Strings and automorphic forms in algebraic topology

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Award: DMS 1228196, Principal Investigator: Matthew Ando This project will support travel to the conference "Strings and automorphic forms in algebraic topology" at the University of Bochum in August 2012. The title refers to the intersection between string theory, number theory, and homotopy theory which began with the study of elliptic cohomology in the 1980s. In the last ten years the areas of significant progress have broadened considerably, involving many new research topics. For example, Behrens and Lawson have introduced generalizations of topological modular forms, using the Shimura varieties which play an important role in the Langlands conjecture. For another, the spectacular progress in higher category has led to a much better understanding of quantum field theory and the String 2-group, which are intimately but still mysteriously related to the geometry of elliptic cohomology. The conference will bring together researchers and graduate students working in these areas, to facilitate the sharing of results, the establishment of new collaborations, and the training of the next generation of researchers in this area. The roots of the fields which this conference brings together--String theory, number theory, and algebraic topology--are far apart, and their interaction via elliptic cohomology has, in the best tradition of interdisciplinary research, led to spectacular advances in algebraic topology in the last twenty-five years. One of the appealing features of the subject is that it consistently attracts excellent new researchers from different areas of mathematics and physics, and those new researchers bring exciting new points of view. In the last five years, some of the exciting emerging research teams are based in Europe. The conference will bring together current leaders and new researchers, enabling interaction and cross-fertilization of ideas among a broad group of mathematicians. The project will support travel and participation by US-based mathematicians, especially graduate students and recent PhDs, to help them become involved in this exciting area of research. The web site for the conference is http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/ffm/Lehrstuehle/Lehrstuhl-XIII/conf12.html