Title: Morse theory and Poincaré conjecture
Speaker: Enric Solé Farré
Abstract: I will introduce the notion of cobordism and explain how Morse functions extend to them. I will then give a brief sketch of the h-cobordism theorem, its limitations and explain how the Poincaré conjecture follows for n≥5 almost immedately. Time permiting, I will discuss the status of n=4.
Note the unusual location: we are in the basement this week, room 130.
Some snacks will be provided before and after the talk.
This talk will be broadcasted via Zoom. Subscribe to the mailing list or contact organisers to get the Zoom details.
Junior Geometry Seminar
A weekly seminar run during term times on Fridays from 5:30–6:30pm. Most of the speakers and the audience are LSGNT students interested in geometry (algebraic, arithmetic, differential, metric, symplectic, you name it), though we plan to invite speakers from outside London in Terms 2 and 3 and everyone is welcome to join!
The talks at the Seminar are meant to be accessible to all PhD students. We remind the speakers to assume as little prerequisites as possible and provide as much background as needed. We also encourage participants to ask questions whenever they feel like it — if you are confused, then chances are you are not alone, but everyone is too shy to ask.
London School of Geometry and Number Theory
A joint venture of Imperial College, King’s College London and University College London with funding from EPSRC as an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training. See more about the LSGNT