Semester on 4-manifolds and their combinatorial invariants

Organizers:

Mike Freedman, Matthias Kreck and Peter Teichner.

Further info:

http://web.me.com/teichner/Math/4-Manifolds.html

Lecture Series:

• Mike Freedman, Bing Topology and Casson Handles
  (most lectures broadcast from UC Santa Barbara)
• Sergei Gukov, Link Polynomials and String Theory
• Matthias Kreck, Classification of Topological 4-manifolds
• Slava Krushkal, Open problems in 4-dimensional Topological Surgery
• Andras Stipsicz, Combinatorial Heegaard-Floer Homology
  
• Catharina Stroppel, Khovanov Homology and its Generalizations
• Peter Teichner, Whitney Towers and their Intersection Theory

The lecture series will serve two goals: One is to make accessible to a larger public those beautiful topological arguments that lead to the proof of the 4-dimensional Poincaré conjecture and the classification of many topological 4-manifolds. The other is to spell out the frontiers of knowledge and introduce some new tools that may be useful in pushing these frontiers.

All lectures series will be accompanied by homework and discussion sessions and we particularly invite young researchers to apply to this program.

Registration:

To apply for participation/funding, please submit the online application form by May 15, 2012. For any further inquiries please send an email to fourmanifolds2013@mpim-bonn.mpg.de.