KTH/SU Mathematics Colloquium

2005-05-11

William Fulton, University of Michigan

Do we understand 19th century enumerative geometry?

We take a look at the status of Hilbert's 15th problem in 2005, which was to justify the counting of geometric figures done by Schubert and others between 1850 and 1900. In particular, we address the question: How well do we understand the methods used by these mathematicians?