Email: john dot huerta AT tecnico dot ulisboa dot removethis pt
I'm John Huerta. I'm a mathematician at Instituto Superior Técnico, a part of the University of Lisbon. Specifically, I am a research member of the Center for Mathematical Analysis, Geometry and Dynamical Systems. Previously, I was a postdoc here. Before that I did my first postdoc at the Australian National University.
I earned my PhD in mathematics at the University of California under the supervision of John Baez.
My research concerns differential geometry, Lie theory, and a healthy dose of mathematical physics. Current interests include:
I shared
the 2013
Levi L. Conant Prize for the paper The Algebra of Grand Unified
Theories. It was very humbling to be selected, especially when I think of how many
worthy candidates there were. Nonetheless, I'm damn proud of the paper, and I'm glad
to see it get more attention. The prize annoucement contains the nicest compliment I
have ever received:
If you want to teach mathematics, you should
read Lockhart's lament, a
profound plea to teach students the true beauty of mathematics as a creative
activity. It was written by Paul Lockhart, a mathematician and grade-school math
teacher. Here is one of my favorite quotes:
In June 2011, I earned my PhD in mathematics from the University of California,
Riverside, under the advisement of John Baez. My thesis concerns Division Algebras, Supersymmetry and
Higher Gauge Theory.
Before all this, I received a bachelor of science with honors (magna cum laude)
from Northern Arizona University, where I
double majored in mathematics and physics. I also have a master of science in
mathematics from UCR.
I am not teaching this year, but you can see my previous
teaching evaluations if you are interested.
The authors are able to maintain an engaging tone throughout the seventy pages it
takes to tell this marvelous tale. And as with the stories in the Thousand and One
Nights, we are left hoping for more.
There is such breathtaking depth and heartbreaking beauty in this
ancient art form [of mathematics]. How ironic that people dismiss
mathematics as the antithesis of creativity. They are missing out on
an art form older than any book, more profound than any poem, and more
abstract than any abstract. And it is school that has done this! What
a sad endless cycle of innocent teachers inflicting damage upon
innocent students. We could all be having so much more fun.
Education
Teaching
Papers
Thesis
Division Algebras, Supersymmetry and Higher Gauge Theory.
Bundle gerbes on supermanifolds, 5 June 2020, TQFT club, University of Lisbon (online).
Bundle gerbes on supermanifolds, 7 May 2020, SuperDay in Alessandria, University of Eastern Piedmont (online).
Higher gauge theory on supermanifolds, 8 November 2019, Mathematical Physics Seminar, University of Lyon.
The equivariant brane bouquet, 22 May 2019, University of Malaga.
Division algebras and the brane bouquet, 15 February 2019, Workshop on Geometric Structures in Mathematics and Physics, University of Bologna.
Division algebras and supersymmetry, 14 February 2019, Workshop on Geometric Structures in Mathematics and Physics, University of Bologna.
Finite groups and brane intersections, 23 October 2018, Regional Interdisciplinary Workshop on Geometry, Topology, and Physics, New York University Abu Dhabi.
M-theory from the superpoint, 12 September 2018, Cosmology Seminar, the Albert Einstein Institute, Potsdam.
M-theory from the superpoint, 15 August 2018, Higher Structures in M-theory, University of Durham.
G2 and the rolling ball, 25 March 2018, Mathematics Colloquium, New York University Abu Dhabi.
Division algebras and supersymmetry, 24 March 2018, SuperPhysmatics 2018, New York University Abu Dhabi.
The teleparallel trick, 8 March 2018, Geilo Winter School: Geometry, Analysis, Physics, Geilo, Norway.
Teleparallel supergravity as a higher gauge theory, 2 March 2018, Workshop on Higher Gauge Theory, University of Leeds.
M-theory from the superpoint (poster presentation), 27–30 November 2017, Young Researchers in String Mathematics, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn.
The higher symmetry group of string theory, 16 November 2017, Mathematical Physics Seminar, University of Warsaw.
Octonionic windows on physics - a discussion, 3 August 2017, 4th Mile High Conference on Nonassociative Mathematics, University of Denver.
