The language of forms

(A journey from the Mobius strip to affine Kac-Moody and superconformal algebras)

One of the most recurrent themes in Geometry, is the study of objects that locally look the same. I will explain, mainly via examples and in non-technical terms, how the concept of "locally look the same" has evolved through time (mostly through some beautiful ideas of Serre and of Grothendieck).

Refreshments will be served at 12:45 p.m. (PIMS Lounge).