EVENT DETAILS AND ABSTRACT

Title: What is .... factorization homology?
Speaker: John Francis
Speaker Info: Northwestern University
Brief Description:
Special Note: First in New Faculty Member Talks. Note Special Time/Day.
Abstract:

Factorization homology forms a common generalization of the following: Hochschild homology of an associative algebra; homology of n-manifolds twisted by representations of the orthogonal group O(n); compactly supported mappings spaces Map_c(M,X) from an n-manifold M into a n-connected space X; the observables of a perturbative topological quantum field theory. These theories satisfy an axiomatic characterization generalizing the Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms for usual homology. I'll describe these axioms, whisk through some sample calculations, and finish with a few open problems/conjectures related to 3-manifolds, Goodwilie-Weiss manifold calculus, and exotic spheres. I'll follow that up with a beer at the happy hour, where I'll be available for questioning.