# Seminars & Events for 2010-2011

March 24, 2011
4:30pm - 6:30pm
##### Random maximal isotropic subspaces and Selmer groups
###### Princeton University/IAS Number Theory Seminar

We show that the $p$-Selmer group of an elliptic curve is naturally the intersection of two maximal isotropic subspaces in an infinite-dimensional locally compact quadratic space over $F_p$.

Speaker: Bjorn Poonen, MIT
Location:
IAS Room S-101
March 25, 2011
3:00pm - 5:00pm
##### Partial regularity of a minimizer of the relaxed energy for biharmonic maps
###### Differential Geometry & Geometric Analysis Seminar

In 1999, Chang, Wang and Yang established the fundamental result on the partial regularity stationary biharmonic maps into spheres. Since then, the study of biharmonic maps has attracted much attention. In this talk, we will discuss some new result on the relaxed energy for biharmonic maps from an $m$-dimensional domain into spheres for an integer $m\geq 5$.

Speaker: Min-Chun Hong, University of Queensland, Brisbane
Location:
Fine Hall 314
March 30, 2011
2:30pm - 4:30pm
##### Tournament heroes

The chromatic number of a tournament $T4 is the smallest number of transitive tournaments that partition$V(T)$. Let us say that a tournament$S$is a hero if for every tournament$T$not containing$S$, the chromatic number of$T$is at most a constant$c(S)$. Speaker: Maria Chudnovsky, Columbia University Location: Fine Hall 314 March 30, 2011 4:30pm - 6:30pm ##### Rational points on algebraic varieties ###### Department Colloquium I will discuss several geometric techniques and constructions that emerged in the study of rational points on higher-dimensional algebraic varieties over global fields. Speaker: Yuri Tschinkel, New York University Location: Fine Hall 314 March 31, 2011 2:00pm - 4:00pm ##### Bifurcations of solutions of the 2-dimensional Navier-Stokes system ###### Ergodic Theory & Statistical Mechanics I will explain recent joint work with Sinai on the bifurcations of solutions to the 2-dimensional Navier-Stokes system. Speaker: Dong Li, University of Iowa Location: Fine Hall 801 March 31, 2011 3:00pm - 4:30pm ##### An integral lift of the Gamma-genus ###### Algebraic Topology Seminar The Hirzebruch genus of a complex-oriented manifold$M$associated (by Kontsevich) to Euler's Gamma-function has an analytic interpretation as the index of a family of deformations of a Dirac operator, parametrized by the homogeneous space$Sp_U$; in more homotopy-theoretic terms, it is the homomorphism$\mu \rightarrow \mu_{MSp} KO$of ring spectra. Speaker: Jack Morava, Johns Hopkins University Location: Fine Hall 314 March 31, 2011 4:30pm - 6:30pm ##### Pseudo-Anosov maps with small dilatation ###### Topology Seminar Fix an orientable surface$S$. It is known that the set of dilatations of all pseudo-Anosov maps acting on$S$is a family of real numbers that is bounded below by 1, and has a minimum value$\lambda_{min,S}>1$which is realized geometrically. Speaker: Joan Birman, Columbia University Location: Fine Hall 314 April 1, 2011 3:00pm - 5:00pm ##### Geometrical variational problems in economics ###### Differential Geometry & Geometric Analysis Seminar The monopolist's problem of deciding what types of products to manufacture and how much to charge for each of them, knowing only statistical information about the preferences of an anonymous field of potential buyers, is one of the basic problems analyzed in economic theory. Speaker: Robert McCann, University of Toronto Location: Fine Hall 314 April 4, 2011 4:00pm - 6:00pm ##### Product Formulas for Measures and Applications to Analysis ###### Analysis Seminar Joint Analysis Seminar and PACM Colloquium We will discuss elementary product formalisms for positive measures. These appeared in analysis for purposes of examining "harmonic measures" related to elliptic equations (work of R. Fefferman, J. Pipher, C. Kenig). Speaker: Peter Jones, Yale University Location: Fine Hall 214 April 5, 2011 5:00pm - 7:00pm ##### Compact aspherical manifolds whose fundamental groups have center ###### Algebraic Topology Seminar Classical work of Borel had shown that an action of the circle on a manifold with contractible universal cover yields non-trivial center in the manifold's fundamental group. In the early 70's, Conner and Raymond made further deep investigations which led them to conjecture a converse to Borel's result. Speaker: Sylvain Cappell, New York University Location: Fine Hall 314 April 6, 2011 4:00pm - 6:00pm ##### Stirring Tails of Evolution ###### PACM/Applied Mathematics Colloquium One of the most fundamental issues in biology is the