Virginia Topology Conference 2016: Mapping class groups and low dimensional topology

University Of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville VA

Investigators

Abstract

The funded conference "Virginia Topology Conference 2016: Mapping Class Groups and Low Dimensional Topology" will take place at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, from November 18 until November 20, 2016. The conference will bring together leading researchers and early career mathematicians from the United States, with some international participation as well. The goal of the conference will be to discuss new developments at the interface of algebra, topology, and geometry. The diverse array of participants will foster the forging of new collaborative relationships, as well as provide ample opportunities for professional development for early career mathematicians. The NSF funds granted for the conference will primarily serve to defray the travel costs and local expenses of participants based at US institutions. The organizers will give priority in funding to young researchers and to underrepresented groups. Mapping class groups and their interactions with low dimensional topology have had a long history in mathematics. Recent years have seen spectacular developments in both mapping class group theory and in low dimensional topology, though many intriguing problems have yet to be resolved. Among these are the exact relationship between mapping class groups and the topology of 4-manifolds, and the connection between quantum topology and hyperbolic geometry. The funded conference will bring together researchers in diverse subfields of group theory and low dimensional topology, tied together by the common thread of mapping class groups. In particular, researchers in character varieties, geometric group theory, hyperbolic geometry, 4-manifold topology, and quantum topology will have the opportunity to collaborate and to discuss new developments at the interfaces of these fields. All of these fields will be represented among the invited research talks. A website for the conference can be found at: http://faculty.virginia.edu/Koberda/VTC2016.html