Boston College

Geometry and Topology Seminar

Time and Date Speaker
Title and Abstract

September 14
1-2 pm
Carney 309


Bill Menasco
Rectangular diagrams and Legendrian knots

This is joint work with Hiroshi Matsuda (Hiroshima University). D. Bennquin established the classical result
that any transversal knot in the standard contact stucture of S^3 can be transversally isotopied to a closed braid. We
establish an analogous result for Legendrian knots in the standard S^3 contact structure.


February 8
1-2 pm
Carney 010



Genevieve Walsh (Tufts)
Commensurability classes of 2-bridge knots.

Two three-manifolds are said to be commensurable if they share acommon finite-sheeted cover.  We discuss  commensurability classes of knot complements, and prove that every hyperbolic two-bridge knot is the unique knot complement in its commensurability class.  This doesnot hold for a general knot complement.  For example, if a knot complement admits a lens space filling, it is covered by another knotcomplement. We speculate on the general case. This is joint work with Alan Reid.

Feb 15
1-2  pm
Carney 010

Yunhi Cho (University of Seoul)
The analytic continuation of hyperbolic space

We define and study an extended hyperbolic space which contains the hyperbolic space and de Sitter space as subspaces and which is obtained as an analytic continuation of the hyperbolic space. The construction of the extended space gives rise to a complex valued geometry consistent with both the hyperbolic and de Sitter space. Such a construction shed a light and inspires a new insight for the study of the hyperbolic geometry and Lorentzian geometry. We discuss the advantages of this new geometric model as well as some of its applications.

 

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