Creighton Hogg
Hi Haskell, Sorry to contribute to the noise but given that we've been talking about categories lately, I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on good universities for studying category theory. I'm trying to figure out where to apply for my phd. I want to either be at a place with a strong category theory program or a strong differential geometry program.
Do apply to Columbia. Category theory was partly invented here; Eilenberg's bust looks out over the common room. As for differential geometry, we've had ringside seats for Perelman's proof of the Poincare conjecture, with Morgan and Hamilton on the faculty, and one can't get to the espresso machine without tripping over a differential geometer. And a few of us speak Haskell. I learned what category theory I know as part of Algebraic Geometry, and share the prejudice that category theory is a language one uses, rather than studying directly. I certainly had to go back to the books to understand the different uses in Haskell. Prejudice or not, if you're sharp enough to be a contender, you'll get a better job studying differential geometry. You can always study category theory at the same time, but diff geo will pay the rent.