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Tuesday, March 12
12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
L1168
LUNCH PROVIDED
Dr. Terry Gannon, University of Alberta
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
(No knowledge of, or patience for, physics is assumed.)
The Fields Medalist Witten predicted that a theme of 21st century math would be to come to terms with quantum field theory. The hope, and expectation, is that new math is there, and that math will be affected by it even more profoundly than it was by the development of calculus. There is an obvious first place to look: the simplest and most symmetrical class of theories, namely the conformal field theories. We are just at the beginning of this study, but I'll describe what we've discovered so far.
Terry Gannon is a Professor at the University of Alberta. His research interests cover a wide range of mathematical topics, especially the interactions of algebra, number theory, and mathematical physics. In particular some of Prof. Gannon's work is related to a rich structure discovered in mathematical physics called conformal field theory. In his words "I enjoy math which spills over boundaries, and I love to learn new stuff." Prof. Gannon is the author of over 65 articles and the book "Moonshine beyond the Monster: the bridge connecting algebra, modular forms, and physics".
Contact:
Barb Hodgson | hodgsonb@uleth.ca | (403) 329-2470 | uleth.ca/artsci/math-computer-science/pims-distinguished-speakers
