In joint work with François Maucourant, we study the dynamics of unipotent flows on frame bundles of hyperbolic manifolds of infinite volume. We prove that they are topologically transitive, and that the natural invariant measure, the so-called « Burger-Roblin measure », is ergodic, as soon as the geodesic flow admits a finite measure of maximal entropy, and this entropy is strictly greater than the codimension of the unipotent flow inside the maximal unipotent flow. The latter result generalises a theorem of Mohammadi and Oh.

In the talk, I will present the main ideas of this work.

 

We introduce Feynman categories and show that they naturally define bi-algebras. In good circumstances these bi-algebras have Hopf quotients. Corresponding to several levels of sophistication and decoration (both terms have technical definitions), we recover the Hopf algebras of Goncharov and Brown from number theory, a Hopf algebra of Baues used in the analysis of double loop spaces and the various Hopf algebras of Connes-Kreimer used in QFT as examples of the general theory. Co-actions also appear naturally in this context as we will explain.

We will first define the moduli space of algebraic-group-valued representations of finitely presented groups. Then we will briefly describe how non-commutative rings influence the structure of the coordinate ring of these moduli spaces. Lastly, we will illustrate this general relationship by constructing minimal generating sets of the coordinate rings of these moduli spaces in some specific examples.

Minkowski space of dimension 2+1 is the Lorentzian analogue of Euclidean 3-space. It is well-known that there exists an isometric embedding of the hyperbolic plane in Minkowski space, which is the analogue of the embedding of the round sphere in Euclidean space. However, differently from the Euclidean case, the embedding of the hyperbolic plane is not unique up to global isometries. In this talk I will discuss several results on the classification of these embeddings, and explain how this problem is related to Monge-Ampère equations, harmonic maps, and Teichmüller theory. This is joint work with Francesco Bonsante and Peter Smillie.

Hitchin representations are an important class of representations of fundamental groups of closed hyperbolic surfaces into PSL(n,R), at the heart of higher Teichmüller theory. Given such a representation j, there is a unique j-equivariant harmonic map from the universal cover of the hyperbolic surface to the symmetric space of PSL(n,R). We show that its energy density is at least 1 and that rigidity holds. In particular, we show that given a Hitchin representation, every equivariant minimal immersion from the hyperbolic plane into the symmetric space of PSL(n,R) is distance-increasing. Moreover, equality holds at one point if and only if it holds everywhere and the given Hitchin representation j is an n-Fuchsian representation.

I shall report about a new direct construction of Nori motives, discovered independently by Barbieri-Viale and Prest on the one hand, by Joyal and myself on the other hand. Unlike previous constructions, one uses only standard constructions in category theory, like Frey free abelian category on a given additive category, and Serre’s construction of quotient categories.

The statistical measure Evolutionary Entropy characterizes Darwinian Fitness and predicts the outcome of competition for limited resources between related entities at various levels of organization: metabolic, cellular, organismic and social. I will discuss the mathematical basis of the selection principle and describe its application to the evolution of aging and the origin of age-related diseases.

In these lectures we will present the mathematical proofs of conformal invariance of a number of models coming from planar statistical mechanics, including the Ising and dimer models. In particular, we will explain how discrete notions of holomorphicity can be used to solve discrete versions of classical Boundary Value Problems, and how this analysis is related to conformal invariance of certain observables in planar statistical mechanics.

Ergodic Theory is a powerful tool in the study of linear groups. When trying to crystallize its role, emerges the theory of AREAs, that is Algebraic Representations of Ergodic Actions, which provides a categorical framework for various previously studied concepts and methods. Roughly, this theory extends the focus of Representation Theory from Groups to Group Actions, exploiting the tension between Ergodic Theory and Algebraic Geometry. In this series of talks I will introduce this theory and survey some of its applications, focusing on Superrigidity and Arithmeticity results.

==================================================================

IHES Covid-19 regulations:

– all the participants who will attend the event in person will have to keep their mask on in indoor spaces
and where the social distancing is not possible;
– speakers will be free to wear their mask or not at the moment of their talk if they feel more comfortable
without it;
– Up to 25 persons in the conference room, every participant will be asked to be able to provide a health pass
– Over 25 persons in the conference room, every participant will be asked to provide a health pass which will
be checked at the entrance of the conference room.

==================================================================

Ergodic Theory is a powerful tool in the study of linear groups. When trying to crystallize its role, emerges the theory of AREAs, that is Algebraic Representations of Ergodic Actions, which provides a categorical framework for various previously studied concepts and methods. Roughly, this theory extends the focus of Representation Theory from Groups to Group Actions, exploiting the tension between Ergodic Theory and Algebraic Geometry. In this series of talks I will introduce this theory and survey some of its applications, focusing on Superrigidity and Arithmeticity results.

==================================================================

IHES Covid-19 regulations:

– all the participants who will attend the event in person will have to keep their mask on in indoor spaces
and where the social distancing is not possible;
– speakers will be free to wear their mask or not at the moment of their talk if they feel more comfortable
without it;
– Up to 25 persons in the conference room, every participant will be asked to be able to provide a health pass
– Over 25 persons in the conference room, every participant will be asked to provide a health pass which will
be checked at the entrance of the conference room.

==================================================================

Ergodic Theory is a powerful tool in the study of linear groups. When trying to crystallize its role, emerges the theory of AREAs, that is Algebraic Representations of Ergodic Actions, which provides a categorical framework for various previously studied concepts and methods. Roughly, this theory extends the focus of Representation Theory from Groups to Group Actions, exploiting the tension between Ergodic Theory and Algebraic Geometry. In this series of talks I will introduce this theory and survey some of its applications, focusing on Superrigidity and Arithmeticity results.

==================================================================

IHES Covid-19 regulations:

– all the participants who will attend the event in person will have to keep their mask on in indoor spaces
and where the social distancing is not possible;
– speakers will be free to wear their mask or not at the moment of their talk if they feel more comfortable
without it;
– Up to 25 persons in the conference room, every participant will be asked to be able to provide a health pass
– Over 25 persons in the conference room, every participant will be asked to provide a health pass which will
be checked at the entrance of the conference room.

==================================================================