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Department of Mathematics,
University of California San Diego

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Math 243 - Functional Analysis Seminar

Therese Landry

MSRI

Developments in Noncommutative Fractal Geometry

Abstract:

As a noncommutative fractal geometer, I look for new expressions of the geometry of a fractal through the lens of noncommutative geometry.  At the quantum scale, the wave function of a particle, but not its path in space, can be studied.  Riemannian methods often rely on smooth paths to encode the geometry of a space.  Noncommutative geometry generalizes analysis on manifolds by replacing this requirement with operator algebraic data.  These same "point-free" techniques can also be used to study the geometry of spaces like fractals.  Recently, Michel Lapidus, Frédéric Latrémoliére, and I identified conditions under which differential structures defined on fractal curves can be realized as a metric limit of differential structures on their approximating finite graphs.  Currently, I am using some of the same tools from that project to understand noncommutative discrete structures.  Progress in noncommutative geometry has produced a rich dictionary of quantum analogues of classical spaces.  The addition of noncommutative discrete structure to this dictionary would enlarge its potential to yield insights about both noncommutative sets and classically pathological sets like fractals.  Time permitting, other works in progress, such as on classification of $C^*$-algebras on fractals, may be discussed. 

Host: David Jekel

March 8, 2022

10:00 AM

Please email djekel@ucsd.edu for Zoom details.

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