Clifford Taubes
Harvard University

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2003:
Time: 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: MS 6627

Title:
Gauss' law and quarks:
What the differential equations say.

Abstract
Quarks are the subatomic particles that form the basic building blocks of matter. They are thought to interact via forces that are described by a non-abelian gauge theory. Although the real world is very much quantum mechanical, the differential equations of gauge theory in a hypothetical classical world predict some 'lifelike' phenomena.

Background
Clifford Taubes has made many fundamental contributions to geometry and topology. He has obtained several foundational results in 3 and 4 dimensional topology and geometry, and proved the famous rigidity theorem for elliptic genus. Clifford Taubes is William Petschek Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 1980. He is a member of the American Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the National Science Foundations Mathematical Sciences Advisory Committee.