Steve Boyer (UQAM)

Title: Stir-frying Homeo_+(S^1)-representations and the L-space conjecture.

Abstract: The existence of a representation of the fundamental group of a 3-manifold with values in Homeo_+(S^1) potentially has a major impact on its topology via the L-space conjecture. We'll discuss how such representations arise from pseudo-Anosov flows and how an operation called stir-frying adds great variability to the construction. Time permitting, we'll discuss applications to the study of the L-space conjecture.