International workshop "Conformal field theories and tensor categories".

二维共形场理论起源于凝聚态物理和弦理论，目前正在被数学地表述、构造和研究。它现在是一门深奥、丰富、美丽的数学理论，已经为数学和物理中的许多数学问题带来了新的思想、令人惊讶的结果和解决方案。另一方面，当张量范畴的语言被用作一个统一的概念时，数学和物理不同领域的各种最新发展可以被认为是相关的。一个例子是模张量范畴，它自然地出现在共形场理论的研究中，也出现在其他相关的代数和解析结构中。深入研究共形场理论与张量范畴之间的联系，将有助于共形场理论和张量范畴理论的发展。二维共形场理论和张量范畴是近年来数学家和物理学家研究的热点。人们认为，在自然界和实验室中观察到的许多重要现象，如临界现象、量子霍尔效应、无序现象等，都可以用这些理论来描述。更重要的是，对这些理论的深入理解可能会导致新技术的发展，例如，为人们所说的量子计算机设计芯片的新技术，如果建造出来，就是运行速度比我们现在的计算机快得多的计算机。该奖项为在美国的数学家和物理学家提供支持，包括研究生、初级教师、妇女和代表不足的少数群体成员，参加2011年6月14日至6月18日在北京国际数学研究中心举行的“共形场理论和张量范畴”研讨会。此次研讨会的目的是汇聚美国、中国等国从事共形场理论、张量范畴及相关课题研究的研究人员，讨论新成果，交流思想，启动新的合作和研究项目。特别是，讲习班的主要目标之一是使理论物理界的更大一部分人能够获得大量随时可用的数学结果和概念，并找到这些结果的新应用。相信美国、中国等国的数学家和物理学家都可以从交流成果、发起新的合作和研究项目中受益匪浅。

Two-dimensional conformal field theory arose in both condensed matter physics and string theory and is being formulated, constructed and studied mathematically. It is now a deep, rich and beautiful mathematical theory and has already led to new ideas, surprising results and solutions of many mathematical problems in mathematics and physics. On the other hand, various recent developments in different areas of mathematics and physics can be recognized to be related when the language of tensor categories is used as a unifying concept. One example is modular tensor categories which appear naturally in the study of conformal field theories and also in other related algebraic and analytic structures. Further study of the connection between conformal field theories and tensor categories will benefit the developments of both conformal field theory and the theory of tensor categories.Two dimensional conformal field theories and tensor categories are mathematical theories studied intensely in recent years by both mathematicians and physicists. It is believed that many important phenomena observed in nature and in laboratory, such as critical phenomena, quantum Hall effects, disorder phenomena and so on, can be described by these theories. More importantly, a deep understanding of these theories might lead to the development of new technologies, for example, new technology for the design of chips for what people call quantum computers, which, if constructed, are computers running much much faster than the computers we have now. This award provides support for mathematicians and physicists, including graduate students, junior faculty, women and members of underrepresented minority groups, in the United States to attend the workshop ``Conformal field theories and tensor categories'' from June 14 to June 18, 2011, at the Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research in Beijing. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers in the United States, China and other countries working on conformal field theories, tensor categories and related topics to discuss new results, exchange ideas and initiate new collaborations and research projects. In particular, one of the main goals of the workshop is to make a wealth of mathematical results and concepts that are ready to use accessible to a larger part of the theoretical physics community and to find new applications of these results. It is believed that mathematicians and physicists in the United States, China and other countries can all benefit a lot from communicating their results and from initiating new collaborations and research projects.