Ming Zhang: Verlinde/Grassmannian Correspondence
Abstract: In the 90s', Witten gave a physical derivation of an isomorphism between the Verlinde algebra of $GL(n)$ of level $l$ and the quantum cohomology ring of the Grassmannian $\text{Gr}(n,n+l)$. In the joint work arXiv:1811.01377 with Yongbin Ruan, we proposed a K-theoretic generalization of Witten's work by relating the $\text{GL}_{n}$ Verlinde numbers to the level $l$ quantum K-invariants of the Grassmannian $\text{Gr}(n,n+l)$, and refer to it as the Verlinde/Grassmannian correspondence. The correspondence was formulated precisely in the aforementioned paper, and we proved the rank 2 case (n=2) there.
In this talk, I will first explain the background of this correspondence and its interpretation in physics. Then I will discuss the main idea of the proof for arbitrary rank. A new technical ingredient is the virtual nonabelian localization formula developed by Daniel Halpern-Leistner.
