Abstract

String theory plays a central role in theoretical physics as a candidate for the quantum theory unifying gravity with other interactions. It has profound connections with broad branches of modern mathematics ever since the birth. In the last decades, the prosperous interaction, built upon the joint efforts from both mathematicians and physicists, has given rise to marvelous deep results in supersymmetric gauge theory, topological string, M-theory and duality on the physics side as well as in algebraic geometry, differential geometry, algebraic topology, representation theory and number theory on the mathematics side. The interplay is two-fold. The mathematics has provided powerful tools to fulfill the physical interconnection of ideas and clarify physical structures to understand the nature of string theory. On the other hand, ideas from string theory and quantum field theory have been a source of significant inspirations to reveal surprising mathematical structures and create new spectrums of mathematics. The aim of the String-Math annual conference is to bring together researchers working at the rapidly developing interface of these two academic fields to exchange current significant ideas and explore future directions.