ARNOLD-REGGE CENTER
for
ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY and THEORETICAL PHYSICS
University of Torino and University of Eastern Piedmont
Origins and Motivation
The Center is named after two exceptional scientific personalities, Tullio Regge and Vladimir Arnold, who gave outstanding and original contributions to algebra, geometry and theoretical physics. Both Arnold and Regge had an intuitive geometric approach to mathematics. Both had a talent for combining different and distant mathematical structures into unexpected textures that led to new conceptions, on which generations of scientists have worked and will continue to work. Regge calculus, the approximation of curved spaces by gluing together polyhedra, and Arnold’s ADE classification of singularities, that exports to the theory of catastrophes, are two primary examples. Regge and Arnold had a large influence on young scientists and have left behind them a conspicuous intellectual tradition and scientific legacy.
Tullio Regge's influence on physics and mathematics of his own region, Piedmont, has been deep and fertile. In the three Universities in Piedmont: the University of Torino, the Politecnico of Torino and the University of Eastern Piedmont a strong scientific group has formed over the years, with a high degree of integration and commitment to algebra, geometry and physics. It constitutes a recognized research group in Supergravity and Superstrings with applications to cosmology, black holes, unified theories of all interactions, gauge/gravity correspondence, integrable quantum field theories.
The University of Torino has a long established tradition of collaborating with the Soviet Union and lately with the Russian Federation. Torino University was the first Italian Institution to establish exchange programs with the Soviet Academy of Science, and experimental groups from Torino University conduct experiments in JINR-Dubna since the beginning of the 1970s. Regge was well known in Russia and visited it many times, and so did many members of the Piedmont research group.
Mission of the ARCenter
In view of the facts outlined above the “Arnold-Regge Center for Algebra, Geometry and Theoretical Physics" ( ARCenter ) has been established, whose mission is:
- helping exchanges between Russian, Italian and other foreign scientists active in the areas of algebra, geometry and theoretical physics.
- promoting scientific collaborations, organizing workshops and conferences, inviting distinguished scientists to the Center as visiting professors.
- Organizing series of specialized lectures and courses.
- Providing opportunities of one or two-year fellowships for young talented scientists.
Structure of the ARCenter
ARCenter is an Inter-University and Inter-Department Center established on the basis of a convention between Torino University and the University of Eastern Piedmont. At the scientific and administrative level, also members of the Politecnico of Torino and INFN enter the ARCenter organization. ARCenter has financial support both from public and private subjects, external to the Universities hosting the Center. The administrative location is Torino University at the Physics Department.
