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Supersymmetric field theories and topology
Mathematical Physics Seminar| Speaker: | Daniel Berwick-Evans, UCBerkeley |
| Location: | 1147 MSB |
| Start time: | Wed, Nov 2 2011, 3:10PM |
The Stolz-Teichner program has brought to light an interesting and puzzling connection between generalized cohomology and supersymmetric field theories. In making this link precise, one confronts many technical details. However, many of these can be avoided in (bosonic) dimension zero. In addition to providing computable examples, these simple theories reveal certain structural aspects present in higher dimensions. One upshot I will discuss is a proof of the Chern-Gauss-Bonnet theorem that arises from analysis of the 0|2 sigma model. Motivated by this introductory example, I will give a survey of the Stolz-Teichner program.