In the week of January 17th, Robbert Dijkgraaf from the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Amsterdam will be delivering a series of three lectures at Perimeter and the Fields Institute. Robbert is one of the leading string theorists in the world. His research spans a broad range of topics in theoretical physics including string theory, quantum gravity, black holes, conformal and topological field theory and supersymmetric gauge theory. While a physicist by training, in his research Dijkgraaf moves freely between physics and mathematics. His work builds on the deep connections between superstring theory and mathematics in, for example, algebraic geometry, representation theory, enumerative geometry, moduli spaces, manifold invariants and group theory.

Robbert has held the chair of Mathematical Physics at the University of Amsterdam since 1992 (and is since 1998 Faculty Professor in the Faculty of Science). He studied theoretical physics and mathematics in Utrecht, where (after an interlude studying painting at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie) he obtained his Ph.D. cum laude under supervision of Gerard 't Hooft in 1989. Subsequently he held positions at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study. Dijkgraaf is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen . He was the recipient of the 2001 Physica Prize of the Dutch Physical Society and the 2003 NWO Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. Robbert is also interested in creating more public awareness of mathematics and science, and bridging the gap with the arts and humanities. As a Coxeter lecturer, we can expect Robbert to deliver a superb set of pedagogical lectures.

The schedule for Robbert's talks is:
Monday Jan. 17 - 3:30 p.m. at Fields, Room 230
Tuesday Jan. 18 - 2:00 p.m. at Perimeter, Lecture Theatre Thursday Jan. 20 - 2:00 p.m. at Fields, Room 230

The first and second lectures will be held at the Fields Institute and so the Perimeter shuttle will be running on a special schedule to allow PI residents to attend these lectures -- contact Debbie Guenther if you would like to reserve a spot on the shuttle for these days. More details about the lecture series can be found at: http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/04-05/string-theory/coxeter/dijkgraaf.html

Click here to view Robbert's talk (requires Internet Explorer and Windows MediaPLayer 9 or higher)

You may also visit Robbert's homepage at: http://turing.wins.uva.nl/~rhd/

Perimeter will be co-sponsoring a workshop on topological strings at the Fields Institute early in the New Year. Topological string theory is currently a very active field of research for both mathematicians and physicists --- in mathematics, it leads to new relations between symplectic topology, algebraic geometry and combinatorics, and in physics, it is a laboratory for the study of basic features of string theory, such as background independence, open/closed string duality, non-perturbative completion, as well as an effective framework for computing spectra and interactions in full-fledged string compactifications. In particular, recent studies have pointed towards intriguing new connections between string theory and loop quantum gravity.

This workshop will bring together a range of experts on different aspects of topological string theory from both the mathematics and physics communities. The organizing committee, E. Getzler, K. Hori and S. Katz, promise a lively and exciting meeting. The speakers list will include: Mina Aganagic,Jim Bryan,Cheol-Hyun Cho, Robbert Dijkgraaf,Yakov Eliashberg, Alexander Givental, E-N. Ionel, Amer Iqbal, Bumsig Kim, Albrecht Klemm, Yuan-Pin Lee, Andrei Losev, Nicolai Reshetikhin, Richard Thomas, Yong-Geun Oh, Andrei Okounkov, Hirosi Ooguri, Cumrun Vafa.

More detailed information on the meeting will appear at: http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/04-05/string-theory/topstrings/index.html

The meeting is being held at the Fields Institute and the conference schedule will run from 10am to 6pm each day. The PI shuttle will be running a special schedule that week to bring PI residents to the meeting each day -- please, contact Debbie Guenther if you would like to reserve a spot on the shuttle. If you prefer to stay in Toronto during the week, information on hotels and bed-and-breakfasts can be found at: http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/resources/housing.html