Conference Proposal: Random Conformal Geometry and Related Fields

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

From June 18-22, 2018 the Korean Institute of Advanced Study in Seoul, South Korea, will host a conference on Random Conformal Geometry and Related Fields. The purpose of the conference is to bring together leading researchers from around the world to strengthen our understanding of random processes in the two-dimensional plane that exhibit conformal symmetries. It will focus on recent developments in Schramm-Loewner evolution and its connections to random Gaussian fields and classical conformal field theory from theoretical physics. Together, these subjects have been one of the most active areas in statistical mechanics in the last fifteen years. The mathematical theory behind random conformal geometry is rich and intimately intertwined with theoretical physics, combinatorics, operator theory, spectral theory, and many other disciplines where new connections are regularly emerging. The intellectual merit of the conference lies in its potential to establish a cross-fertilization of ideas within different areas of mathematics and connect these ideas with theoretical physics and other fields of science. Potential applications of the theory are in materials science, condensed matter physics, and quantum computing. An important component of the conference will be to introduce graduate students and other junior researchers to this exciting new field. Broader impact will be realized through the training of a new generation of students to carry on the work in this important field. Funds from this award will enable the participation of United States based students and junior researchers in this conference. Conference website: http://newton.kias.re.kr/~namgyu/index.html/SLE2018/ This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.