University of Georgia
Department of Mathematics

Seminar Schedule
December 4 - December 8, 2006

All Seminars are held in Boyd Graduate Studies Bldg. unless otherwise noted.

 

MONDAY, December 4, 2006

Topology
2:30pm, Room 304
Speaker: Emille Davie, University of Georgia
Title of talk: Right-Veering Homeomorphisms of Bordered Surfaces and the Burau
Representation of $B_n$

Abstract: I will give a topological description of the Burau representation of the braid group $B_n$. I will also show how this representation can be used to characterize right-veering homeomorphisms of the once-punctured torus given that the restricted mapping class group of this space is isomorphic to $B_3$.


Algebra
2:30pm, Room 410
Speaker: Zongzhu Lin, Kansas State University
Title: Realizing the whole quantum groups from product quivers.
Abstract; It is well know that the positive part of the quantized enveloping algebra can be constructed as the composition algebra in a Hall algebra for an arbitrary quiver corresponding to arbitrary (symmetrizable) Kac-Moody Lie algebra. Nakajima used a double quiver with added vertices to construct all integrable highest weight representations for (symmetrizable) Kac-Moody Lie algebras. In this talk we will modify the quiver used by Nakajima and realize the whole quantum group as a quotient of the Borel part of the new quiver. This construction can be thought as an evaluation from the affine construction.

Faculty and Graduate Student Social
3:00pm, Room 409
Coffee, Cookies, Tea


TUESDAY, December 5, 2006

VIGRE-Graduate Student Seminar
2:00pm, Room 302
Speakers: Rachel Whitaker and Matt Mastin, University of Georgia
Title of talk: Calculating Ropelength of Composite Links
Abstract: We will discuss work done this semester in the VIGRE Geometry group, as well as briefly discuss the application of the work to particle physics. Next, we give and overview of link properties, including symmetry and the connected sum operation. We then present the flow chart of the software suite used to compute the ropelengths.

 

WEDNESDAY, December 6, 2006

VIGRE-Algebra
2:30pm, Room 304

Number Theory/Arithmetic Geometry
3:30pm, Room 304
Speaker: Jon Voight (Institute for Mathematics and its Applications)
Title: Computing zeta functions using p-adic cohomology

Faculty and Graduate Social
3:00pm, Room 409
Coffee, Tea, Cookies

THURSDAY, December 7, 2006

VIGRE-Quantum Mechanics
3:30pm, Room 410