Geometry Meets Physics: Finiteness, Tameness, and Complexity

Dates: November 12–14, 2025

Location: CMSA G10, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA 02138 Finiteness is a fundamental property in consistent physical theories. From the earliest days of quantum field theory and string theory, the drive to eliminate unphysical infinities has been a guiding principle. More recently, finiteness has emerged as a key criterion for constraining effective theories that can be embedded in quantum gravity. Formulating and testing these constraints remains a central challenge in current research.

In parallel, mathematics has made remarkable advanced in addressing finiteness questions using tame geometry. Built on the framework of o-minimal structures, tame geometry offers a precise language for describing objects of finite geometric complexity. Recent developments, such as sharp o-minimality, go further by introducing a quantitative notion of complexity, opening new directions for analyzing finiteness in mathematics and physics alike.

This workshop brings together mathematicians and physicists to exchange ideas, explore new perspectives, and spark collaborations at the interface of geometry, logic, and fundamental physics.

Invited Speakers:

Vijay Balasubramanian (UPenn), Gregorio Baldi (IHES, France), Gal Binyamini (Weizmann Institute), Raf Cluckers (Lille, France), Bruno Klingler (Humboldt University, Berlin), Delgado Matilda (Max Planck Institute Munich), Adele Padgett (Vienna), David Prieto (Utrecht) , Washington Taylor (MIT), David Urbanik (IHES, France), Cumrun Vafa (Harvard), Mick van Vliet (Utrecht), Benny Zak (Weizmann),

Organizers: Thomas Grimm, Harvard CMSA & Utrecht University | Gal Binyamini, Weizmann Institute | Bruno Klingler, Humboldt University, Berlin