Seminars Sorted by Series

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Mar
04
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Approximating Hyperbolic Lattices by Cubulations
Eduardo Reyes
4:00pm|Simonyi 101

The fundamental group of an n-dimensional closed hyperbolic manifold admits a natural isometric action on the hyperbolic space $H^n$. If n is at most 3 or the manifold is arithmetic of simplest type, then the group also admits many geometric actions...

Mar
11
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

The Support of Semiclassical Measures in Higher Dimensions
Elena Kim
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Motivated by the quantum unique ergodicity conjecture, we examine semiclassical measures for Laplace eigenfunctions on compact hyperbolic $n$-manifolds. We prove their support must contain the cosphere bundle of a compact immersed totally geodesic...

Mar
18
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Moments of Margulis Functions and Values of Ternary Quadratic Forms
Wooyeon Kim
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

The Oppenheim conjecture, proved by Margulis in 1986, states that for a non-degenerate indefinite irrational quadratic form Q in $n \geq$ 3 variables, the image set $Q(Z^n)$ of integral vectors is a dense subset of the real line. Determining the...

Mar
25
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Progress Around the Boone-Higman Conjecture
Matthew Zaremsky
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

The Boone-Higman conjecture (1973) predicts that a finitely generated group has solvable word problem if and only if it embeds in a finitely presented simple group. The "if" direction is true and easy, but the "only if" direction has been open for...

Apr
01
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Using Logic to Investigate Homeomorphism Groups of Manifolds
Thomas Koberda
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

It is a classical fact that countable groups of homeomorphisms of the interval and the circle are characterized by purely algebraic properties, namely linear and circular orderability. It remains a difficult and deep problem to understand countable...

Apr
08
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Short Curves of End-Periodic Mapping Tori
Brandis Whitfield
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Fibered 3-manifolds are those constructed via surface homeomorphisms. Given such a manifold with pseudo-Anosov monodromy, much is already known about how topological data of the mapping class determine geometric information about the hyperbolic 3...

Apr
22
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Monotonicity of Data Along Ricci Flow on Surfaces
Alena Erchenko
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Consider a closed surface M of genus greater than or equal to 2. For negatively curved metrics on M and their corresponding geodesic flow, we can study the topological entropy, the Liouville entropy, and the mean root curvature. In 2004, Manning...

Apr
29
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Thurston Elements in the Mapping Class Group.
Joseph Maher
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Thurston gave an explicit construction of pseudo-Anosov elements 
in the mapping class group of a compact surface, using Dehn twists in 
pairs of filling multicurves.  We show that the probability that a random 
walk of length $n$ on the mapping class...

May
06
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Aspects of the large scale geometry of $\operatorname{Out}(F_n)$
Lee Mosher
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

The theory of hierarchically hyperbolic groups, due to Behrstock, Hagen, and Sisto, was developed by abstracting work of Masur and Minsky on mapping class groups. Study of the large scale geometry of the outer automorphism group $\operatorname{Out}...

May
13
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Linear Flows on Translation Prisms
Jayadev Athreya
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Motivated by the study of billiards in polyhedra, we study linear flows in a family of singular flat 3-manifolds which we call translation prisms. Using ideas of Furstenberg, and Veech, we connect results about weak mixing properties of flows on...

Sep
16
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Orthogonality of Sequences, Characteristic Classes in Ergodic Theory and the Local Fourier Uniformity Problem for Small Sets
Mariusz Lemanczyk
4:30pm|314 Fine Hall

Given a bounded sequence of zero mean, we study the problem of its orthogonality to all continuous  observables in topological dynamical systems whose all invariant measures yield measure-theoretic systems belonging to a fixed characteristic class...

Oct
07
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Ultrafilters in Arithmetic Dynamics
Jit Wu Yap
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Given a one-parameter degenerating family of rational maps on the projective line, it is possible to construct a non-archimedean limit which captures how this family degenerates.  Recently, Luo used ultrafilters to construct limits for an arbitrary...

Oct
21
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Infinitesimal Containment and Sparse Factors of iid
Mikołaj Frączyk
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Let $\Gamma$ be a countable group with a Cayley graph G. Suppose we are running an independent identical probabilistic algorithm on each vertex (or each edge) and vertices are only allowed to communicate with their neighbors. The goal of this...

Oct
28
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Classifying Hyperbolic Ergodic Stationary Measures on K3 Surfaces with Large Automorphism Groups
4:30pm|314 Fine Hall

Let $X$ be a K3 surface. Consider a finitely supported probability measure $\mu$ on $\operatorname{Aut}(X)$ such that $\Gamma_{\mu} = \langle \operatorname{Supp}(\mu)\rangle Aut(X)$ is non-elementary. We do not assume that $\Gamma_{\mu}$ contains...

