Triangle Seminars
Tuesday, 24 Jan 2012
Homogeneous supergravity backgrounds
Jose Figueroa-O'Farrill
(Edinburgh)
Abstract:
We've known since childhood that symmetry can be a very powerful tool in solving partial differential equations. With a little symmetry, one can reduce the number of independent variables, whereas with some more symmetry one can usually separate variables and reduce the problem to solving ordinary differential equations. Given enough symmetry, though, partial differential equations become algebraic. A large body of current research in our field requires finding solutions to the (super)gravity field equations and in this talk I will motivate the search for homogeneous supergravity backgrounds and mention some recent results in this area.
We've known since childhood that symmetry can be a very powerful tool in solving partial differential equations. With a little symmetry, one can reduce the number of independent variables, whereas with some more symmetry one can usually separate variables and reduce the problem to solving ordinary differential equations. Given enough symmetry, though, partial differential equations become algebraic. A large body of current research in our field requires finding solutions to the (super)gravity field equations and in this talk I will motivate the search for homogeneous supergravity backgrounds and mention some recent results in this area.
Posted by: IC
Ricci solitons
Andrew Dancer
(Oxford)
Abstract:
A Ricci soliton is a generalisation of an Einstein metric which
evolves in a very simple way under the Ricci flow. We discuss ways of
producing examples of Ricci solitons by looking for solutions with a high
degree of symmetry
A Ricci soliton is a generalisation of an Einstein metric which
evolves in a very simple way under the Ricci flow. We discuss ways of
producing examples of Ricci solitons by looking for solutions with a high
degree of symmetry
Posted by: KCL
Wednesday, 25 Jan 2012
Permutation groups, mock theta functions, and K3 surfaces
Jeff Harvey
(Chicago U.)
Abstract:
I will review the connection between the elliptic genus of K3 surfaces and the representation theory of the Mathieu group M_{24} and then discuss a proposed extension of this connection that applies to a larger set of groups and Jacobi forms.
I will review the connection between the elliptic genus of K3 surfaces and the representation theory of the Mathieu group M_{24} and then discuss a proposed extension of this connection that applies to a larger set of groups and Jacobi forms.
Posted by: IC
Algorithmic String Geometry
Lara Anderson
(Harvard)