Abstract: In his seminal classification paper from 1976, Connes remarked that every separable tracial von Neumann algebra ought to be embeddable into an ultrapower of the hyperfinite type II_1 factor, or, in other words, be approximable by matrices. Over the following decades, the Connes Embedding Problem (CEP) remained unsolved, but many interesting and deep reformulations were discovered. Prominently, Kirchberg proved in his famous 1991 Inventiones paper that CEP is equivalent to several questions concerning C*-algebras and their tensor product, including his QWEP conjecture. He also showed that CEP holds if and only if there is a unique C*-norm of the tensor product of two copies of the full group C*-algebra of the free group. The latter was shown (by several authors) to be equivalent to Tsirelson’s conjecture about quantum correlations. CEP also relates to the open problems in group theory if all infinite discrete groups are sofic. Recently, Ji-Natarajan-Vidick-Wright-Yuen announced a negative solution to Tsirelson’s conjecture, and hence also a negative answer to CEP by proving that two complexity classes are the same. Note: This talk is part of the activity of the MUR Excellence Department Project MatMod@TOV (CUP E83C23000330006) The Operator Algebra Seminar schedule is here: https://sites.google.com/view/oastorvergata/home-page