The  19th  Annual    R.  A.  Blyth  Lectures  in  Mathematics  

Abstract:      3-­‐manifolds   can   be   built   up   by   a   process   of   gluing   along  surfaces,   and   a   good   quantitative   understanding   of   this  can   help   us   study   the   geometric   structures   that   these  manifolds   admit.   This   leads   to   a   detailed   study   of   the  mapping  class  group  of  a  surface  and  its  coarse  geometry.      I  will  discuss  the  history  of   this  area  over   recent   (and  not  so   recent)   years,   and   hopefully   give   an   overview   of   the  current  state,  where  a  number  of  question  marks  remain.  

Complexity  in  surfaces  and  3-­‐manifolds  

LECTURES  1,  2  Monday,  March  10th  and    Wednesday,  March  12th,  2014    –  4:00  p.m.  Room  BA6183        

LECTURE  3  Thursday,  March  13,  2014  –  12:00  p.m.  Room:  BA6183        

The  Blyth  Lecture  Reception  will  take  place  before  the  first  lecture    at  3:00  p.m.  on  Monday,  March  10th  ,  2014    in  the  Department  of  Mathematics  lounge,    

40  St.  George  St.,  6th  floor.      

For  more  information,  please  visit  our  website:    http://www.math.utoronto.ca/cms/blyth-­‐lecture-­‐series/