• CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Rationality questions in algebraic geometry

    Virtual

    Joe Harris (Harvard) Title: Rationality questions in algebraic geometry Abstract: Over the course of the history of algebraic geometry, rationality questions — motivated by both geometric and arithmetic problems — have often driven the subject forward. The rationality or irrationality of cubic hypersurfaces in particular have led to the development of abelian integrals (dimension one), birational geometry (dimension […]

  • CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Quantum Groups

    Virtual

    Pavel Etingof (MIT) Title: Quantum Groups Abstract: The theory of quantum groups developed in mid 1980s from attempts to construct and understand solutions of the quantum Yang-Baxter equation, an important equation arising in quantum field theory and statistical mechanics. Since then, it has grown into a vast subject with profound connections to many areas of mathematics, such as […]

  • CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Black Hole Formation

    Virtual

    Lydia Bieri (University of Michigan) Title: Black Hole Formation Abstract: Can black holes form through the focusing of gravitational waves? This was an outstanding question since the early days of general relativity. In his breakthrough result of 2008, Demetrios Chrstodoulou answered this question with “Yes!” In order to investigate this result, we will delve deeper into the […]