250084 SE Seminar: From classical physics to factorisation algebras (2016W)

This seminar, intended for theoretical physicists and mathematicians alike, aims to motivate one of the modern rigorous approaches to quantum field theory: factorisation algebras. In the first half of the term, we will concisely introduce a number of classical physical theories in the Langrangian formalism, including the point particle in curved space, electromagnetism, Yang-Mills theory, and Chern-Simons theory. In a shorter, second part, we shall discuss the path integral in QFT as well as its functorial axiomatisation. Finally, in the third part we will motivate and introduce (pre-)factorisation algebras, and discuss several examples.

The seminar does not assume a special background in physics, geometry, algebra, or category theory, though some familiarity with some of these subjects will be helpful.