Back to Departmental Colloquium: Spring 2014
Departmental Colloquium
Date: Tuesday, Apr 15, 2014
Time: 4:00PM
Location: LCB 219
Martin Bridson
Oxford University
Title |
Capturing infinite groups by their finite quotients |
Abstract |
There are many situations in geometry and group theory where it is natural or convenient to study infinite groups via their finite quotients and finite-index groups. If a group G is residually finite (ie every element survives in some finite quotient) then one might hope to recover a lot of information about the group from the totality of its finite quotients – equivalently, its pro-finite completion. But precisely which properties of G can be detected in this way, and which cannot? To what extent is a residually-finite group determined by its pro-finite completion or representation theory? In this lecture I’ll survey the recent activity around questions such as these and explain how it connects to other areas of mathematics, particularly geometry. Fall 2013 |
Representation Theory
Commutative Algebra
Geometric Group Theory