Topological Methods in Two-Dimensional Conformal Field Theory

by Lukas Woike

Tuesday Nov 25, 2025, 11:15 AM → 12:15 PM Europe/Paris

Many aspects of two-dimensional conformal field theory (even though not all) can be approached by the means of topological techniques as demonstrated for instance by the construction of correlators in rational conformal field theory by Fuchs-Runkel-Schweigert in the early 2000s. In this talk, I will review the tools available to extend the topological approach beyond the rational case, most notably modular operads, the language of modular and ansular functors, the microcosm principle and factorization homology. This is partly based on joint work with Adrien Brochier and Lukas Müller.