Equidistribution of tropical Weierstrass points

Series
Algebra Seminar
Time
Monday, October 8, 2018 - 2:00pm for 1 hour (actually 50 minutes)
Location
Skiles 006
Speaker
Harry Richman – Univ. of Michigan
Organizer
Matt Baker
The set of (higher) Weierstrass points on a curve of genus g > 1 is an analogue of the set of N-torsion points on an elliptic curve. As N grows, the torsion points "distribute evenly" over a complex elliptic curve. This makes it natural to ask how Weierstrass points distribute, as the degree of the corresponding divisor grows. We will explore how Weierstrass points behave on tropical curves (i.e. finite metric graphs), and explain how their distribution can be described in terms of electrical networks. Knowledge of tropical curves will not be assumed, but knowledge of how to compute resistances (e.g. in series and parallel) will be useful.