22 May 2026

Photo: Alejandro Gil García

In his block course (May 11 – 15, 2026) for PhD students, Alejandro Gil García introduced the formalism of real spinorial forms. This formalism is of interest both from a purely mathematical perspective and for applications in mathematical physics, particularly in general relativity and supergravity. One of the main goals of the course was to explain the relation between Lorentzian four-manifolds admitting real parallel spinors and pp-waves, which, from a physical perspective, provide idealized mathematical models for gravitational waves.

The students who attended showed a strong interest and actively engaged with the material. For Alejandro, the course was a rewarding experience.
The lectures gave rise to many insightful discussions with the students, which helped deepen the understanding of the theory and elaborate on the lecture notes. He hopes that the participants will continue to use and further develop this formalism in their future research careers.