Nick Gurski, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, presented "Sign conventions, higher supergeometry, and the two-type of the sphere" at the summer meeting of the Canadian Mathematical Society.
About the presentation
Supersymmetry, as studied by theoretical physicists, proposes a host of undiscovered particles, but the mathematics behind it are well-established including the Koszul sign rule, which requires inserting negative signs when performing certain calculations. A universal object coming from algebra, topology or category theory—the focus of Gurski’s presentation—can explain these signs.
