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RAAGs in Ham

Geometry/Topology

Speaker: Misha Kapovich, UC Davis
Location: 2112 MSB
Start time: Mon, Mar 7 2011, 4:10PM

I will explain how to embed arbitrary RAAGs (Right Angled Artin Groups) in Ham (the group of hamiltonian symplectomorphisms of the 2-sphere). The proof is combination of topology, geometry and analysis: We will start with embeddings of RAAGs in the mapping class groups of hyperbolic surfaces (topology), then will promote these embeddings to faithful hamiltonian actions on the 2-sphere (hyperbolic geometry and analysis).