Event time:
Monday, February 20, 2023 - 4:30pm
Location:
LOM 214
Speaker:
Mee Seong Im
Speaker affiliation:
US Naval Academy
Event description:
Quantum groups are related to 3-dimensional topological quantum field theories. Downsizing from three dimensions to one but adding defects, I will explain a surprising relation between topological theories for one-dimensional manifolds with defects and values in the Boolean semiring and finite-state automata and their generalizations. I will then discuss the easier, linear case of these theories where symmetric Frobenius algebras appear, with connections to thin surface cobordisms. This is joint with Mikhail Khovanov.