Geometry & Topology Seminar

Geometry & Topology Seminar 

Date: Wednesday, 18 November 2026 

Time: 3pm-4pm (***Please note the special start time.***) 

Speaker: Anna Parlak (Max Planck Institute for Mathematics) 

Location: SMRI Seminar Room (Macleay A12 Room 301) 

Title: Finding periodic orbits of (drilled) pseudo-Anosov flows 

Abstract: A (drilled) pseudo-Anosov flow admits a combinatorial description in terms of
a finite directed graph, called the flow graph.  Its bi-infinite directed paths encode
orbits of the flow, with periodic paths corresponding to periodic orbits.  I will
explain how one can determine (in finitely many steps) the ambient isotopy classes of
periodic orbits from their combinatorial description.  This is joint work with Henry
Segerman.