Speaker: Richard M. Schoen, Distinguished Professor and Excellence in Teaching Endowed Chair University of California, Irvine
Lecture I: Problems and progress in mathematical relativity
The Einstein equations were invented to unify gravity and special relativity. The theory of curved space times evolving under the Einstein evolution equations leads to a unique set of mathematical problems which lie in the fields of differential geometry and partial differential equations of elliptic, hyperbolic, and parabolic type. This lecture will survey some of these problems with emphasis on topics of current interest for which progress is being made. It is intended for a general audience.