Events

Wednesday, June 18: 

Location: JCMB 6206

3-4 PM Undergraduate colloquium by Tara Brendle on “Braids: from the quadratic formula to ceilidh dancing”

Abstract: The theory of braids appears in a fundamental way in a variety of settings in mathematics and physics, from the ancient problem of finding roots of polynomials, to motions of objects in an ambient space.  In this talk we will introduce the theory of braids from multiple mathematical viewpoints, and survey both familiar and (perhaps) unfamiliar ways that braids appear in our day-to-day lives. 

4:30 – 5:30 PM Information session run by Piscopia Initiative: “What it’s like to do a maths PhD”

Wednesday, June 25: 

Location: JCMB 5328:

3-4 PM Undergraduate colloquium by Nitin Chidambaram on “An introduction to Hurwitz theory” 

Abstract: I’ll introduce a classical counting problem first studied by Hurwitz at the end of the 19thcentury – count the number of holomorphic maps between fixed Riemann surfaces with prescribed ramification data. This count is called a Hurwitz number. In this talk, I’ll introduce Hurwitz theory, discuss some of the techniques one can use to compute Hurwitz numbers and touch upon some of the fascinating links to seemingly unrelated fields of mathematics (for instance, symmetric functions, representation theory, integrable systems)  that makes Hurwitz theory an active field of research today.

4:30 – 5:30 PM Information session run by Piscopia Initiative: “How to apply to do a maths PhD”

Wednesday, July 16: 

Location: JCMB 6301

3-4 PM Undergraduate colloquium by Giulia Gugiatti, TBA. 

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