Events

What are special spinors? An introduction to one of geometry‘s best-kept secrets

Focus: COSMOS

Spinors, which can be thought of as "square roots" of vectors, play a key role in differential geometry (the study of multidimensional smooth, curved spaces), with beautiful and often surprising connections to many areas within the subject. The most famous examples are the so-called Killing spinors, which are by now well understood to occur only in certain very special situations, and whose existence imposes strong constraints on the shape of the underlying space. Killing spinors and their lesser known cousins are also important objects in mathematical physics, where they are related to string theory and supersymmetry, and in the study of immersion theory (how we can "embed" spaces inside larger spaces) and G-structures (what sort of symmetries different spaces have) in low dimensions. In this introductory talk I will give a bird's eye view of some of these connections, and briefly explain my current research project of finding spinors on certain highly symmetric spaces.

Jordan Hofmann works in differential geometry, and obtained her PhD from King's College London in 2023. She has previously been a postdoctoral researcher at King's College London and Philipps-Universität Marburg, and was a Lecturer (Teaching) at University College London. From June to September 2025, she is a Junior Fellow at the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald.

Moderation: Professorin Dr. Ines Kath

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Access to the lecture hall

Organizational information 
The Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg is offering this event live as a zoom meeting in which viewers can participate in writing via chat.

  • We would be pleased if you provided your clear name when dialing into Zoom. Of course, you can also take part in the event under a pseudonym.
  • A list of all participants can be viewed by all those involved throughout the event.
  • During the lecture, the microphones of the spectators are all automatically muted so that no disturbing background noise is generated. You are welcome to turn on the camera of the spectators during the lecture.
  • During the entire event, requests to speak or questions can be asked in writing in the chat.

Recording of the digital lecture
The digital lecture will be recorded for use in the college's media library. Only the speaker, his/her presentation and the moderator will be heard or seen in the recording. Video, audio or chat contributions are not recorded. A "REC" sign at the edge of the picture informs the participants.


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Contact

Kerstin Wulf

Loitzer Str. 26

17489 Greifswald

Telefon +49 (0)3834 420 4251
Telefax +49 (0)3834 420 4252
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