Abstract:
Where is the terminology "monodromy" used
for the first time in history? We will discuss historical roots of this topic
in the 19-th century and compare these
with work on monodromy
in the 20-th century. Then we will
see how the use of a differential equation enables us to compute a class number
(a
beautiful proof by Igusa, later generalized in various
disguises). We will see how Honda-Tate theory (the topic of our Friday graduate
seminar)
gives a
computation of a monodromy group (as shown by Ribet). And I will conclude by describing joint work with Ching-Li Chai,where
we compute
l-adic
and p-adic monodromy
on certain subvarieties
of the moduli space of abelian
varieties (which connects with my Eilenberg lectures
on Fridays).
.
October 8th,
Wednesday, 5:00-6:00 pm
Mathematics 520
Tea will be served at 4:30pm