11/12/2003
Yongbin Ruan
University of Wisconsin
Twisting in stringy orbitfold
Abstract
Stringy orbifold is a new emerging field of mathematics for last a few years. It has its root in physics and connections to many branches of mathematics such as algebraic geometry, algebraic topology and representation theory. One important aspect of stringy orbifold is twisting process. The first twisting is discrete torsion invented by physcist C. Vafa. Recently, gerbe is emerging as a leading candidate. The talk will try to explain all these connections.