Forthcoming events in this series


Wed, 25 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Simplicial Boundary of CAT(0) Cube Complexes

Kobert Ropholler
(Oxford)
Abstract

The simplicial boundary is another way to study the boundary of CAT(0) cube complexes. I will define this boundary introducing the relevant terminology from CAT(0) cube complexes along the way. There will be many examples and many pictures, hopefully to help understanding but also to improve my (not so great) drawing skills. 

Wed, 18 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Residual properties of amalgams

Gareth Wilkes
Abstract

I will discuss the circumstances in which residual finiteness properties of an amalgamated free product $A\ast_c B$ may be deduced from the properties of $A$ and $B$, with particular regard to the pro-p residual properties.

Wed, 11 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Commutator Subgroup and Quasimorphisms

Nicolaus Heuer
(Oxford)
Abstract

Quasimorphisms (QM) of groups to the reals are well studied and are linked to stable commutator length (scl) via Bavard Duality- Theorem. The notion of QM can be generalized to yield maps  between groups such that each QM from one group pulls back to a QM in the other.

We will give both a short overview of features of scl and investigate these generalized QMs with large scale properties of the commutator group. 

Wed, 04 May 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Classifying Groups up to Quasi-Isometry

Alex Margolis
Abstract

In his ICM address in 1983, Gromov proposed a program of classifying finitely generated groups up to quasi-isometry. One way of approaching this is by breaking a group down into simpler parts by means of a JSJ decomposition. I will give a survey of various JSJ theories and related quasi-isometric rigidity results, including recent work by Cashen and Martin.

Wed, 27 Apr 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Random walks, harmonic functions and Poisson boundary

Vigolo Federico
(Oxford)
Abstract

in this talk I will try to introduce some key ideas and concepts about random walks on discrete spaces, with special interest on random walks on Cayley graphs.

Wed, 09 Mar 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C3

Manifolds with odd Euler characteristic

Renee Hoekzema
(Oxford)
Abstract

Orientable manifolds can only have an odd Euler characteristic in dimensions divisible by 4. I will prove the analogous result for spin and string manifolds, where the dimension can only be a multiple of 8 and 16 respectively. The talk will require very little background. I'll go over the definition of spin and string structures, discuss cohomology operations and Poincare duality.

Wed, 02 Mar 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C3

Group Cohomology and Quasi-Isometries

Alex Margolis
(Oxford)
Abstract

I will present a basic overview of finiteness conditions, group cohomology, and related quasi-isometry invariance results. In particular, I will show that if a group satisfies certain finiteness conditions, group cohomology with group ring coefficients encodes some structure of the `homology at infinity' of a group. This is seen for hyperbolic groups in the work of Bestvina-Mess, which relates the group cohomology to the Čech cohomology of the boundary.

Wed, 24 Feb 2016

16:00 - 17:00
C3

CAT(0) Boundaries

Robert Kropholler
(Oxford University)
Abstract

I will talk about the boundaries of CAT(0) groups giving definitions, some examples and will state some theorems. I may even prove something if there is time. 

Wed, 10 Feb 2016
16:00
C3

Quasi-isometric rigidity and higher-rank symmetric spaces

Elia Fioravanti
(Oxford University)
Abstract

I will discuss a couple of techniques often useful to prove quasi-isometric rigidity results for isometry groups. I will then sketch how these were used by B. Kleiner and B. Leeb to obtain quasi-isometric rigidity for the class of fundamental groups of closed locally symmetric spaces of noncompact type.

Wed, 03 Feb 2016
16:00
C3

Quasi-isometry invariants of groups

Giles Gardam
(Oxford University)
Abstract

We will discuss various familiar properties of groups studied in geometric group theory, whether or not they are invariant under quasi-isometry, and why.

Wed, 27 Jan 2016
16:00
C3

Profinite rigidity of Seifert fibre spaces

Gareth Wilkes
(Oxford University)
Abstract

One can ask whether the fundamental groups of 3-manifolds are distinguished by their sets of finite quotients. I will discuss the recent solution of this question for Seifert fibre spaces.

