Organisers:
Christian Ferko (University of California Davis)
Johanna Knapp (University of Melbourne)
Jock McOrist (University of New England)
Fiona Seibold (Imperial College London)
Alessandro Sfondrini (Padova University)
Gabriele Tartaglino-Mazzucchelli (University of Queensland)

Program Description: 

The deep connections between mathematics, quantum field theory, and string theory (the latter being a leading candidate for a consistent framework to quantise gravity) have been for several decades a driving force of ground-breaking scientific discoveries in pure mathematics, mathematical physics, and theoretical physics. This program aims to bring together leading international and Australian experts in string theory and related topics with the goal of exchanging ideas, results, strengthening existing collaborations and launching new ones. The research focus is, broadly speaking, on deformations of quantum field and gravity theories that are related to string theory and mathematics. The program is developed around three key topics:

(i) Marginal deformations in string theory and sigma-models;
(ii) Higher-derivative deformations in string theory and supergravity;
(iii) TTbar-like deformations of quantum field theories.

There are rich interconnections amongst these topics, promising fruitful interactions and new discoveries. Recently, these have driven important developments, e.g., in the classifications of Calabi-Yau manifolds, non-planar/exact AdS/CFT and AdS supersymmetric black hole physics, generalised complex geometry and its extensions, 2D conformal field theories and their TTbar deformations, and many more. On the mathematical side richness derives from the close connection of these topics with integrable systems, algebraic, differential and enumerative geometry, representation theory and category theory.

Program Structure: 

Participant list:
Johanna Knapp (University of Melbourne)
Christian Ferko (University of California Davis)
Jock McOrist (University of New England)
Fiona Seibold (Imperial College London)
Alessandro Sfondrini (University of Padova)
Gabriele Tartaglino-Mazzucchelli (University of Queensland)
Anthony Ashmore (University of Chicago / Sorbonne Universite)
Evgeny Buchbinder (University of Western Australia)
Jean-Emile Bourgine (University of Melbourne)
Peter Bouwknegt (Mathematical Sciences Institute, Australian National University)
Charlie Stickland Constable (University of Hertfordshire)
Kiril Hristov (Sofia University, Bulgaria)
Sergei Kuzenko (University of Western Australia)
Ruben Minasian (Institute de physique theorique CEA-Saclay)
Yi Pang (Tianjin University)
Emanuel Scheidegger (Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research, Peking University)
Savdeep Sethi (University of Chicago)
Dmitri Sorokin (National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), Padova Division, Italy)
Eirik Svanes (University of Stavanger)
Roberto Tateo (Università degli Studi di Torino)
Emmanouil Raptakis (University of Western Australia)
Benjamin Stone (University of Western Australia)
Luca Cassia (University of Melbourne)
Joseph McGovern (University of Melbourne)
Christian Kennedy (University of Queensland)
Gregory Gold (University of Queensland)
Liam Smith (University of Queensland)
Saurish Khandelwal (University of Queensland)
Zejun Huang (University of Queensland)
Robert  Pryor (University of Melbourne)
Cian Luke Martin (University of Queensland)

• Arrival date: 21 January 2024
• Departure date: 2 February 2024

ASSOCIATED EVENTS
MATRIX Wine and Cheese Afternoon 23 January 2024
On the first Tuesday of each program, MATRIX provides a pre-dinner wine and cheese afternoon. Produce is locally-sourced to showcase delicacies from the region.