[Binghamton Geometry/Topology Seminar] Geometry & Topology Seminar

[somnath at math.binghamton.edu]

BINGHAMTON GEOMETRY/TOPOLOGY SEMINAR

*Date:*  Thursday, Oct 11, 2012

*Time:*  2:50-3:50pm
*Place:*  Library North 2205 followed by coffee/tea in the Anderson Reading
Room.

*Speaker: ** *Grigori Avramidi (University of Chicago)
*Title: *Symmetries of aspherical manifolds
 *
Abstract:* I will describe some results bounding the isometry groups of
Riemannian metrics on aspherical manifolds and of the lifted metrics on
their universal covers. The general theme is that topological properties
of an aspherical manifold often restrict the symmetries of an arbitrary
complete Riemannian metric on that manifold. I will illustrate this by
explaining why on a finite volume irreducible locally symmetric manifold,
no metric has more symmetry than the locally symmetric metric. Possibly, I
will also discuss why moduli space is a minimal orbifold.