The inaugural lecture of Professor Cyril Closset: "Strongly quantum fields, supersymmetry and geometry"

As part of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Inaugural Lecture Series, please join Professor Cyril Closset, Professor of Mathematical Physics, as he delivers his inaugural lecture "Strongly quantum fields, supersymmetry and geometry".

About the lecture

Quantum field theory is the lingua franca of theoretical physics, giving us the conceptual tool to think about many natural phenomena, from fundamental particles to many-body systems. This conceptual language is constantly evolving, and indeed there are good reasons to think that something fundamental is lacking in our understanding of quantum fields. One key problem is that mutual interactions of quantum fields are generally intractable with current methods: this is the strong-coupling problem. In this talk, Professor Closset will describe how the strong-coupling problem can be tackled head-on in quantum field theories with supersymmetry. This still-speculative symmetry of Nature allows one to rigorously connect many quantum problems to well-defined geometry. Conversely, it also allows us to tackle fascinating mathematics using theoretical physics. Professor Closset will give an overview of some of hiswork on the supersymmetric approach to "physical mathematics", which can be defined as the uncanny ability of quantum physics to produce new results in pure mathematics. As a case study, he will describe some work-in-progress about new generalised cohomology theories related to surface operators in 4d gauge theories.

About the speaker

Cyril Closset is a string theorist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and is head of the Geometry and Mathematical Physics group. He specialises in string theory, quantum field theory, and other aspects of theoretical physics at the interface between high-energy physics and pure mathematics. The overall theme of his research is supersymmetry, used as a powerful theoretical concept that connects together many exciting areas of physics and mathematics.

Programme