The Griess algebra and the Monster sporadic group

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• Prof S. Shpectorov, School of Mathematics
• Thursday 04 February 2010, 13:00-14:00
• Theory Library.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Dimitri M Gangardt.

Note the unusual time

The 26 sporadic finite simple groups is a fascinating topic in finite group theory. The largest of the sporadic groups, the Monster, was predicted to exist by Fischer and Griess in 1973 and it was shown to exist by Griess a decade later. He constructed it in its action on a commutative non-associative algebra of dimension 196884, now called the Griess algebra. Later the Griess algebra was extended to an infinite-dimensional vertex operator algebra, the kind of object that first appeared in theoretical physics.

In the talk we revisit the history of the Monster and the Griess algebra and then focus on the new approach, pioneered by Miyamoto, Sakuma, and on further recent developments.

This talk is part of the Theoretical Physics Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Bham Talks
• Theoretical Physics Seminars
• Theory Library
• What's on in Physics?

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