Relativistic Mathematics
(Note: due to a technical calamity there is no video or audio available for this talk)
Daniel Biss (University of Chicago)
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Abstract: We will explore the role of the relative in mathematics, particularly in geometry. The prime impulse of twentieth century mathematics was a constant push to relativize, and many of the objects we now cherish (such as moduli spaces and mapping class groups) would not even make sense absent this point of view. We will sketch this development and try to explain how it constantly informs our mathematical instincts.
Lecture Notes (by D. Ben-Zvi): pages 1, 2, 3, 4.
Photographs by Amber Novak
