# All Upcoming Events

On Tuesday at 11:30 in BIPAC seminar room, a seminar in the Cosmology series:
Katy Clough (King's College)
Robustness of Inflation to inhomogeneous initial conditions
On Monday, October 9, at 12:45 in L3, a seminar in the String Theory series:
Shehryar Sikander (ICTP)
TBA
On Monday, October 9, at 14:00 in Dennis Sciama Lecture Theatre, a seminar in the Astrophysics Colloquia series:
Ian Heywood (CSIRO)
On Monday, October 9, at 14:15 in L4, a seminar in the Geometry and Analysis series:
Frances Kirwan (Oxford)
TBA
On Thursday, October 12, at 16:00 in L6, a seminar in the Number Theory series:
Alexander Betts (Oxford)
TBA
On Monday, October 16, at 12:45 in L3, a seminar in the String Theory series:
Lotte Hollands (Herriot-Watt University, Edinburgh)
TBA
On Monday, October 16, at 14:00 in Dennis Sciama Lecture Theatre, a seminar in the Astrophysics Colloquia series:
Jasson Hessels (ASTRON)
TBD (Pulsars)
On Monday, October 16, at 14:15 in L4, a seminar in the Geometry and Analysis series:
Lorenzo Foscolo (Heriot Watt University)
TBA
On Tuesday, October 17, at 11:30 in BIPAC seminar room, a seminar in the Cosmology series:
Andreu Font (UCL)
Studying the Expansion of the Universe with quasar spectra
On Thursday, October 19, at 16:00 in L6, a seminar in the Number Theory series:
Trevor Wooley (University of Bristol)
Smooth values of polynomials
Further information: Recall that an integer n is called y-smooth when each of its prime divisors is less than or equal to y. It is conjectured that, for any a>0,  any polynomial of positive degree having integral coefficients should possess infinitely many values at integral arguments n that are n^a-smooth. One could consider this problem to be morally “dual” to the cognate problem of establishing that irreducible polynomials assume prime values infinitely often, unless local conditions preclude this possibility. This smooth values conjecture is known to be true in several different ways for linear polynomials, but in general remains unproven for any degree exceeding 1. We will describe some limited progress in the direction of the conjecture, highlighting along the way analogous conclusions for polynomial smoothness. Despite being motivated by a problem in analytic number theory, most of the methods make use of little more than pre-Galois theory. A guest appearance will be made by several hyperelliptic curves. [This talk is based on work joint with Jonathan Bober, Dan Fretwell and Greg Martin].
On Friday, October 20, at 14:30 in L1, a seminar in the Math Colloquium series:
Peter Sarnak (Princeton University)
Integer points on affine cubic surfaces
Further information: A cubic polynomial equation in four or more variables tends to have many integer solutions, while one in two variables has a limited number of such solutions. There is a body of work establishing results along these lines. On the other hand very little is known in the critical case of three variables. For special such cubics, which we call Markoff surfaces, a theory can be developed. We will review some of the tools used to deal with these and related problems. Joint works with Bourgain/Gamburd and with Ghosh
On Friday, October 20, at 16:00 , a seminar in the Math Colloquium series:
Robert Calderbank (Duke University)
Title tbc
Further information: Tbc
On Monday, October 23, at 12:45 in L3, a seminar in the String Theory series:
Heeyeon Kim (Oxford)
TBA
On Monday, October 23, at 14:15 in L4, a seminar in the Geometry and Analysis series:
Nicholas Sheridan (Cambridge)
Cubic fourfolds, K3 surfaces, and mirror symmetry
Further information: While many cubic fourfolds are known to be rational, it is expected that the very general cubic fourfold is irrational (although none have been proven to be so). There is a conjecture for precisely which cubics are rational, which can be expressed in Hodge-theoretic terms (by work of Hassett) or in terms of derived categories (by work of Kuznetsov). The conjecture can be phrased as saying that one can associate a noncommutative K3 surface' to any cubic fourfold, and the rational ones are precisely those for which this noncommutative K3 is geometric', i.e., equivalent to an honest K3 surface. It turns out that the noncommutative K3 associated to a cubic fourfold has a conjectural symplectic mirror (due to  Batyrev-Borisov). In contrast to the algebraic side of the story, the mirror is always `geometric': i.e., it is always just an honest K3 surface equipped with an appropriate Kähler form. After explaining this background, I will state a theorem: homological mirror symmetry holds in this context (joint work with Ivan Smith).
On Tuesday, October 24, at 11:30 in BIPAC seminar room, a seminar in the Cosmology series:
Simon Foreman (CITA)
TBD
On Thursday, October 26, at 16:00 in L6, a seminar in the Number Theory series:
Arthur Forey (Institut de mathématiques de Jussieu)
Joint Number Theory / Logic Seminar: TBA
On Monday, October 30, at 14:15 in L4, a seminar in the Geometry and Analysis series:
Markus Upmeier (Oxford)
Almost Kähler 4-manifolds of Constant Holomorphic Sectional Curvature are Kähler
Further information: We show that a closed almost Kähler 4-manifold of globally constant holomorphic sectional curvature k<=0 with respect to the canonical Hermitian connection is automatically Kähler. The same result holds for k < 0 if we require in addition that the Ricci curvature is J-invariant. The proofs are based on the observation that such manifolds are self-dual, so that Chern–Weil theory implies useful integral formulas, which are then combined with results from Seiberg–Witten theory.
On Tuesday, October 31, at 11:30 in BIPAC seminar room, a seminar in the Cosmology series:
Mark Hindmarsh (Sussex)
TBD
On Thursday, November 2, at 16:00 in L6, a seminar in the Number Theory series:
Christopher Skinner (Princeton)
TBA
On Monday, November 6, at 14:00 in Dennis Sciama Lecture Theatre, a seminar in the Astrophysics Colloquia series:
Anthony Beasley (NRAO)
On Thursday, November 9, at 16:00 in L6, a seminar in the Number Theory series:
Daniel Loughran (Manchester)
TBA
On Monday, November 13, at 14:00 in Dennis Sciama Lecture Theatre, a seminar in the Astrophysics Colloquia series:
Avishai Dekel (The Hebrew University Jerusalem)
TBD (Galaxy evolution)
On Monday, November 13, at 14:15 in L4, a seminar in the Geometry and Analysis series:
Mehdi Yazdi (Oxford)
TBA
On Tuesday, November 14, at 23:30 in BIPAC seminar room, a seminar in the Cosmology series:
Joseph Zuntz (Royal Observatory Edinburgh)
TBD
On Monday, November 20, at 14:15 in L4, a seminar in the Geometry and Analysis series:
Ben Davison (University of Glasgow)
TBA
On Tuesday, November 21, at 11:30 in BIPAC seminar room, a seminar in the Cosmology series:
Massimo Meneghetti (Bologna)
TBD
On Thursday, November 23, at 16:00 in L6, a seminar in the Number Theory series: