2011 TALBOT WORKSHOP: NON-ABELIAN HODGE THEORY
May 1-7, 2011
Salt Lake City, Utah

This posting announces the 2011 Talbot Workshop, Non-Abelian Hodge Theory, mentored by 
Carlos Simpson.

The workshop will constitute a weeklong retreat with talks and organized discussions 
during the mornings and evenings; the afternoon schedule will be kept clear for informal 
discussions and collaborations. The workshop will generally focus on understanding the 
representations of fundamental groups of algebraic varieties, modulated according to the 
participants' interests. Topics developed may include the harmonic theory relating the 
moduli of Higgs bundles to the moduli of G-bundles with flat connection, deformation 
theory, the topology of character varieties and symplectic/hyperkahler structures on 
moduli spaces, and--as time allows--further directions of research, such as connections 
to Geometric Langlands, extending Hodge theory to account for higher homotopy types, and 
studying non-compact cases.

The workshop discussions will have an expository character and will be aimed at graduate 
students and junior faculty interested in this area.  Most talks will be given by 
participants of the workshop.

Further information about the workshop will become available at:

http://math.mit.edu/talbot

Interested participants should fill out the application form at the above website by 
January 31, 2010.  Due to funding and space constraints, we may be unable to host all 
applicants--the organizers will notify applicants by February 10, 2010, if we are unable 
to accommodate them.  We will then solicit volunteers among the participants to give the 
workshop's talks.

Please note that the website also contains information about--and notes collected from--
past Talbot workshops: Twisted K-Theory and Loop Groups (mentored by Constantin 
Teleman), Fukaya categories (mentored by Paul Seidel),  Affine Lie Algebras and Chiral 
Structures (mentored by Dennis Gaitsgory), Topological modular forms (mentored by 
Michael Hopkins), Automorphisms of manifolds (mentored by Michael Weiss), Geometric 
Langlands (mentored by David Ben-Zvi), and Geometric models of elliptic cohomology 
(mentored by Stephan Stolz).

If you are interested in participating or would like to receive further information 
about the workshop, please visit the website above, or e-mail talbotworkshop (at) 
gmail.com. We may be able to subsidize participants' travel expenses. 
Please note that the number of participants will be strictly limited for space reasons.  

Organizers:

Sheel Ganatra (ganatra(at)math.mit.edu)
Owen Gwilliam (gwilliam(at)math.northwestern.edu) 
Hiro Tanaka (htanaka(at)math.northwestern.edu)