This week, our speaker will be Tim Hsu (SJSU), talking about “Cube complexes, 3-manifolds, and the Virtually Fibered Conjecture”.  Until recently, the Virtual Haken Conjecture was probably the biggest open problem in 3-manifolds (3-dimensional geometry).  However, in 2012, Ian Agol proved the stronger Virtually Fibered Conjecture by completing part of Dani Wise’s program of studying nonpositively curved cube complexes.  So how did questions in 3-dimensional geometry end up being resolved using spaces made from high-dimensional cubes?  We’ll give an overview explaining the connection and describe the speaker’s joint work with Wise that is part of the emerging and rapidly growing subject of cube complexes.

Background: One semester of abstract algebra; no previous experience with topology required.

• Date: Wed Apr 15
• Time: 3-3:50pm
• Room: MH320
• Snacks: 2:30pm in MH331B

For more information, click here to see the full flyer, suitable for printing and posting.

Hope to see you there!

Upcoming events:

• Mon Apr 13: Math/Stats Career Day, 3:00-4:15pm, MH320
• Wed Apr 22: Dominique Guillot, Stanford Univ.
  “Critical exponents of graphs: Analysis, combinatorics, and statistics”
• Mon Apr 27: Math/Stats Teaching Career Day, 3:00-4:15pm, MH320
• Wed Apr 29: Dick Canary, U. Michigan (visiting MSRI)
  “Non-Euclidean sports and the geometry of surfaces”