Abstract:

Hyperbolic volume has proved to be a powerful invariant for  knot theory and 3-manifolds. But obtaining effective bounds on volume has proved elusive. We use results of Agol-Storm-Thurston to obtain dramatic improvements when knots and 3-manifolds can be decomposed into simpler pieces.

Guest speaker will join Vincent Rodgers (UI Physics Dept) the following day for "Panorama of Geometry and Topology."