Homotopy theory of Kac-Moody groups
Presenter
January 30, 2014
Keywords:
- Weyl group
- Kac-Moody group
- infinite dihedral group
- Schubert basis
- Lie group
- stable homotopy theory
MSC:
- 55P42
- 55P47
- 55P35
- 55P91
- 55Pxx
- 55Qxx
- 55-xx
Abstract
The homotopy theory of compact Lie groups is very well understood by now. The rich structure of these groups (for example: existence and uniqueness of maximal tori, corresponding Weyl groups etc.) may be exploited to classify these groups. This classification even extends to homotopical versions of these groups known as p-compact groups. In the last few decades a beautiful new class of (non-compact) topological groups has been constructed. These are known as Kac-Moody groups and they share most of the structure that compact Lie groups admit. Kac-Moody groups have been shown to be relevant in mathematical physics and further investigation by several mathematicians (including the speaker) seems to suggest that Kac-Moody groups are surprisingly amenable to homotopical techniques. This makes these groups prime candidates for study from the standpoint of homotopy theory.