We are home to 30 faculty, four staff, approximately 60 graduate students, several research visitors, and numerous undergraduate students. We offer exciting and challenging programs leading to BMath, MMath and PhD degrees. We nurture a very active research environment and are intensely devoted to both ground-breaking research and excellent teaching.
News
Spring 2023 Graduands
Congratulations to Clement Wan, MMath and Eric Boulter, PhD, who convocated in Spring 2023. Best of luck in your future endeavours!
Grad Coordinator Staff Change
On July 1st, we sadly had to say "so long" and "thank you" to Nancy Maloney who retired from the Pure Math grad coordinator position. Nancy had been with Pure Math for over 16 years and will definitely be missed. We wish you all the best for a long, healthy, and restful retirement, Nancy!
And we say "welcome" to Jo-Ann Hardy who has taken over the grad coordinator role as of July 4th. We’re happy to have you with us, Jo-Ann! Welcome to Pure Math!
Alexandru Nica wins Faculty of Math Distinction in Teaching Award
Pure Math Professor Alexandru (Andu) Nica is a recipient of this year's Faculty of Mathematics Distinction in Teaching Award. Up to two awards are given each year to teachers who have “consistently demonstrated outstanding pedagogical skills and a deep commitment to our students’ education.” Congratulations, Andu!
Read more about Andu's award here.
Events
Polish Groups Learning Seminar - Analysis & Logic
Speaker: Thomas Bray
"The Birkhoff-Kakutani Theorem"
I will introduce the basic concepts pertaining to topological groups. After this, I will show one way of proving the Birkhoff-Kakutani theorem. Time permitting, I will demonstrate how one can use Birkhoff-Kakutani to build a complete metric on a Polish group.
MC 5403
Topology Learning Seminar: The Adams Spectral Sequence
Speaker: William Gollinger
Topology Learning Seminar: The Adams Spectral Sequence
The Adams Spectral Sequence was introduced by Frank Adams in his paper "On The Structure and Application of the Streenrod Algebra" (1958) with applications to the stable homotopy groups of spheres and the Hopf-Invariant One problem. In the context of the stable homotopy category it was soon upgraded to the general problem of computing the coefficients of extraordinary cohomology theories. In this series of lectures we will outline a construction of the Adams Spectral Sequence following Ravenel's "Green Book", and give applications including computations of some stable homotopy groups of spheres as well as certain Madsen-Tillmann bordism groups which have recently been of interest in the theory of TQFTs.
The seminar assumes some basic knowledge of algebraic topology (in particular homotopy theory and ordinary homology theory) but is aimed to be expository, introducing the audience to important topological concepts such as stable homotopy theory and cohomology operations. The topics presented will be roughly in the following order: examples of the Leray-Serre spectral sequence; the Stable Homotopy Category; construction of the Adams Spectral Sequence; the Steenrod Algebra and its dual; computations.
MC 5417