Abstract homomorphisms of algebraic groups and applications

Seminar: 
Algebra and Number Theory Seminar
Event time: 
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - 4:15pm
Location: 
LOM 206
Speaker: 
Igor Rapinchuk
Speaker affiliation: 
Michigan State University
Event description: 
I will discuss several results on abstract homomorphisms between the groups of rational points of algebraic groups. The main focus will be on a conjecture of Borel and Tits formulated in their landmark 1973 paper. Our results settle this conjecture in several cases; the proofs make use of the notion of an algebraic ring. I will mention several applications to character varieties of finitely generated groups and representations of some non-arithmetic groups.