Shoelaces in the 4th Dimension: An Introduction to Low-Dimensional Topology


Monday, December 2 at 4pm in Olin 201. Malcolm Gabbard, almost-PhD, graduate student at Kansas State University will talk about topics in low-dimensional topology.  Topology is a large field of mathematics which centers around creating spaces from sets and then considering deformations of these spaces. In this talk we will introduce some foundational definitions and results you would find in an introduction to topology class. With this foundation we will build up to modern questions in low-dimensional topology. In particular, we will learn what knots in the 4th dimension are, how we can visualize them, and why we should care. Math-interested students should find this talk accessible.

BIO: Malcolm Gabbard is a PhD student in his 6th year at Kansas State University studying low-dimensional topology and knot theory. His research centers around symmetries of 2-dimensional surfaces in 4-dimensional manifolds, as well as tabulation of knot invariants. Malcolm was an undergraduate at Colorado College and, before that, was born and raised in Walla Walla a block away from Whitman College.



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