This fall's Phillips Lecture Series will be given by Professor Clifford H. Taubes during the first week of November. The first talk is for a general audience, and the later talks are at graduate-student level. NOTE THE UNUSUAL TIME AND LOCATION.

Clifford Taubes received a Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 1980 and, except for two years at Berkeley, has been at Harvard ever since. He is renown for his work on the various non-linear partial differential equations that have entered geometry from physics, including the monopole, Yang-Mills and Seiberg-Witten equations. Taubes has repeatedly used these equations to make startling connections and prove deep results about geometry, topology and dynamics. His most recent breakthrough was his 2007 proof of the 30-year-old Weinstein Conjecture in dynamical systems.

Abstract: Certain very special loops and surfaces are playing a central role in our attempts to understand the mysteries of 3- and 4-dimensional spaces. Analogous loops and surfaces appear in high energy and condensed matter physics, and the math and physics versions are related on many levels. I will describe how these loops and surfaces arise, what they tell us about 3- and 4-dimensional spaces, and what we wish they would say.

The following is the schedule of his lectures with abstracts.

1. "Loops, surfaces and the structure of 3 and 4 dimensional spaces" - Monday, November 2, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Room: 115 International Center

   *There will be a Reception in the Mathematics Library (D101 Wells) immediately following this first talk. Everyone who attends the talk is invited.

2. "The Seiberg-Witten equations and dynamics I" - Tuesday, November 3, 4:10 - 5:00 p.m., A-304 Wells Hall

3. "The Seiberg-Witten equations and dynamics II" - Wednesday, November 4, 4:10 - 5:00 p.m., A-304 Wells Hall

Department of Mathematics
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027
(517)355-9680
ginther@math.msu.edu
www.math.msu.edu/Lecture_Series