Wed, 20 Jan 2016
16:00
C3

Expanders and Warped Cones

Federico Vigolo
(Oxford University)
Abstract

I will illustrate how to build families of expanders out of 'very mixing' actions on measure spaces. I will then define the warped cones and show how these metric spaces are strictly related with those expanders.

Wed, 02 Dec 2015
16:00
C1

Quasihomomorphisms with non-commutative target

Nicolaus Heuer
(Oxford)
Abstract

Quasihomomorphisms (QHMs) are maps $f$ between groups such that the
homomorphic condition is boundedly satisfied. The case of QHMs with
abelian target is well studied and is useful for computing the second
bounded cohomology of groups. The case of target non-abelian has,
however, not been studied a lot.

We will see a technique for classifying QHMs $f: G \rightarrow H$ by Fujiwara and
Kapovich. We will give examples (sometimes with proofs!) for QHM in
various cases such as

  • the image $H$  hyperbolic groups,
  • the image $H$ discrete rank one isometries,
  • the preimage $G$ cyclic / free group, etc.

Furthermore, we point out a relation between QHM and extensions by short
exact sequences.

Wed, 25 Nov 2015
16:00
C1

Expanders and actions on measure spaces

Federico Vigolo
(Oxford)
Abstract

A family of expanders is a sequence of finite graphs which are both sparse and highly connected. Firstly defined in the 80s, they had huge applications in applied maths and computer science. Moreover, it soon turned out that they also had deep implications in pure maths. In this talk I will introduce the expander graphs and I will illustrate a way to construct them by approximating actions of groups on probability spaces.

Wed, 18 Nov 2015
16:00
C1

Counter example using the Golod-Shafarevich inequality

Kieran Calvert
(Oxford)
Abstract

In 1964 Golod and Shafarevich discovered a powerful tool that gives a criteria for when a certain presentation defines an infinite dimensional algebra. In my talk I will assume the main machinery of the Golod-Shafarevich inequality for graded algebras and use it to provide counter examples to certain analogues of the Burnside problem in infinite dimensional algebras and infinite groups. Then, time dependent, I will define the Tarski number for groups relating to the Banach-Tarski paradox and show that we can using the G-S inequality show that the set of Tarski numbers is unbounded. Despite the fact we can only find groups of Tarski number 4, 5 and 6.

Wed, 11 Nov 2015
16:00
C1

The Flat Closing Conjecture

Robert Kropholler
(Oxford)
Abstract

I will discuss a notoriously hard problem in group theory known as the flat closing conjecture. This states that a group with a finite classifying space is either hyperbolic or contains a Baumslag-Solitar Subgroup. I will give some strategies to try and create a counterexample to this conjecture. 

Wed, 04 Nov 2015
16:00
C1

Isometries of CAT(0) Spaces

Giles Gardam
(Oxford)
Abstract

This talk will be an easy introduction to some CAT(0) geometry. Among other things, we'll see why centralizers in groups acting geometrically on CAT(0) spaces split (at least virtually). Time permitting, we'll see why having a geometric action on a CAT(0) space is not a quasi-isometry invariant.

 

Wed, 28 Oct 2015
16:00
C1

Word fibers in finite p-groups

Ainhoa Iniguez
(Oxford)
Abstract

 

Let $G$ be a finite group and let $w$ be a word in $k$ variables. We write $P_w(g)$ the probability that a random tuple $(g_1,\ldots,g_k)\in G^{(k)}$ satisfies $w(g_1,\ldots,g_k)=g$. For non-solvable groups, it is shown by Abért that $P_w(1)$ can take arbitrarily small values as $n\rightarrow\infty$. Nikolov and Segal prove that for any finite group, $G$ is solvable if and only if $P_w(1)$ is positively bounded from below as $w$ ranges over all words. And $G$ is nilpotent if and only if $P_w(g)$ is positively bounded from below as $w$ ranges over all words that represent $g$Alon Amit conjectured  that in the specific case of finite nilpotent groups and for any word, $P_w(1)\ge 1/|G|$.
 
