Lenhard Ng : Symplectic Techniques in Topology: An Informal Introduction

In geometry, there are certain structures that are "rigid" (like Riemannian manifolds) and others that are "flexible" (like topological manifolds). Symplectic geometry lies in between these two extremes and incorporates some attractive features of both. One consequence is that symplectic techniques have recently been used, to great effect, to give combinatorial approaches to questions in topology that previously required difficult gauge-theoretic and analytic techniques. I will introduce symplectic structures and describe some recent developments linking them to the study of three-dimensional manifolds and knots. No real background will be assumed.

• Category: Graduate/Faculty Seminar
• Duration: 01:34:48
• Date:  February 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM
• Tags:   seminar, Graduate/faculty Seminar