Brad Groff : The geometry of group splittings

Posted by Jonah Gaster , part of the Graduate Student Colloquium.

At

Feb. 11, 2013, 4:15 p.m.

In

SEO 636

Abstract

This talk will have two parts. First, I will discuss some of the basic facts relating to the large-scale geometry of finitely generated groups. Following this, I will discuss how this geometric information impacts many of the algebraic properties of these groups. Particular examples of this phenomenon will come from my work on splittings of groups (in the sense of Bass-Serre theory) that can be seen directly in the group's geometry. The talk will assume no background in geometric group theory, and should be accessible to all graduate students.