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20/01/2011, 17:00 — 18:00 — Amphitheatre Pa1, Mathematics Building
, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford

Periods of Calabi-Yau Manifolds in Physics and Number Theory

Calabi-Yau manifolds have many remarkable properties owing to their relation to string theory and supersymmetry. Every CY manifold has a holomorphic three-form and the integrals of this three form over a basis of three-cycles yield the periods of the manifold. The aim of the talk is to explain why two separate communities think that they "own" the periods. Physicists require the periods to calculate quantities pertaining to elementary particle interactions and number theorists know that the periods contain important arithmetic information about the manifold.

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The Mathematics Colloquium is a series of monthly talks organized by the Department of Mathematics of IST, aiming to be a forum for the presentation of mathematical ideas or ideas about Mathematics. The Colloquium welcomes the participation of faculty, researchers and undergraduate or graduate students, of IST or other institutions, and is seen as an opportunity of bringing together and fostering the building up of ideas in an informal atmosphere.

Organizers: Conceição Amado, Lina Oliveira e Maria João Borges.