During semester, this seminar is usually on Wednesdays from 12 pm — 1 pm, in the SMRI Seminar Room (A12 Macleay Room 301). To receive notifications of upcoming seminars, please subscribe to the weekly seminar email update.
Upcoming:
Australian Geometric Topology Webinar
Eric Sedgwick, DePaul University, Chicago
Wednesday 4th March 2026 at 12 pm, SMRI Seminar Room (A12 Macleay Room 301)
Abstract: TBA
Past:
Geometry & Topology Seminar, ‘The symplectic geometry of branched hyperbolic structures‘
Arnaud Maret, Université de Strasbourg
Wednesday 25th February, 2026
Abstract: Hyperbolic geometry is one of the most iconic geometries studied on surfaces. When conical singularities at certain points are allowed, whose angles are integer multiples of 2π, one obtains branched hyperbolic structures. An important problem, proposed by Goldman, is to determine which surface group representations arise as holonomies of branched hyperbolic structures. In this talk, I will focus on the case of genus-2 surfaces and explain how to construct Fenchel–Nielsen (i.e. Darboux) coordinates on the space of holonomies of these branched hyperbolic structures. This is joint work with Gianluca Faraco.