## Seminars and Colloquia Schedule

Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - 14:00 , Location: Skiles 005 , Thanh Dang , Math, GT , Organizer: Robin Thomas
Let P be a graph with a vertex v such that P-v is a forest and let Q be an outerplanar graph. In 1993 Paul Seymour asked if every two-connected graph of sufficiently large path-width contains P or Q as a minor.mDefine g(H) as the minimum number for which there exists a positive integer p(H) such that every g(H)-connected H-minor-free graph has path-width at most p(H). Then g(H) = 0 if and only if H is a forest and there is no graph H with g(H) = 1, because path-width of a graph G is the maximum of the path-widths of its connected components.Let A be the graph that consists of a cycle (a_1,a_2,a_3,a_4,a_5,a_6,a_1) and extra edges a_1a_3, a_3a_5, a_5a_1. Let C_{3,2} be a graph of 2 disjoint triangles. In 2014 Marshall and Wood conjectured that a graph H does not have K_{4}, K_{2,3}, C_{3,2} or A as a minor if and only if g(H) >= 2. In this thesis we answer Paul Seymour's question in the affirmative and prove Marshall and Wood's conjecture, as well as extend the result to three-connected and four-connected graphs of large path-width. We introduce cascades", our main tool, and prove that in any tree-decomposition with no duplicate bags of bounded width of a graph of big path-width there is an injective" cascade of large height. Then we prove that every 2-connected graph of big path-width and bounded tree-width admits a tree-decomposition of bounded width and a cascade with linkages that are minimal. We analyze those minimal linkages and prove that there are essentially only two types of linkage. Then we convert the two types of linkage into the two families of graphs P and Q. In this process we have to choose the right'' tree decomposition to deal with special cases like a long cycle. Similar techniques are used for three-connected and four-connected graphs with high path-width.
Series: Other Talks
Friday, January 12, 2018 - 10:10 , Location: Skiles 005 , Rafael de la Llave , School of Mathematics, Georgia Inst. of Technology , Organizer: Rafael de la Llave
This is a preliminary talk for the Workshop "Introduction to Dynamical Systems Methods for Mission Design" that will take place Jan 16-19 in the school of  Mathematics. In this talk, we will present the basics of Hamiltonian dynamics and why it is useful. It ishoped that it will be accesible for people with background in undergraduate differential equations who want to participate in the workshop.