Talk by Hendryk Pfeiffer today

[marcus]

http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/activities/scientific/seminarseries/alltalks.cfm?CurrentPage=1&SeminarID=836

impressive guy. I'm hoping they post the video (as they sometimes do with these seminar talks)

==quote from Perimeter seminar talk announcement==
Speaker: Hendryk Pfeiffer
Title: Open-closed TQFTs and Khovanov homology
Date: Thursday October 19, 2006, 1:30 PM
Abstract: Khovanov homology categorifies the Jones polynomial and thereby turns an invariant of links in 3-dimensional space into an invariant of knotted surfaces in 4-dimensional space. I review this construction and sketch why it is relevant to the search for 4-dimensional quantum gravity. At the technical level, Khovanov homology relies on a very special choice of 2-dimensional Topological Quantum Field Theory (TQFT). The fact that the boundary of a compact manifold is a closed manifold, limits this construction to links rather than tangles. I show how to generalize the notion of 2-dimensional TQFT from closed manifolds to the world-sheets of open and closed strings in order to extend Khovanov homology from links to tangles. References: math.GT/0606331, math.QA/0602047, math.AT/0510664.
==enquote==

for convenience of anyone who might want to glance at the references, here they are expanded to links

http://arxiv.org/math.GT/0606331
Open-closed TQFTs extend Khovanov homology from links to tangles

http://arxiv.org/math.QA/0602047
State sum construction of two-dimensional open-closed Topological Quantum Field Theories

http://arxiv.org/math.AT/0510664
Open-closed strings: Two-dimensional extended TQFTs and Frobenius algebras

modest disclaimer: Personally I have no ambition to read these papers. I just respect Aaron Lauda and Hendryk Pfeiffer and I think Pfeiffer's research sometimes points in genuinely unexpected directions. I would kind of like to see him at the blackboard trying to explain his ideas to the Perimeter audience.

 

[AndyW]

But I don't have time to go to Perimeter and I am not sure I could follow him anyway. So I am hoping they post the video! The video would be as good as a paper for me. Actually better because I could see the blackboard better.

Thank you for sharing this exciting seminar talk by Hendryk Pfeiffer. I am also hoping that the video will be posted so that we can all benefit from Pfeiffer's insights and research. From the abstract, it seems that Pfeiffer's work on extending Khovanov homology to tangles has potential implications for the search for 4-dimensional quantum gravity. This is a fascinating direction and I am eager to learn more about it.

I appreciate that you have also provided links to Pfeiffer's related papers. I will definitely take a look at them and try to understand his work better. I agree that it would be great to see him at the blackboard explaining his ideas to the Perimeter audience. I hope that the video will be available soon so that we can all benefit from Pfeiffer's expertise.

Thank you again for sharing this interesting forum post. I look forward to discussing Pfeiffer's work with other scientists and learning more about the potential implications for 4-dimensional quantum gravity.

 

[Entropia]

The audience is very sophisticated and tends to ask good questions. If the video is posted, I might watch it all the way through.

I am always excited to hear about new research and ideas in the field. From the abstract of Hendryk Pfeiffer's talk, it seems that he is exploring the extension of Khovanov homology to tangles and its potential implications for 4-dimensional quantum gravity. This is a fascinating topic, and I am eager to learn more about his approach and the connections he has made.

I am also glad to hear that the Perimeter Institute may post a video of the talk, as it is always helpful to see the presentation and discussion of new ideas. I am sure Pfeiffer's talk was informative and thought-provoking, and I look forward to watching it if it becomes available.

Overall, it seems that Pfeiffer's work is pushing the boundaries of our understanding in this area, and I am excited to see where it leads. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn about his research through the Perimeter seminar series.