ENYGMMa III

Click here to RSVP*

RSVP deadline: Wed, Feb 8, 2023

*This seminar series is designed to support gender minorities in mathematics, such as women, transgender, gender-fluid, and non-binary mathematicians (graduate students, postdocs, and faculty). Participants who identify with gender minorities in mathematics are welcome to attend the lunch and encouraged to RSVP.

*This event is held in collaboration with the Association of Women in Mathematics (The CUNY GC Chapter).

*Event flyer

Details

Where: The Graduate Center, CUNY
When: Friday, February 10, 2023
Time: 12:30 - 4:15 pm

Speaker

Moira Chas, Stonybrook

Panelists

Moira Chas; Professor, Stonybrook
Laura Lopez Cruz; Senior Data Scientist, Foursquare
Elena Giorgi; Professor, Columbia
Delaram Kahrobaei; Professor, CUNY
Xi Sisi Shen; Postdoc, Columbia

Schedule

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Lunch (in RM 5414)

1:30pm - 1:35pm Introduction

1:35 pm - 2:35 pm Talk by Moira Chas

2:35 pm - 3:00 pm Tea

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm Panel

Lunch will be in RM 5414; the rest of the event will be held in the Science Center RM 4102.

Directions

The CUNY Graduate Center is located at 365 5th ave, between 34th and 35th st. See below for a map:

Speaker Title and Abstract

Title: Patterns created by curves on surfaces

Abstract: Consider an surface S.

This talk will address two sets of ideas.

The first set is about two related questions capturing the thoughts of people interested in math since the middle of the 1800s.

1. What is the maximum number of regions in which we can divide a surface S, in such a way that every pair of regions shares a segment of boundary?

2. What is the minimum number of colors needed to color every map on S, in such a way that two regions that share a segment of boundary are colored with different colors?

For the second set of ideas, we assume that the surface S is orientable, has negative Euler characteristic. One knows then there is a geometry on S which at each point has a constant amount of negative curvature. Each unbased deformation class of closed oriented curves on determines three numbers: the minimal geometric self-intersection number, the geometric length, and the word length (that is, the minimal number of letters needed to express as a cyclic reduced word in a minimal set of generators of the fundamental group and their inverses).

Also, this set of free deformation classes of closed directed curves on (as a set) is the vector space basis of a Lie algebra discovered by Goldman. This Lie algebra is determined by the intersection structure of pairs of curves on S. These three numbers, as well as the Goldman Lie bracket of two classes, can be explicitly computed (or approximated) using a computer. We will discuss the algorithms to compute or approximate these numbers, and how these computer experiments led to counterexamples to existing conjectures, to formulate new conjectures and (sometimes) to subsequent theorems.

Panel

The panel will be on the topic of job applications including applying as a gender-minority in mathematics. The questions and topics are not limited to participants on the job-market, but will be applicable to a wide-range of students. Participants are encouraged to submit questions through the RSVP form.

Reimbursement and Covid Guidelines

We will provide lunch for gender-minority participants and tea (along with snacks) for all participants. However, we will not be able to reimburse commuting costs for this event.

Non-CUNY visitors will be required to show a government-issued photo ID to the security guards at the lobby’s front desk. CUNY does not require face masks at this time.