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SUMMARY:Essential dimension of homogeneous forms - Angelo Vistoli (Pisa)
DTSTART:20110216T141500Z
DTEND:20110216T151500Z
UID:TALK28483@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Burt Totaro
DESCRIPTION:The concept of essential dimension has been introduced 15 year
 s ago\, and has\nattracted a lot of attention since then. The essential di
 mension of an\nalgebraic or algebro-geometric object (e.g.\, of an algebra
 \, a quadratic\nform\, or an algebraic curve) is the minimal number of ind
 ependent\nparameters required to define the underlying structure. In many 
 cases\ncomputing the essential dimension is a delicate question\, linked w
 ith\nlong-standing open problems. I will survey the basic concepts\, give 
 some\nexamples\, and present recent results due to Reichstein and me on th
 e\nessential dimension of homogeneous forms.\n
LOCATION:MR13\, CMS
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