Hypergeometric functions - the GKZ-perspective

Series
Geometry Topology Seminar
Time
Monday, April 13, 2009 - 1:00pm for 1 hour (actually 50 minutes)
Location
Skiles 269
Speaker
Uli Walther – Purdue University
Organizer
Stavros Garoufalidis
Starting with some classical hypergeometric functions, we explain how to derive their classical univariate differential equations. A severe change of coordinates transforms this ODE into a system of PDE's that has nice geometric aspects. This type of system, called A-hypergeometric, was introduced by Gelfand, Graev, Kapranov and Zelevinsky in about 1985. We explain some basic questions regarding these systems. These are addressed through homology, combinatorics, and toric geometry.