Speaker: Jason Cantarella (University of Georgia)
Title: The Riemannian Geometry of Polygons and Polymers
Abstract: Biopolymers like DNA and proteins and biopolymer networks like collagen
surround us, but many of their features remain surprisingly poorly understood. In this talk, we discuss how the geometry of configuration spaces provides a theoretical framework for understanding polymer and network behavior. We’ll show how spectral graph theory provides insight into the behavior of polymer networks (with some consequences for the behavior of rubber) and how symplectic and conformal geometry help understand the ”freely-jointed chain” model in polymer science.