Nov
11
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Stiffness and Rigidity in Random Dynamical Systems
Aaron Brown
4:30pm|314 Fine Hall

I will discuss random walks on manifolds and pose questions of stiffness and rigidity of stationary measures.  In the case of conservative random walks, I will discuss criteria that guarantee stiffness of stationary measures and certain rigidity...

Nov
18
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Representations of Binary by Quaternary Quadratic Form
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Let $q,Q$ be two integral quadratic forms in $m n$
variables. One can ask when $q$ can be represented by $Q$ - that is,
whether there exists an $n \times m$-integer matrix $T$ such that $ Q \circ T = q $.  Naturally, a necessary condition is that...

Dec
02
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Strong Spectral Gap for Geometrically Finite Hyperbolic Manifolds
Dubi Kelmer
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

In this talk I will describe new results establishing the existence of a strong spectral gap for  geometrically finite, n dimensional, hyperbolic manifold with critical exponent greater than $(n-1)/2$. This settles a conjecture of Mohammadi and Oh...

Dec
09
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

When is the Geodesic Flow Ergodic?
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

The geodesic flow (for the hyperbolic metric) of an infinite Riemann surface is ergodic if and only if Brownian motion is recurrent, which is also equivalent to the divergence of the Poincaré series. Surfaces with ergodic geodesic flows are most...

Dec
16
2025

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Partially Hyperbolic Actions of Semisimple Lie Groups
Kurt Vinhage
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

Zimmer proposed the study of higher-rank semisimple group actions in the 1980's after showing certain rigidity results, especially about associated cocycles in the measurable category. In this talk, I will describe recent progress towards...

Jan
20
2026

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Equidistribution of Expanding Horospheres in the Space of Translation Surfaces
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

A translation surface is a closed surface that is obtained by gluing edges of a polygon in parallel. The group GL_2(R) acts on the collection translation surfaces of a fixed genus g. For a fixed translation surface S and t>0, we obtain a probability...

Jan
27
2026

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Topological Versions of the Rokhlin Lemma
4:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

The classical Rokhlin Lemma asserts that for an aperiodic measure-preserving transformation $T$ of a probability space, one can find a "tower" of sets on which $T$ acts by translation and which covers almost all of the space. This result is a basic...

Feb
03
2026

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Effective Equidistribution Theorems for Products of SL_2 Factors
Amir Mohammadi
4:30pm|314 Fine Hall

There has been considerable activity in establishing effective versions of equidistribution theorems in homogeneous dynamics in recent years. In this talk, we report on new results concerning effective equidistribution for one-parameter unipotent...

Feb
10
2026

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Homogeneous Structures in Smooth Dynamics
Alex Eskin
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

In recent years it has become possible to import some ideas and methods from homogeneous dynamics to the general smooth dynamics setting. I will discuss some results and open problems in this area.  

Feb
17
2026

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Horocycle Flow at Sparse Times
Adam Kanigowski
4:30pm|314 Fine Hall

We discuss recent results on distribution of orbits of horocycle flows at subquadratic polynomial times (joint work with M. Radziwill) and at the prime counting function $\Omega$ (joint work with K. Loyd)

Feb
24
2026

Joint IAS/PU Groups and Dynamics Seminar

Arithmetic on Markoff Surfaces
Daniel Martin
4:30pm|Simonyi 101

The generalized Markoff equation gives rise to a dynamical system via the Markoff group acting on the solution set. This talk considers the resulting dynamics over finite fields, which has strong connections with combinatorial group theory and...

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Oct
09
2025

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

On Uniform Boundedness of Torsion Points for Abelian Varieties Over Function Fields
Jit Wu Yap
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

Let K be the function field of a smooth projective curve B over the complex numbers and let g be a positive integer. The uniform boundedness conjecture predicts that there exists a constant N, depending only on g and K, such that for any g...

Oct
23
2025

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Shioda’s Conjecture on Unirationality
Ben Church
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

In characteristic zero, Castelnuovo proved that every unirational surface is rational. In positive characteristic, this fails dramatically: there exist many non-rational, often even general-type, surfaces that are nevertheless unirational. In 1977...

Nov
06
2025

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Motivic Action Conjecture for Doi-Naganuma Lifts
Yingkun Li
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

A surprising property of the cohomology of locally symmetric spaces is that Hecke operators can act on multiple cohomological degrees with the same eigenvalues. In a series of papers, Venkatesh and his collaborators proposed an arithmetic reason for...

