Kolloquium: Ingo Runkel (Universität Hamburg): Topological field theory and higher categories

Topological field theory and higher categories – Vortragender: Ingo Runkel, Universität Hamburg – Einladende: C. Meusburger

One way to think about topological field theories is as a bridge between topology and geometry on the one side and algebra on the other side. One is lead to consider higher categories in algebra, and one can use ideas from topology to get a new point of view on algebraic structures. In this talk I would like to give a first glimpse at this bridge and illustrate it with some examples from algebra and an outlook into mathematical physics.