This event will be a twinned transatlantic conference on “C*-algebras and tensor categories”, promoting new connections between C*-algebra theory and tensor categories/subfactors - an interface with tremendous, yet barely explored, potential.

The conference takes place simultaneously at two locations: the Fields Institute in Canada and the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS) in Edinburgh. This "twinned conference'' model aims to reduce the environmental impact of conference travl without sacrificing one-on-one interactions. The talks will be hybrid, with the speaker giving an in-person talk at either Fields or ICMS that is streamed live to the other institute. The talks will be held in the afternoons at ICMS and mornings at Fields. Minicourses will be in person (not streamed) in the mornings at ICMS and in the afternoons at Fields. We have two sets of minicourse speakers, one for each location, who will coordinate their lectures.

Many major breakthroughs in the classification of C*-algebras of finite topological dimension have been underpinned by the large-scale transfer of von Neumann techniques on multiple levels. The overarching objective of this conference is to bring together researchers at the interface of the rapidly developing areas of the structure and classification of C*-algebras and subfactor theory/tensor categories. Our driving scientific goal is the question: Which strongly amenable rigid C*-tensor categories act on which classifiable C*-algebras, and when can such actions be reasonably classified?

Due to the recent success in the C*-algebra classification program, today C*-algebras stand at exactly the analogous stage to where von Neumann algebra theory was around the early '80s, when Jones pioneered subfactor theory. This is the right moment to lay the foundations for large-scale research into quantum symmetries on C*-algebras.

The main techniques will be drawn both from deep classification theorems in subfactor theory, including the theorems of Jones and Ocneanu from the '80s and Popa from the '90s, and the rapid recent progress in the classification of C*-algebras. Through this twinned workshop, we aim to open a vibrant area in the intersection of operator algebras and tensor categories, and bring together two communities of researchers. 

Mini-Courses

C*-algebras and classification:

• Elizabeth Gillaspy, University of Montana
• Chris Schafhauser, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Tensor categories:

• Roberto Hernández Palomares, University of Waterloo
• Qing Zhang, Purdue University

Plenary Speakers

• Yuki Arano, Nagoya University
• Mike Brannan, University of Waterloo
• José Carrión, Texas Christian University
• Paramita Das, Indian Statistical University
• Colleen Delaney, University of California, Berkeley
• Anna Duwenig, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• Jamie Gabe, University of Southern Denmark
• Lara Ismert, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Masaki Izumi, Kyoto University
• Xin Li, University of Glasgow
• Ying-Fen Lin, Queen's University Belfast
• Zhuang Niu, University of Wyoming
• Ulrich Pennig, Cardiff University
• Claudia Pinzari, Sapienza Università di Roma *
• Sarah Reznikoff, Virginia Tech
• Mikael Rørdam, University of Copenhagen
• Stefaan Vaes, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• Christian Voigt, University of Glasgow
• Dilian Yang, University of Windsor

(* = to be confirmed)