Seminar: Symplektische Geometrie / Symplectic Geometry — Sommersemester 2019, HU Berlin

This is a working group seminar run by Klaus Mohnke and Chris Wendl on recent developments in symplectic geometry. Participants are expected to be familiar with the basics of symplectic geometry, including some knowledge of holomorphic curves and/or Floer-type theories. The seminar is conducted in English.

We will switch the time of the seminar this semester to Mondays, 13:00-15:00 (c.t.) in room 1.315 at Rudower Chaussee 25. It will occasionally be preempted by the Berlin-Hamburg Symplectic Geometry Seminar.

Monday April 8, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Informal meeting to discuss topics for the semester
Monday April 15, 2019 Berlin-Hamburg Symplectic Geometry Seminar (in Berlin)
Monday April 22, 2019
no seminar (holiday)
Monday April 29, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Marc Kegel
Topic: Open questions about open books
Abstract: In this talk, I would like to survey the close connection between open books and contact structures. Special attention will be paid to some open questions. No previous knowledge about contact structures or open books is assumed.
Monday May 6, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Chris Wendl
Topic: Introduction to spinal open books
Abstract: Spinal open books are a generalization of open book decompositions in which the binding is replaced by something that may have more nontrivial topology. Just like an open book, a spinal open book on a closed 3-manifold determines a compatible contact structure up to isotopy. My goal in this talk will be to introduce the basic notions and then sketch two applications of a topological nature: (1) the construction of symplectic cobordisms via "spine removal surgery" and resulting proof that certain contact manifolds are not symplectically fillable; (2) a reinterpretation of Bourgeois's classic result that for every contact manifold, the product of that manifold with the 2-torus also admits a contact structure.
Monday May 13, 2019 Berlin-Hamburg Symplectic Geometry Seminar (in Berlin)
Monday May 20, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Mihai Munteanu
Topic: Introduction to embedded contact homology
Monday May 27, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Michael Hutchings (Berkeley)
Topic: Applications of embedded contact homology
Friday May 31, 2019
15:00-16:30 (s.t.!)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Michael Hutchings (Berkeley)
Topic: Applications of embedded contact homology (continued)
Monday June 3, 2019 no seminar
Monday June 10, 2019 no seminar (holiday)
Monday June 17, 2019 Berlin-Hamburg Symplectic Geometry Seminar (in Hamburg)
Monday June 24, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Dingyu Yang
Topic: Fukaya category of Landau-Ginzburg models
Abstract: I will explain my joint work with Huijun Fan and Wenfeng Jiang in constructing a Fukaya algebra (an algebraic gadget which is a chain complex with higher multiplication) out of a certain holomorphic Morse function on a Kähler manifold. The key points are the use of the Witten equation and a highly non-trivial C0 compactness argument. I will try to make the content as friendly as possible, and not too technical.
Monday July 1, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Fabio Gironella (Renyi Institute)
Topic: Aspherical symplectic fillings of 5-dimensional planar Bourgeois contact manifolds
Abstract: Starting from a contact structure on an odd-dimensional manifold M together with a supporting open book, Bourgeois '02 gave an explicit recipe to build a contact structure on the product of M with the 2-torus T. After giving an introduction to this construction and explaining the motivations behind the study of its properties, I will sketch a proof of the following result, which is joint work in progress with Jonathan Bowden and Agustin Moreno: given a 3-dimensional contact manifold M with planar supporting open book, the associated Bourgeois contact structure on M x T admits a symplectically-aspherical strong filling if and only if the monodromy of the open book on M is the identity.
Monday July 8, 2019
13:00-15:00 (c.t.)
RUD 25, Room 1.315
Speaker: Dingyu Yang
Topic: Fukaya category of Landau-Ginzburg models (continued)

Other symplectic events going on this semester

last semester's symplectic seminar