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Penn Mathematics Colloquium

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 - 3:30pm

Owen Gwilliam

UMass

Location

University of Pennsylvania

Zoom

We will give an overview of how physics and homological algebra have met in the setting of gauge theory, with an emphasis on how the new subject of derived geometry provides a clarifying framework. The talk's concrete aim is to explain the Higgs mechanism as a case study. Our approach will be low-tech and will emphasize the motivations; anyone familiar with notions like vector bundle and cochain complex should be able to follow.