Open Neighborhood Seminar
Harvard University Math Department
Welcome to ONS! This is a general-audience colloquium series for all members of the Harvard math community, including undergraduates at any level. We meet every other Wednesday at 4:30pm in SC507 for an hour-long talk, followed by snacks and a social hour with the speaker in the Science Center North Lawn Tent. (We alternate with Math Table.) You can subscribe to our mailing list here.
Next talk: September 22
- Speaker: Mihnea Popa (Harvard)
- Title: Projective vs. abelian geometry
- Abstract: Projective space and complex tori are two of the simplest types of manifolds we encounter, and in many ways they seem very different from each other. I will try to convince you however that, at least if we consider a special (but at the same time very common) class of tori called principally polarized abelian varieties, then the geometry of their subvarieties exhibits surprising, and to date mostly unexplained, similarities to the geometry of subvarieties in projective space.
Past and future talks:
September 1 - MT/ONS Opener
- Speaker: Cliff Taubes (Harvard)
- Title: Math and the universe
- Abstract: It is likely that all known aspects of our universe are amenable to mathematical analysis. Are there universes that aren’t? If you have thought about this, come and join the discussion.
September 8
- Speaker: Laura DeMarco (Harvard)
- Title: Prime numbers and Julia sets
- Abstract: Interesting patterns of prime numbers can arise in recursively defined sequences (such as the Fibonacci sequence). For non-linear recursions, there are intriguing connections with complex dynamics and the Mandelbrot set. This is just one of the many ways that Number Theory and Chaotic Dynamical Systems come together. I'll present a few examples and a glimpse into some of my own research in this direction.
September 22
- Speaker: Mihnea Popa (Harvard)
- Title: Projective vs. abelian geometry
- Abstract: Projective space and complex tori are two of the simplest types of manifolds we encounter, and in many ways they seem very different from each other. I will try to convince you however that, at least if we consider a special (but at the same time very common) class of tori called principally polarized abelian varieties, then the geometry of their subvarieties exhibits surprising, and to date mostly unexplained, similarities to the geometry of subvarieties in projective space.
October 6
- Speaker: Mark Shusterman (Harvard)
- Title: TBA
- Abstract: TBA
October 20
- Speaker: Christopher Eur (Harvard)
- Title: TBA
- Abstract: TBA
November 3
- Speaker: Ronen Mukamel (Harvard Medical School)
- Title: TBA
- Abstract: TBA
November 17
- Speaker: Kavita Ramanan (Brown)
- Title: TBA
- Abstract: TBA
Organizers: Ana Balibanu (ana@math.harvard.edu) and Dori Bejleri (bejleri@math.harvard.edu). Please drop us an email if you're curious about the seminar!