Geometric Unification from Six-Dimensional Physics (15w5154)

The Banff International Research Station will host the "Geometric Unification from Six-Dimensional Physics" workshop from May 24th to May 29th, 2015.

Over the last few years there has been a mini-revolution in theoretical physics, focused around a
somewhat mysterious quantum theory which describes phenomena in six dimensions. Physicists carefully analyzing what goes
on in that hypothetical six-dimensional universe have made surprising discoveries, not only for six-dimensional physics
but also for the usual world of four dimensions (3 space and 1 time). Symmetries of the laws of nature which are difficult
to understand directly in four dimensions become simple once they are viewed from a six-dimensional perspective.
At the same time, mathematicians have found that this six-dimensional quantum theory gives a new way of understanding
the symmetries which arise in many different areas of geometry.
The workshop will bring together physicists and mathematicians, with an interest in learning to speak one another's languages, and with the common goal of better understanding this six-dimensional theory and what else it has to teach us.

The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the Mathematical Sciences, with related disciplines and with industry. The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is supported by Canada's Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Alberta's Advanced Education and Technology, and Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).