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The Thurston Norm
Student-Run Geometry/Topology Seminar| Speaker: | Yvonne Lai, UC Davis |
| Location: | 593 Kerr |
| Start time: | Thu, Dec 9 2004, 1:10PM |
In 1985, Bill Thurston showed: suppose M is a compact atoroidal orientable 3-maniofld such that the rank of H_2(M,\partial M; \mathbb{Z}) is greater than 1. Then M contains an embedded superincompressible surface which is not a fiber in a fibration of M over S^1 and which represents a nontrivial element of H_2. His proof relies on the Thurston norm, which we will introduce. Time permitting, we'll sketch the proof. More likely, we'll just have time to introduce the norm and cover some background material.