UCSD Octonions seminar, Fall 2002
UCSD Octonions seminar, Fall 2002
Math 292A, Fall 2002, Tuesdays 10:00-11:30 in room 7218.
Organisers: Justin Roberts, Peter Teichner
Text for the first lectures:
The Octonions, by John Baez
Abstract: ``The octonions are the largest of the four normed division
algebras. While somewhat neglected due to their non-associativity,
they stand at the crossroads of many interesting fields of
mathematics. In this seminar we describe them and their relation to
Clifford algebras and spinors, Bott periodicity, projective and
Lorentzian geometry, Jordan algebras, and the exceptional Lie
groups. We also touch upon their applications in quantum logic,
special relativity and supersymmetry.''
We hope to have participants at all levels and all fields (from
undergraduates to faculty), so the first lectures, from the text
above, will be introductory. We are saving the later lectures for
talks by participants who have used the octonions in their own work,
or who know of a fascinating story to tell....
First meeting Tuesday October 1 (room 7218)
justin@math.ucsd.edu
