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String Theory and Quantum Geometry Summer 2007 Workshop proposal (Aspen Center for Physics) June 12, 2006 Proposed dates: Four weeks between July 2, 2007 and August 3, 2007. Organizers: Robbert Dijkgraaf Daniel Freed Institute for Theoretical Physics Department of Mathematics University of Amsterdam University of Texas Valckenierstraat 65 RLM 8.100 1018 XE Amsterdam Austin, TX 78712 Netherlands (512) 471-7136 (after August) +31-20-525 5745 [email protected] [email protected] Hirosi Ooguri Tony Pantev Theoretical Physics Group Department of Mathematics California Institute of Technology University of Pennsylvania Pasadena, CA 91125 209 S 33 Street (626) 395-6648 Philadelphia, PA 19104 [email protected] (215) 898-5970 [email protected] Format: This workshop is designed to serve as the core String Theory program at Aspen and at the same time to facilitate the interaction between string theorists and mathematicians working on the geometric aspects of string compactifications. It is in a sense two workshops in one, which justifies the four-week length. Conflicts: It is our strong desire to avoid conflict with the following important international meetings. • Strings 2007, Madrid, June 25, 2007–June 29, 2007. • Abel Symposium, Oslo, August 6, 2007–August 9, 2007. Description and Justification: In the recent years the collaboration of string theorists and mathematicians has been very fruitful. Many deep result in supersymmetric gauge theories, topological strings, M-theory, and nonperturbative string theory on the physics side—and 1 algebraic geometry, symplectic topology and category theory on the mathematics side—have been obtained as a direct result of the joint efforts of physicists and geometers. There are new interactions stemming from the link between gauge theories and the geometric Lang- lands program. The time is ripe for an activity that will streamline and organize the trends in the cooperation between string theorists and mathematicians. We believe that a core string theory workshop at the Aspen Center for Physics with an emphasis on the math-physics in- teraction will be the perfect venue for such an activity. Successful Aspen workshops of similar flavor have been organized before, most recently the “Strings, Branes, and Superpotentials” workshop in 2004 (organized by Dijkgraaf, Freed, Moore, Ooguri, and Pantev). Research in formal areas of string theory has been one of the driving force of progress in the field. Our workshop will nurture collaborations between physicists and mathematicians while at the same time aim at developing tools to address physical questions in string phenomenology and cosmology. Topics: Specific topics for the workshop include the following. • Gauge theory dualities and the geometric Langlands program • Mathematical tools to understand the landscape of string vacua • Topological string theories and the relation to Gromov-Witten and Donaldson-Thomas invariants • Topological aspects of string theory and QFT • Black hole computations • Entropies • Wave functions and cosmology Participants: The following is a list of possible participants of the proposed workshop. Those with ∗ have indicated interests in participating in such a workshop. Aganagic, Mina, UC Berkeley gauge theories string theory ∗ Aspinwall, Paul, Duke gauge theories string theory Atiyah, Michael, Edinburgh topology and string theory ∗ Bridgeland, Tom, University of Sheffield algebraic geometry and topology ∗ Ben-Zvi, David, University of Texas geometric representation theory, integrable systems Besrukavnikov, Roman, MIT geometric representation theory, quantization and non-commutative geometry ∗ Bryan, James, UBC GW theory and algebraic geometry ∗ Cvetiˇc, Mirjam, Penn string theory and string phenomenology ∗ Donagi, Ron, Penn algebraic geometry and string theory D’Hoker, Eric, UCLA gauge theories and string theory ∗ Diaconescu, Emmanuel, Rutgers gauge theories and string theory ∗ Douglas, Michael, Rutgers University gauge theories and string theory ∗ Eguchi, Toro, University of Tokyo gauge theories and string theory ∗ Eliashberg, Yakov, Stanford symplectic topoogy Frenkel, Edward, UC Berkeley representation theory and string theory 2 ∗ Gaitsgory, Dennis, Harvard geometric representation theory and algebraic geometry Getzler, Ezra, Northwestern GW theory and string theory Givental, Alexander, UC Berkeley symplectic topology and mirror symmetry Grassi, Antonella, Penn algebraic geometry and string theory ∗ Gukov, Sergei, Caltech gauge theories and string theory ∗ Gualtieri, Marco generalized K¨ahler geometry and algebraic topology Harvey, Jeffrey, University of Chicago gauge theories and string theory Hellerman, Simeon, IAS quantum field theory and string theory ∗ Hitchin, Nigel, Oxford differential geometry and topology ∗ Hopkins, Michael algebraic topology and geometry ∗ Hori, Kentaro, University of Toronto string theory and mirror symmetry Inriligator, Ken, UCSD gauge theories and string theory ∗ Joyce, Dominic, Oxford differential geometry and topology ∗ Kachru, Shamit, Stanford gauge theories and string theory ∗ Kapustin, Anton, Caltech string theory and mirror symmetry ∗ Katz, Sheldon, UIUC algebraic geometry and string theory ∗ Katzarkov, Ludmil, University of Miami algebraic geometry and symplectic topology ∗ King, Alastair, University of Bath algebraic geometry and string theory ∗ Klebanov, Igor, Princeton quantum field theory and string theory ∗ Klemm, Albrecht, University of Wisconsin gauge theories and string theory ∗ Lerche, Wolfgang, CERN gauge theories and string theory ∗ Liu, Chiu-Chiu Melissa, MIT algebraic and symplectic geometry ∗ Maldacena, Juan, IAS gauge theories and string theory ∗ Marino, Marcos, CERN gauge theories and string theory ∗ Minwalla, Shiraz, Harvard gauge theories and string theory ∗ Moore, Greg, Rutgers gauge theories and string theory ∗ Morgan, John, Columbia topology and string theory ∗ Morrison, David, Duke algebraic geometry and string theory Mrowka, Tomas, MIT differential geometry and topology ∗ Neizke, Andy, IAS gauge theories and string theory ∗ Nekrasov, Nikita, IHES gauge theories and string theory ∗ Okounkov, Andrei, Princeton GW theory and representation theory ∗ Ovrut, Burt, Penn gauge theories and string theory Pandharipande, Rahul, Princeton GW theory and algebraic geometry ∗ Schwarz, John, Caltech string theory and quantum field theory ∗ Segal, Graeme, Oxford conformal field theory and topology ∗ Seidel, Paul, University of Chicago symplectic topology, mirror symmetry ∗ Sharpe, Eric, University of Utah string theory and quantum field theory ∗ Shih, David, Princeton gauge theories and string theory ∗ Silverstein, Eva, Stanford gauge theories and string theory ∗ Strominger, Andrew, Harvard gauge theories and string theory ∗ Taylor, Washington, MIT string theory and quantum field theory ∗ Teleman, Constantin, Cambridge algebraic topology and algebraic geometry ∗ Verlinde, Erik, Amsterdam gauge theories and string theory Verlinde, Herman, Princeton gauge theories and string theory ∗ Walcher, Johannes, IAS gauge theories and string theory 3 Witten, Edward, IAS gauge theories and string theory Yau, Shing-tung, Harvard differential geometry and string theory Yin, Xi, Harvard gauge theories and string theory Zagier, Don, MPIM algebraic geometry and automorphic forms ∗ Zaslow, Eric, Northwestern algebraic geometry and string theory Additional funding: For three of the previous workshops at the Aspen Center for Physics in which Dan Freed was an organizer (in 1987, 1989, and 2004) the NSF and Clay Mathematical Institute provided supplemental funding. We will apply for such funds for this workshop as well. Contact Person: Dan Freed Organizer responsible for working to ensure diversity: Hirosi Ooguri We will make efforts to advertise the workshop as widely as possible. We will pay particular attention to potential participants from under-represented groups, by identifying them from mailing lists from previous conferences in the field and by asking colleagues for names, and then by soliciting their applications individually. We will consider diversity in our admissions recommendation list. 4.
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