| NSF Org: |
DMS Division Of Mathematical Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | December 1, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | December 1, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1660568 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Joanna Kania-Bartoszynska
jkaniaba@nsf.gov (703)292-4881 DMS Division Of Mathematical Sciences MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | February 28, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $24,405.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $24,405.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
341 PINE TREE RD ITHACA NY US 14850-2820 (607)255-5014 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
212 Garden Ave NY US 14850-2820 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | TOPOLOGY |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
This award is to fund US-based junior researchers to attend a conference, Young Geometric Group Theory Meeting VI, to be held at Oxford University's Mathematical Institute in England, 20-24 March 2017. Geometric group theory is an active mathematical field that concerns the interplay between groups (algebraic structures capturing symmetries) and geometry and topology (the quantitative and qualitative studies of spaces). Most of the conference participants will be graduate students and early-career mathematicians. The conference will allow them to learn about new developments in the field, to communicate their research results, and to spark new research collaborations. Geometric group theory enjoys a growing diversity, which this conference aims to promote further through the selection of the speakers and other participants.
Funds will cover travel and local housing expenses of 15 US-based conference participants, including some speakers. The conference is the sixth iteration of the "Young Geometric Group Theory" meetings, which have been held every year since 2012. It will have three main types of events: mini-courses given by five established experts in the field, informal discussion sessions, and research talks given by junior researchers in geometric group theory. The mini-courses will allow graduate students and postdocs to learn cutting-edge methods in geometric group theory both from their peers and from experts. The talks publicize the work of junior researchers and provide feedback. The selection of mini-courses and speakers will reflect various current key directions of research in geometric group theory, including group homology and stability, non C^*-exact groups, and geometric structures, compactifications of representation varieties and non-archimedean geometry. More information can be found at http://www.personal.rhul.ac.uk/udah/001/YGGTVI.htm
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The sixth Young Geometric Group Theory (YGGT) Meeting took place at the Mathematical Institute, Oxford, United Kingdom from 20 to 24 March 2017. YGGT is an annual event in the group theorists' calendar. Past meetings were in Poland, Israel, France, Belgium and Germany. The 2017 meeting attracted more than 150 delegates from the UK, Europe, Asia, Russia and North America.
The grant supported 15 US participants. Of these 10 were PhD students and were 5 postdocs. The home institutions of 13 where in the US, of 1 was in China, and of 1 was in Israel. Of the people funded, 10 had Year of PhD as 2016, 2017 or 2018, 6 were female, and 3 were Hispanic, African American or Native American. One person funded was from a small college.
Geometric Group Theory, a rapidly growing field of mathematics, encompasses diverse fields of algebra and geometry. The meeting brought world-leading Geometric Group Theorists together with doctoral students and young researchers through lectures and open discussions on fundamental topics and recent breakthroughs. Professor Martin Bridson, FRS, Chairman of the Mathematical Institute, Oxford, opened the meeting on the morning of 20 March. The week-long programme featured four mini-courses, seven plenary talks, discussions and poster sessions.
Emmanuel Breuillard spoke about Approximate Groups in his mini-course, detailing the structure theorems and describing how this theory has been used to give another proof of Gromov's Polynomial Growth Theorem and study expander families in Cayley graphs of groups. Goulnara Arzhantseva's course on Non-C*-exact Groups described the technically challenging constructions of ‘Monster Groups’, so-called as they are rare and involve intricacies of group theory and C*-algebras. Marc Burger's course introduced the recent study of geometric structures, coming from representation varieties of fundamental groups of surfaces, and dwelt on representations of these groups over real closed fields. The fourth mini-course, by Alan Reid, built on the theory of Profinite Groups and its applications to low-dimensional topology.
A typical day concluded with discussion sessions when attendees could request further explanations on mini-courses and research talks. This special aspect of YGGT creates an atmosphere of enquiry and learning and is the hallmark of these meetings. Two Poster Sessions provided young people with the opportunity to showcase their research and 25 presenters were chosen from amongst more than a hundred applicants.
YGGT was organised in partnership with Clay Mathematical Institute, London Mathematical Society, Heilbronn Institute, University of Oxford and Royal Holloway University of London, as well as the NSF. Future YGGT meetings are planned in Switzerland (2018), Spain (2019) and France (2020).
Last Modified: 03/01/2018
Modified by: Timothy R Riley
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