AbstractSome of the better-known link homology theories are bigraded and categorify Reshetikhin-Turaev GL(N) link invariants. In the past few years foams have emerged as an explicit way to construct link homology theories. We will explain what foams are and how evaluation of foams leads to these explicit approaches to link homology.Mikhail KhovanovColumbia UniversityMikhail Khovanov is a profes...
Abstract:I shall discuss my recent work showing that the Bogomolov-Tschinkel universality conjecture holds if and only if the mapping class groups of a punctured surface is large (which is essentially the negation of the Ivanov conjecture about the mapping class groups). I will also discuss my recent work with O. Tosic regarding the closely related Putman-Wieland conjecture.Prizes and Distinct...