Mathematics Program Presents
Social Choice Problems and Algebraic Topology
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Online Event
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Mona Merling '09, University of Pennsylvania
To avoid misleading anyone, this talk will not be about the sociology of topologists! "Social choice" is a model for decision making in economic, social, and political contexts. For example: suppose that each person gets to vote on their favorite location where they would like to place a statue on an island. Is there a fair way based on these votes to choose the location? This will turn out to be a topological, even a homotopical, problem, depending on the topology of the island. In this talk we will explore social choice models and answer the question about when they exist using algebraic topology.The purpose of this talk is to serve as an advertisement for algebraic topology and basic category theory. I will not assume any background other than calculus (in particular the notion of continuity so that I can give an intuition about topology). Familiarity with abstract algebra will help, but I will err on the side of defining what a group is, and I will give a crash course in category theory.
Zoom Info: https://bard.zoom.us/j/86398169686?pwd=M0pvT25ETmFhbUhkb1FUc2FuaGl0QT09
Meeting ID: 863 9816 9686
Passcode: 74261
For more information, call 845-758-6822, e-mail [email protected],
or visit https://bard.zoom.us/j/86398169686?pwd=M0pvT25ETmFhbUhkb1FUc2FuaGl0QT09.
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Online Event