KTH/SU Mathematics Colloquium
05-10-26
Ragni Piene, University of Oslo
Generating functions in enumerative geometry
Enumerative geometry is concerned with counting geometric objects of
fixed type that satisfy certain given conditions. For example, the
objects can be plane curves of given degree and genus or of given
degree with certain types of singular points. Inspired by string
theory in theoretical physics, one can look at the generating
functions of such problems. This gives a new and natural approach,
relating these enumerative questions to modular forms, partition
functions, Bell polynomials, and more.