Title: Tinkertoys
Speaker: Jacques Distler
Speaker Info: UT Austin
Brief Description:
Special Note:
Abstract:
In 2009, Davide Gaiotto suggested a framework for constructing families of 4D N=2 supersymmetric (conformal) quantum field theories, parametrized by M_{g,n} -- the moduli space of genus-g curves with punctures. I will describe how such theories may be classified by "tinkertoys" --- building up such curves as 3-punctured spheres connected by cylinders. For any given simple, simply-laced Lie algebra, there is a finite list of spheres and cylinders. Punctures, which include an outer-automorphism of the ADE Lie algebra, lead to several new phenomena. In particular, the family of quantum field theories is more naturally parametrized by a certain branched cover of M_{g,n}.Date: Tuesday, March 05, 2013