Date/Time: 2 February 2024, 4:30pm ET
 Location: Zoom
  Speaker: John Baez, University of California Riverside
    Title: Two of My Favorite Numbers: 8 and 24

 Abstract: The numbers 8 and 24 play special roles in
mathematics. The number 8 is special because of Bott periodicity, the
octonions and the E8 lattice, while 24 is special for many reasons,
including the binary tetrahedral group, the Dedekind eta function, and
the third stable homotopy group of spheres. The number 8 does for
superstring theory what the number 24 does for bosonic string theory. In
this talk, which is intended to be entertaining, I will overview these
matters and also some intriguing connections between the numbers 8 and
24.