Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker: Saman Habibi Esfahani, Harvard CMSA Title: Fukaya category and gauge theory Abstract: After setting up some background, I will discuss the Fukaya $A_\ infty$-category and several instances where it appears in gauge theory, such as in the study of flat connections on Riemann surfaces, holomorphic sections of some hyperkähler […]
Fall CMSA Welcome Event Date: September 3, 2025 Time: 4:00 pm Location: CMSA Common Room, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA All CMSA and Math affiliates are invited.
Math and Machine Learning Reunion Workshop Dates: September 8–10, 2025 Location: Harvard CMSA, Room G10, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA Machine learning and AI are increasingly important tools in all fields of research. In the fall of 2024, the CMSA Mathematics and Machine Learning Program hosted 70 mathematicians and machine learning experts, ranging from beginners to […]
Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker: Lorenzo Riva Title: Higher categories of cobordisms Abstract: I will give a brief introduction to topological field theories from a higher categorical perspective. After saying a few things about higher categories, I will define a family of n-categories of bordisms and talk about their universal properties. I will try […]
Big Data Conference 2025 Dates: Sep. 11–12, 2025 Location: Harvard University CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge & via Zoom The Big Data Conference features speakers from the Harvard community as well as scholars from across the globe, with talks focusing on computer science, statistics, math and physics, and economics. Invited Speakers Markus J. Buehler, MIT […]
The Geometry of Machine Learning Dates: September 15–18, 2025 Location: Harvard CMSA, Room G10, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA 02138 Despite the extraordinary progress in large language models, mathematicians suspect that other dimensions of intelligence must be defined and simulated to complete the picture. Geometric and symbolic reasoning are among these. In fact, there seems […]
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Chuck Doran (Alberta/CMSA) Title: Orientifolds for F-theory on K3 Surfaces Abstract: Compactification of F-theory on an elliptically fibered K3 surface provides a framework to encode type IIB string theory on elliptic curves, with the Kaehler modulus of the elliptic curve encoded in the complex structure of the elliptic fibers. In […]
Colloquium Speaker: Michael Freedman (Harvard CMSA and Logical Intelligence) Title: Topological Manifolds – The First 100 Years Abstract: I’ll review manifold topology in the topological category from its start with work of Rado (1925) and Kneser (1926) to the present. Work of Moise, Mazur, Kirby, Siebenmann, Sullivan, Kruskal, and the speaker will be discussed. In my view […]
Geometry of Machine Learning Special Lecture: Yann LeCun Title: Self-Supervised Learning, JEPA, World Models, and the future of AI Date: Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025 Time: 5:00 pm ET Location: Harvard Science Center, Hall C & via Zoom Webinar
https://youtu.be/60X5M1FhmUc Millennium Prize Problems Lecture Date: September 17, 2025 Location: Harvard Science Center Hall D & via Zoom Webinar Time: 5:00–6:00 pm Speaker: Michael Freedman, Harvard CMSA and Logical Intelligence Title: The Poincaré Conjecture and Mathematical Discovery Abstract: The AI age requires us to re-examine what mathematics is about. The Seven Millenium Problems provide an […]
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar Speaker: Robert Moscrop, CMSA Title: Moduli spaces of 4d N=2 quantum field theories Abstract: Supersymmetry endows quantum field theories with several rich algebraic and geometric structures associated to their moduli space of vacua, providing powerful tools to study such theories non-perturbatively. For example, in four-dimensional theories with eight supercharges, the […]
Member Seminar Speaker: Max Hubner Title: Top-Down Perspectives on Symmetry Theories Abstract: I will review the construction and utility of symmetry theories for string constructed quantum field theories. Symmetry theories are extra-dimensional auxiliary theories separating aspects of a quantum field theory's symmetries from many of its more messy features. For QFTs with extra-dimensional string constructions the […]
Colloquium Speaker: David Nelson, Harvard Title: Turbulent Mixing and Antagonistic Microorganisms Abstract: Unlike coffee and cream that homogenize when stirred, growing micro-organisms (e.g., bacteria and baker’s yeast) can actively kill each other and avoid mixing. How do such antagonistic interactions impact the growth and survival of competing strains, while being spatially advected by turbulent flows? […]
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Max Hübner (Uppsala & CMSA) Title: Non-Supersymmetric Orbifolds, Quivers and Chen-Ruan Orbifold Cohomology Abstract: We consider D3-brane probes of non-supersymmetric orbifolds and IIA on the same class of non-supersymmetric orbifolds. Both setups are characterized, in part, by quivers (which in the latter case relate for example to D0-brane probes) from which […]
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar Speaker: Teng Fei, Rutgers Title: Degeneration of Calabi-Yau 3-folds and 3-forms Abstract: We study the geometries associated to various 3-forms on a symplectic 6-manifold of different orbital types. As an application, we demonstrate how this can be used to find Lagrangian foliations and other geometric structures of interest arising from […]
Member Seminar Speaker: Iacopo Brivio Title: Sections of fibrations onto curves in characteristic p>0 Abstract: This talk is based on joint work in progress with Ben Church. Using symplectic geometry, Pieloch showed that every smooth fibration $f\colon X\to \mathbb{P}^1$ of complex projective varieties always admits a section. I will explain how this theorem can be recovered using […]
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Minghao Wang, Boston University Title: Graph integrals on Kahler manifolds Abstract: I will talk about my recent work with Junrong Yan. We proved the convergence of Graph integrals on analytic Kahler manifolds in the sense of Cauchy principal values, which are originally from holomorphic quantum field theories. […]
Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker 1: Max Hubner, CMSA Title: On Topological Structures in String Theory Abstract: Geometric engineering constructions in string theory often realize QFTs relative to an extra-dimensional geometry. This perspective parallels the symmetry TFT construction where a QFT is presented relative to its extra-dimensional symmetry quiche. Unsurprisingly, as we will discuss, […]
https://youtu.be/0FCgpyCfb4o New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Michael Borinsky, Perimeter Institute Title: Tropicalized quantum field theory Abstract: Quantum field theory (QFT) is one of the most accurate methods for making phenomenological predictions in physics, but it has a significant drawback: obtaining concrete predictions from it is computationally very demanding. The standard perturbative approach expands an […]
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar Speaker: Valentino Tosatti, NYU Courant Institute Title: Special Kähler geometry and collapsing Abstract: Special Kähler geometry was first discovered in the context of N=2 supersymmetric 4D gauge theories, and it also plays a prominent role in mirror symmetry. A key observation of Donagi-Witten and Freed is that the base of every algebraic integrable system […]
Member Seminar Speaker: Saman Habibi Esfahani Title: Local Donaldson-Scaduto conjecture Abstract: This talk is based on joint works with Gora Bera and Yang Li. Motivated by collapsing Calabi-Yau 3-folds and G2-manifolds with Lefschetz K3 fibrations in the adiabatic setting, Donaldson and Scaduto conjectured the existence and uniqueness of a special Lagrangian pair-of-pants in the Calabi-Yau […]