Ludwig Schläfli lecture 2018

Monday November 19th, 2018, 17:15
University of Bern, Main Building, Hochschulstrasse 4, Room 120
(first floor, on the West side).
Coffee and tea starts at 16:30, ground floor of Main building, on the West side.

Tamar Ziegler
Einstein Institute of Mathematics
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Approximate cohomology: from dynamics to algebraic geometry

Say that a function f from an abelian group G to Hom(V,W) is an approximate homomorphism if f(x+y)-f(x)-f(y) is of bounded rank uniformly for all x,y in G. Is there a homomorphism h such that (f-h)(x) is of bounded rank for all x in G ? We demonstrate how this question is naturally related to questions in arithmetic combinatorics, dynamics and algebraic geometry.

The Ludwig Schläfli lecture takes place every two years since 2006 (in even years) at the University of Bern; it is a joint colloquium with the University of Fribourg, who organizes the Plancherel Lectures in odd years. The lecture is named after Ludwig Schläfli, who was a member of the mathematics department of the University of Bern between 1848 and 1891. This year, there is a special exhibition about his life and works. The Schläfli lecture is an excellent opportunity for mathematicians from Swiss universities to meet and learn about new directions of research in mathematics.

Directions to the lecture hall: in the Bern railway station follow signs to Universität and take the exit on the North via elevator to Grosse Schanze (not the city exit). After leaving the elevator and turning your back to the city, you face two large, 19th-century-style buildings. The rightmost one is the Hauptgebäude, where room 120 is on the first floor in the Western wing. See also this map.

For any additional information please e-mail Jan Draisma.

Past Lectures: (2016 Schläfli lecture was absorbed into Einstein Lectures by Martin Hairer)
2014: Gérard Besson (Grenoble)
2012: Albrecht Böttcher (Chemnitz)
2010: Bart M. ter Haar Romeney (Eindhoven)
2008: Günter M. Ziegler (TU Berlin)
2006: Oleg Viro (Uppsala)
Design by Emanuele Delucchi