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Seminar

What does a random surface look like? February 25, 2026 (02:00 PM PST - 03:00 PM PST)
Parent Program:
Location: SLMath: Eisenbud Auditorium, Online/Virtual
Speaker(s) Kasra Rafi (University of Toronto)
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Video

What does a random surface look like?

Abstract/Media

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Building on her seminal work on moduli space volumes for Riemann surfaces, Mirzakhani also computed expected values of various geometric quantities on moduli space. In particular, she studied the expected Cheeger constant, the injectivity radius at a random point, and the statistical distribution of different types of curves on surfaces of large genus. I will review several of Mirzakhani’s key results, which together give a detailed picture of the geometry of random high genus surfaces. I will then discuss some extensions of her work in the setting of translation surfaces.

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What does a random surface look like?