An introduction to principal bundles and holonomy

Series
Geometry Topology Student Seminar
Time
Wednesday, February 7, 2024 - 2:00pm for 1 hour (actually 50 minutes)
Location
Skiles 006
Speaker
Dan Irvine – Georgia Tech
Organizer
Thomas Rodewald

The concept of holonomy arises in many areas of mathematics, especially control theory. This concept is also related to the broader program of geometrization of forces in physics. In order to understand holonomy, we need to understand principal (fiber) bundles. In this talk I will explain U(1)-principal bundles by example. This explanation will be from the point-of-view of a geometer, but I will introduce the terminology of control theory. Finally, we will do a holonomy computation for a famous example of Aharonov and Bohm.