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245B, Notes 9: The Baire category theorem and its Banach space consequences

The notion of what it means for a subset E of a space X to be “small” varies from context to context.  For instance, in measure theory, when is a measure space, one useful notion of a “small” set is that of a null set: a set E of measure zero (or at least contained […]

Yoneda’s lemma as an identification of form and function: the case study of polynomials

As someone who had a relatively light graduate education in algebra, the import of Yoneda’s lemma in category theory has always eluded me somewhat; the statement and proof are simple enough, but definitely have the “abstract nonsense” flavor that one often ascribes to this part of mathematics, and I struggled to connect it to the […]

A Host–Kra F^omega_2-system of order 5 that is not Abramov of order 5, and non-measurability of the inverse theorem for the U^6(F^n_2) norm; The structure of totally disconnected Host–Kra–Ziegler factors, and the inverse theorem for the U^k Gowers uniformity norms on finite abelian groups of bounded torsion

Asgar Jamneshan, Or Shalom, and myself have just uploaded to the arXiv our preprints “A Host–Kra -system of order 5 that is not Abramov of order 5, and non-measurability of the inverse theorem for the norm” and “The structure of totally disconnected Host–Kra–Ziegler factors, and the inverse theorem for the Gowers uniformity norms on finite […]

What are the odds?

An unusual lottery result made the news recently: on October 1, 2022, the PCSO Grand Lotto in the Philippines, which draws six numbers from to at random, managed to draw the numbers (though the balls were actually drawn in the order ). In other words, they drew exactly six multiples of nine from to . […]

Using the Smith normal form to manipulate lattice subgroups and closed torus subgroups

Let denote the space of matrices with integer entries, and let be the group of invertible matrices with integer entries. The Smith normal form takes an arbitrary matrix and factorises it as , where , , and is a rectangular diagonal matrix, by which we mean that the principal minor is diagonal, with all other […]

Venn and Euler type diagrams for vector spaces and abelian groups

A popular way to visualise relationships between some finite number of sets is via Venn diagrams, or more generally Euler diagrams. In these diagrams, a set is depicted as a two-dimensional shape such as a disk or a rectangle, and the various Boolean relationships between these sets (e.g., that one set is contained in another, […]

More analysis questions from a high school student

A few months ago I posted a question about analytic functions that I received from a bright high school student, which turned out to be studied and resolved by de Bruijn. Based on this positive resolution, I thought I might try my luck again and list three further questions that this student asked which do […]

246B, Notes 4: The Riemann zeta function and the prime number theorem

Previous set of notes: Notes 3. Next set of notes: 246C Notes 1. One of the great classical triumphs of complex analysis was in providing the first complete proof (by Hadamard and de la Vallée Poussin in 1896) of arguably the most important theorem in analytic number theory, the prime number theorem: Theorem 1 (Prime […]

Foundational aspects of uncountable measure theory: Gelfand duality, Riesz representation, canonical models, and canonical disintegration

Asgar Jamneshan and I have just uploaded to the arXiv our paper “Foundational aspects of uncountable measure theory: Gelfand duality, Riesz representation, canonical models, and canonical disintegration“. This paper arose from our longer-term project to systematically develop “uncountable” ergodic theory – ergodic theory in which the groups acting are not required to be countable, the […]

Course announcement: Math 246A, complex analysis

Starting on Oct 2, I will be teaching Math 246A, the first course in the three-quarter graduate complex analysis sequence at the math department here at UCLA.  This first course covers much of the same ground as an honours undergraduate complex analysis course, in particular focusing on the basic properties of holomorphic functions such as the […]