PIMS - UBC Math Department Colloquium: Burt Totaro

A video of this event is available on mathtube.org.

 

A fundamental problem of algebraic geometry is to determine which algebraic varieties are rational, that is, isomorphic to projective space after removing lower-dimensional subvarieties from both sides. We discuss the history of the problem. Some dramatic progress in the past 5 years uses a new tool in this context: the Chow group of algebraic cycles.