University of Georgia
Department of Mathematics

Seminar Schedule
September 5- September 9, 2005
All Seminars are held in Boyd Graduate Studies Bldg. unless otherwise noted.

MONDAY, September 5, 2005

UGA Holiday – No Seminars scheduled

TUESDAY, September 6, 2005

VIGRE-Graduate Student Seminar
2:00p.m., Room 303
Speaker: Joe Rusinko, University of Georgia
Title of talk: TBA

WEDNESDAY, September 7, 2005

Algebraic Geometry
2:30-3:45pm, Room 410
Speaker: Mihnea Popa, University of Chicago
Title of talk: Castelnuovo theory and the geometric Schottky problem
Abstract: Castelnuovo theory is roughly speaking a study of subvarieties in projective space based on analyzing special properties of configurations of points lying on them. This was initiated by the well-known Italian algebraic geometer at the end of the nineteenth century. Around the same time, the Schottky problem emerged: this is the problem of identifying the best known algebraic tori (abelian varieties), namely Jacobians of curves, among all (principally polarized) abelian varieties. In its geometric form, the Schottky problem asks for identifying Jacobians based on special properties of the principal polarization, or the theta divisor. In this talk I will explain joint work with G. Pareschi in which we establish a close parallel between these two classical contexts, motivated by modern developments (most notably the Fourier-Mukai transform).

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

Number Theory
3:30p.m., Room 304
Speaker: Patrick Corn, University of Georgia
Title of talk: Del Pezzo surfaces and the Brauer-Manin obstruction
Abstract: The Hasse principle is the statement that a variety $X$ should have a rational point if it has points everywhere locally. While it is true for various classes of varieties (for example, plane conics), it fails for many other classes, for instance cubic hypersurfaces in ${\mathbb P}^3$. In this talk, the first in a series of about four, we define Del Pezzo surfaces and discuss the Brauer-Manin obstruction, which is a way of explaining why the Hasse principle fails.

VIGRE-Algebra
3:00p.m., Room 326
Speaker: Brian Boe, University of Georgia
Title of talk: Semisimple Lie algebras (continued)

VIGRE Algebraic Geometry Group
3:45 pm in room 303

FRIDAY, September 9, 2005

Probability Theory
2:30pm, Room 303
Speaker: Qing Zhang, University of Georgia
Title of talk: Credit risk models and applications