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DTSTART:20250307T220000Z
UID:183718@events.unl.edu
DTSTAMP:20240913T212635Z
ORGANIZER;CN=Tri Lai:
SUMMARY:Ismar Volic\, Wellesley College (Pi Mu Epsilon lecture)
STATUS:CONFIRMED
DESCRIPTION:In recent years\, mathematicians have applied sophisticated tec
 hniques to shed new light on practices like voting\, districting\, and app
 ortionment of legislative seats\, providing novel points of view on which 
 of them work well and which do not. Topology has been remarkably successfu
 l in this endeavor. One of the reasons is that special kinds of combinator
 ial geometric objects called simplicial complexes are a natural tool for m
 odeling interactions in political systems and revealing their deeper under
 lying structures. I will discuss how simplicial complexes can be used to s
 tudy political coalitions\, with some basic topological constructions then
  easily translating into political situations such as merging of parties\,
  introduction of mediators\, or delegation of power. The topological point
  of view also supplies a refined take on game-theoretic notions like the B
 anzhaf and Shapley-Shubik power indices of agents in a political system. I
  will also present a generalization to hypergraphs which captures an even 
 richer collection of political dynamics concepts. Time permitting\, a reca
 sting of some classical results from social choice theory in topological a
 nd category-theoretic terms will also be mentioned. No prior knowledge of 
 topology\, geometry\, or political science is required.
URL://events.unl.edu/ENVR/2025/03/07/183718/
DTEND:20250307T225000Z
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