Patrick Jefferson (UMass Physics): Introduction to Chern Simons Theory 6
Please note this event occurred in the past.
April 06, 2026 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm ET
Colloquium Room LGRT 1681
Speaker: Patrick Jefferson (UMass Physics)
Chern-Simons theory is a three-dimensional topological quantum field theory with deep connections to various structures in mathematics and physics. I will give an introduction to Chern-Simons theory and survey some of these connections. A goal of this discussion is to establish a useful setting in which to revisit and further explore aspects of symmetries that were introduced last semester.
I will conclude the discussion of expectation values of Wilson line operators from last week's seminar (in particular, the role framing and self-linking) as well as make some comments about one-form symmetries in U(1)_k Chern-Simon theory.
I will conclude the discussion of expectation values of Wilson line operators from last week's seminar (in particular, the role framing and self-linking) as well as make some comments about one-form symmetries in U(1)_k Chern-Simon theory.