Number Theory and Physics at the Crossroads (11w5001)
Organizers
Victor Batyrev (University of Tuebingen)
Charles Doran (University of Alberta)
Sergei Gukov (Caltech)
Noriko Yui (Queen's University)
Don Zagier (Max-Planck Institute Bonn)
Description
The Banff International Research Station will host the "Number Theory and Physics at the Crossroads" workshop from May 8th to May 13th, 2011.
In the last decades and half, the world
has seen explosive interactions between
Number Theory, Arithmetic and Algebraic
Geometry, and Theoretical Physics (in
particular, String Theory). To name a few,
the classical modular forms, quasi-modular
forms, and Jacobi forms appear in many
areas of Physics, e.g., in mirror symmetry,
topological quantum field theory, Gromov-Witten
invariants, conformal field theory,
Calabi-Yau manifolds and in block holes.
Also modularity questions of Calabi-Yau varieties
and other higher dimensional varieties in
connection with Langlands Program are getting
considerable attention and feedbacks from physics.
Zeta-functions and L-series enter scenes at
various places in physics. Via renormalization,
Feynman integrals are related to multiple zeta-values,
and purportedly to motives. Calculations of the
energy and charge degeneracies of black holes
lead surprisingly to Jacobi forms and Siegel
modular forms.
There have been strong desires among mathematicians
and physicists for more workshops directed to the areas
of number theory and physics at the crossroads.
A series of workshops have been organized responding
to that demand, and in fact, the proposed
workshop is the fifth in this series.
The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the Mathematical Sciences, with related disciplines and with industry. The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is supported by Canada's Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Alberta's Advanced Education and Technology, and Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).
