Activities This Week

We study the character theory of infinite solvable groups, focusing on the metabelian and polycyclic cases. This theory has applications towards the Hilbert-Schmidt stability of such groups - whether almost-homomorphisms into the unitary groups U(n) are nearby honest homomorphisms? We explore an interesting link between stability and topological dynamics via a notion of “sofic dynamical systems”. I will introduce all relevant notions.

The talk is based on a joint work with Itamar Vigdorovich.

Consider a dynamical system, and let us study the structure of the corresponding crossed product $C^*$-algebra, in particular on the classifiability, comparison, and stable rank. More precisely, let us introduce a uniform Rokhlin property and a relative comparison property (these two properties hold for all free and minimal $Z^d$ actions). With these two properties, the crossed product $C^*$-algebra is shown to always have stable rank one, to satisfy the Toms-Winter conjecture, and that the comparison radius is dominated by half of the mean dimension of the dynamical system.

In the study of infinite discrete groups it is useful to consider imperfect approximations by finitary models (either permutations or matrices). I will talk about the stability of such approximations, i.e. can it always be corrected to a perfect approximation, focusing mostly on amenable groups. The involved techniques include ergodic theory and dynamics as well as character theory of infinite groups. Some directions and open problems will be presented.

מה צריך בשביל לבנות את המספרים הממשיים? אפסילונים? גבולות? לא בהכרח.

בהרצאה נבנה ביחד את המספרים הממשיים. נא להביא אתכם את המספרים השלמים ואת פעולת החיבור עליהם (מי שחושש שזה לא יספיק שיביא גם בקבוק ספרייט ומספריים)

We explain different kinds of Selmer groups, which are subgroups of Galois cohomology, including Bloch-Kato, strict, and Greenberg Selmer groups. We state part of the Bloch-Kato conjectures and describe a bound joint with A. Betts and M. Leonhardt on the number of rational points on a general higher genus curve, conditional on the Bloch-Kato conjectures. Finally, we explain how to use some Iwasawa theory, specifically Kato’s Euler system and a control theorem of Ochiai, to deduce specific cases of Bloch-Kato associated with elliptic curves.