Topological Quantum Field Theory Seminar  

14/05/2014, 16:00 — 17:00 — Room P4.35, Mathematics Building
Sara Tavares, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

Two-dimensional state sum models and spin structures

Topological field theories are very special in two dimensions: they have been classified and provide a rich class of examples. In this talk I will discuss a new state sum construction for these models that considers not just the topology of surfaces but also their spin structure. Emphasis is given to partition functions: I will detail general properties of these manifold invariants and discuss some non-trivial examples.