Donaldson-Hitchin Laboratory

Simon Donaldson

Simon Donaldson

Simon Donaldson is Professor of Mathematics at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics and the Department of Mathematics at Stony Brook University (New York, USA). He is also Professor of Pure Mathematics at Imperial College London (UK). Donaldson’s research interests lie in the area of mathematics bordering geometry, topology, and analysis and having substantial connections with mathematical physics. Among his many distinctions, Professor Donaldson was awarded the Fields Medal in 1986 and a Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2014.

Nigel Hitchin

Nigel Hitchin

Nigel Hitchin is emeritus Savilian Professor of Geometry at University of Oxford. His main scientific contributions fall in the fields of differential geometry, algebraic geometry and mathematical physics, where he has opened new areas of research in a substantial number of themes. Among his many distinctions, Professor Hitchin was the recipient of the Shaw Prize 2016 (the "Nobel of the East"). He has previously been the chair of a Laboratory at the ICMAT, in the period 2013-2015.

Research Project

The Donaldson-Hitchin Laboratory is an initiative of the geometry group at ICMAT led by Oscar García-Prada. This Lab will be chaired jointly by Professor Simon Donaldson and Professor Nigel Hitchin for the period 2016-2019.
Its main goal is to foster interaction and collaboration between Professor Donaldson and his groups at Imperial College London and Stony Brook, Professor Hitchin and his group at the University of Oxford, and the geometry group at ICMAT.

Building upon the Severo Ochoa Hitchin Lab at ICMAT (2013-2015), this new collaboration is around three main themes:

– Higgs bundles, mirror symmetry, and Langlands duality.

– The Kähler-Yang-Mills equations and related moment map equations.

– Gauge theory, special holonomy and generalised geometry.

 

Research Programme on Moduli Spaces

This research programme will include a regular seminar, and two schools and workshops, devoted to new important and challenging research themes in which Professors Donaldson and Hitchin are world leaders. The programme will take place at ICMAT, from 15 September until 15 December 2018.