Date:	Tue, November 19, 2013
Time:	15:45
Place:	Research I Seminar Room

Abstract: Iterated monodromy groups (IMGs) are algebraic invariants of topological dynamical systems (e.g., rational functions acting on the Riemann sphere). They encode the combinatorial information about dynamical systems and frequently serve as examples of groups with unusual properties, such as intermediate growth. I will describe the current open problems in the subject related to my future research. One of them is Nekrashevych's conjecture, which says that the iterated monodromy groups of non-renormalizable quadratic polynomials with pre-periodic critical orbit have intermediate growth. I will outline the idea of a new approach to the Bux and Perez proof of the subexponential growth of IMG(z^2+i).