Haitian Scientific Society Seminar Series

Saturday April 29, 2023

12:45-2:30

Zoom-Link: https://umassboston.zoom.us/j/93139842515

 

 

Flexibility and rigidity in contact and symplectic geometry

 

Oleg Lazarev

Department of Mathematics, University of Massachusetts Boston

 

Abstract: 

I will give an overview of contact and symplectic geometry, which is the geometry of classical Newtonian mechanics and discuss some motivating examples from day-to-day life, including parallel parking (a difficult problem in Boston!) and light caustics seen in the bottom of coffee cups. Then I will discuss modern developments, which include proofs of existence of periodic orbits of large classes of physical systems (that cannot be solved explicitly), distinguishing rigid symplectic structures on the same smooth space, and flexible constructions of new symplectic structures. 

 

Bio: Professor Lazarev was trained at Princeton University: A.B in Mathematics Summa cum laude (2012), and at Stanford University: PhD (2017. At Princeton, he received two coveted prizes:  Middleton Miller ‘29 Prize for independent research and the Sigma Xi Book Award for Outstanding Research. His main fields of research are Symplectic Geometry and Symplectic Topology. His current project concerns “Critical symplectic geometry” a new approach that he introduced in previous work with Sylvan and Tanaka. This is an extremely ambitious initiative that bridges several different areas of mathematics: rigid and flexible symplectic geometry, Floer homotopy theory and classical homotopy theory, higher algebra, and dynamical systems. His research has been supported by the NSF since 2012. He is a world leader in these fields and has published consequential works in some of the best peer-reviewed journals. He lectures extensively in the US and abroad. He was hired as Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Department in 2021 after completing an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship at Columbia University and a Simons Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

ALFRED NOEL is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

 

Topic: HSS Seminar series

Time: Apr 29, 2023 12:45 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://umassboston.zoom.us/j/93139842515

 

Meeting ID: 931 3984 2515

One tap mobile

+13052241968,,93139842515# US

+13092053325,,93139842515# US

 

Dial by your location

        +1 305 224 1968 US

        +1 309 205 3325 US

        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

        +1 646 931 3860 US

        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

        +1 564 217 2000 US

        +1 669 444 9171 US

        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)

        +1 689 278 1000 US

        +1 719 359 4580 US

        +1 253 205 0468 US

        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)

        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)

        +1 360 209 5623 US

        +1 386 347 5053 US

        +1 507 473 4847 US

Meeting ID: 931 3984 2515

Find your local number: https://umassboston.zoom.us/u/acmzzNmpQu