CMSA Freedman Seminar: Formulating 4D surgery for AI agents

Name: CMSA Freedman Seminar: Formulating 4D surgery for AI agents
Start: 2026-01-30T14:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-01-30T16:15:00-05:00
Location: Virtually

CMSA FREEDMAN SEMINAR

When: January 30, 2026

2:00 pm - 4:15 pm

Where: Virtually

Speaker: Michael Freedman (CMSA) | Slava Krushkal (University of Virginia)

The topological category surgery exact sequence is still open for free groups (and most groups of exponential growth). The lack of knowledge is about both surgery and s-cobordism; and the source of the mystery is the same in both cases. Thinking about how to present this problem to AIs has had its own value. In a pair of talks we will explain how we have thought about the problem in the past and how we are thinking about it now.

The seminar will be virtual only:

https://harvard.zoom.us/j/93617252012?pwd=xMGNfbK3c9s4fuqpaZlUC68LjCMkI9.1

Password: CMSA