Postgraduate Seminar: Fun/Easdown

3pm Tuesday 8th September
Carslaw 157

Speaker: Alex Fun

Title: A Pieri rule for dual Schur functions

The classical Schur functions play an important part in the
representation theory of the symmetric group. I will introduce some of the
combinatorics involved while working with them, and then discuss a
generalisation: the multiparameter Schur functions, which form a basis of
the algebra of symmetric functions depending on a sequence of parameters. I
am interested in the dual Littlewood-Richardson coefficients, which describe
the comultiplication structure on this algebra, amongst other things. If
time allows I will talk about a generalised Pieri rule which gives an
explicit formula for multiplication of an arbitrary dual Schur function and
a dual Schur function associated with a row or column diagram.


Speaker: David Easdown

Title: Pluses and minuses of reflection

Abstract: On the down side, mathematicians are particularly susceptible
to the dreaded disease known as The Principle of Reflected Blindedness.
On the up side, reflection by a master mathemagician like Stephen Smale
can shed new light on sparkling jewels in the crown, such as The Fundamental
Theorem of Algebra.