SMS scnews item created by Tom Goertzen at Thu 24 Apr 2025 1658
Type: Seminar
Distribution: World
Expiry: 5 May 2025
Calendar1: 2 May 2025 1200-1300
CalLoc1: Carslaw 175
CalTitle1: Fusion categories and Coxeter theory
Auth: goertzen@10.17.132.79 (tgoe0324) in SMS-SAML

Algebra Seminar: Heng -- Fusion categories and Coxeter theory

Edmund Heng (University of Sydney) will be speaking in the algebra seminar.  We will go
out for lunch after the talk---all are welcome to join! 

When: 12-1pm Friday May 2 

Where: Carslaw 175 

Title: Fusion categories and Coxeter theory 

Abstract: There is a numerical coincidence between fusion categories (or fusion rings)
and Coxeter theory — the numbers 2cos(pi/m) show up in both of them.  In this talk,
I’d like to convince you that this is more than just a naive observation, and can be
used as a catalyst to generalise well-known relations between different mathematical
objects (quivers, Lie algebras, cluster algebras etc.).  More specifically, I will speak
on applications of fusion categories to problems surrounding the K(pi,1) conjecture,
which involve hyperplane complements associated to Coxeter groups and their universal
covers.