Nov
20
2025

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

From Automorphic Periods to Arithmetic: The Case of Hilbert Modular Forms
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

The theory of Euler systems, first developed by Thaine and Kolyvagin, has become a central tool for proving cases of the Birch–Swinnerton-Dyer and Bloch–Kato conjectures. Many of the known examples are inspired from automorphic period integrals that...

Dec
04
2025

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

On Triple Product L-Functions
Miao Gu
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

The Poisson summation conjecture of Braverman-Kazhdan, L. Lafforgue, Ngo, and Sakellaridis is an ambitious proposal to prove analytic properties of quite general Langlands L-functions using vast generalizations of the Poisson summation formula. In...

Dec
11
2025

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Simultaneous Non-Vanishing of L-Functions at the Central Point
Alexandra Florea
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

In this talk, I will focus on simultaneous non-vanishing results for Dirichlet L-functions at the central point 1/2. Specifically, I will describe non-vanishing results (conditional on GRH) for two L-functions associated to Dirichlet characters in...

Dec
18
2025

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Euler Systems in the Twisted Friedberg-Jacquet Setting
Shilin Lai
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

We construct the tame part of a split anticyclotomic Euler system in a setting where local multiplicity one does not hold. Instead of the traditional zeta integral approach, we prove the existence of the necessary test vectors using a new method...

Jan
29
2026

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Braided Vector Spaces and Arithmetic Statistics Over Function Fields
Jordan Ellenberg
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

The past few years have seen rapid development in arithmetic statistics over function fields over finite fields, questions like:  what is the distribution of the ell-primary part of the class group of a random quadratic extension of F_q(t)?  (Cohen...

Feb
12
2026

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Kudla's Modularity Conjecture
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

Kudla and Millson proved in the 80's that the generating series of special cycles in orthogonal and unitary Shimura varieties are modular forms and a well-established conjecture of Kudla asks about extensions to toroidal compactifications. In this...

Feb
26
2026

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

Polynomial Bounds for Birch's Theorem on Forms
Amichai Lampert
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

Consider a collection of forms of odd degree with rational coefficients. Birch proved in 1957 that if the number of variables is sufficiently large, then the forms must have a nontrivial rational zero. The bounds resulting from Birch's proof...

Apr
30
2026

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory

On the Distribution of Modular Points on Deformation Rings
John Bergdall
3:30pm|Simonyi 101 and Remote Access

The goal of this talk is to discuss a new local-global phenomenon in the Langlands program on automorphic forms and Galois representations. Spaces of modular forms are parametrized by weights, and those same weights parametrize local deformation...

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory Seminar

Sep
22
2022

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory Seminar

Arithmetic holonomy bounds and Apery limits
5:10pm|Simonyi Hall 101 and Remote Access

A Diophantine upper bound on the dimensions of certain spaces of holonomic functions was the main ingredient in our proof with Calegari and Tang of the 'unbounded denominators conjecture' (presented by Tang in last year's number theory seminar) from...

Sep
29
2022

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory Seminar

Higher Hida Theory
Vincent Pilloni
4:30pm|Zoom

Modular forms are degree zero cohomology of certain invertible sheaves on modular curves. One is often led to consider also higher cohomology of automorphic vector bundles on Shimura varieties. We try to define and understand the integral coherent...

Oct
06
2022

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory Seminar

New Cohen-Lenstra heuristics by constructing measures from moments
Will Sawin
4:30pm|Simonyi Hall 101 and Remote Access

The Cohen-Lenstra heuristics give predictions for the distribution of the class groups of a random quadratic number field. Cohen and Martinet generalized them to predict the distribution of the class groups of random extensions of a fixed base field...

Oct
13
2022

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory Seminar

A Visit to 3-manifolds in the Quest to Understand Random Galois Groups
Melanie Matchett Wood
5:10pm|Simonyi Hall 101 and Remote Access

Cohen, Lenstra, and Martinet gave conjectural distributions for the class group of a random number field. Since the class group is the Galois group of the maximum abelian unramified extension, a natural generalization would be to give a conjecture...

Oct
20
2022

Joint IAS/PU Number Theory Seminar

On the kernel of the non abelian Fourier transform
Ngo Bao Chau
4:30pm|Simonyi Hall 101 and Remote Access

Tate reformulated the theory of the Riemann zeta function and its functional equation as the Mellin shadow of the Fourier transform on a certain space of function on the adeles. Conjecturally, Langlands' general automorphic L-functions and their...