THEMATIC PROGRAMS

March 19, 2024

Thematic Program on The Geometry of String Theory
2004 - 2005

A joint program of the Fields Institute, Toronto &
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo

The Geometry of String Theory program is supported by:
The Connaught Fund Univ. of Toronto, Scarborough

Mailing List : To receive updates on the String Theory program please subscribe to our mailing list at www.fields.utoronto.ca/maillist
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During the academic year 2004-05, a year-long program of activity will take place at the Fields Institute and Perimeter Institute on the general subject The Geometry of String Theory. The plan is for a systematic, focused activity with the dual aim of discussing new results and putting new insights gained from physics into the general mathematical framework.

The first half-year of the program will have a mathematical focus and the second half-year a physical one. Each half-year will involve specialized workshops (see below) and mini-courses. We are also preparing to hold the Strings 2005 Conference to wrap up this year-long program.


Organizing Committee:
 

K. Hori (U.Toronto, Physics & Mathematics)
L. Jeffrey (U.Toronto, Mathematics)
M. Kapranov (U.Toronto, Mathematics)

B. Khesin (U.Toronto, Mathematics)
R. Myers (Perimeter Institute)
A. Peet (U.Toronto, Physics)

Scientific Committee:

A. Beilinson (U.Chicago)
J. Bryan (UBC)
D. Freed (Austin)
K. Hori (U.Toronto, Physics & Mathematics)
J. Hurtubise (McGill)
L. Jeffrey (U.Toronto, Mathematics)
M. Kapranov (U.Toronto, Mathematics)

S. Katz (Urbana-Champaign)
B. Khesin (U.Toronto, Mathematics)
R. Myers (Perimeter Institute)
A. Peet (U.Toronto, Physics)
E. Witten (I.A.S., Princeton)
N. Yui (Queen's)

Outline of Scientific Program

The program will be devoted to mathematical subjects motivated by string theory, and to recent developments in string theory and related physical fields which are of strong mathematical interest. On the mathematical side, the aim is to foster interaction between such areas of mathematics as derived categories, elliptic cohomology, geometric Langlands correspondence, quantum cohomology, differential geometry varieties with special holonomy and of special Lagrangian varieties. On the more physical side, the aim is to foster new progress in the continuing drive towards understanding the foundations of string/M-theory, and in the wealth of new ideas involving D-branes, BPS states and various dualities which are of great importance to mathematical subjects such as algebraic geometry.

Program Activities 2005

String Theory Seminar

held Tuesdays at the Perimeter Institute, held Thursdays at the Fields Institutue

Graduate Courses:

WINTER - Course on Introduction to Homological Algebra, Instructor: R. Buchweitz
WINTER - Course on Symplectic Geometry and Topology, Instructor: B. Khesin
WINTER - Mini-Course on Generalized Geometries in String Theory (at Perimeter Institute)

February 15-17, 2005 -- Marco Gualtieri (Fields):'Generalized geometric structures'
February 15 -17, 2005 -- Yi Li (Caltech): 'Twisted Generalized Calabi-Yau Manifolds andTopological Sigma Models with Flux'
March 1-3, 2005 -- Mariana Grana (Ecole Polytechnique & Ecole Normale Superieure):'Supergravity Backgrounds from Generalized Calabi-Yau Manifolds'

WORKSHOP AND LECTURE SERIES

January 10-14, 2005
Workshop on Topological Strings

Organizing Cttee: E. Getzler, K. Hori, S. Katz
held at the Fields Institute

January 17-20, 2005
Coxeter Lecture Series
Speaker: Robbert Dijkgraaf (Institute for Theoretical Physics, Amsterdam)

March 21-25, 2005
Workshop on N=1 Compactifications

Organizers: M. Douglas, K. Hori, S. Sethi
held at the Fields Institute

March 28-April 1, 2005
Workshop on String Phenomenology

Organizers: J. Louis, R. Myers, G. Shiu
held at the Perimeter Institute

April 4-5,7, 2005
Distinguished Lecture Series
Speaker: Edward Witten (IAS, Princeton)

May 2-6, 2005
Workshop on Gravitational Aspects of String Theory

Organizers: P. Kraus, D. Marolf, A. Peet
held at the Fields Institute

May 9-11, 2005
Coxeter Lecture Series
Speaker: Renata Kallosh (Physics, Stanford)

June 2, 2005 -- 4:00 p.m.
Clay Math Institute Public Lecture

Speaker: Eric Zaslow, Northwestern University
Physmatics

June 8-12, 2005
Workshop on Schubert Varieties
Organizers: Lisa Jeffrey, Megumi Harada, Alistair Savage, Alexander Yong

June 20-July 8, 2005
Summer School Program

Strings, Gravity and Cosmology
Organizers: A. Buchel, T. Lee, R. Myers, M. Rozali, G. Semenoff
held at the Perimeter Institute

July 11-16, 2005
Strings 2005, Toronto

As a conclusion to the 2004-05 String Theory Thematic Program activities at the Fields and Perimeter Institutes, Strings 2005 will be held at the University of Toronto. The Strings Conference is held annually, where physicists get together from all over the world to present and discuss new developments of string theory. It consists of invited talks by leading physicists of this field.

Conferences are held in a different location each year; past venues included USC (1995), ITP Santa Barbara(1996), Amsterdam (1997), ITP Santa Barbara (1998), Potsdam (1999), Ann Arbor (2000), Mumbai (2001), Cambridge (2002), Kyoto (2003) and Paris (2004) . Strings 2005 in Toronto will be the inaugural Strings Conference in Canada.


Program Activities 2004

Graduate Courses:

FALL - Course on String Theory, Instructor: A. Peet
FALL - Course on Mirror Symmetry, Instructor: K. Hori
November 8-12, 2004 -- Mini-Course on Frobenius Manifolds and Integrable Hierarchies,
Instructor
: Boris Dubrovin (SISSA, Trieste)

Past Program Activities 2004

String Theory Seminar (held bi-weekly on Mondays & Wednesdays)
held at the Fields Institute

September 27-October 2, 2004
Workshop on Forms of Homotopy Theory: Elliptic Cohomology and Loop Spaces
Organizing Cttee: M. Ando (UIUC), M. Hopkins (MIT), H. Miller (MIT), J. Morava (Johns Hopkins)
held at the Fields Institute

November 15-17, 2004
Coxeter Lecture Series

Speaker: Nigel Hitchin (Mathematical Institute, Oxford)
November 15, 16 at 3:30 p.m. talks held at the Fields Institute
November 17 at 2:00 p.m. talk held at the Perimeter Institute

November 19-23, 2004
Workshop on Mirror Symmetry

Organizing Cttee: D. Auroux, M. Gross, K. Hori, N. Yui
held at the Perimeter Institute

Associated Activities:

September 17-21, 2004
COSMO-04
- International Workshop on Particle Physics and the Early Universe

April 30 - May 1, 2005
2005 Great Lakes Geometry Conference
held at the Perimeter Institute

June 4-6, 2005
Canadian Mathematical Society, Summer Meeting

Special Session on String Theory and Integrable Systems
held at the Universtiy of Waterloo

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