Combining the conjectures of Schanuel and Zilber-Pink
Pila, J Rendiconti Lincei. Matematica e Applicazioni
Coffee and equations
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Neural systems in general - and the human brain in particular - are organised as networks of interconnected components. Across a range of spatial scales from single cells to macroscopic areas, biological neural networks are neither perfectly ordered nor perfectly random.
Thu, 26 Feb 2026
12:45
L6

Are Generalised Symmetries Symmetries?

Thomas Bartsch
Abstract
Traditionally, a symmetry of a quantum system refers to a transformation that preserves transition probabilities between physical states. In recent years, this notion has been expanded to so-called generalised symmetries, which correspond to (possibly non-invertible) topological defects in quantum field theory. At first sight, it is not obvious how the above two notions of symmetry are related. In this talk, I will review the notion of generalised symmetries and discuss how they relate to (and depart from) the traditional notion of symmetry.
Further Information

Please submit papers to discuss and topic suggestions here: https://sites.google.com/view/math-phys-oxford/journal-club

Thu, 19 Feb 2026
12:45
L6

Setting the stage for flat space holography

Emil Have
Abstract

Flat space holography, if there really is such a thing, is intimately related to Carrollian geometry. I will give an introduction to Carrollian geometry, and discuss how many Carrollian spaces of interest arise as homogeneous spaces of the Poincaré group. Finally, I will discuss the construction of Cartan geometries modelled on these spaces.

Further Information

Please submit papers to discuss and topic suggestions here: https://sites.google.com/view/math-phys-oxford/journal-club

Thu, 12 Feb 2026
13:00
L6

Non-conformal Dp-brane holography

Alice Lüscher
Abstract

The canonical example of AdS/CFT relates N=4 SYM in 4d to supergravity on AdS5 x S5 by considering a stack of D3-branes. A natural question then emerges: what about considering other Dp-branes? The worldvolume theory is again SYM but is not conformal anymore, while the supergravity dual is now only conformally AdS. Despite these differences, some control remains, and some inspiration from the p=3 case can be sought. In this talk, I will review this setup and discuss the recent results of [2503.18770] and [2503.14685] regarding the computation of correlation functions.

Further Information

Please submit papers to discuss and topic suggestions here: https://sites.google.com/view/math-phys-oxford/journal-club

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