, […]
CMSA Q&A Seminar Speaker: Ludmil Katzarkov, University of Miami Title: New Birational Invariants Abstract: We will introduce the origins of the main ideas of the theory of atoms. Applications follow. Equivariant and mixed atoms will be considered.
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar Speaker: George Tsoukalas, UT Austin Dept. of Computer Science and Google DeepMind. Title: Automated Theory Formation and Interestingness in Mathematics Abstract: Advances in modern learning systems are beginning to demonstrate utility for select problems in research mathematics. A broader challenge is that of developing new theories automatically. This area has a rich […]
https://youtu.be/14-9iCoclFE Date: February 4, 2026 Time: 5:00–6:00 pm Location: Harvard Science Center Hall C, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge MA Speaker: Barry Mazur, Harvard University Title: About the Birch and Swinnerton–Dyer Conjecture Abstract: In the 1950s Bryan Birch and Peter Swinnerton–Dyer made computations that suggested a striking connection between a basic global invariant of an elliptic […]
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar Speaker: Monica Jinwoo Kang, Texas A&M University Title: Index from a point Abstract: We argue that protected data of 4d N=2 SCFTs admits a purely algebro-geometric characterization. We conjecture that both the Macdonald index (and hence the Schur index) and the Higgs branch are encoded by a bifiltered affine scheme determined by […]
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar Speaker: Yinan Wang, Peking University Title: On E7+1/2 gauge theory Abstract: We propose that an exotic gauge theory based on the intermediate Lie algebra E7+1/2 naturally appears in the landscape of 6d F-theory. We give strong evidence of this proposal with 6d anomaly cancellation, dual M-theory geometry and elliptic genus of the single-string […]
Algebra Seminar
Member Seminar Speaker: Ahsan Khan, Harvard CMSA Title: Lie algebra cohomology and Seiberg-Witten theory Abstract: I will discuss how a certain (relative) Lie algebra cochain complex categorifies the Schur index of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory. For the special case of Seiberg-Witten theory I will provide a conjectured description of this cohomology.
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Shaoyun Bai (MIT) Title: On the p-curvature of quantum connections of CY threefolds Abstract: The small quantum connection of Calabi-Yau varieties has integral coefficients, thus admits reduction mod a prime number p. A fundamental invariant associated with flat connections over characteristic p is the p-curvature, which lies […]
Colloquium Speaker: Pankaj Metha, Boston University Title: Phase Transition to Chaos in Complex Ecosystems with Non-reciprocal Interactions Abstract: Nonreciprocal interactions between microscopic constituents can profoundly shape the large-scale properties of complex systems. In this pedagogical chalk talk, I will discuss recent work from our group on phase transitions and chaos in high-dimensional ecosystems with non-reciprocal […]
CMSA Q&A Seminar Speaker: James Eldred Pascoe, Drexel University Title: (What is) The tracial fundamental group and free universal monodromy? Abstract: We introduce the tracial fundamental group to classify the analytic continuation of functions that are locally behave like the trace of natural matrix valued functions. While globally defined natural matrix-valued functions (known as free […]
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Yiannis Vlassopoulos, Athena Research Center Title: ReLU and Softplus neural nets as zero-sum, turn-based, stopping games Abstract: Neural networks are for the most part treated as black boxes. In an effort to begin elucidating the mathematical structure they encode, we will explain how ReLU neural nets can be interpreted as […]