Obstructions to Nielsen realization
Speaker:
Bena Tshishiku, Harvard University
Date and Time:
Monday, July 8, 2019 - 11:00am to 11:55am
Location:
Fields Institute, Room 230
Abstract:
Let M be a manifold with fundamental group G. The Nielsen realization problem asks when a subgroup of Out(G) can be lifted to a subgroup of Diff(M). We will discuss some instances of this problem with applications to low-dimensional topology (flat connections on surface bundles) and high-dimensional topology (degree of symmetry of exotic hyperbolic manifolds).