Date & Time: Tuesday, 30th August, 2011

Venue: Ramanujan Hall

Title: Algebraic cycles and p-adic L-functions

Speaker: Prof. Kartik Prasanna, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Abstract:The theme of the talk will be relations between algebraic cycles and L-functions. The famous conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer relates rational points on an elliptic curve to the behaviour of an L-function. This conjecture has a vast generalisation to higher dimensions, due to Bloch and Beilinson. I will discuss some of the history of the Bloch-Beilinson conjecture as well as some of the motivating geometric questions that lead to its formulation. Finally, I will explain what p-adic L-functions are and how they fit into (and enhance) this picture.