EVENT DETAILS AND ABSTRACT

Title: Modular forms, physics, and topology
Speaker: Dan Berwick-Evans
Speaker Info: UIUC
Brief Description:
Special Note:
Abstract:

Modular forms appear in a wide variety of contexts in physics and mathematics. For example, they arise in two dimensional quantum field theories as certain observables. In algebraic topology, they emerge in the study of invariants called elliptic cohomology theories. A long-standing conjecture suggests that these two appearances of modular forms are intimately related. After explaining the ingredients, I’ll describe some recent progress.