Applications are due April 29.    Our website is:  
http://www.pims.math.ca/scientific-event/160718-ssscm

We now have funding from the NSF:  travel support is available for participants 
who are affiliated with an institution in the United States.

Please pass the word to interested graduate students and postdocs.

Jim Davis


Summer School on Surgery and the Classification of Manifolds
Start Date: 07/18/2016
End Date: 07/22/2016
Location:  University of Calgary
Description: 
The summer school is aimed at graduate students and postdocs, although all are 
welcome. It is being sponsored by the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Sciences 
(PIMS) Collaborative Research Group (CRG) in Applied, Algebraic, and Geometric 
Topology and is supported by the National Science Foundation. Many of the 
summer school participants will be invited to the 2-day BIRS workshop on Surgery 
and Geometry which will be held immediately after the summer school.
 
Scientific Plan:
The goal is for participants to learn about the classification of manifolds, up to 
homeomorphism and diffeomorphism within a fixed homotopy type, using the 
technique of surgery. This technique uses the close relations between algebraic and 
geometric topology, passing between homology and homotopy groups via the 
Hurewicz theorem and between handles in a manifold and cells in a CW complex 
through Morse theory. The classification techniques are most effective for 
manifolds of dimension four or greater, although there are be applications to and 
interactions with low-dimensional topology.
 
This mathematics interacts with algebraic topology, geometric topology, differential 
topology, geometric group theory, and geometric functional analysis. The capstone 
speaker will be Guoliang Yu, who will discuss connections of surgery theory with 
index theory, with the Dirac operator and the existence of metrics of positive scalar 
curvature, and with the Novikov and Baum-Connes conjectures. 
 
Format: There will be four hours of lectures given by the organizers each day. In 
addition, there will be minilectures given by participants on topics suggested by 
the organizers in advance. There will also be exercise sessions and question 
sessions, promoting a good deal of interactions between the participants and the 
organizers. 
 
Prerequisites: We hope to draw participants from multiple backgrounds, including 
geometric topology, algebraic topology, geometric group theory, geometry, and 
geometric functional analysis. But in order to effectively participate in the summer 
school, participants should come to the summer school with a working knowledge 
of smooth manifolds, vector bundles, transversality, the cohomology ring, the 
Hurewicz Theorem, and the statement of Poincaré duality. Familiarity with bordism 
theory and generalized (co)homology theory, classifying spaces for vector bundles, 
characteristic classes and Morse Theory would also be helpful. 
 

 
Downloads:
Prerequisites
Lectures
Minilectures
Organizers: 

Scientific Committee:
Diarmuid Crowley (co-chair)
James Davis (co-chair)
Qayum Khan
Guoliang Yu
 
Organizing Committee:
Kristine Bauer
Donald Stanley
Other Information: 
Accommodation:  
Accommodation will be provided for participants at the
University of Calgary’s student residences.  
Calgary is in the foothills of the beautiful Canadian Rockies, and,
immediately prior to the summer school is the famous Calgary Stampede.  
Registration Process:  
Registration for the summer school is a two-step process:
 
Step 1: Application Request: Individuals interested in participating in the Summer 
School should send an email to [log in to unmask] The email should contain 
the following:
**Applicant's first, last name and gender
**Applicant's email address and institution
**Applicant's referee name and email address
**Applicant's CV (as a pdf attachment)
**A brief (less than 250 word) statement on your current research interests and 
how the summer school will benefit.
**Indication of your area of interest. 
**Indication of whether you would like to present one of the minilectures.
**Indication of whether you will be able to attend without or with travel support.  
Travel support is available for participants who are affiliated with an institution in 
the United States.
  
Application deadline: April 29th, 2016.
 
Step 2: Registration: You will be notified via email once your application has been 
accepted and will be directed to the Summer School registration page.   There will 
be a $50CAD registration fee.
 
Collaborative Research Group:
This event is hosted by the PIMS Collaborative Research Group on Applied, 
Algebraic and Geometric Topology.
 

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