Department of Mathematics Colloquium
|
|---|
|
Abstract |
|---|
| In the early 1960's Richard J. Thompson
discovered a fascinating family of infinite groups in connection with
his work in logic. These groups have reappeared in a wide variety of
settings, including homotopy theory, measure theory of discrete groups,
non-associative algebras, dynamical systems and geometric group
theory. Thompson's group F is the simplest known example of a
variety of unusual group-theoretic phenomena and has been the subject
of a great deal of study. I will describe these groups from
several different perspectives and discuss some of their remarkable
properties, particularly some unusual aspects of the geometry of their
Cayley graphs.
|