Equations and Geometry:  an Introduction to the Colloquium

Frank Sottile
Texas A&M University

   This talk --- which will be background for the
colloquium I give just following it --- will discuss
three topics related to solving equations:

(1) Be'zout's Theorem for the number of common solutions to 
     a system of polynomial equations.
(2) The Descartes' bound for the number of real solutions
     to a system of equations.
(3) The Schubert calculus for the Grassmannian of 2-planes
     in C^4.