Topology Seminar

Modular operads are particular, heavily-structured operads which show up in many areas of physics. The story of these operads winds its way through Feynman diagrams, quantum field theory, and string theory.

In this talk we shall motivate the construction of modular operads by considering their application to the theory of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces. Along the way, we shall encounter ways in which physics has inspired (or created) solutions to problems involving Riemann surfaces.