Topology Seminar

Title:    Invariants of finite type for curves on surfaces revisited.

Speaker:  Oleg Viro, Stony Brook University

Abstract:

 Curves on surfaces and curves in the 3-space form stratified spaces which
 have many similar properties and are closely related to each other, but
 the relations are not yet well understood. Curves on surfaces are more
 complicated objects than curves in the space. In particular, the natural
 stratifications of the spaces of curves and finite type invariants are
 more complicated in the case of curves on surfaces. We will consider these
 phenomena in the simplest non-trivial situations.