Conference: Symposium about Pure Mathematics


Algebraic structures in topological field theories

{{_Ltalk:R}} Dr. Claudia Scheimbauer
Date: 07.12.16   Time: 15.00 - 17.00   Room: Y27H46

Atiyah and Segal's axiomatic approach to topological and conformal quantum field theories provided a beautiful link between the geometry of "spacetimes" (cobordisms) and algebraic structures. The effort to combine this approach with the physical notion of "locality" led to the use of the language of higher categories. I will give an introduction to the topic and report on my own work on these "extended" topological field theories -- the higher category of cobordisms and a family of examples of extended topological field theories using the factorization algebras. Furthermore, I will explain a relative ("twisted") version of field theories and some simple, but illustrative, examples. This is joint with Damien Calaque, Owen Gwilliam, and Theo Johnson-Freyd.