Workshop on Toda equations, parabolic Higgs bundles, and related topics
October 5-6, 2021 (online)
This workshop was held in conjunction with the short course on “Nonabelian Hodge theory” which was given by Prof. Florent Schaffhauser (Universidad de Los Andes and University of Strasbourg Institute of Advanced Study) during July 1-21, 2021, as an online course at Waseda University. It was organized by Prof. Schaffhauser and Prof. Martin Guest (Waseda).
The workshop consisted of 8 presentations by researchers: 3 from Japan, 1 from China, and 4 from Europe. Various advanced topics were tackled, building on the foundational material introduced in the short course, thus giving the audience a view of current research.
Prof. Florent Schaffhauser (Universidad de Los Andes and University of Strasbourg Institute of Advanced Study)
Associate Prof. Szilard Szabo (Budapest University of Technology)
Higgs bundles were prominent in most of the talks, which covered a wide range of topics in analysis, differential geometry, topology, and physics. For example, research fellow Georgios Kydonakis (University of Heidelberg) discussed topological aspects of moduli spaces. Dr. Claudio Meneses (Kiel University) related these moduli spaces to physics. Associate Prof. Szilard Szabo (Budapest University of Technology) talked about coordinates for moduli spaces based on asymptotics of solutions of the Hitchin equations. Research fellow Qiongling Li (Nankai University) explained her joint work on existence of solutions with Prof. Takuro Mochizuki (Kyoto University). Prof. Mochizuki, who was recently awarded the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics, also took part in the workshop.
Associate Prof. Hisashi Kasuya (Osaka University)
The workshop was attended by approximately 30 people from Europe and Japan, including students and staff from Waseda. The format allowed sufficient time for questions and discussions could be conducted in a friendly atmosphere. At the end of the workshop participants posed (online) for good-humored group photo.
