HYBRID: An algebraic roadmap of particle theories

This lecture will be held in presence at Magnus-Haus and can be followed online at the same time. Use the links above to register your attendance in person on site or to receive access data for online attendance. No admission after the start of the event. Please do not participate if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection (cold symptoms).

Topic: Since the 1970s, physicists have worked to fuse the fragmented pieces of the Standard Model of particle physics into something known as a (grand) unified theory. Six models have appeared again and again over the last fifty years. They are known as the Spin(10) model, the Georgi-Glashow model, the Pati-Salam model, the Left-Right Symmetric model, the Standard Model pre-Higgs, and the Standard Model post-Higgs. In recent work, we have demonstrated that these six models are in fact each related to one another in algebraic cascades. Specifically, we have shown that it is possible to move from one theory to the next by considering a form of reflection that generalizes the notion of complex conjugation.

CV: Nichol Furey was born and raised on the west coast of Canada, not far from Vancouver. In 11th grade, a highschool teacher told her for the first time about the idea in physics known as unification. Namely, since the 1970s, theorists have been trying to unify the fundamental forces into just a single force. The idea was so beautiful that Furey was instantly hooked. She went on to pursue degrees in mathematical physics from Simon Fraser University, Cambridge, Perimeter Institute, and then research fellowships from Cambridge, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, and now Humboldt-Universität. In her research, she seeks to understand if the structure of elementary particles derives from certain special algebras in mathematics.

Following the lecture, there will be a get-together where participants can exchange ideas with each other over pizza and drinks in the Remise and the garden of the Magnus-Haus.

The event is sponsored by the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation.