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Texas A&M University
Mathematics

Events for 12/10/2021 from all calendars

Working Seminar on Banach and Metric Spaces

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Time: 1:00PM - 3:00PM

Location: BLOC 302

Speaker: Ryan Malthaner, Texas A&M University

Title: James' non-distortion theorems


Mathematical Physics and Harmonic Analysis Seminar

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Time: 1:50PM - 2:50PM

Location: Zoom

Speaker: Spiridoula Matsika, Temple University

Title: Conical intersections in quantum chemistry

Abstract: In the quantum mechanical treatment of molecules we use the Born-Oppenheimer (adiabatic) approximation, in which the motion of nuclei and electrons is separated because of their large difference in masses. In this approximation the coupling between different electronic potential energy surfaces (PES) is neglected and nuclei move on a single electronic PES. Modeling the motion of nuclei on PESs allows us to model the structure of molecules, their spectroscopy, and chemical reactions. Nevertheless, non-adiabatic processes where the coupling between different PES becomes large are important and ubiquitous in photochemical and other reactions. These processes are facilitated by the close proximity of PESs, and especially by the extreme case where the PESs become degenerate forming conical intersections. In this talk we will discuss the description and basic applications of conical intersections in chemical problems.


Colloquium - Michael Willis

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Time: 4:00PM - 5:00PM

Location: BLOC 117

Speaker: Michael Willis, Stanford University

Description:
TITLE: Knots, Links, and the Infinite
ABSTRACT: The study of knots and links in 3-dimensional space is a large and dynamic field of research in mathematics, with interesting connections to many other branches of both mathematics and the sciences. In this talk I will give a definition for knots (and links), followed by a brief overview of both how they may appear in other fields and how we can study them. I will then focus on a specific set of tools for studying knots based upon the celebrated Jones polynomial. After considering a finite example, we will discuss what happens to our tools in the limit as our knots become “infinitely twisted” before indicating how this limiting behavior has topological applications related to the 4-dimensional smooth Poincare conjecture.