Algebraic Topology: manifolds unlocking higher structures

Date: 28 September - 2 October 2015

Location: Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford

From one point of view algebraic topology is the study of higher structures, which are ubiquitous in mathematics and nature.  Much development of effective machinery in algebraic topology has been motivated by the study of manifolds.  While these powerful tools continue to solve deep problems in manifold theory, such as Mumford conjecture and the Kervaire invariant problem, the tables have also been turned around with manifolds, via the cobordism hypothesis, defining the higher structures of interest and entirely new fields have emerged exploiting these higher structures in topology, geometry and algebra.

This workshop will expose and explore recent developments and advances in the study of topological moduli spaces, topological field theories, infinity categories, derived algebraic geometry and related topics.

Invited speakers: Clark Barwick (MIT), Julie Bergner (UC Riverside), Andrew Blumberg (Austin), John Francis (Northwestern), Dan Freed (Austin), Soren Galatius (Stanford), Kathryn Hess (EPFL), Lars Hesselholt (Nagoya, Copenhagen), Nick Kuhn (Virginia), Wolfgang Lueck (Bonn), Ib Madsen (Copenhagen), Oscar Randal-Williams (Cambridge), Marco Schlichting (Warwick), Chris Schommer-Pries (MPIM), Neil Strickland (Sheffield), Peter Teichner (MPIM, Berkeley), Constantin Teleman (Berkeley), Nathalie Wahl (Copenhagen)