Non-positive curvature of fundamental groups and (coarse) topology of manifoldsMPIM

by Cornelia Druțu (University of Oxford/MPIM)

Monday Jan 19, 2026, 2:00 PM → 3:00 PM Europe/Berlin

MPIM, Vivatsgasse, 7 - Lecture Hall (Max Planck Institute for Mathematics)

MPIM Topology Seminar

One way of studying compact manifolds is either by endowing them with a geometry, following the approach used by Thurston for 3-manifolds, or by endowing their fundamental group with a (large scale) geometry. I will explain one particular way of defining nonpositive curvature for such a fundamental group, using bicombings (an idea introduced by Busemann and pursued by Thurston) and the impact that this property has on the (coarse) topology of the manifold itself and of its universal cover.
The talk is on joint work with Davide Spriano and Stefanie Zbinden.