Colloquium: Kathryn Lindsey (Boston College)

Dear All,

Here are the details regarding the next Math & Stats Colloquium:

Date / Time: Friday, March 2nd @ 3:30 P.M.

Location: ARTS 101

Speaker: Kathryn Lindsey (Boston College)

Title: Shapes of polynomial Julia sets

Abstract: The filled Julia set of a complex polynomial P is the set of
points whose orbit under iteration of the map P is bounded. W. Thurston
asked "What are the possible shapes of polynomial Julia sets?" For
example, is there a polynomial whose Julia set looks like a cat, or your
silhouette, or spells out your name? It turns out the answer to all of
these is "yes." I will characterize the shapes of polynomial Julia sets
and present an algorithm for constructing polynomials whose Julia sets
have desired shapes.