Algebra/Topology seminar

Speaker: Ben Knudsen (Northwestern)

Title: Configuration spaces, Lie algebras, and factorization

Abstract: The rational homology groups of the configuration spaces of a manifold are computed by the Chevalley-Eilenberg complex of a certain Lie algebra built from its cohomology. This identification, which passes through the theories of factorization homology and higher universal enveloping algebras, leads to a wealth of computations, the unification and improvement of several classical results, and a new, combinatorial proof of homological stability.