This volume examines the impact of the 'Monstrous Moonshine' paper on mathematics and theoretical physics.

Classification of Finite Simple Groups, one of the most monumental accomplishments of modern mathematics, was announced in 1983 with the proof completed in 2004. Since then, it has opened up a new and powerful strategy to approach and resolve many previously inaccessible problems in group theory, number theory, combinatorics, coding theory, algebraic geometry, and other areas of mathematics. This strategy crucially utilizes various information about finite simple groups, part of which is catalogued in the Atlas of Finite Groups (John H. Conway et al.), and in An Atlas of Brauer Characters (Christoph Jansen et al.). It is impossible to overestimate the roles of the Atlases and the related computer algebra systems in the everyday life of researchers in many areas of contemporary mathematics. The main objective of the conference was to discuss numerous applications of the Atlases and to explore recent developments and future directions of research, with focus on the interaction between computation and theory and applications to number theory and algebraic geometry. The papers in this volume are based on talks given at the conference. They present a comprehensive survey on current research in all of these fields.

This book, part of the series Contributions in Mathematical and Computational Sciences, reviews recent developments in the theory of vertex operator algebras (VOAs) and their applications to mathematics and physics. The mathematical theory of VOAs originated from the famous monstrous moonshine conjectures of J.H. Conway and S.P. Norton, which predicted a deep relationship between the characters of the largest simple finite sporadic group, the Monster and the theory of modular forms inspired by the observations of J. MacKay and J. Thompson. The contributions are based on lectures delivered at the 2011 conference on Conformal Field Theory, Automorphic Forms and Related Topics, organized by the editors as part of a special program offered at Heidelberg University that summer under the sponsorship of the Mathematics Center Heidelberg (MATCH).

A multifaceted biography of a brilliant mathematician and iconoclast A mathematician unlike any other, John Horton Conway (1937–2020) possessed a rock star’s charisma, a polymath’s promiscuous curiosity, and a sly sense of humor. Conway found fame as a barefoot professor at Cambridge, where he discovered the Conway groups in mathematical symmetry and the aptly named surreal numbers. He also invented the cult classic Game of Life, a cellular automaton that demonstrates how simplicity generates complexity—and provides an analogy for mathematics and the entire universe. Moving to Princeton in 1987, Conway used ropes, dice, pennies, coat hangers, and the occasional Slinky to illustrate his winning imagination and share his nerdish delights. Genius at Play tells the story of this ambassador-at-large for the beauties and joys of mathematics, lays bare Conway’s personal and professional idiosyncrasies, and offers an intimate look into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s most endearing and original intellectuals.

This book contains exclusively invited contributions from collaborators of Maximilian Kreuzer, giving accounts of his scientific legacy and original articles from renowned theoretical physicists and mathematicians, including Victor Batyrev, Philip Candelas, Michael Douglas, Alexei Morozov, Joseph Polchinski, Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, and Peter West. Besides a collection of review and research articles from high-profile researchers in string theory and related fields of mathematics (in particular, algebraic geometry) which discuss recent progress in the exploration of string theory vacua and corresponding mathematical developments, this book contains a pedagogical account of the important work of Brandt, Dragon, and Kreuzer on classification of anomalies in gauge theories. This highly cited work, which is also quoted in the textbook of Steven Weinberg on quantum field theory, has not yet been presented in full detail except in private lecture notes by Norbert Dragon. Similarly, the software package PALP (Package for Analyzing Lattice Polytopes with applications to toric geometry), which has been incorporated in the SAGE (Software for Algebra and Geometry Experimentation) project, has not yet been documented in full detail. This book contains a user manual for a new thoroughly revised version of PALP. By including these two very useful original contributions, researchers in quantum field theory, string theory, and mathematics will find added value in a pedagogical presentation of the classification of quantum gauge field anomalies, and the accompanying comprehensive manual and tutorial for the powerful software package PALP.

This volume contains the proceedings of the conference String-Math 2012, which was held July 16-21, 2012, at the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, Universität Bonn. This was the second in a series of annual large meetings devoted to the interface of mathematics and string theory. These meetings have rapidly become the flagship conferences in the field. Topics include super Riemann surfaces and their super moduli, generalized moonshine and K3 surfaces, the latest developments in supersymmetric and topological field theory, localization techniques, applications to knot theory, and many more. The contributors include many leaders in the field, such as Sergio Cecotti, Matthias Gaberdiel, Rahul Pandharipande, Albert Schwarz, Anne Taormina, Johannes Walcher, Katrin Wendland, and Edward Witten. This book will be essential reading for researchers and students in this area and for all mathematicians and string theorists who want to update themselves on developments in the math-string interface.

A comprehensive guide to mathematics with over 200 entries divided thematically.

The articles in this book are based on talks given at the international conference 'Lie algebras, vertex operator algebras and their applications'. The focus of the papers is mainly on Lie algebras, quantum groups, vertex operator algebras and their applications to number theory, combinatorics and conformal field theory.