Distinguished Lecture Series: John Morgan (State University of New York at Stony Brook) – talk slides available
The 2017 distinguished lecture series was given by Professor John Morgan (State University of New York at Stony Brook) – March 28-30.
More information on the distinguished lecture series
Talk slides
The Topology of Spaces of Dimensions 3 and 4
Abstract
Much of the focus of topology during the last 40 years has been the so-called `low dimensions,’ meaning
dimensions 3 and 4. These talks will survey the state of our understanding of low dimensional spaces. In
dimension 3 the classification of the spaces is intimately connected with Lie groups with compact subgroups
of codimension 3 and their lattice subgroups. While this classification is understood, there remain many
intriguing questions about knots and links in 3-dimensional spaces. These questions are closely connected to
ideas from physics. In dimension 4, it turns out that there it makes a huge difference whether one classifies
up to continuous equivalence or infinitely differentiable equivalence. Much more is known in the
continuous case. In the differentiable case there are invariants that allow us to show that spaces are
continuously equivalent are, in fact, not differentiably equivalent. In the first instance, these invariants were
derived from physics, though later incarnations of these invariants have a purely topological description.
The first two talks will be aimed at a completely general mathematical audience (including graduate
students) and the last will assume only slightly more knowledge of the audience.
On Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 16:30
On Wednesday, March 29, 2017 at 16:30
On Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 10:30 .
All lectures will take place in room 570 of the Science & Education Building
Refreshments will be served 30 minutes before the the times above
For further information call
04-8249294 , 04-8240699
