1991 Clavius Activities at Fairfield University

List of Clavius mathematicians

Clavius group at Fairfield University in 1991

Hugh Albright FSC
Tom Banchoff
John Blanton
Tom Cecil
Lawrence Conlon
Margaret Freije
Richard Freije
James Heitsch
Michele Intermont
Ron Knill
John MacDonnell SJ
Joseph MacDonnell SJ
Michael May SJ
John Pouikis CSB
Sr Barbara Reynolds SDS
Patrick Ryan
Paul Schweitzer SJ
Dennis Snow
Joanne Snow
James Stasheff
William Stoeger SJ
Pedro Suarez SJ
Carlos Vasco SJ
Pawel Walczak
Andrew Whitman SJ

Clavius Community Notes

1991 FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY, FAIRFIELD, CT

Meeting #29: 23 June to 3 August

At the invitation of Fr. Al Kelley, President of Fairfield University the Clavius group returned again to the beautiful and spacious campus (second largest of all 28 Jesuit colleges in the U.S.) We were offered very convenient accomodations including the large lightsome of the Bannow science building for our seminars. Each member had the use of a faculty office which were generously loaned by the regular faculty. In the Bannow faculty lounge a daily coffee hour was an occasion to meet other members of the Fairfield community. We had full library privileges and full access to Fairfield’s computer facilities and recreation center. We lived in townhouses Boscovich and Clavius.

The daily social hour took place in Clavius 121. The Jesuits cooked and ate in Clavius 122. This separation of the various functions of the community has proved to be one of the most successful arrangements to alleviate the pressures of community living. Besides this, all courts and fields were at the disposal of the Group when not in use for University activities.

Once again community liturgies with a daily homily were consistently attended by the entire community, including all the children. We were privileged to have several guitarists present.
Fr. Al Kelley was a gracious host, and the Fairfield Jesuit Community always interested and very helpful in assisting the Clavius community. The summer was quite productive, in part due to the very special attention shown by department chairman, Dr. Joe Dennin and the mathematics secretary Ms. Joan Hanlon. The mathematics was plentiful, varied, and venturesome. We ran four seminars and the participation was outstanding In one seminar we had participation from Yale University, only about 20 miles from Fairfield, and one day that seminar held three sessions on the campus of Yale University itself. But the community aspect of the Clavius Group is what all of us find so remarkable and is growing stronger each year.

Clavius group at Fairfield University in 1988 next to the renowned Clavius Townhouse

Seminars

Topics seminar

One-relator products of cyclics, I
One-relator products of cyclics, II
Comments on the Babylonian algorithm
The infinite Loch Ness monster
The XRY convention contradicts the YFX convention
Roman numerals to hexadecimals: an ancient computer applied to modern numbers
One-relator products of cyclics, III
Visualizing characteristic classes
Foliations by Riemann surfaces
Representation theory, generalizing from groups to algebras of quivers
What is ISTEL?
The cosmic microwave background anisotropy and problems of guage invariance.

Differential Geometry seminar

Isoparametric and Dupin hypersurfaces, I
Isoparametric and Dupin hypersurfaces, II
Holonomy in physics, I
Holonomy in physics, II
Real hypersurfaces in complex space forms, I
Real hypersurfaces in complex space forms, II
Dual varieties of homogeneous spaces
Solutions of triangles and the Saccheri quadrilateral in hyperbolic geometry using the Poincaré model
Harmonic character of the Einstein equation
Examples of foliations preserved by their mean curvature flows
Hyperbolic geometry using the hyperboloid and Klein models

Foliations seminar

Foliations of knot complements, I
Mean curvature invariant foliations, I
A new construction of characteristic classes of foliations –an exposition of C. Godbillon’s last paper, I
Foliations of knot complements, II
Mean curvature in variant foliations, II
A new construction of characteristic classes of foliations — an exposition of C. Godbillon’s last paper, II
Real homotopy theory and tertiary characteristic classes (work of Hurder and Lehmann), I Thurston’s “norm” for homology
A new construction of characteristic classes of foliations — an exposition of C. Godbillon’s last paper, III
Real homotopy theory and tertiary characteristic classes (work of Hurden and Lehmann), II Uniformizations of foliations by surfaces

Riemann Surfaces seminar

The statement of the Riemann-Roch Theorem by Forster compared with that by Gunning
Proof of the Riemann-Roch Theorem by Forster, I, II, III
Finiteness Theorems, I,II, III, IV, V, VI
Proof of the Riemann-Roch Theorem by Gunning, I, II, III, IV
Point Bundles
A representation of a particular meromorphic function as a quotient of two holomorphic sections of some line bundle
Smoothability of proper foliations 1990
Quasi-conformal foliations
Rigidity for group actions
Covering index theorem and eta invariants for manifolds with boundary
Foliations whose leaves are minimal submanifolds