The Berkeley-Stanford Algebraic Geometry Colloquium covers the full range of topics in algebraic geometry, and is intended for a broader audience than a typical research seminar. Graduate students and researchers in nearby fields are particularly welcome. Each meeting features (approximately) two speakers chosen for their contributions to the field and their expository ability. There will be a dinner afterwards.

Organizers: David Eisenbud, Dagan Karp, Martin Olsson, and Mauricio Velasco (Berkeley) and Jun Li, Sam Payne, Ravi Vakil, and Jonathan Wise (Stanford).

Tuesday October 14  (in Berkeley):  (poster)

Valery Alexeev (University of Georgia): From stable curves to higher dimensions (3:45-4:45 pm, 740 Evans)

Applications of stable curves and maps to enumerative geometry, physics, arithmetical geometry, symplectic geometry, etc., are very well known. Due to efforts by many people, this theory was partially extended to higher dimensions, when stable curves are replaced by stable surfaces, 3-folds, etc. I will attempt to describe the current state of the art in this field.

Matt Baker (Georgia Tech): Linear series on curves and graphs (5:00-6:00 pm, 740 Evans)

I will discuss some unexpectedly rich analogies between algebraic curves and finite graphs, including graph theoretic-analogues of the Jacobian, the Riemann-Roch theorem, and hyperellipticity.  I will then discuss how specialization of linear series from the generic fiber of a regular semistable arithmetic surface to the dual graph of the special fiber provides a concrete link between these two worlds.

Tuesday November 18  (in Stanford): (poster)

Alexander Varchenko (UNC Chapel Hill): Reality of Schubert calculus and the Gaudin model (3:30-4:30, 383-N)

I will discuss a recently discovered  connection of quantum integrable systems with Schubert calculus. In particular, this connection enable us to prove the strong Shapiro conjecture that certain Schubert cycles intersect transversally and all intersection points are real.

Davesh Maulik (Clay Math. Inst.): Gromov-Witten theory and Noether-Lefschetz theory (5:00-6:00, 383-N)

In this talk, I will discuss the relationship between the Gromov-Witten theory of K3-fibrations and the classical geometry of Noether-Lefschetz loci on the moduli space of K3 surfaces, as well as applications in both directions.

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Click here for the Stanford algebraic geometry seminar, here for the (Stanford) Student Algebraic Geometry Seminar (SAGS), and here for the Berkeley commutative algebra and algebraic geometry seminar.  For last year's talks, click here.

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This web page is maintained by Ravi Vakil.