Special Semester on Hyperbolic Manifolds and Geometric Analysis

Wesleyan University, Middletown CT

Investigators

Abstract

The subject of geometry and deformation theory of hyperbolic 3-manifolds has seen considerable change and advancement over the last three years. Central conjectures have been resolved, presenting a significant need and opportunity for results to be disseminated and absorbed and for new directions to be evaluated. The Department of Mathematics at Wesleyan University is holding a special semester on the topic of Hyperbolic Manifolds and Geometric Analysis in the Fall of 2004. The department has already invited Professor Richard Canary of the University of Michigan as distinguished visiting professor for the Fall semester 2004. Wesleyan faculty members Petra Bonfert-Taylor and Edward Taylor will also be leaders and organizers of this special semester. A centerpiece of the special semester will be a three-day conference to be held in October 2004. This conference will gather many of the originators of the recent exciting advances in hyperbolic 3-manifolds. It is expected that this conference will draw many graduate students and young mathematicians from the area, as well as established researchers in the field. The conference will be preceded by a one-day workshop for graduate students. The department further plans to invite a series of longer-term visitors, to enable more sustained research activity. It is hoped that hyperbolic geometers and geometric analysts from the area will also be involved in the special semester on an ongoing basis. For the finale of this special semester Wesleyan University will host a public lecture designed to be accessible to the entire Wesleyan community.