Time：14:00-16:00, Wednesday, October 14 2026
Venue：E14-301
Speaker: Congjun Wu, Westlake University
Title：Bridging mathematical and physical problems
Abstract: Mathematics and physics share deep historical roots. Figures such as Newton, Gauss, Poincaré, and C. N. Yang made fundamental contributions to both fields. Over the past century, however, mathematics and physics have increasingly developed along different trajectories, and communication between mathematicians and physicists has become progressively more difficult.
At a time when both fields are facing new opportunities and challenges brought by artificial intelligence, it is particularly valuable to strengthen the dialogue between mathematics and physics. With this motivation, I will reformulate several well-known open problems in mathematical physics, which have remained unresolved for more than half a century—in a language that is more accessible to mathematicians.
I will first explain some basic distinctions between classical and quantum models, and between quantum spin and fermionic models. I will then discuss several longstanding problems in quantum magnetism and show how they can be connected to questions in matrix analysis and related areas of mathematics. In particular, I would like to propose a collaborative effort bringing mathematicians and physicists together to study a selected class of quantum magnetism problems for which mathematical methods may offer new insights.
