
Symmetries from string theory
Iñaki García-Etxebarria Durham University
Mathematical physics, including mathematics, is a research area where novel mathematical techniques are invented to tackle problems in physics, and where novel mathematical ideas find an elegant physical realization. Historically, it would have been impossible to distinguish between theoretical physics and pure mathematics. Often spectacular advances were seen with the concurrent development of new ideas and fields in both mathematics and physics. Here one might note Newton's invention of modern calculus to advance the understanding of mechanics and gravitation. In the twentieth century, quantum theory was developed almost simultaneously with a variety of mathematical fields, including linear algebra, the spectral theory of operators and functional analysis. This fruitful partnership continues today with, for example, the discovery of remarkable connections between gauge theories and string theories from physics and geometry and topology in mathematics.
Iñaki García-Etxebarria Durham University
Cris Negron University of Southern California
Pavel Etingof Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Shu-Heng Shao Stony Brook University
Kevin Costello Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Emily Nardoni University of Tokyo
Andrei Okounkov Columbia University
Justin Kaidi Stony Brook University
Theo Johnson-Freyd Dalhousie University
Baskaran Ganapathy Institute of Mathematical Sciences
Semon Rezchikov Harvard University
Samuel DeHority Columbia University