EVENT DETAILS AND ABSTRACT

Title: On automorphism groups of low dimensional manifolds
Speaker: Sam Nariman
Speaker Info: Northwestern University
Brief Description:
Special Note: *Note the unusual date and time!*
Abstract:

Abstract: We describe a local to global method by cutting a manifold into simpler pieces in a "contractible spaces of choices". In doing so, we give a simpler approach to Thurston's theorem on homeomorphisms, Cerf's theorem on comparing diffeomorphisms and homeomorphisms of three manifolds. If time permits I will describe how this approach could possibly give a different proof of Smale's conjecture (Gabai's theorem) for hyperbolic 3 manifold M which says that the group Isom(M) is homotopy equivalent to Diff(M).