L4

Work of Bezrukavnikov-Kazhdan-Varshavsky uses an equivariant system of trivial idempotents of Moy-Prasad groups to obtain an
Euler-Poincare formula for the r-depth Bernstein projector. We establish an Euler-Poincare formula for the projector to an individual depth zero Bernstein component in terms of an equivariant system of Peter-Weyl idempotents of parahoric subgroups P associated to a block of the reductive quotient of P.  This work is joint with Dan Barbasch and Dan Ciubotaru.
 

Given a complex vector space $V$, consider the ring $R_{a,b}(V)$ of polynomial functions on the space of configurations of $a$ vectors and $b$ covectors which are invariant under the natural action of $SL(V)$. Rings of this type play a central role in representation theory, and their study dates back to Hilbert. Over the last three decades, different bases of these spaces with remarkable properties were found. To explicitly construct, as well as to compare, some of these bases remains a challenging problem, already open when $V$ is 3-dimensional. 
In this talk, I report on recent developments in the 3-dimensional setting of this theory.

The Hall algebra can be constructed using the Waldhausen S-construction. We will give a systematic recipe for this and show how it extends naturally to give a bi-algebraic structure. As a result we obtain a more transparent proof of Green's theorem about the bi-algebra structure on the Hall algebra.

Abstract: (This is joint work with Mark McLean, Stony Brook University N.Y.).

The classical McKay correspondence is a 1-1 correspondence between finite subgroups G of SL(2,C) and simply laced Dynkin diagrams (the ADE classification). These diagrams determine the representation theory of G, and they also describe the intersection theory between the irreducible components of the exceptional divisor of the minimal resolution Y of the simple surface singularity C^2/G. In particular those components generate the homology of Y. In the early 1990s, Miles Reid conjectured a far-reaching generalisation to higher dimensions: given a crepant resolution Y of the singularity C^n/G, where G is a finite subgroup of SL(n,C), the claim is that the conjugacy classes of G are in 1-1 correspondence with generators of the cohomology of Y. This has led to much active research in algebraic geometry in recent years, in particular Batyrev proved the conjecture in 2000 using algebro-geometric techniques (Kontsevich's motivic integration machinery). The goal of my talk is to present work in progress, jointly with Mark McLean, which proves the conjecture using symplectic topology techniques. We construct a certain symplectic cohomology group of Y whose generators are Hamiltonian orbits in Y to which one can naturally associate a conjugacy class in G. We then show that this symplectic cohomology recovers the classical cohomology of Y.

This work is part of a large-scale project which aims to study the symplectic topology of resolutions of singularities also outside of the crepant setup.

After a brief review of holographic features of general relativity in 3 and 4 dimensions, I will show how to derive the transformation laws of the Bondi mass and angular momentum aspects under finite supertranslations, superrotations and complex Weyl rescalings.
 

In this talk I will present a class of super-Wilson loops in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. The expectation value of these operators has been shown previously to be invariant under a Yangian symmetry. I will show how the kinematics of such super-Wilson loops can be described in a twistorial way and how this leads to compact, manifestly super-conformal invariant expressions for some two-point functions.
 

The Feynman diagram expansion of scattering amplitudes in perturbative superstring theory can be written (for closed strings) as a series of integrals over compactified moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces with marked points, indexed by the genus. Therefore in genus 0 it is reasonable to find, as it often happens in QFT computations, periods of M_{0,N}, which are known to be multiple zeta values. In this talk I want to report on recent advances in the genus 1 amplitude, which are related to the development of 2 different generalizations of classical multiple zeta values, namely elliptic multiple zeta values and conical sums.

Environmental risk assessments for chemicals in the EU rely heavily upon modelled estimates of potential concentrations in soil and water.  A key parameter used by these models is the degradation of the chemical in soil which is derived from a kinetic fitting of laboratory data using standard fitting routines.  Several different types of kinetic can be represented such as: Simple First Order (SFO), Double First Order in Parallel (DFOP), and First Order Multi-Compartment (FOMC). Choice of a particular kinetic and selection of a representative degradation rate can have a huge influence on the outcome of the risk assessment. This selection is made from laboratory data that are subject to experimental error.  It is known that the combination of small errors in time and concentration can in certain cases have an impact upon the goodness of fit and kinetic predicted by fitting software.  Syngenta currently spends in the region of 4m GBP per annum on laboratory studies to support registration of chemicals in the EU and the outcome of the kinetic assessment can adversely affect the potential registerability of chemicals having sales of several million pounds.  We would therefore like to understand the sensitivities involved with kinetic fitting of laboratory studies.  The aim is to provide guidelines for the conduct and fitting of laboratory data so that the correct kinetic and degradation rate of chemicals in environmental risk assessments is used.

Ever since moduli spaces of polarised K3 surfaces were constructed in the 1980's, people have wondered about the question of compactification: can one make the moduli space of K3 surfaces compact by adding in some boundary components in a "nice" way? Ideally, one hopes to find a compactification that is both explicit and geometric (in the sense that the boundary components provide moduli for degenerate K3's). I will present on joint work in progress with V. Alexeev, which aims to solve the compactification problem for the moduli space of K3 surfaces of degree 2.