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Universal Schubert polynomials in Geometry

Algebra & Discrete Mathematics

Speaker: Linda Chen, Swarthmore College
Location: 2112 MSB
Start time: Fri, May 15 2009, 1:10PM

There has been a long and fruitful connection between combinatorics and algebraic geometry. Schubert polynomials appear naturally in the cohomology of the flag variety, and quantum Schubert polynomials arise in the quantum cohomology of (partial) flag varieties. Universal Schubert polynomials, which specialize to all (quantum) Schubert polynomials, were introduced in 2000 to answer a degeneracy locus problem. I will describe these combinatorially-defined polynomials, discuss their relationship to geometry, and describe a Pieri-type result.