Talk by Dr. Lukas Geyer (Mathematical Sciences, MSU)

9/16/2019  Wilson Hall 1-144  4:10-5:00pm

Abstract: From general relativity we know that a cluster of galaxies or stars between an observer and a light source can bend the light rays and create a lensing effect, in some cases producing several different apparent images of a single light source.  We will show how the mathematics of relativity simple gravitational lenses leads to harmonic equations in the complex plane, and how seemingly unrelated techniques from complex dynamics have helped to analyze these gravitational lenses, as well as other related questions about zeros of complex harmonic functions.