Simon Wood

Simon Wood

Mathematician and physicist with an interest in all that connects these two fields.

Simon Wood - Mathematician working on vertex algebras, tensor categories and conformal field theory

I am a Professor of Mathematics at Cardiff University’s School of Mathematics, where I am a member of the Geometry, Algebra, Mathematical Physics & Topology (GAPT) group.

I have been featured in the Maths can take you anywhere campaign by the Academy of Mathematical Sciences.

My research focuses on symmetries in the laws of physics. Such symmetries are fundamental to our understanding of the laws nature (they have arguably been the driving force behind almost all advances in theoretical physics for well over 100 years) and are also a source of beautiful mathematics. Specifically, I mainly study the mathematics of 2 dimensional conformal quantum field theories and all their myriad connections to Lie theory, vertex operator algebras, representation theory, modular forms and modular tensor categories to name but a few. Please see the Research Section for more details.

If you are a student who is interested in doing a summer project or a PhD with me, please see the Supervision Section.

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