Operator algebra seminar

Speaker:  Ana Khukhro (Université de Neuchâtel)

Title: Geometry of finite quotients of groups.

Abstract: The study of graphs associated to groups has revolutionised group theory, allowing us to use geometric intuition to study algebraic objects. We will focus here on the case of groups admitting many finite quotients. Geometric properties of a collection of finite quotients of a group can provide information about the group if the set of finite quotients is sufficiently rich, and one can exploit the connections between the world of group theory and graph theory to give examples of metric spaces with interesting and often surprising properties. In this talk, we will describe some results in this direction, and then give recent results concerning the geometric rigidity of finite quotients of a group (joint work with Thiebout Delabie).