Trisections, triangulations and the complexity of manifolds. This project aims at practical representations of 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional spaces as needed in applications. Topology is the mathematical study of the shapes of spaces. Geometry endows spaces with additional structure such as distance, angle and curvature. Special combinatorial structures, such as minimal triangulations, are often closely connected to geometric structures or topological properties. This project aims to construct ....Trisections, triangulations and the complexity of manifolds. This project aims at practical representations of 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional spaces as needed in applications. Topology is the mathematical study of the shapes of spaces. Geometry endows spaces with additional structure such as distance, angle and curvature. Special combinatorial structures, such as minimal triangulations, are often closely connected to geometric structures or topological properties. This project aims to construct computable invariants, connectivity results for triangulations, and algorithms to recognise fundamental topological properties and structures such as trisections and bundles.Read moreRead less
Complexity of group algorithms and statistical fingerprints of groups. This project aims to shape the next generation of efficient randomised algorithms in the field of group theory, the mathematics of symmetry. Fundamental mathematics underpins modern technological tasks such as web searches, sorting and data compression. This project aims to determine characteristic statistical fingerprints of key building-block groups. These group statistics lead to much faster procedures to essentially facto ....Complexity of group algorithms and statistical fingerprints of groups. This project aims to shape the next generation of efficient randomised algorithms in the field of group theory, the mathematics of symmetry. Fundamental mathematics underpins modern technological tasks such as web searches, sorting and data compression. This project aims to determine characteristic statistical fingerprints of key building-block groups. These group statistics lead to much faster procedures to essentially factor huge groups into smaller building-block groups in a manner akin to factoring an integer into its prime factors. The anticipated goal is to include the outcomes in publicly available symbolic algebra computer packages. As the theory of symmetry has broad applications in the mathematical and physical sciences, there is the potential for far reaching benefits.Read moreRead less
The Ricci curvature of homogeneous spaces. The geometry of homogeneous spaces is an area of research with applications in numerous fields, including topology, harmonic analysis, relativity and quantum theory. This project aims to resolve a fundamental problem in this area, known as the prescribed Ricci curvature problem for homogeneous metrics, and to settle the important and closely related question of Ricci iteration existence and convergence. Moreover, the project aims to exploit the interpla ....The Ricci curvature of homogeneous spaces. The geometry of homogeneous spaces is an area of research with applications in numerous fields, including topology, harmonic analysis, relativity and quantum theory. This project aims to resolve a fundamental problem in this area, known as the prescribed Ricci curvature problem for homogeneous metrics, and to settle the important and closely related question of Ricci iteration existence and convergence. Moreover, the project aims to exploit the interplay between geometry and algebra to provide new insight into the physically significant problem of classifying unitary Lie algebra representations. This project is expected to facilitate interdisciplinary interaction leading to exciting developments across a range of fields.Read moreRead less
Lie superalgebra representations: a geometric approach. The concept of a Lie group provides a mathematical underpinning for the idea of symmetry in mathematics, physics and chemistry. The project aims to advance two fundamental problems related to this concept: classification of unitary representations of Lie superalgebras, and the prescribed Ricci curvature problem on Lie groups. The research builds on newly-discovered connections between these problems to achieve exciting progress in their res ....Lie superalgebra representations: a geometric approach. The concept of a Lie group provides a mathematical underpinning for the idea of symmetry in mathematics, physics and chemistry. The project aims to advance two fundamental problems related to this concept: classification of unitary representations of Lie superalgebras, and the prescribed Ricci curvature problem on Lie groups. The research builds on newly-discovered connections between these problems to achieve exciting progress in their resolution. Outcomes are expected to find applications across a range of fields, such as condensed matter physics, particle physics, quantum field theory and knot theory. Anticipated benefits include stronger links between different areas of science achieved through a deeper understanding of symmetry.Read moreRead less
Tractable topological computing: Escaping the hardness trap. Computational topology is a young and energetic field that uses computers to solve complex geometric problems driven by pure mathematics, and with diverse applications in biology, signal processing and data mining. A major barrier is that many of these problems are thought to be fundamentally and intractably hard. This project aims to defy such barriers for typical real-world inputs by fusing geometric techniques with technologies from ....Tractable topological computing: Escaping the hardness trap. Computational topology is a young and energetic field that uses computers to solve complex geometric problems driven by pure mathematics, and with diverse applications in biology, signal processing and data mining. A major barrier is that many of these problems are thought to be fundamentally and intractably hard. This project aims to defy such barriers for typical real-world inputs by fusing geometric techniques with technologies from the field of parameterised complexity, creating powerful, practical solutions for these problems. It is expected to shed much-needed light on the vast and puzzling gap between theory and practice, and give researchers fast new software tools for large-scale experimentation and cutting-edge computer proofs.Read moreRead less
