In his Esquisse d’un programme, Grothendieck called for the development of a “tame” topology, free from the pathologies of general topology. Such a framework was developed in the 1980s and 1990s by logicians under the name o-minimal geometry, based on the simple principle that, in dimension one, the only sets considered are finite unions of intervals. Remarkably, this setting has recently led to striking applications in complex algebraic geometry—particularly in Hodge theory— as well as in number theory, notably in Diophantine geometry. This talk will offer an elementary introduction to these ideas.

16:15~ tea in the common room in the 2nd floor