Events for 12/10/2021 from all calendars
Working Seminar on Banach and Metric Spaces
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
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
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.