We can also consider $N_w(g)=|G|^k\cdot P_w(g)$, the number of solutions of $w=g$ in $G^{(k)}$. Note that $N_w$ is a class function. We prove that if $G$ is a finite $p$-group of nilpotency class 2, then $N_w$ is a generalized character. What is more, if $p$ is odd, then $N_w$ is a character and for $2$-groups we can characterize when $N_{x^{2r}}$ is a character. What is more, we prove the conjecture of A. Amit for finite groups of nilpotency class 2. This result was indepently proved by M. Levy. Additionally, we prove that for any word $w$ and any finite $p$-group of class two and exponent $p$, $P_w(g)\ge 1/|G|$ for $g\in G_w$. As far as we know, A. Amit's conjecture is still open for higher nilpotency class groups. For $p$-groups of higher nilpotency class, we find examples of words $w$ for which $N_w$ is no longer a generalized character. What is more, we find examples of non-rational words; i.e there exist finite $p$-groups $G$ and words $w$ for which $g\in G_w$ but $g^{i}\not\in G_w$ for some $(i,p)=1$.
Wed, 21 Oct 2015
16:00
C1

Relative Ends and CAT(0) Cube Complexes

Alexander Margolis
(Oxford)
Abstract

For a finitely generated group $G$ with subgroup $H$ we define $e(G,H)$, the relative ends of the pair $(G,H)$, to be the number of ends of the Cayley graph of G quotiented out by the left action of H. We will examine some basic properties of relative ends and will outline the theorem of Sageev showing that $e(G,H)>1$ if and only if $G$ acts essentially on a simply connected CAT(0) cube complex. If time permits, we will outline Niblo's proof of Stallings' theorem using Sageev's construction.

Wed, 17 Jun 2015

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Systoles, girth and growth of groups

Alejandra Garrido Angulo
(Oxford)
Abstract

In this talk, we will introduce the notions of systolic and residual girth growth for finitely generated groups. We will explore the relationship between these types of growth and the usual word growth for finitely generated groups.

Wed, 10 Jun 2015

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Unital associahedra

Nina Otter
(Oxford)
Abstract

Associahedra are polytopes introduced by Stasheff to encode topological semigroups in which associativity holds up to coherent homotopy. These polytopes naturally form a topological operad that gives a resolution of the associative operad. Muro and Tonks recently introduced an operad which encodes $A_\infty$ algebras with homotopy coherent unit. 
The material in this talk will be fairly basic. I will cover operads and their algebras, give the construction of the $A_\infty$ operad using the Boardman-Vogt resolution, and of the unital associahedra introduced by Muro and Tonks.
Depending on time and interest of the audience I will define unital $A_\infty$ differential graded algebras and explain how they are precisely the algebras over the cellular chains of the operad constructed by Muro and Tonks.

Wed, 03 Jun 2015

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Homological Filling Functions

Robert Kropholler
(Oxford)
Abstract

I will discuss various types of filling functions on topological spaces, stating some results in the area. I will then go onto prove that a finitely presented subgroup of a hyperbolic group of cohomological dimension 2 is hyperbolic. On the way I will prove a stronger result about filling functions of subgroups of hyperbolic groups of cohomological dimension $n$.

Wed, 20 May 2015

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Random walks and isoperimetric inequalities

Federico Vigolo
(Oxford)
Abstract

In this talk I will try to show how certain asymptotic properties of a random walk on a graph are related to geometric properties of the graph itself. A special focus will be put on spectral properties and isoperimetric inequalities, proving Kesten's criterion for amenability.

Wed, 13 May 2015

16:00 - 17:00
C1

Bounds on Splittings of Groups

Alexander Margolis
(Oxford)
Abstract

We say a group is accessible if the process of iteratively decomposing G as an amalgamated free product or HNN extension over a finite group terminates in a finite number of steps. We will see Dunwoody's proof that FP2 groups are accessible, but that finitely generated groups need not be. If time permits, we will examine generalizations by Bestvina-Feighn, Sela and Louder.