Name: 2026 Winter School in Mathematical Physics
Start: 2026-01-04T19:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-01-09T14:00:00+01:00
Location: Maison des Congrès

2026 Winter School in Mathematical Physics

from Sunday, January 4, 2026 (7:00 PM) to Friday, January 9, 2026 (2:00 PM)

Monday, December 29, 2025
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Thursday, January 1, 2026
Friday, January 2, 2026
Saturday, January 3, 2026
Sunday, January 4, 2026

7:00 PM Dinner
Dinner
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Monday, January 5, 2026

9:00 AM Nikolaev: I
I
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM

10:15 AM Coffee break
Coffee break
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM

10:45 AM Nikolaev: Tutorial I
Tutorial I
10:45 AM - 11:35 AM

12:00 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

4:10 PM Coffee break
Coffee break
4:10 PM - 4:40 PM

4:45 PM Verlinde: I
I
4:45 PM - 6:00 PM

6:00 PM Welcome aperitif & Poster session
Welcome aperitif & Poster session
6:00 PM - 7:15 PM

7:30 PM Dinner
Dinner
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday, January 6, 2026

9:30 AM Verlinde: Tutorial I
Tutorial I
9:30 AM - 10:20 AM

10:20 AM Coffee break
Coffee break
10:20 AM - 10:45 AM

10:45 AM Nikolaev: II
II
10:45 AM - 12:00 PM

12:15 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:15 PM - 1:45 PM

4:15 PM Coffee break
Coffee break
4:15 PM - 4:45 PM

4:45 PM Nikolaev: Tutorial II
Tutorial II
4:45 PM - 5:35 PM

5:40 PM Verlinde: II
II
5:40 PM - 6:55 PM

7:00 PM Dinner
Dinner
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Wednesday, January 7, 2026

9:00 AM Verlinde: Tutorial II
Tutorial II
9:00 AM - 9:50 AM

9:50 AM Coffee break
Coffee break
9:50 AM - 10:15 AM

10:15 AM Junior Prize I - Manuel Loparco
Junior Prize I - Manuel Loparco
10:15 AM - 11:00 AM
**QFT in cosmology and beyond** Abstract: Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is the paradigm at the basis of the modern understanding of statistical physics, particle physics and cosmology. While most progress has been made in understanding QFT at weak coupling and in flat space, many questions remain in the contexts of cosmology and strongly coupled QFT. In this talk I will report on recent progress in understanding aspects of QFT on a cosmological background with the use of representation theory. If time permits, I will also discuss on-going research on a new framework for strongly coupled QFTs, where the computation of local observables is reduced to the problem of solving an infinite set of coupled differential equations which can be systematically truncated.

11:10 AM Junior Prize II - Alessandro Giacchetto
Junior Prize II - Alessandro Giacchetto
11:10 AM - 11:55 AM
**From matrix models to LG gravity: the simplest gauge/string duality** Abstract: Matrix models provide one of the oldest examples of a genus expansion suggestive of an underlying string theory, yet the identification of the corresponding worldsheet description has remained subtle. In this talk, I will explain how every one-cut Hermitian matrix model admits an exact reformulation as a closed string theory whose worldsheet dynamics is that of a B-twisted Landau–Ginzburg model coupled to two-dimensional topological gravity. The construction works directly in the conventional ’t Hooft limit, without invoking any double-scaling limit. The key ingredient is the spectral curve emerging from the large-N loop equations. I will show how the universal recursive structure governing matrix model correlators is naturally identified with the gravitational recursion relations of the worldsheet theory. In this framework, branch points of the spectral curve correspond to critical points of the Landau–Ginzburg superpotential, and matrix model observables map to tautological cohomology classes on the moduli space of curves. This provides a concrete and fully controlled example of gauge/string duality, in which the closed string theory and its worldsheet path integral are made completely explicit. Based on a work in progress with R. Gopakumar and E. Mazenc.

12:15 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:15 PM - 1:45 PM

5:45 PM Etingof: I
I
5:45 PM - 7:00 PM

7:15 PM Dinner
Dinner
7:15 PM - 8:45 PM
Thursday, January 8, 2026

9:30 AM Etingof: Tutorial I
Tutorial I
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM

10:15 AM Coffee break
Coffee break
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM

10:45 AM Etingof: II
II
10:45 AM - 12:00 PM

12:15 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:15 PM - 1:45 PM

4:30 PM Coffee break
Coffee break
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM

5:10 PM Nikolaev: III
III
5:10 PM - 6:00 PM

6:10 PM Verlinde: III
III
6:10 PM - 7:00 PM

7:15 PM Dinner - Fondue
Dinner - Fondue
7:15 PM - 8:45 PM
Friday, January 9, 2026

9:30 AM Etingof: Tutorial II
Tutorial II
9:30 AM - 10:20 AM

10:20 AM Coffee break
Coffee break
10:20 AM - 10:40 AM

10:40 AM Etingof: III
III
10:40 AM - 11:30 AM

12:00 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM