Colloquium: Tuesday, April 17, 2 pm. Speaker: Uri Bader, (Weizmann). Title: “The Ergodic Method for Linear Groups”.
A major concern in Group Theory is the question of linearity of a given group and, in case the group is linear, the question of determining all its possible Linear Representations.
While this question is entirely of algebraic nature, many times one approaches it using transcendental methods.
Ergodic Theory, classically involves the study of the evolution of a system through time, is, in modern view, the study of symmetries of a Random System.
Through the last few decades, many profound applications of Ergodic Theoretical techniques to Linear Group Theory were found.
In my talk I will survey some of these classical results, as well as some of the more recent ones, and I will try to hint on a mathematical theory which partially explains why is Ergodic Theory so prominent in Linear Group Theory.
