Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

Surface bundles lie in the intersection of many areas of math: algebraic topology, 2–4 dimensional topology, geometric group theory, algebraic geometry, and even number theory! However, we still know relatively little about surface bundles, especially compared to vector bundles. In this interactive talk, I will present the general (and beautiful) fiber bundle theory, including characteristic classes, as a starting point, and you the audience will get to specialize the general theory to surface bundles, with rewards! The talk aims to be accessible to anyone who had exposure to algebraic topology. This is also part one of three talks about surface bundles I will give this semester.