Proseminar on algebraic topology Fall 2004

Instructors: Daniel Biss, Jesper Grodal, and Peter May
Website: www.math.uchicago.edu/~jg/prosem.html
Time and place: We meet Tuesday and Thursday 13:30-14:50 in Eckhart Room 206
Audience: Graduate students in their second year or higher, with an interest in algebraic topology
Textbooks: We'll use various books and research articles as detailed in the course plan below.

Various practical information and course plan:

Here is a list of topics which might be covered depending on interest. If you are interested in giving a talk about one of them, drop us a line.

Also, email Daniel (daniel), Jesper (jg), or Peter (may) if you want to receive updates on what's happening in this course. Likewise you should sign up for the mailing list "topology" by going to http://zaphod.uchicago.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/topology

UPCOMING TALKS:
Th 9/30: Spectral Seq (Justin). Justin's notes
Tu 10/5: Postnikov systems (Niles)
Th 10/7: Cohomology of Groups (Matt).
Tu 10/12: Loop spaces and Hopf algebras (Kate)
Th 10/14: Steenrod Algebra (Mike).
Tu 10/19: Characteristic classes (Jim).
Th 10/21: Model categories (Mike)
Tu 10/26: Simplicial Methods (Nick)
Th 10/28 Rational homotopy theory (Megan)
Tu 11/2: Spectra (Niles)
Th 11/4: Localization (Kate)
Tu 11/9: Topological K-theory (Justin)
Th 11/11: Algebraic K-theory (Bert)
Tu 11/16: Cobordism (Alexander)
Th 11/18: Exotic spheres (Nils)
Tu 11/23: Finiteness obstruction (Jim)
THANKSGIVING
Tu 11/30: Infinite loop spaces (Bert)
Th 12/2: The Adams Spectral Sequence (Megan)

Still up for grabs (see also advanced topics on plan for more suggestions):
Equivariant homotopy theory
PRACTICE TALKS:
Everyone should give at least one practice talk before their real talk, and giving as well as attending practice talks is an integral part of the course. Niles Johnson (niles at math...) is in charge of arranging the time and place for the practice talks. Contact him for more information.

Other stuff: Here's a link to the student topology seminar at MIT , and here is a link to their Kan seminar