Simons Foundation Courses

ASD Connections and Cosmetic Surgery - March 28, 2025

Delve into the cosmetic surgery conjecture in 3-manifolds, exploring how instanton homology rules out certain surgery cases, leaving only the possibility of 2-surgery, with discussion of limitations and future developments.

• YouTube
• 41 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Exotic Phenomena in Dimension 4 - March 27, 2025

Explore the mysterious world of exotic smooth 4-manifolds with Lisa Piccirillo, examining methods to identify distinct smooth structures with identical topological types.

• YouTube
• 45 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

SO(3) Versus SU(3) in the Instanton Homology for Webs and Foams - March 27, 2025

Explore the relationship between SO(3) and SU(3) gauge theories in instanton homology for webs and foams, examining how replacing SO(3) with SU(3) affects structure and results.

• YouTube
• 55 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Real Heegaard Floer Homology - March 27, 2025

Delve into the construction of real Heegaard Floer homology for 3-manifolds with involution, exploring its topological invariance, connections to Miyazawa's work, and applications to exotic RP^2-knots.

• YouTube
• 50 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Smooth Structures on Closed Four-Manifolds with Non-Trivial Fundamental Group - March 27, 2025

Explore key constructions for producing 'exotic' smooth structures on closed four-manifolds with non-trivial fundamental groups, examining sources of exoticness through the genus function on second homology groups.

• YouTube
• 49 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Visible Light Absorption by Alumina Aerosols

Explore the spectral absorption properties of alumina aerosols for stratospheric aerosol injection, featuring new photoacoustic spectrometer measurements and molecular-scale calculations to assess climate impacts.

• YouTube
• 20 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Ice Nucleation Properties of Aerosol Particles for Potential Cirrus Cloud Thinning

Explore the potential of cirrus cloud thinning as a climate warming mitigation strategy through the study of ice nucleation properties of aerosol particles and their effectiveness in seeding cirrus clouds.

• YouTube
• 22 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Evolution of Alternative Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Materials Under Simulated Stratospheric Ageing

Explore the chemical and physical properties of alternative solid materials for stratospheric aerosol injection, examining their radiation interactions and stability through advanced spectroscopic techniques and simulated stratospheric aging.

• YouTube
• 27 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Solid Particles for Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering: Climatic Impacts and Chemical Uncertainties

Explore the viability of solid particles like alumina, calcite, and diamond as alternatives to sulfate aerosols for stratospheric solar geoengineering, examining climate impacts and chemical uncertainties through modeling and experiments.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Solid Material Integration into the CARMA Box Model and CESM2/CARMA

Explore the implementation of solid materials, particularly aluminum, into climate models using CARMA, examining aerosol properties, interactions with atmospheric chemistry, and comparisons between different materials like diamond and calcite.

• YouTube
• 26 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Africa's Climate Response to Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Materials

Explore Africa's climate response to different stratospheric aerosol geoengineering materials through simulation data, examining temperature and precipitation impacts across the continent.

• YouTube
• 22 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Practical Considerations for Risk Assessment of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Strategies

Explore the practical limitations of stratospheric aerosol injection for climate cooling, including technical, geopolitical, and economic constraints that impact risk assessment and feasibility.

• YouTube
• 20 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Exploring the Impacts of Absorbing and Scattering Stratospheric Aerosols with Planetary Cooling (April 24, 2025)

Explore the climate impacts of different stratospheric aerosols, examining how absorbing vs. scattering aerosols affect planetary cooling, ozone levels, tropical cyclones, and regional temperature and precipitation extremes.

• YouTube
• 23 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

The Glaciogenic Effect of Aerosols and Its Potential for Mixed-Phase Cloud Thinning

Explore the relationship between dust aerosols and cloud phase, examining how they influence cloud radiative effects and their potential application in climate intervention through mixed-phase cloud thinning.

• YouTube
• 25 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Across Scales: From Near-Field Agglomerates to Global Impacts

Explore the evolution of particle size distribution in stratospheric aerosol injection, from sub-grid processes to global impacts, focusing on how these factors influence climate models and radiative effects.

• YouTube
• 26 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video