G2 and the rolling ball, 1 June 2017, Geometric Analysis Seminar, Free University of Berlin.
M-theory from the superpoint, 30 May 2017, Quantum Fields and Strings Seminar, University of Surrey.
G2 and the rolling ball, 11 May 2017, Geometry and Topology Seminar, University of Malaga.
L-infinity algebras, cohomology, and physics, 4 May 2017, Geometry and Topology Seminar, University of Malaga.
L-infinity algebras, central extensions, and physics, 29 April 2017, Geometry and Topology Seminar, University of Porto.
M-theory from the superpoint, Iberian Strings 2017, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon.
M-theory from the superpoint, 18 November 2016, Metodos Categoricos y Homotopicos en Algebra, Geometria y Topologia, University of La Rioja.
L-infinity algebras, cohomology and physics, 17 October 2016, Topology Seminar, University of Oxford.
M-theory from the superpoint, 11 July 2016, Advances in Quantum Gravity 2016, Topos House, San Franciso.
Division algebras and supersymmetry, 24 November 2015, Advances in Quantum Gravity 2015, Los Angeles, CA.
Trigroups and M-theory, 11 July 2015, joint meeting of the AMS-EMS-SPM, Porto, Portugal.
The Octonions, 28 January 2015, Grupo de Fisica Matematica, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
Trigroups and M-theory, 2 September 2014, XXIII International Fall Workshop on Geometry and Physics, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
G2 and the rolling ball, 14-16 July 2014, Encontro Nacional Sociedade Portuguesa de Matematica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.
Trigroups and M-theory, 9-10 May 2014, Algebra and Representation Theory in the North, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Symmetry in mathematics and physics, 18 April 2014, Levi L. Conant Lecture, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA.
What can higher categories do for physics? 12 March 2014, Faculdade de Ciencia e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.
G2 and the rolling ball, 13 August 2013, 3rd Mile High Conference in Nonassociative Mathematics, University of Denver, Denver, CO.
The functor of points for supermanifolds, 8 July 2013, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
G2 and the rolling ball, 4 July 2013, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
G2 and the rolling ball, May 2013, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong.
Introduction to higher gauge theory, May 2013, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong.
The categorified Poincare supergroup, 25 March 2013, 94th Peripatetic Seminar on Sheaves and Logic, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
The categorified Poincare superalgebra, 10 January 2013, AMS Special Session on Lie Algebras, Algebraic Transformation Groups, and Representation Theory, Joint Mathematics Meeting 2013, San Diego, CA.
G2 and the rolling ball, 12 October 2012, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Superstrings, higher gauge theory and division algebras, 6 December 2011, TQFT seminar, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal.
A higher supergroup for string theory, 2 December 2011, Higher Structures 2011, the Courant Institute, Goettingen, Germany.
Superstrings, higher gauge theory and division algebras, 23 November 2011, theoretical physics seminar, Universitaet Erlangen–Nuernberg, Erlangen, Germany.
A categorified supergroup for string theory, 19 October 2011, Australian category theory seminar, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
G2, the split octonions, and the rolling ball, 18 October 2011, geometry seminar, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
On September 5, 2011, I gave a talk at the IGA workshop on Group-valued moment maps with applications to mathematics and physics at the University of Adelaide. I spoke about a higher supergroup for string theory. Thanks to Pedram Hekmati, Snigdhayan Mahanta, Mathai Varghese, and Craig Westerland for inviting me.
On April 9, 2011, I gave a talk in the AMS Special Session on Physically Inspired Higher Homotopy Algebra, on categorified supergroups for string theory. Thanks to Tom Lada and Jim Stasheff for inviting me.
Feb 7-13, 2011, I participated in a Workshop and School on Higher Gauge Theory, TQFT and Quantum Gravity in Lisbon, Portugal. I gave a minicourse on higher gauge theory for the school, and talked about categorified supergroups for string theory during the workshop. Thanks to Roger Picken and Jeff Morton for inviting me.
