2nd International Workshop on Geometric Field Theory

Invited speakers:

• Maciej Dunajski (university of Cambridge, UK)

  Title: TBA

  Abstract: TBA

• Katarzyna Grabowska (University of Warsaw, Poland)

  Title: TBA

  Abstract: TBA

• Rui Loja Fernandes (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA)

  Title: TBA

  Abstract: TBA

• Xavier Rivas (University of Rovira i Virgili, Spain)

  Title: Multicontact brackets and multisymplectization

  Abstract: While contact geometry provides robust tools for mathematical physics, extending these structures to multicontact manifolds opens powerful new avenues for modeling dissipation. In this talk, I will introduce a novel graded bracket of forms on multicontact manifolds. We will explore how this bracket extends well-known notions in contact geometry by satisfying a graded Jacobi identity, alongside two distinct versions of the Leibniz rule, including a weak formulation.

  Moving from pure geometry to physical application, the presentation will develop the multisymplectization of multicontact structures. This connects our new brackets to multisymplectic geometry, allowing us to derive field equations in an abstract context. I will then demonstrate how the Jacobi bracket provides a natural framework to study the evolution of physical observables and directly address dissipation phenomena. Finally, we will apply these abstract geometric to classical dissipative field theories.

• Patrizia Vitale (University of Naples, Italy)

  Title: Generalized JT gravity from Chern-Simons reduction

  Abstract: I will describe the dimensional reduction of AdS3/Z2 gravity formulated as an so(2, 2) Chern–Simons theory on a three-manifold with toroidal boundary. The resulting theory is a two-dimensional BF-like model on a disk together with a one-dimensional boundary dynamics on its S1 boundary. Depending on the boundary conditions, the reduced theory admits two distinct one-dimensional boundary branches. The first branch is compatible with a Drinfel’d–Sokolov reduction and reproduces Schwarzian dynamics, together with its Kac–Moody dressing in non-abelian extensions. The second branch leads instead to a deformation of the Schwarzian action of the type relevant to non-extremal black holes and Rindler near-horizon physics. In this way, the construction provides a common three-dimensional origin for both non-abelian extensions of Jackiw–Teitelboim gravity and deformed Schwarzian dynamics.

• Nicoleta Voicu (Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania)

  Title: Beyond Riemann: Finsler Spacetime and the Geometry of Cosmic Acceleration

  Abstract: Finsler geometry extends the Riemannian framework by adopting a fully general notion of arc length. In this talk, I will outline key physical motivations for modeling spacetime within a Finslerian framework, emphasizing its reach beyond standard Riemannian geometry. Then, I will highlight the interplay between Finsler gravity and metric-affine gravity, and the mutual insights they provide. At last, I will introduce a Finsler gravitational model that, under cosmological symmetry, naturally produces exponential expansion—without invoking a cosmological constant or additional fields.