Title: Index theory and representations
This is an introductory talk about index theory and its relations with representation theory, intended for a general mathematical audience. An index is the difference of the dimensions of the spaces of solutions of two differential equations on a geometric space. It turns out that such an index contains a lot of information about the geometric properties of the space, and its symmetries. These symmetries lead to representations of groups, which are the objects used to describe symmetry in quantum mechanics. Index theory has yielded deep connections between geometry and representation theory. One example is a link between the symmetries of classical mechanical systems, and those of their quantum mechanical counterparts.
Location: KdVI meeting room, SP 105-107, F3.20