When Chern classes were discovered, they seemed to be a pure mathematical creation, far from the lost symbiosis between mathematics and physics. Thirty years later they proved to be fundamental for the study of Yang-Mills fields. Conversely, supersymmetry appeared in a quantum field theoretical context, but became essential in mathematics, too. Starting in the 1970's, in response to these challenges, the conferences on Differential Geometrical Methods in Theoretical Physics helped to reestablish a common understanding. The itinerary of the conference locations from Europe to Israel , the USA , China and Mexico reflects the increasingly global nature of scientific work and the universal recognition of its mathematical basis. |
Brief Introduction to DGMTP (written by Werner Nahm) 
------ 
Nankai Institute of Mathematics - Nankai University.