From Moonshine to Black Holes: Number Theory in Mathematics and Physics
- Speaker
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Jeffrey Harvey, Ph.D.Professor, University of Chicago
Presidential Lectures are free public colloquia centered on four main themes: Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Neuroscience and Autism Science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are intended to foster discourse and drive discovery among the broader NYC-area research community. We invite those interested in the topic to join us for this weekly lecture series.
Mathematicians have attached fanciful names to some of the objects they study. In group theory, the Monster is a special kind of symmetry group. Moonshine refers to the unexpected appearance of the Monster in certain functions appearing in number theory. Remarkably, string theory provides some of the tools needed to understand Moonshine. Recently new kinds of Moonshine have been discovered and are being connected to other aspects of string theory including the properties of black holes. In this lecture Jeff Harvey will discuss Moonshine, the Monster, and visions of a new synthesis of number theory, geometry and physics.
About the Speaker
Jeffrey Harvey is the Enrico Fermi Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago. He received undergraduate degrees in mathematics and physics from the University of Minnesota. He obtained a Ph.D. from Caltech in 1981 and was a postdoc and faculty member at Princeton University before moving to the University of Chicago in 1989. Harvey is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His recent work focuses on new types of Moonshine and their connections to string theory and black holes.