Mirror symmetry, topological strings and gauge theory

弦理论体现了在高能前沿工作的理论物理学家的研究努力，他们发明了量子引力理论，并统一了基本的相互作用。弦理论社区的数学复杂性与其在纯数学某些领域的影响相称，并导致了数学物理的一个新分支的创建。拓扑规范理论和拓扑弦是这些发展的中心，由于镜像对称等复杂的对偶网络，以及与弦理论物理学（如真空结构或黑洞性质）的密切关系，它们的影响范围越来越广。这是一项跨学科的努力，该提案的目标是在麦吉尔大学建立源于高能物理的几何问题的研究。

String theory embodies the research efforts of theoretical physicists working at the high-energy frontier to invent a quantum theory of gravity, and to unify the fundamental interactions. The mathematical sophistication of the string theory community is commensurate with the impact it has had in certain areas of pure mathematics, and has led to the creation of a new branch of mathematical physics. Topological gauge theories and the topological string are at the center of these developments, extending their reach further and further thanks to an intricate web of dualities such as mirror symmetry, and an intimate relation with the physics of string theory, such as its vacuum structure or the properties of black holes. A cross-disciplinary endeavour, the ambition of this proposal is to establish research on geometrical questions stemming from high-energy physics at McGill University.