An example of BV quantization in action

The purpose of this talk is to survey the machinery developed
by Costello, with an emphasis on the procedure by which one starts with
an action functional and ends up with higher algebraic structure at the
end. The running example will take as input the curved beta-gamma
system, a 2d sigma model of maps from a Riemann surface to a complex
manifold. I will sketch how to construct its BV quantization and how to
analyze its factorization algebra, which determines a sheaf of vertex
algebras known as "chiral differential operators." The talk aims to be
conversational and not very technical, as I want to communicate the big
picture.