Mathematics Colloquium

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The Surface Subgroup Problem

Speaker: Vladimir Markovic, Caltech

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 1302

Date: Monday, November 3, 2014, 3:45 p.m.

Synopsis:

The surface subgroup problem asks whether a given group contains a subgroup that is isomorphic to the fundamental group of a closed surface. In this talk I will survey the role the surface subgroup problem plays in some important solved and unsolved problems in 3-manifold topology, theory of arithmetic manifolds and geometric group theory.