It has been observed long ago that many systems from statistical physics behave randomly on macroscopic level at their critical temperature. In two dimensions, these phenomena have been classified by theoretical physicists thanks to conformal field theory, that led to the derivation of the exact value of various critical exponents that describe their behavior near the critical temperature. In the last couple of years, combining ideas of complex analysis and probability theory, mathematicians have constructed and studied a family of random fractals (called `Schramma€“Loewner evolutions' or SLE) that describe the only possible conformally invariant limits of the interfaces for these models. This gives a concrete construction of these random systems, puts various predictions on a rigorous footing, and leads to further understanding of their behavior. The goal of this paper is to survey some of these recent mathematical developments, and to describe a couple of basic underlying ideas. We will also briefly describe some very recent and ongoing developments relating SLE, Brownian loop soups and conformal field theory.
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