Tue, April 18, 2017
1:50 pm - 2:50 pm
Cockins Hall 240
Title: Model theory and Painleve equations
Speaker: James Freitag (University of Illinois Chicago)
Abstract: Painleve equations are certain order two nonlinear differential equations which were isolated around the beginning of the last century by Painleve, Gambier, and Fuchs for reasons related to classical analytic problems. The equations arise in a variety of applications from physics to Diophantine geometry. In this talk, we will discuss how model theory can be used to prove transcendence results for solutions of Painleve equations. The talk will be accessible to a general audience.