ICTP Mathematics Seminar - Tuesday 19 November at 16:00 (Ang Jian Peng)

[ICTP Math Section]

M A T H E M A T I C S   S E M I N A R S  2019


VENUE:  Luigi Stasi Seminar Room (ICTP Leonardo da Vinci Building, first 
floor)


Tuesday 19 November, at 16:00 hrs.


Speaker: Ang Jian Peng (ICTP)


Title: Sigma models, supersymmetry and generalized geometry


Abstract: A sigma model is a theory of maps between manifolds. The model 
has supersymmetry if the target manifold carries certain geometrical 
structures. Focusing on the particular case of (2,2) supersymmetry, the 
target manifold has a generalized Kaehler structure. In this talk, I 
will introduce and define each of the terms above. Generalized geometry 
is a reformulation of differential geometry taking place on the direct 
sum of the tangent and cotangent bundles rather than just the tangent 
bundle. Complex structures in generalized geometry generalize both 
complex and symplectic geometry. The analog of the Kaehler condition is 
having two commuting generalized complex structures. I will show how the 
sigma model formulation predicts the existence of a single local 
function describing the entire generalized Kaehler structure, as in the 
usual Kaehler case.