Friday, April 4th at 4:00pm in Kerchof Hall 317 (pizza arrives at 3:45)
Speaker: Prof. Tom Mark (UVa Mathematics)
Title: Curvature and topology of surfaces

Abstract: Classical differential geometry deals with concepts like length, angles, and curvature of curves and surfaces in 3-dimensional space. Topology ignores such concepts and considers properties that are unchanged under continuous deformations, unlike curvature: the standard quip is that to a topologist a donut is the same as a coffee cup. I'll talk about elements of both sides of this story and the connections between them in the form of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, which answers the question "how can a nearsighted ant tell the difference between a donut and a pretzel?"