Birational geometry and algebraic cycles

Speaker: Burt Totaro

Date: Fri, Sep 14, 2018

Location: PIMS, University of British Columbia

Conference: PIMS-UBC Math Department Colloquium

Subject: Mathematics, Algebraic Geometry

Class: Scientific

Abstract:

A fundamental problem of algebraic geometry is to determine which algebraic varieties are rational, that is, isomorphic to projective space after removing lower-dimensional subvarieties from both sides. We discuss the history of the problem. Some dramatic progress in the past 5 years uses a new tool in this context: the Chow group of algebraic cycles.