Speaker: Ben Knudsen (Northeastern University)

Title: Probabilistic invariants of finite groups

Abstract: We continue the study of the probabilistic versions of the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category and topological complexity introduced in joint work with Weinberger and independently by Dranishnikov–Jauhari. In the aspherical context, where these invariants are group invariants, there is a universal upper bound in the finite case. We discuss progress toward calculating the exact value, which is equivalent to an interesting problem in equivariant homotopy theory. This talk is based on joint work with Shmuel Weinberger.