Shanks Workshop on Homotopy Theory

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

This NSF award provides support for graduate students, early-career researchers and members of underrepresented groups to participate in the Shanks Workshop on Homotopy Theory at Vanderbilt University on March 25-26, 2017. The workshop will foster collaboration and exchange of ideas among researchers throughout the field of algebraic topology, a branch of mathematics that stands at the intersection of several fundamental areas of research. This workshop's invited speakers reflect the diversity of current work in the area and include researchers at a variety of career stages in order to best capture a cross-section of the field today. The workshop will help establish ties between the growing community of topologists in the south, including Kentucky, Georgia and at Vanderbilt, with the long-standing community of researchers in the Midwest. These types of research connections are the building blocks for progress in mathematical research. Participants with established or emerging research programs will have a forum to publicize their work and more junior participants will have the opportunity to integrate into the wider topology community. The schedule of the conference is designed with breaks to encourage collaborations and informal mathematical interactions among the participants. Such opportunities are especially important for mathematicians early in their career. Incorporating young mathematicians and members of underrepresented groups into the scientific discourse is key to building a truly representative community of mathematicians. The conference speakers represent a range of research in the field, from computations via chromatic homotopy theory to foundational development to algebraic and topological K-theory. Bringing together mathematicians from these areas will facilitate collaborations between Midwestern and Southern algebraic topologists working across the spectrum of homotopy theory today. Additionally, the speakers' research includes several areas of homotopy theory that have fruitful connections to other areas of pure mathematics, such as geometric group theory and dynamics. This workshop will serve to publicize these connections to researchers in Tennessee and surrounding states, where there has historically been little homotopy theory. Thus, a conference at Vanderbilt showcasing the range of present homotopical research will allow the establishment of mathematical ties both within the discipline and to other fields. More information can be found at the website: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/homotopytheory2017/