Talbot Workshops 2011 - 2013

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The Talbot 2010 workshop aims to create an informal and collaborative environment where students and specialists in representation theory, algebraic geometry, topology, and mathematical physics work together to understand recent advances in conformal field theory, K-theory, and loop groups. In particular, the lectures, given primarily by the participants, will culminate in explaining the proof of the celebrated theorem of Freed, Hopkins, and Teleman that identifies the Verlinde algebra of a loop group LG with the G-equivariant twisted K-theory of the Lie group G. Talbot workshops in 2011, 2012, and 2013 will likewise involve a diverse group of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from different institutions and from a wide range of fields to study a specific subject of contemporary mathematical importance. Possibilities include, but are not limited to, stability conditions on triangulated categories, string topology, non-abelian Hodge theory, and topological conformal field theory. These workshops will introduce aspiring mathematicians in a variety of disciplines and from many institutions to vibrant areas of research, fostering collaboration between fields, forming strong pedagogical and research ties between established mathematicians and young researchers, and thus promoting future collaboration and research. The Talbot workshop is an innovative annual mathematical retreat that brings a group of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers together with a faculty mentor for a week-long, intensive exploration of a single topic of contemporary research interest. The topic of study varies from year to year but tends to focus on current developments in mathematics at the interface of algebraic topology, geometry, and physics. Each year, the mentor and organizers design a sequence of approximately twenty lectures, providing background, context, and future research directions in this mathematical topic. The mentor typically gives four of the lectures, and participants give the rest. A distinguishing feature of Talbot is that the living facilities contain the lecture space, leading to an informal but mathematically intensive atmosphere. The Talbot workshops will introduce aspiring mathematicians in a variety of disciplines and from many institutions to vibrant areas of research, fostering collaboration between fields and forming strong pedagogical and research ties between established mathematicians and young researchers.