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Seminar

Non-semisimple TQFTs

Speaker
Nathan Geer (Utah State University)
Date
Tue, Jan 7 2025, 4:00pm
Location
383N
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Abstract: In this talk I will give an introductory lecture on constructing Topological Quantum Field Theories (TQFTs) from non-semisimple categories. The main goal of the talk is to give a hint of what is needed to extend the Turaev-Viro and Crane-Yetter TQFTs from the useful setting of semisimple categories to the non-semisimple world.  I will discuss and use some topological work by Juhasz.  I will also discuss what kind of algebraic structures are needed in non-semisimple categories to give rise to (2+1)-TQFTs.  Then I will remark that any spherical tensor category (in the sense of Etingof, Douglas et al.) has such structures. This work is joint with Francesco Costantino, Benjamin Haïoun, Bertrand Patureau-Mirand and Alexis Virelizier and based on arXiv:2302.04509 and arXiv:2306.03225.