Tel-Aviv University
School of Mathematical Sciences
Department Colloquium
*** Note the special time and place ***
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Shenkar 104, 13:15
Shlomo Sternberg
Harvard University
Functorialities in the semi-classical world
Abstract:
In his famous paper on caustics, Hamilton introduced certain functions
into
geometrical optics (which he called point characteristics and angle
characteristics)
to describe what are known as canonical transformations of phase
space.
Some ten years later he applied these ideas to mechanics. Hamilton
proved that the
composition of canonical transformations corresponds to the addition
of their characteristics.
I want to reformulate Hamilton's ideas into modern terms which are
useful in semi-classical and microlocal analysis.