The GEARS seminar
The Glasgow Edinburgh Algebra Research Student seminar
The Glasgow Edinburgh Algebra Research Student seminar
The Glasgow Edinburgh Algebra Research Student seminar is an informal meeting between algebra (loosely interpreted!) PhD students and postdocs from Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, and Glasgow universities. We meet roughly five times per year and give participants the opportunity to either speak about their research, or present an important paper in their area. These meetings normally take place in the late afternoon/evening and the location alternates between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The GEARS seminar is currently organised by Julia Bierent (Edinburgh), Scott Warrander (Glasgow), and Giovanni Sartori (Heriot-Watt). For previous organisers, please see the relevant tabs.
We are grateful for the financial support from: the Glasgow Mathematical Journal Learning and Research Support Fund, the Edinburgh Researcher Development Fund, the Heriot-Watt Small Project Grant Scheme, and the EPSRC Programme Grant "Enhancing Representation Theory, Noncommutative Algebra And Geometry Through Moduli, Stability And Deformations."
December GEARS meeting
Date: Thursday 4 December 2025
Time: 13:30–17:30
Location: Room 110, Mathematics and Statistics building, 132 University Pl, Glasgow G12 8TA
Speakers: Emanuel Roth (Edinburgh), Noah Dizep (Herriot-Watt), Mikhail Vasilev (Glasgow)
13:30-14:20 Noah Dizep (Heriot-Watt)
Title: Difference Equations, Relative Gromov-Witten theory and the Geometry of the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit
Abstract: Recently there has been an increased interest in the geometry of the refined topological string on a Calabi-Yau threefold in the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit. In this talk, building up on the work by Bousseau and Brini-Schueler, we will discuss the enumerative meaning of the quantum corrected B-period of the resolved Conifold. This serves to showcase the curious interplay between difference equations arising from the quantization of mirror curves, relative Gromov-Witten theory and refined sheaf counts.
15:00-15:50 Mikhail Vasilev (Glasgow)
Title: Calogero-Moser systems, integrability and Cherednik algebras
Abstract: I will give a gentle introduction to the phenomenon of integrability in general and in the theory of Calogero-Moser systems. I will introduce both classical and quantum integrable Calogero-Moser systems, including scalar and spin(matrix) versions of this model. On the algebraic side one of the structures, which controls the integrability of the Calogero-Moser systems are Cherednik algebras. I will show how the representation theory of Cherednik algebras can be utilised to prove the integrability of the known Calogero-Moser systems. If time permits, I will briefly talk about our recent work with Misha Feigin and Martin Vrabec about the derivation of the spin deformed Calogero-Moser systems from the Cherednik algebras.
16:30-17:20 Emanuel Roth (Edinburgh)
Title: The structure of instability of moduli of bundles
Abstract: In the moduli theory of bundles, we impose stability to obtain varieties or schemes parametrizing bundles with nice properties (smoothness, separatedness, etc.). When bundles are unstable, we have less of a grasp on how to classify them. Harder and Narasimhan constructed a filtration of bundles that measures how close a bundle is to semistability, which works for principal bundles (by Ramanathan), as well as for Higgs bundles and parahoric torsors. Similarly, Jordan-Hölder filtrations measure how close a semistable bundle is to being stable. I will talk about constructing complementary polyhedra (from Kai Behrend's PhD thesis), a root-theoretic object that records the (semi)-stability of bundles and provides a unified approach to Harder-Narasimhan/Jordan-Hölder filtrations. I will explain how I hope to use this to prove the normality of the stack of parahoric Higgs torsors in a future project.
Photos from our meetings: December 2023 and December 2024