Quadratic fusion categories: A frontier in subfactor theory. This project aims to investigate the quantum symmetries of the quadratic fusion categories. Fusion categories are mathematical structures that generalise the symmetries of finite groups. These structures arise as invariants of subfactors in operator algebras and in mathematical models of conformal field theory. The quadratic fusion categories encompass most known subfactors that do not come from finite or quantum groups and form a vast ....Quadratic fusion categories: A frontier in subfactor theory. This project aims to investigate the quantum symmetries of the quadratic fusion categories. Fusion categories are mathematical structures that generalise the symmetries of finite groups. These structures arise as invariants of subfactors in operator algebras and in mathematical models of conformal field theory. The quadratic fusion categories encompass most known subfactors that do not come from finite or quantum groups and form a vast frontier about which little is known. By uncovering the symmetries of the quadratic fusion categories, the project will advance subfactor theory and provide new models for conformal field theory. Progress in these fields will have applications to the emerging technology of quantum computing.Read moreRead less
Symmetry via braiding, diagrammatics and cellularity. Symmetry is a basic organising tool for humans to understand their environment. Invariants are the mathematical embodiment of symmetry, and their study is as ancient as thought itself. This project aims to use the tools of braided tensor categories and cellular structure, to analyse the invariants occurring in several fundamental areas of mathematics, particularly relating to physics. The endomorphism algebras in certain tensor categories, pa ....Symmetry via braiding, diagrammatics and cellularity. Symmetry is a basic organising tool for humans to understand their environment. Invariants are the mathematical embodiment of symmetry, and their study is as ancient as thought itself. This project aims to use the tools of braided tensor categories and cellular structure, to analyse the invariants occurring in several fundamental areas of mathematics, particularly relating to physics. The endomorphism algebras in certain tensor categories, particularly those for quantised superalgebras, will be realised as diagram algebras, and analysed using cellular theory. The intended output include criteria for semisimplicity, a new theory of diagram algebras, and decomposition theory which are expected to permit the determination of multiplicities of composition factors.Read moreRead less
Quantum vertex algebras. The project aims to address major mathematical problems on the structure and representations of the families of quantum groups and vertex algebras associated with Lie algebras. Originating from solvable lattice models in statistical mechanics, the theory of quantum groups has important connections with, and applications to, a wide range of subjects in mathematics and physics. The project will extend and develop explicit theory of both the classical and quantum versions o ....Quantum vertex algebras. The project aims to address major mathematical problems on the structure and representations of the families of quantum groups and vertex algebras associated with Lie algebras. Originating from solvable lattice models in statistical mechanics, the theory of quantum groups has important connections with, and applications to, a wide range of subjects in mathematics and physics. The project will extend and develop explicit theory of both the classical and quantum versions of the vertex algebras which are of importance to conformal field theory and soliton spin-chain models.Read moreRead less
Deep Learning for Graph Isomorphism: Theories and Applications. This project aims to investigate graph isomorphism, a fundamental problem in graph theory, using deep learning techniques. Solutions to graph isomorphism are in demand by researchers in many fields of science, such as biology, chemistry, computer science, and quantum computing. The project expects to advance knowledge about graph isomorphism and state-of-the-art methodologies for its applications. The expected outcomes include new t ....Deep Learning for Graph Isomorphism: Theories and Applications. This project aims to investigate graph isomorphism, a fundamental problem in graph theory, using deep learning techniques. Solutions to graph isomorphism are in demand by researchers in many fields of science, such as biology, chemistry, computer science, and quantum computing. The project expects to advance knowledge about graph isomorphism and state-of-the-art methodologies for its applications. The expected outcomes include new theoretical insights on combinatorial structures of graphs, efficient heuristic techniques for (maximum) subgraph isomorphism, and structured representation learning. The project should provide significant benefits to research in a wide range of science fields, as well as many real-world applications.Read moreRead less
Algebraic Schubert geometry and unitary reflection groups. This project aims to generalise the recent work of Elias and Williamson to the complex case. Fundamental to the study of symmetry are the ubiquitous Coxeter groups, which have an associated set of critically important ‘Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials’. For some Coxeter groups, these may be interpreted in terms of classical geometry, leading to deep positivity properties for their coefficients. Elias and Williamson have recently shown that th ....Algebraic Schubert geometry and unitary reflection groups. This project aims to generalise the recent work of Elias and Williamson to the complex case. Fundamental to the study of symmetry are the ubiquitous Coxeter groups, which have an associated set of critically important ‘Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials’. For some Coxeter groups, these may be interpreted in terms of classical geometry, leading to deep positivity properties for their coefficients. Elias and Williamson have recently shown that this geometry may be simulated algebraically for any Coxeter group, so positivity for Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials holds for all Coxeter groups. This result has explosive consequences in many areas of geometry and algebra. This project is designed to extend these results to complex unitary reflection groups, with potentially dramatic consequences in number theory, representation theory and topology.Read moreRead less