nature of evolutionary transitions from single cell organisms to multicellular ones. Not surprisingly for microscopic life in a fluid environment, many of the processes involved are related to transport and locomotion, for efficient exchange of chemical species with the environment is one of the most basic features of life. Speaker: Ray Goldstein, Cambridge University Location: Fine Hall 214 April 6, 2011 4:30pm - 6:30pm ##### Endoscopic transfer of the Bernstein center ###### Department Colloquium The Langlands-Shelstad theory of endoscopy plays a central role in the study of Shimura varieties and the Arthur-Selberg trace formula. The fundamental lemma and a deep consequence, endoscopic transfer, have now been established in works of Ngo, Waldspurger, and Hales. Speaker: Thomas Haines, University of Maryland Location: Fine Hall 314 April 7, 2011 2:30pm - 4:30pm ##### The group number function: the number of groups of a given order ###### Discrete Mathematics Seminar The group number, gnu(n) of n, is defined to be the number of groups of order n. It is now known for all n < 211. I shall discuss the peculiar properties of this function and of the related function moa(n), defined to be the least number N for which gnu(N)=n. Speaker: John Conway, Princeton University Location: Fine Hall 224 April 7, 2011 3:00pm - 4:30pm ##### Moment-angle complexes from simplicial posets ###### Algebraic Topology Seminar The construction of moment-angle complexes may be extended from simplicial complexes to simplicial posets. As a result, a certain$T^m$-space$Z_S$is associated to an arbitrary simplicial poset S on m vertices. Face rings$Z[S]$of simplicial posets generalise those of simplicial complexes, but have much more complicated algebraic structure. Speaker: Taras Panov, Moscow State University Location: Fine Hall 314 April 7, 2011 4:30pm - 6:30pm ##### Geometric structures on moment-angle manifolds ###### Topology Seminar Moment-angle complexes are spaces acted on by a torus and parametrised by finite simplicial complexes. They are central objects in toric topology, and currently are gaining much interest in the homotopy theory. Due the their combinatorial origins, moment-angle complexes also find applications in combinatorial geometry and commutative algebra. Speaker: Taras Panov, Moscow State University Location: Fine Hall 314 April 8, 2011 3:00pm - 5:00pm ##### Minimal fillings and boundary rigidity - a survey ###### Differential Geometry & Geometric Analysis Seminar A Riemannian manifold with boundary is said to be boundary rigid if its metric is uniquely determined by the boundary distance function, that is the restriction of the distance function to the boundary. Loosely speaking, this means that the Riemannian metric can be recovered from measuring distances between boundary points only. Speaker: Dmitri Burago, Penn State University Location: Fine Hall 314 April 11, 2011 4:00pm - 6:00pm ##### From (basic) image denoising to surface evolution ###### PACM/Applied Mathematics Colloquium It is relatively easy to make a connection between the implicit time-discrete approaches for the mean curvature flow and the "Rudin-Osher-Fatemi" total variation based approach for image denoising. Speaker: Antonin Chambolle, CMAP - Ecole Polytechnique Location: Fine Hall 214 April 11, 2011 4:00pm - 6:00pm ##### Global dynamics for the ion equation in the Euler-Poisson system ###### Analysis Seminar We prove that small perturbations of a constant background in the Euler-Poisson equation for the ions lead to global smooth solutions. This is a manifestation of the stabilization effect of the electric field as the corresponding result does not hold for the closely related compressible Euler equation. Speaker: Benoit Pausader, Brown University Location: Fine Hall 314 April 12, 2011 5:00pm - 7:00pm ##### The Geometry of Music ###### Algebraic Topology Seminar In my talk, I explain how to translate basic concepts of music theory into the language of contemporary topology and geometry. Speaker: Dmitri Tymoczko, Department of Music, Princeton University Location: Fine Hall 314 April 13, 2011 4:30pm - 6:30pm ##### Eigenfunctions and nodal sets ###### Department Colloquium Nodal sets are the zero sets of eigenfunctions of the Laplacian on a Riemannian manifold (M, g). If$\Delta \phi = \lambda^{2 \phi}$, then$\phi$is somewhat analogous to a polynomial of degree$\lambda\$ and its nodal set is somewhat analogous to a real algebraic variety of this degree. The analogy is closest if (M, g) is real analytic.

Speaker: Steve Zelditch, Northwestern University
Location:
Fine Hall 314