announces a three year research program on the

Topology and Geometry of

         Moduli Spaces

                  and

Mapping Class Groups

  

  sponsored in collaboration with the American Institute of Mathematics

                   Opening Conference

                 January 12 - 15, 2007

                            Click here for details

Understanding the  geometry and topology of the  moduli space of Riemann surfaces and the corresponding mapping class groups   has been a   goal of central importance in mathematics for many years.  In the last 15 years there have been several new perspectives on moduli spaces that have not only increased our understanding of these important objects, but have fundamentally affected major research directions of several areas of topology and geometry. These include Hyperbolic Geometry and  Geometric Group Theory,  Algebraic and Symplectic Geometry, and most recently,  Algebraic Topology.    In the last five years there have been several startling advances in several of these areas. Taken as a whole, these areas have, in the last few years, represented some of the most exciting directions of study in topology and geometry. 

The MRC will host a  three year emphasis program on the topology and geometry of moduli spaces and related topics.    There will be a series of conferences, workshops, minicourses, seminars,  as well as both short and long term visiting researchers coming  to the  Stanford Mathematics Department to participate in this program.     The   areas of emphasis will be  Hyperbolic Geometry and  Geometric Group Theory,   The Algebraic Topology of Moduli Spaces and String Topology,   and  The Algebraic Geometry of Moduli Spaces  and   Symplectic Geometry.

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