SPUR/RSI Lecture Series

Featured Speaker:  Pavel Etingof

Title: Iterating sine, equivalence classes of variable changes, and finite groups with few conjugacy classes

Abstract: I will talk about the following three problems:

1. What happens if you repeatedly press the "sine" button on your calculator?

2. What are equivalence classes of variable changes y=f(x) where f(0)=0 and f'(0)=1?

3. How to construct "the most noncommutative" finite groups, i.e. ones with as few conjugacy classes as possible?

Are you wondering what these problems are doing in the same talk? Come and find out!