Abstracts for Friedrich Hirzebruch Lecture

For fotos of the event see the Foto-Gallery of the Uni-Club Bonn.

Starting from just a sheet of paper, by folding, stacking, crumpling, tearing, we will explore a rich variety of phenomena, from magic tricks and geometry to elasticity and the traditional Japanese art of origami. Much of the lecture consists of actual table-top demos, which you can try later with friends and family.

HBonn.pdf

Moduli spaces parameterize continuous deformations of mathematical objects. Their study (starting with ideas of Riemann in the 19th century) has revealed many surprises: universal structures, connections between different subjects, and wild leaps. I will present some sense of the motivations and results related to the study of moduli spaces from the perspective of examples ranging from configurations of mechanical linkages to the moduli of varieties and sheaves.