Speaker
Eirik Eik Svanes
(University of Stavanger)
Description
Lately the theoretical physics community has seen a keen interest in the notion of higher symmetries, both from a global and local perspective. Understanding this mathematically can be key for doing good physics. Just like general relativity requires differential geometry, and ordinary gauge theory is described using the language of vector bundles, higher symmetries are modelled mathematically using things like gerbes, higher groups, and so on. I will give a brief introduction to these objects, and give some examples both from particle physics, gravity and string theory.
