Quantum Geometry: what the string saw

When?

Tuesday 13 November 2012, 14:00

Where?

30BB03 Physics Seminar Room

Open to:

Staff, Students

Speaker:

Jock McOrist, Department of Mathematics, University of Surrey

String theory is often touted in the popular media as a "theory of everything" capable of unifying the four fundamental forces of nature. What is perhaps less well-known is how successful string theory has been as a tool in other areas of sciences. It has led to new and bold ideas in pure mathematics as well as being an outstanding tool for probing non-perturbative physics, of relevance to superconductors & the quark gluon plasma. I will summarise some of these developments, focussing on the topics of interest to the mathematical physics group at Surrey.