Friday 4 September 2026 at 2 pm, as part of the Al@Bicocca seminar cycle, Collin Bleak (University of St. Andrews) and Jim Belk (University of Glasgow) will hold the following talks
Speaker: Collin Bleak
Title: Generating infinite simple groups
Abstract: It is well known that every finite simple group can be generated by just two elements, and indeed, much more is true. But, much less is known about the generation of infinite simple groups. In this talk, we focus on the class of finitely generated simple vigorous groups, which are infinite groups that act on Cantor space in a particularly nice way. Thompson’s group V is the motivating example of such a group, but the class includes all the normal generalisations such as the Higman–Thompson groups Gn,r, the Brin–Thompson groups nV , as well as Nekrashevych’s simple groups of dynamical origin (including RÖver’s group V (Γ), which fits in that class). It turns out that all of these groups can be generated by two elements. The talk will also highlight a variety of much stronger things that can be said, and include some further applications of these results. This is joint work with Donoven, Harper, and Hyde.
Speaker: Jim Belk
Title: Quasisymmetry groups of finitely ramified fractals
Abstract: Quasisymmetries are an important class of homeomorphisms related to analysis on metric spaces and quasiconformal geometry. In this talk, I will introduce quasisymmetries and outline a theory of quasisymmetry groups for finitely ramified fractals, with applications to fractals such as generalized Sierpinski triangles and Julia sets of hyperbolic polynomials. This is joint work with Bradley Forrest.
Information to attend
The seminar will be held online. You can participate using this link.
For more information, visit the website