This award supports participation in the Beyond Hyperbolicity Conference at the Ohio State University, which will be held July 6-10, 2020. The theme of the conference is in geometric group theory, a field that uses algebraic techniques to understand complicated geometric spaces. The Ohio State University has long been a hub for research in geometric group theory, and this conference will continue in this tradition.
Although hyperbolic groups and spaces are a common topic at geometric group theory conferences, the goal of this conference is to highlight work being done in other areas of combinatorial and geometric group theory. Whereas there have are many conferences focused on hyperbolic and acylindrically hyperbolic groups, mapping class groups, and cubical groups, there have been relatively few conferences devoted to a variety of other groups relevant to geometric group theory such as nilpotent and solvable groups, amenable groups, Thompson’s groups, groups of dynamical origins, self-similar groups, and more. These other categories of groups have a long history in the study of geometric group theory. The focus of this conference is to bring together researchers who specialize in these topics to encourage fruitful discussions regarding open questions in geometric group theory outside of the realm of hyperbolic groups. The conference website is at https://sites.google.com/view/beyondhyperbolicity.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