On Nov 7, 2010, I gave a talk on division algebra technology for supersymmetry in the AMS Special Session on Quasigroups, Loops and Nonassociative Division Algebras. Thanks to Clifton Ealy for inviting me.
On Nov 5, 2010, I gave a talk in the AMS Special Session on Topology, Geometry and Physics, on L-infinity superalgebras for superstring and M-theory. Thanks to Stephan Stolz for inviting me.
On Nov 4, 2010, I gave a talk in the Geometry/Physics seminar at Northwestern, on L-infinity superalgebras for superstring and M-theory. Thanks to Kevin Costello for inviting me.
On September 27th, 2010, I gave an introductory talk on the quaternions, Introducing the Quaternions, at Fullerton College. In some ways, it is a warm up for this talk on the quaternions, which is much harder. Thanks to Dana Clahane for inviting me!
On June 7th, 2010, I gave a short talk on Lie n-algebras, supersymmetry and division algebras during the workshop on Quantum Fields and Strings: Categorical Aspects at MFO in Oberwolfach, Germany. Thanks go to Christoph Schweigert, Dan Freed and Peter Bouwknegt for inviting me. The slides and the abstract provide a concise summary of my work prior to this meeting.
On June 3rd, 2010, I gave a talk on my work relating Lie n-algebras, supersymmetry and division algebras at Higher Structures IV at the Courant Institute in Goettingen, Germany. Thanks to Chenchang Zhu for inviting me.
On May 21st, 2010, I gave a colloquium talk on the quaternions at Cal State Stanislaus. My friend Jack Bennett spoke earlier in the day on non-unique factorization. Thanks to John Rock for inviting us!
On April 20th, 2010, I gave a talk on my work relating supersymmetry, division algebras and Lie n-algebras at the Claremont topology seminar. Thanks to Sam Nelson for inviting me. I later gave an improved version of this talk at Higher Structures IV in Goettingen, Germany.
On February 22nd, 2010 I gave a talk on addressing on fractals and IFS's in the Dynamical Systems Seminar.
On February 17th, 2010 I gave a talk on Jordan algebras and projective geometry in the mathematics graduate student seminar.
On January 22nd, 2010 I gave a talk titled "A crash course in simplicial methods" in Professor Julie Bergner's Cobordism Seminar.
On November 7th, 2009 I gave a short talk titled Division Algebras and Supermembranes at the Western Sectional AMS meeting, right here at UCR.
On October 23rd, 2009 I gave a talk on the interaction of quantum field theory and topology in Professor Julie Bergner's Cobordism Seminar. Notes available here.
On June 22nd, 2009 I gave a short talk on Supersymmetry and Division Algebras at the 2nd Mile High Conference in Nonassociative Mathematics.
On March 23rd, 2009 I presented a poster on the algebra of grand unified theories at the Algebraic Lie Theory Workshop at the Isaac Netwon Institute in Cambridge, England.
On February 26th, 2009 I took my oral exam and advanced to PhD candidacy. My talk concerned Grand Unified Theories, just like this paper. You can find the slides here, and a more printer-friendly version here. I also gave this talk on February 5th in Professor Michel Lapidus's Mathematical Physics Seminar.
On November 13, 2008 I gave a talk on Grand Unified Theories in
Michel Lapidus's
On June 5th, 2008 I gave a talk on Quantum Mechanics and Representation Theory in
Michel Lapidus's
On April 10th, 2008 I gave a talk on The Octonions in
Michel Lapidus's
In Spring 2008, I gave a series of lectures on grand unified theories in John
Baez's Quantum Gravity seminar.
During the 2008–2009 school year, John Baez taught a course on Lie theory
in his seminar. You can
find his notes for the Fall quarter here, and notes for the
Winter quarter below:
During 2008-2009, I was one of the recipients of the Graduate Research Mentorship
Fellowship here at UC Riverside. In 2009-2010, I was partially supported by a
grant
from the Foundational Questions Institue (FQXi).
I am grateful to both UCR and FQXi for their support.
Notes
Lie Theory Through Examples
Support
© 2020 John Huerta
Email: john dot huerta AT tecnico dot ulisboa dot removethis pt