Robert Garbary, Pure Mathematics University of Waterloo
“Roadmap and the basics”
Abelian
varieties
are
the
algebraic
equivalent
of
compact
lie
groups
-
they
are
complete
(=compact)
varieties
with
morphisms
turning
them
into
groups.
Besides
being
interesting
in
their
own
right,
they
have
played
a
major
role
in
number
theory
and
the
theory
of
curves
in
the
last
75
years.
I’m
going
to
tell
you
some
basic
properties
of
abelian
varieties,
such
as
why
they
are
abelian
and
why
they
have
trivial
canonical
divisor.
I’m
then
going
to
talk
about
some
of
the
concepts
we
should
try
cover
during
the
term.