Back2Fields COLLOQUIUM SERIES
Fields Institute, Room 230 (map)
October 11, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.
Philipp Hieronymi
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tame Geometry: A tale of two spirals

Fields Medal Symposium

Activities Celebrating the Fields 20th Anniversary

Tame geometry can be described as the study of well-behaved expansions of semi-algebraic geometry. While it was known that the expansion by one logarithmic spiral was tame, the question whether the same is true for two logarithmic spiral remained open for some time. During the thematic program on o-minimal Structures and Real Analytic Geometry, I was able to answer this question negatively. In this talk, I will give an introduction to Tame Geometry, explain the solution of the above problem and present the recent developments influenced by this solution. In particular, I will discuss how the result that the mentioned structures are not tame at all, sheds new light on the question what tameness actually means. - No prior knowledge in Logic or in semi-algebraic geometry is assumed.

The Back2Fields Colloquium Series celebrates the accomplishments of former postdoctoral fellows of Fields Institute thematic programs. Over the past two decades, these programs attracted the rising stars of their fields and often launched very distinguished research careers. As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, this series of colloquium talks will allow a general mathematical public to become familiar with some of their work.

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