Talks

The rich interplay between three-dimensional topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) and vertex operator algebras (VOAs) has been a useful bridge in understanding aspects of both subjects. In this talk, I will describe some aspects of this correspondence focusing on the simple, yet surprisingly rich, examples of Chern-Simons theories based on the Lie superalgebra gl(1|1).

Zoom Link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/97698409749?pwd=ZkdzUHI2YXJEYk53VDQyZm1ERzJHUT09

Generative modeling via diffusion processes is already a vast field of literature. In this introduction, I will give an entry point to this field by going over the main concepts and deriving the essential results of the area. Thus, by the end of the talk, we would have a minimal pipeline for implementing the generative model. Furthermore, I will outline several alternative ways for learning such models that the community has developed in recent years. These directions bring novel perspectives and new capabilities of generative modeling.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/98786491081?pwd=U1cvZzBQT2VUZDl5Ykd0c1lqY29aZz09

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are extremely energetic, millisecond-duration radio bursts coming outside our galaxy. The burst arrival time at different frequencies implies the number of electrons it has encountered in the foreground. Therefore, FRB is considered a promising new cosmology probe. The uncertainty of the circum-burst environment is one of the biggest concerns regarding its potential as a probe. In this talk, I will review the current understanding of the FRB progenitor and the recent study of the circum-burst environment. I will also discuss the many remaining mysteries, including the seemingly diverse nature of the sources, the magneto-environment, and the 16-day periodicity I found with one source. With the current and upcoming instruments, there will be more FRBs with orders of magnitude better spatial resolution detected in the next few years. The result will be an explosion of opportunity for understanding the burst origin and probing cosmic matter distribution at various spatial scales.

Zoom link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/92030175800?pwd=dWlGVjV0Qnh5bGhLMk1pd01yRmNKQT09

Trace map on deformation quantized algebra leads to the algebraic index theorem. We investigate a two-dimensional chiral analogue of the algebraic index theorem via the theory of chiral algebras developed by Beilinson and Drinfeld. We construct a trace map on the elliptic chiral homology of the free beta gamma-bc system using the BV quantization framework. As an example, we compute the trace evaluated on the unit constant chiral chain and obtain the formal Witten genus in the Lie algebra cohomology. This talk is based on joint work with Si Li.

Zoom link:  https://pitp.zoom.us/j/91920988875?pwd=dUE1WDI5Q21KWTUxTGNsM21nblh5Zz09