Date: Tuesday Feb 3rd & 10th 2015
Speaker: Seungwon Kim
Title: Link diagrams with Turaev genus one
Abstract : Every link diagram is cellularly embedded on its Turaev
surfaces and is alternating on it. However, not every cellularly
embedded alternating diagram on a surface comes from Turaev's
construction. I will talk about a necessary condition for such a
diagram to arise from Turaev's construction, and use it to classify
link diagrams with Turaev genus one.
Date: Tuesday Feb 24th, March 3rd & 17th 2015
Speaker: Zach McGuirk
Title: Expansion in graphs and Expansion Phenomena
Abstract: This talk is the first of a series of planned lectures on
Expansion Phenomena. In this talk the background material for an
understanding of the Bourgain-Gamburd Expansion Machine will be
presented. In particular, the basic graph theory required will be
covered and the setting necessary to fire up the machine will be
constructed with a statement of the theorem at the heart of this
discussion coming in at the very end.
Date: Tuesday March 10th 2015
Speaker: Joe Quinn
Title: Canonical decompositions for cusped hyperbolic manifolds
Abstract: We will discuss canonical decompositions for cuspsed
hyperbolic manifolds described in Epstein-Penner's famous paper
"Euclidean decompositions of noncompact hyperbolic manifolds".
Date: Tuesday April 14th & 21st 2015
Speaker: Ivan Levcovitz
Title: Geometry in Coxeter Groups
Abstract: This talk will discuss the geometry of general Coxeter groups. I will define these groups, prove some of their basic geometric and combinatorial properties, and examine geometric spaces these groups act on. Many examples will be given.