Posted in
Speaker:
David Reutte
Zugehörigkeit:
MPIM
Datum:
Die, 09/06/2020 - 14:00 - 15:00
Parent event:
Seminar on Algebra, Geometry and Physics https://bbb.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/b/gae-a7y-hhd
A major open problem in quantum topology is the construction of an oriented 4-dimensional topological quantum field theory (TQFT) in the sense of Atiyah-Segal which is sensitive to exotic smooth structure. In this talk, I will sketch a proof that no semisimple field theory can achieve this goal and that such field theories are only sensitive to the homotopy types of simply connected 4-manifolds. In this context, `semisimplicity' is a certain algebraic condition applying to all currently known examples of vector-space-valued oriented 4-dimensional TQFTs, including `unitary field theories' and `once-extended field theories' which assign algebras or linear categories to 2-manifolds. If time permits, I will give a concrete expression for the value of a semisimple TQFT on a simply connected 4-manifold and explain how the presence of `emergent fermions’ in a field theory is related to its potential sensitivity to more than the homotopy type of a non-simply connected 4-manifold. This is based on arXiv:2001.02288.
| © MPI f. Mathematik, Bonn | Impressum & Datenschutz |
English
Deutsch