Seminar: Thompson Groups; SS 2022

News

The templates for reports/handouts are online (see below); of course, you can also produce the report/handout by other means.
According to current plans (11.04.2022): This course will be taught on campus in person. On request, I could turn this into a hybrid format (with live streaming). Please note that there will be no recordings of the talks. The talks are a precious opportunity for live interaction and I want to keep the atmosphere as casual and unintimidating as possible. Please let me know (by email) in case there is a need for the hybrid option!
The schedule is now available.
Some typos in the references are corrected [10.02.2022]
The organisational meeting for this seminar will be on Thursday, Feb 10, at 13:00 in zoom; access data is provided on the GRIPS course page.
Registration: through the GRIPS registration form (before 14.02.).
This seminar complements the Geometric Group Theory course; attending this course is not necessary to follow the seminar.

Seminar: Thompson Groups

The Thompson groups T, F, and V constitute famous examples in Group Theory and Geometric Group Theory. For example, T and V are finitely presented infinite simple groups. A long-standing open problem asks whether F is a so-called amenable group or not.

In this seminar, we will look at different algebraic and geometric descriptions/properties of T, F, and V. One main goal is to understand the recent computation of the bounded cohomology of T. Along the way, we will master various general principles, such as the Euler class of circle actions, computations of group cohomology through suitable actions, amenable actions, and the connection with several invariants from Group Theory.

Details: seminar schedule.

Time/Location

Wednesday, 8:30--10:00, M 102

On demand, we can switch to a hybrid format (with zoom live streaming); please contact Clara Löh by email.

Material

Overview of all talks (and some organisatorial hints).
LaTeX template for handouts: .tex, .pdf
(The template is in German, but that hopefully won't cause any problems).
LaTeX template for reports: .tex, .pdf
(The template is in German, but that hopefully won't cause any problems).
Hints on writing mathematical texts (in German)
More such hints
Small print on slide talks

Prerequisites

basic group theory (as taught in the (Linear) Algebra courses); basic topology (as taught in the Analysis courses); this seminar complements the course Geometric Group Theory, but can also be attended independently.
This seminar is suitable for Bachelor/Master students and Lehramtsstudenten with an interest in groups and geometry, and could be the starting point for a project under my supervision (e.g., bachelor/master thesis, Zulassungsarbeit).

Formalities/Credits

See the commented list of courses.

Last Change: April 11, 2022.