Abstracts for Higher Geometric Structures along the Lower Rhine VIII

In this talk, I will describe the homotopy theory of differential graded unital associative algebras. We already know that they are organized into a model category whose weak equivalences are quasi-isomorphisms. However, the computations of cofibrant resolutions of algebras make this framework unwieldy. I will show that the category of dg unital associative algebras may be embedded into the category of curved coalgebras whose homotopy theory is equivalent but more manageable. Then, I will generalize this method to the case of dg operads and to the case of algebras over an operad.

The role of Poisson transversals in Poisson geometry is analogous to the one played by symplectic submanifolds in symplectic geometry, and by transverse submanifolds in foliation theory. They are defined as submanifolds that intersect the symplectic leaves transversally and symplectically. I will talk about the geometry of the infinite dimensional manifold of compact Poisson transversals; in particular, for unimodular Poisson structures, this space carries a symplectic structure. This is joint work with Pedro Frejlich.

Correction terms are numerical invariants of 3-manifolds that arise in the context of Heegaard-Floer and Seiberg-Witten theory. They have many applications in low dimensional toplogy, for example, they can be used to study intersection forms of smooth 4-manifolds with boundary. By varying the coefficients one obtains a plethora of correction terms whose relations are still poorly understood. I will report on recent work and thoughts on this issue.