RTG: Topology, Representation Theory, and Mathematical Physics at Louisiana State University

This grant will support a number of initiatives aimed at making Louisiana State University a premier institution in the south for students and early-career mathematicians seeking to engage in cutting-edge research in the fields of topology, representation theory, and mathematical physics. Activities will be pitched at a range of levels, including high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers, and includes ongoing events during the academic year as well as during the summer months. Through these efforts, the PIs hope to broaden engagement with research-level mathematics while simultaneously helping build a talented workforce of research mathematicians. In the past twenty years, the Department of Mathematics at Louisiana State University has experienced enormous growth in research productivity, in career prospects for Ph.D. graduates, and in visibility on a national and international scale. The present proposal aims to build on this growth on three fronts: (i) Outreach initiatives aimed at local high schools and at regional undergraduate institutions; (ii) Summer "incubator workshops" aimed at launching new research projects and collaborations; and (iii) Enhancing existing infrastructure through graduate traineeships, postdoctoral positions, and seminar support. Specific research projects will draw on the expertise of the team of twelve senior personnel on topics such as contact and symplectic topology, geometric group theory, harmonic analysis, modular representation theory, and the geometric Langlands program. This project is jointly funded by the Topology & Geometric Analysis Program (TGA), The Algebra & Number Theory Program (ANT), the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and Research Training Groups in the Mathematical Sciences (RTG). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.