Remarks on Chern-Simons theory
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Abstract:
The classical Chern-Simons invariant is the basis for a $3$-dimensional topological quantum field theory. We describe some of the mathematical structure which has been built around this and other topological field theories. We include, in the introduction and the last section, some general discussion about the current interaction between geometry and quantum theories of fields and gravity.References
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Additional Information
- Daniel S. Freed
- Affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Texas, 1 University Station C1200, Austin, Texas 78712-0257
- Email: dafr@math.utexas.edu
- Received by editor(s): August 8, 2008
- Published electronically: January 15, 2009
- Additional Notes: The author is supported by NSF grant DMS-0603964
Based on a talk given in the Simons Auditorium in Chern Hall at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute on the occasion of its $25^{\text {th}}$ Anniversary. - © Copyright 2009
American Mathematical Society
The copyright for this article reverts to public domain 28 years after publication. - Journal: Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 46 (2009), 221-254
- MSC (2000): Primary 81T45, 53C05, 55N15, 18F99
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1090/S0273-0979-09-01243-9
- MathSciNet review: 2476413
Dedicated: Dedicated to MSRI on its $25^{\text {th}}$ anniversary