Caltech/USC Algebra & Geometry Seminar

Welcome to the homepage of the joint algebra and geometry seminar at California Institute of Technology and University of Southern California! We meet biweekly on Thursday afternoons, alternating between the two campuses. Each meeting consists of two one-hour talks followed by a seminar dinner. Topics at our seminar include but are not limited to algebra, representation theory, algebraic geometry, mirror symmetry, and mathematical physics.

  • Time: Thursdays 2:45pm-3:45pm and 4:00pm-5:00pm
    • (different from last semester)
  • Caltech location: Linde Hall (37), Room 187
  • USC location: Kaprelian Hall, Room 414. Special room on May 1st
  • Organizers: Yifeng Huang (USC), Wenyuan Li (USC), Weihong Xu (Caltech)
  • Click on the title to view the abstract.
  • Note the special date, time, and/or location in red, if any.

Below is the Winter and Spring 2024-2025 schedule. For Fall 2024-2025, see here. For the academic year 2024-2024, see here.

Date Speaker Affliation Title
1/16/2025
@USC		 Siyang Liu USC
Symplectic Aspects of Hyperplane Arrangements

Abstract. Complexified complement of hyperplane arrangements are one of the most classical examples of study in singularity theory and algebraic geometry, while its symplectic properties are largely under exploration. In this talk, I’ll present our recent progress toward understanding symplectic geometry of hyperplane arrangements, which is connected to torus-equivariant topology of toric hyperKahler varieties. This is based on the recent joint work with Sukjoo Lee, Yin Li and Cheuk Yu Mak and work in preparation with Sheel Ganatra, Wenyuan Li and Peng Zhou.
Paolo Aluffi Florida State
Segre classes and Lorentzian/covolume polynomials

Abstract. Lorentzian polynomials provide a natural generalization of log-concave sequences and have had striking applications to deep conjectures in combinatorics, in work of June Huh and others. We will define a class of closely related polynomials, `covolume polynomials’, and explore situations in intersection theory in which they occur naturally, specifically, their appearance in the context of Segre classes of subschemes of products of projective spaces. We will also describe an application of these considerations to the combinatorics of convex polyhedral cones.

2/13/2025
@Caltech		 Dragos Oprea UCSD
TBA

Abstract. TBA

Felix Thimm UBC
TBA

Abstract. TBA.
2/27/2025
@USC		 Wern Yeong UCLA
TBA

Abstract. TBA.
Song Yu Tsinghua YMSC
TBA

Abstract. TBA

4/3/2025
@Caltech		 Soham Karwa Duke
TBA

Abstract. TBA.
Irit Huq-Kuruvilla Virginia Tech
TBA

Abstract. TBA

4/10/2025
@Caltech		 Shubham Sinha ICTP
TBA

Abstract. TBA.
Dori Bejleri U Maryland
TBA

Abstract. TBA

4/17/2025
@Caltech		 Hannah Larson Berkeley
TBA

Abstract. TBA.
Bernd Sturmfels Berkeley
TBA

Abstract. TBA

5/1/2025
@USC
KAP 265		 José Yáñez UCLA
Polarized endomorphism of log Calabi-Yau pairs

Abstract. An endomorphism on a normal projective variety X is said to be polarized if the pullback of an ample divisor A is linearly equivalent to qA, for some integer q>1. Examples of these endomorphisms are naturally found in toric varieties and abelian varieties. Indeed, it is conjectured that if X admits a polarized endomorphism, then X is a finite quotient of a toric fibration over an abelian variety. In this talk, we will restrict to the case of log Calabi-Yau pairs (X,B). We prove that if (X,B) admits a polarized endomorphism that preserves the boundary structure, then (X,B) is a finite quotient of a toric log Calabi-Yau fibration over an abelian variety. This is joint work with Joaquin Moraga and Wern Yeong.
Reginald Anderson Claremont McKenna
TBA

Abstract. TBA