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Noncommutative geometry and its applications

Colloquium

Speaker: Jerry Kaminker, University of California, Davis and IUPUI
Location: 693 Kerr
Start time: Mon, Oct 31 2005, 4:10PM

Noncommutative geometry, in the spirit of Alain Connes, has its roots in index theory of elliptic operators, ergodic theory, and quantum mechanics. It has been applied in many contexts--topology, physics, representation theory, and dynamics, to name a few. One of its strengths is that it suggests unexpected relations between different areas and new ways of looking at problems.

This talk will start with a discussion of the basic notions of noncommutative geometry as they evolved from their commutative analogs, followed by examples of how the theory has been used to solve and understand some problems in topology and physics. A particular topic we will try to cover is how duality in topology becomes a duality in the noncommutative setting which is related to ones that show up in physics.

Coffee and cookies at 3:45 in Adler Commons Room (5 floor)