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August 12, 2019 - December 13, 2019
Holomorphic Differentials in Mathematics and Physics
Organizers: LEAD Jayadev Athreya (University of Washington), Steven Bradlow (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Sergei Gukov (California Institute of Technology), Andrew Neitzke (University of Texas, Austin), Anna Wienhard (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg), Anton Zorich (Institut de Mathematiques de Jussieu)
Some holomorphic differentials on a genus 2 surface, with close up views of singular points, image courtesy Jian Jiang.
Holomorphic differentials on Riemann surfaces have long held a distinguished place in low dimensional geometry, dynamics and representation theory. Recently it has become apparent that they constitute a common feature of several other highly active areas of current research in mathematics and also at the interface with physics. In some cases the areas themselves (such as stability conditions on Fukaya-type categories, links to quantum integrable systems, or the physically derived construction of so-called spectral networks) are new, while in others the novelty lies more in the role of the holomorphic differentials (for example in the study of billiards in polygons, special - Hitchin or higher Teichmuller - components of representation varieties, asymptotic properties of Higgs bundle moduli spaces, or in new interactions with algebraic geometry).
It is remarkable how widely scattered are the motivating questions in these areas, and how diverse are the backgrounds of the researchers pursuing them. Bringing together experts in this wide variety of fields to explore common interests and discover unexpected connections is the main goal of our program. Our program will be of interest to those working in many different elds, including low-dimensional dynamical systems (via the connection to billiards); differential geometry (Higgs bundles and related moduli spaces); and different types of theoretical physics (electron transport and supersymmetric quantum field theory).
Updated on Jul 18, 2019 11:31 AM PDT
Microlocal Analysis
Organizers: Pierre Albin (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Nalini Anantharaman (Université de Strasbourg), Kiril Datchev (Purdue University), Raluca Felea (Rochester Institute of Technology), Colin Guillarmou (Université de Paris XI (Paris-Sud)), LEAD Andras Vasy (Stanford University)
Microlocal analysis provides tools for the precise analysis of problems arising in areas such as partial differential equations or integral geometry by working in the phase space, i.e. the cotangent bundle, of the underlying manifold. It has origins in areas such as quantum mechanics and hyperbolic equations, in addition to the development of a general PDE theory, and has expanded tremendously over the last 40 years to the analysis of singular spaces, integral geometry, nonlinear equations, scattering theory… This program will bring together researchers from various parts of the field to facilitate the transfer of ideas, and will also provide a comprehensive introduction to the field for postdocs and graduate students.
Updated on Apr 13, 2018 11:42 AM PDT
August 12, 2019 - May 29, 2020
Complementary Program 2019-20
The Complementary Program has a limited number of memberships that are open to mathematicians whose interests are not closely related to the core programs; special consideration is given to mathematicians who are partners of an invited member of a core program.
Updated on Nov 27, 2018 12:28 PM PST
January 21, 2020 - May 29, 2020
Quantum Symmetries
Organizers: Vaughan Jones (Vanderbilt University), LEAD Scott Morrison (Australian National University), Victor Ostrik (University of Oregon), Emily Peters (Loyola University), Eric Rowell (Texas A & M University), LEAD Noah Snyder (Indiana University), Chelsea Walton (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
The study of tensor categories involves the interplay of representation theory, combinatorics, number theory, and low dimensional topology (from a string diagram calculation, describing the 3-dimensional bordism 2-category [arXiv:1411.0945]).
Symmetry, as formalized by group theory, is ubiquitous across mathematics and science. Classical examples include point groups in crystallography, Noether's theorem relating differentiable symmetries and conserved quantities, and the classification of fundamental particles according to irreducible representations of the Poincaré group and the internal symmetry groups of the standard model. However, in some quantum settings, the notion of a group is no longer enough to capture all symmetries. Important motivating examples include Galois-like symmetries of von Neumann algebras, anyonic particles in condensed matter physics, and deformations of universal enveloping algebras. The language of tensor categories provides a unified framework to discuss these notions of quantum symmetry.
Updated on Mar 22, 2018 11:21 AM PDT
Higher Categories and Categorification
Organizers: David Ayala (Montana State University), Clark Barwick (University of Edinburgh), David Nadler (University of California, Berkeley), LEAD Emily Riehl (Johns Hopkins University), Marcy Robertson (University of Melbourne), Peter Teichner (Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik), Dominic Verity (Macquarie University)
swallowtail identity
Though many of the ideas in higher category theory find their origins in homotopy theory — for instance as expressed by Grothendieck's "homotopy hypothesis" — the subject today interacts with a broad spectrum of areas of mathematical research. Unforeseen descent, or local-to-global formulas, for familiar objects can be articulated in terms of higher invertible morphisms. Compatible associative deformations of a sequence of maps of spaces, or derived schemes, can putatively be represented by higher categories, as Koszul duality for E_n-algebras suggests. Higher categories offer unforeseen characterizing universal properties for familiar constructions such as K-theory. Manifold theory is natively connected to higher category theory and adjunction data, a connection that is most famously articulated by the recently proven Cobordism Hypothesis.
In parallel, the idea of "categorification'' is playing an increasing role in algebraic geometry, representation theory, mathematical physics, and manifold theory, and higher categorical structures also appear in the very foundations of mathematics in the form of univalent foundations and homotopy type theory. A central mission of this semester will be to mitigate the exorbitantly high "cost of admission'' for mathematicians in other areas of research who aim to apply higher categorical technology and to create opportunities for potent collaborations between mathematicians from these different fields and experts from within higher category theory.
