Dear all, We are delighted to announce the Talbot Workshop 2026, mentored by Corey Jones and David Penneys! Please see below for the details of the workshop and the application. Please share this with anyone you think would benefit from attending. Best regards, The Talbot Workshop organizers (Maxine Calle, Alex Karapetyan, Catherine Li, Shuhang Xue) ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- 2026 Talbot Workshop: Topological holography Mentored by: Corey Jones and David Penneys Dates: June 14 – June 20, 2026 Location: TBD, but likely in northeast or upper midwest region of the US Application link: https://forms.gle/et9yDcJbc8v6ECY88 Application deadline: March 1st, 2026 What: The Talbot Workshop is a one week learning workshop for roughly 35 graduate students and a few postdocs. Most of the talks will be given by participants, and will be expository in nature. Topic description: Topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) provide a fundamental link between higher categorical algebra, topology, and quantum physics. In quantum many-body physics, TQFTs have become an essential tool for describing long-range, macroscopic patterns of entanglement called topological order. However, TQFTs are an intrinsically global phenomenon, and accessing these mathematical objects with only local information is a fundamental problem for physicists in the context of quantum many-body systems. Recently a new conceptual framework called topological holography has emerged from the physics literature that helps bridge this gap. It proposes that certain associative algebras associated with “physical boundaries” of a topologically ordered many-body system should remember the emergent TQFT of the bulk with only local, microscopic structure in one spatial dimension lower than the system. This is a very active area of research at the interface of mathematics and theoretical physics with many applications, including deep connections to the emerging paradigm of (higher) fusion-categorical symmetry in quantum field theory. Outline: This workshop will begin by introducing the algebraic approach to quantum many-body systems. We will then explain recent work formalizing topological holography for systems defined on lattices in R^n exhibiting local topological order, with an emphasis on examples (particularly Levin-Wen and Walker-Wang models) and the machinery of DHR bimodules. We will also explain recent work applying the ideas of topological holography to understand fusion category symmetries in a single spatial dimension. We will see how this story is the first step in a larger program to extract higher categorical algebra from physical systems. Background: The workshop will be aimed towards graduate students with a basic understanding of (higher) category theory and TQFTs. While some interest in physics might be helpful, it is not required or expected: we will get you excited about it! More details can be found on the website here https://sites.google.com/view/talbotworkshop/home. Talbot is meant to encourage collaboration among young researchers, with an emphasis on graduate students. We also aim to gather participants with a wide array of knowledge and interests, so applicants need not be an expert in the field — in particular, students at all levels of graduate education are encouraged to apply. The workshop will be held entirely in-person. We cover all local expenses, including lodging and food. We also have limited funding available for participant travel costs, but we encourage participants to seek other sources of travel funding if possible. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email the organizers at talbotworkshop (at) gmail (dot) com. You're receiving this message because you're a member of the Categories mailing list group from Macquarie University. To take part in this conversation, reply all to this message. View group files<https://outlook.office365.com/groups/groupsubscription?source=EscalatedMessage&action=files&smtp=categories%40mq.edu.au&bO=true&GuestId=6bf90c14-94d1-45b7-a0b5-9dd447734d27> | Leave group<https://outlook.office365.com/groups/groupsubscription?source=EscalatedMessage&action=leave&smtp=categories%40mq.edu.au&bO=true&GuestId=6bf90c14-94d1-45b7-a0b5-9dd447734d27> | Learn more about Microsoft 365 Groups<https://aka.ms/o365g>