Special holonomy and branes
October 26 to October 30, 2020
at the
American Institute of Mathematics,
San Jose, California
organized by
Sergei Gukov,
Rafe Mazzeo,
and Sakura Schafer-Nameki
Original Announcement
This workshop will be devoted to bringing together physicists and mathematicians to
concentrate on a variety of problems concerning
special holonomy compactifications of M-theory. There are a number of 'special'
geometries on low dimensional manifolds.
The investigation of spaces carrying these geometries, and of the distinguished
cycles within these spaces, plays an important role
in the development of physical models and leads to numerous mathematical
challenges. One area of particular interest is the class
of seven-dimensional manifolds with $G_2$ holonomy, or more simply $G_2$
manifolds. These give rise to four-dimensional theories
with minimal supersymmetry - a class of models with interesting applications to
particle physics, as well as conceptual significance
in studying the structure of gauge theories, and in particular conformal field
theories.
Another goal is the consolidation of
our understanding of the moduli of gravitational instantons in four dimensions,
and subsequently the search for analogues of
these instantons in higher dimensions, their distinguished cycles, and the
moduli of these objects.
Material from the workshop
A list of participants.
The workshop schedule.
A report on the workshop activities.
Workshop Videos