Colloquium-Matrices, models, and geometry

Title: Matrices, models, and geometry

Speaker:  William Ross, University of Richmond

http://math.richmond.edu/faculty/wross/

Date and Time: Friday, April 20, 1:00-2:00pm
Place: Rome 204

Abstract :  The spectral theorem says that the diagonal matrices with unimodular entries serve as models for the unitary matrices. What are the models for matrices that are close to being unitary? As it turns out, there are some historical connections to this problems to work from 20th century Europe, Imperial Japan, and from a French prisoner from the Napoleonic Wars.

William T. Ross is the Roger Francis and Mary Saunders Richardson chair in mathematics at the University of Richmond, and head of the department.