
Algebraically closed higher categories
Theo Johnson-Freyd Dalhousie 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.
Theo Johnson-Freyd Dalhousie University
Arun Debray University of Texas - Austin
Maxim Kontsevich Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (IHES)
Ingmar Saberi Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU)
Roland Bittleston Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Corina Keller University of Montpellier
Tamas Hausel Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Davide Gaiotto Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
Laura Schaposnik University of Illinois at Chicago
Latham Boyle University of Edinburgh
Tejinder Singh Tata Institute for Fundamental Research
Shane Farnsworth University of Regensburg
Cohl Furey Humboldt University of Berlin