Texas A&M University, Department of
Mathematics
Groups and Dynamics Seminar
Fall 2008
Time and Place
Unless otherwise stated, the Groups and Dynamics Seminar
meeting
coordinates are
- Time:
Wednesdays 3:00p.m.--3:50p.m.
- Place: 216
Milner Hall
Schedule
- 10th of
September, 2008
Speaker: Piotr
Nowak of Texas
A&M University
Title:
Controlled coarse homology and isoperimetric inequalities. Abstract.
- 17th of
September, 2008
Speaker: Volodymyr Nekrashevych of Texas
A&M University
Title: Iterated monodromy group of a self-map of CP^2, I. Abstract.
- 24th of
September, 2008
Speaker: Volodymyr Nekrashevych of Texas
A&M University
Title: Iterated monodromy group of a self-map of CP^2, II. Abstract.
- 1st of
October, 2008
Speaker: David Kerr of Texas
A&M University
Title: Weak mixing and Propery T, I. Abstract.
- 8th of
October, 2008
Speaker: David Kerr of Texas
A&M University
Title: Weak mixing and Propery T, II. Abstract.
Topics:
GENERAL PROBLEMS Burnside
Problem on torsion groups, Milnor Problem on growth, Kaplanski
Problems on zero divisors, Kaplanski-Kadison Conjecture on
Idempotents, and other famous problems of Algebra, Low-Dimensional
Topology, and Analysis, which have algebraic roots.
GROUPS AND GROUP ACTIONS Group actions on trees
and
other geometric objects, lattices in Lie groups, fundamental groups of
manifolds, and groups of automorphisms of various structures. The key
is
to view everything from different points of view: algebraic,
combinatorial, geometric, and probabalistic.
RANDOMNESS Random walks on groups, statistics on
groups, and statistical models of physics on groups and graphs (such as
the Ising model and Dimer model).
COMBINATORICS Combinatorial properties of
finitely-generated groups and the geometry of their Caley graphs and
Schreier graphs.
GROUP BOUNDARIES Boundaries of
finitely generated groups: Freidental, Poisson, Furstenberg, Gromov,
Martin, etc., boundaries.
AUTOMATA Groups, semigroups, and
finite
(and infinite) automata. This includes the theory of formal languages,
groups generated by finite automata, and automatic groups.
DYNAMICS Connections between group theory and
dynamical systems (in particular the link between fractal groups and
holomorphic dynamics, and between branch groups and substitutional
dynamical systems).
FRACTALS Fractal mathematics, related to
self-similar groups and branch groups.
COHOMOLOGY Bounded cohomology, L^2 cohomology, and
their relation to other subjects, in particular operator algebras.
AMENABILITY Asymptotic properties such as
amenability and
superamenability, Kazhdan property T, growth, and cogrowth.
ANALYSIS Various topics in Analysis related to
groups (in particular spectral theory of discrete Laplace operators on
graphs and groups).
Previous and future years
Spring
2003 Fall
2003 Spring
2004 Fall
2004 Spring
2005 Fall
2005 Spring
2006 Fall
2006 Spring
2007 Spring
2008