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IDUB professors’ lectures at the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy

In the second half of July, the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Wrocław will host two distinguished scientists as part of the IDUB Visiting Professors programme. Professor Shahn Majid from the School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, and professor Maciej Dunajski from the University of Cambridge, representing the Theoretical High Energy Particle Physics Group, will give two open lectures aimed at a wide audience – scientists as well as students, doctoral students and anyone interested in contemporary physics and mathematics.

The lectures will take place at the Institute of Theoretical Physics in the Rzewuski Hall at plac Maksa Borna 9 – the first on Monday, 21 July, at 13:45 titled ‘Quantum gravity, are we there? ‘Quantum gravity, are we there yet?’ (prof. Shahn Majid), the second on Wednesday, 23 July, also at 13:45 titled ‘Three millennia of geometry: from Euclid’s axioms to Cosmic Censorship’ (prof. Maciej Dunajski).

Below is information about the scientists and abstracts of their lectures:

Prof. Shahn Majid
Lecture title: Quantum gravity, are we there yet?

Abstract
The concept of a spacetime continuum likely breaks down at the smallest `Planck scale’ of 10^{-35} meters and appears to be simply a wrong assumption which has held back theoretical physics for over 100 years. More likely we should build our theories on a more general conception of geometry that includes operator coordinates as in quantum theory and/or  discrete geometry. Such a more general concept of geometry now exists and using it one can already write down first `baby quantum gravity models’ in which the Universe is modeled as a discrete geometry, such as a square. Such models shift the goal posts from `how do we build quantum gravity?’ to `what is quantum gravity good for if we have it?’ I will sketch a couple of things that it is good for.

Bio
Shahn Majid is a leading UK mathematician and theoretical physicist known for his pioneering work in quantum groups and quantum spacetime. He has been a creative force in both pure mathematics and physics for over 40 years. Educated at Cambridge University and then Harvard for his PhD, he is the author of four books and over 250 research papers. His book On Space and Time is a collection of popular science essays by leading authors in the field.
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Prof. Maciej Dunajski
Lecture title: Three millennia of geometry: from Euclid’s axioms to Cosmic Censorship

Abstract
The study of geometry is at least 2500 years old, and it is within this field that the concept of mathematical proof – deductive reasoning from a set of axioms – first arose. The lecture will present three areas of geometry: Euclidean, non-Euclidean, and geometry of space-time inside  a black hole.

Bio
Maciej Dunajski is a Fellow of Clare College, and a Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, at the University of Cambridge. His research interests are in differential and projective Geometry, Solitons, and General Theory of Relativity. In 2021 he was awarded the Atiyah Fellowship by the London Mathematical Society. Dunajski is the winner of the 2023 Gravity Research Foundation Award.
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