A Descriptive View of Combinatorial Group Theory | Department of Mathematics

A Descriptive View of Combinatorial Group Theory

Event Information
Event Location: 
GAB 461, 4-5 PM; refreshments: GAB 472, 3:30 PM
Event Date: 
Monday, April 30, 2012 - 4:00pm

Abstract: Following the fundamental work of Friedman-Stanley and Hjorth-Kechris, it is now well-known that descriptive set theory provides a framework for measuring the relative complexity of many naturally occurring classification problems. It is less well-known that descriptive set theory also provides a framework for explaining the inevitable non-uniformity of many classical constructions in mathematics. In this talk, I will illustrate this point by considering two constructions from combinatorial group theory related to the word problem for finitely generated groups and the Higman-Neumann-Neumann Embedding Theorem.