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Host: Fields Institute
Homepage: http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/lt-voa.html
Email: lt-voa@fields.utoronto.ca
Organizers: S. Berman (Saskatchewan), Y. Billig (New Brunswick), Y-Z. Huang (Rutgers), J. Lepowsky (Rutgers)
Description:
The workshop Vertex Operator Algebras in Mathematics and Physics will be devoted to a variety of topics, but one
special theme will be relations between the theory of D-branes and the algebraic and geometric theory of vertex
operator algebras. The theory of vertex operator algebras has been developing rapidly as a mathematical theory, and an
increased level of understanding of the structures of conformal field theory has been achieved through extensive study
of the geometry and representation theory of vertex operator algebras, the motivation being both mathematical and
physical. Recent developments in string theory, in particular, the study of mirror symmetry via Gepner models and the
world-sheet approach to D-branes, are expected to provide a rich source of problems for mathematicians, and these
developments also suggest that the theory of vertex operator algebras might provide a mathematical foundation for a
number of constructions in the theory of D-branes through the mathematical study of boundary conformal field theory.
Since vertex operator algebra theory is formulated without classical geometry, it might also shed light on the problem of
the meaning of space-time in string theory or M theory. It is hoped that the workshop will promote mutually beneficial
interaction between mathematicians and physicists.
Mail Address:
c/o Lie Theory, The Fields Institute 222 College Street, Second Floor Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3J1 Canada Phone: (416)348-9710 Fax: (416) 348-9385
Date received: February 03, 2000
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