For more information about this meeting, contact Yakov Pesin, Sergei Tabachnikov.
| Title: | A big familly of algebras: quaternions, octonions and other cousins |
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| Seminar: | Department of Mathematics Colloquium |
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| Speaker: | Valentin Ovsienko, University of Lyon, France |
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| Abstract: |
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| "The real numbers are the dependable breadwinner of the family, the
complete ordered field we all rely on. The complex numbers are a
slightly flashier but still respectable younger brother: not ordered,
but algebraically complete. The quaternions, being noncommutative, are
the eccentric cousin who is shunned at important family gatherings. But
the octonions are the crazy old uncle nobody lets out of the attic: they
are nonassociative."
The citation from John Baez offers an excellent description of the
familly. I will introduce other algebras-second-cousins and explain the
main properties that characterize them (and distinguish from the other
Cayley-Dickson algebras). As an application, I will talk of the
celebrated Hurwitz problem on sums of squares and its relations to topology. |
Room Reservation Information
| Room Number: | MB114 |
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| Date: | 10 / 27 / 2011 |
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| Time: | 04:00pm - 05:00pm |
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