Updated on Oct 05, 2018 12:21 PM PDT
Random and Arithmetic Structures in Topology
Organizers: Nicolas Bergeron (Université de Paris VI (Pierre et Marie Curie)), Jeffrey Brock (Brown University), Alexander Furman (University of Illinois at Chicago), Tsachik Gelander (Weizmann Institute of Science), Ursula Hamenstädt (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn), Fanny Kassel (Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES)), LEAD Alan Reid (Rice University)
The use of dynamical invariants has long been a staple of geometry and topology, from rigidity theorems, to classification theorems, to the general study of lattices and of the mapping class group. More recently, random structures in topology and notions of probabilistic geometric convergence have played a critical role in testing the robustness of conjectures in the arithmetic setting. The program will focus on invariants in topology, geometry, and the dynamics of group actions linked to random constructions.
Updated on Apr 22, 2019 01:56 PM PDT
Decidability, definability and computability in number theory
Organizers: Valentina Harizanov (George Washington University), Maryanthe Malliaris (University of Chicago), Barry Mazur (Harvard University), Russell Miller (Queens College, CUNY; CUNY, Graduate Center), Jonathan Pila (University of Oxford), LEAD Thomas Scanlon (University of California, Berkeley), Alexandra Shlapentokh (East Carolina University), Carlos Videla (Mount Royal University)
This program is focused on the two-way interaction of logical ideas and techniques, such as definability from model theory and decidability from computability theory, with fundamental problems in number theory. These include analogues of Hilbert's tenth problem, isolating properties of fields of algebraic numbers which relate to undecidability, decision problems around linear recurrence and algebraic differential equations, the relation of transcendence results and conjectures to decidability and decision problems, and some problems in anabelian geometry and field arithmetic. We are interested in this specific interface across a range of problems and so intend to build a semester which is both more topically focused and more mathematically broad than a typical MSRI program.
Updated on May 10, 2019 03:25 PM PDT
Mathematical problems in fluid dynamics
Organizers: Thomas Alazard (École Normale Supérieure; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)), Hajer Bahouri (Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)), Mihaela Ifrim (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Igor Kukavica (University of Southern California), David Lannes (Université de Bordeaux I; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)), LEAD Daniel Tataru (University of California, Berkeley)
Fluid dynamics is one of the classical areas of partial differential equations, and has been the subject of extensive research over hundreds of years. It is perhaps one of the most challenging and exciting fields of scientific pursuit simply because of the complexity of the subject and the endless breadth of applications.
The focus of the program is on incompressible fluids, where water is a primary example. The fundamental equations in this area are the well-known Euler equations for inviscid fluids, and the Navier-Stokes equations for the viscous fluids. Relating the two is the problem of the zero viscosity limit, and its connection to the phenomena of turbulence. Water waves, or more generally interface problems in fluids, represent another target area for the program. Both theoretical and numerical aspects will be considered.
Universality and Integrability in Random Matrix Theory and Interacting Particle Systems
Organizers: LEAD Ivan Corwin (Columbia University), Percy Deift (New York University, Courant Institute), Ioana Dumitriu (University of Washington), Alice Guionnet (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon), Alexander Its (Indiana University--Purdue University), Herbert Spohn, Horng-Tzer Yau (Harvard University)
The past decade has seen tremendous progress in understanding the behavior of large random matrices and interacting particle systems. Complementary methods have emerged to prove universality of these behaviors, as well as to probe their precise nature using integrable, or exactly solvable models. This program seeks to reinforce and expand the fruitful interaction at the interface of these areas, as well as to showcase some of the important developments and applications of the past decade.
The Analysis and Geometry of Random Spaces
Organizers: LEAD Mario Bonk (University of California, Los Angeles), Joan Lind (University of Tennessee), Steffen Rohde (University of Washington), Eero Saksman (University of Helsinki), Fredrik Viklund (Royal Institute of Technology), Jang-Mei Wu (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
This program is devoted to the investigation of universal analytic and geometric objects that arise from natural probabilistic constructions, often motivated by models in mathematical physics. Prominent examples for recent developments are the Schramm-Loewner evolution, the continuum random tree, Bernoulli percolation on the integers, random surfaces produced by Liouville Quantum Gravity, and Jordan curves and dendrites obtained from random conformal weldings and laminations. The lack of regularity of these random structures often results in a failure of classical methods of analysis. One goal of this program is to enrich the analytic toolbox to better handle these rough structures.
Updated on Jul 12, 2019 05:49 PM PDT
Complex Dynamics: from special families to natural generalizations in one and several variables
Organizers: LEAD Sarah Koch (University of Michigan), Jasmin Raissy (Institut de Mathématiques de Toulouse), Dierk Schleicher (Jacobs University Bremen), Mitsuhiro Shishikura (Kyoto University), Dylan Thurston (Indiana University)
The mating of these two dendritic Julia sets is equal to the Julia set of a rational map of degree 2; that Julia set is equal to the entire Riemann sphere.
Holomorphic dynamics is a vibrant field of mathematics that has seen profound progress over the past 40 years. It has numerous interconnections to other fields of mathematics and beyond.
Our semester will focus on three selected classes of dynamical systems: rational maps (postcritically finite and beyond); transcendental maps; and maps in several complex variables. We will put particular emphasis on the interactions between each these, and on connections with adjacent areas of mathematics.