Geometry and Topology Seminar
Positivity of simplicial volume of certain
locally symmetric spaces
Jean-Francois Lafont, The Ohio State University
Details
Wednesday September 13, 2006
809 Physical Sciences Center
4:00 pm / 3:30 tea
Abstract
The simplicial volume of a closed, orientable, topological manifold measures how efficiently the fundamental class can be represented by real chains. A well known conjecture of Gromov asserts that for closed orientable locally symmetric spaces of non-compact type, the simplicial volume is positive. In this talk, I will explain how one can use the Besson-Courtois-Gallot technique to establish Gromov's conjecture. This is joint work with Ben Schmidt (U. Chicago).