Graduate Programs      Graduate Home Ph D Programs Masters Degree Ph D Program Requirements Course Descriptions Current Courses Admissions Current Graduate Students Graduate Student Seminar SIAM Chapter Seminar Recent Graduates Incoming Students Graduate Seminar Andrew Zucker Carnegie Mellon University Title: A descriptive proof of the pointwise ergodic theorem Abstract: The pointwise ergodic theorem is one of the most important results in ergodic theory: If $f$ is an $L^1$ function on a standard probability space $(X, \mu)$ and $T: X \to X$ is an invertible $\mu$-preserving transformation, then the averages of $f$ converge pointwise a.e. to the expectation of $f$. Analysis proofs of this result are rather difficult, and typically go by proving some sort of maximal inequality. Instead of maximal inequality, we proceed via minimal effort! Anush Tserunyan has recently found a super slick proof of the pointwise ergodic theorem using only some basic descriptive set theory. In this talk, we will discuss the necessary descriptive set theory background and give Tserunyan's proof.Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2017Time: 5:30 pmLocation: Wean Hall 8220Submitted by:  Yangxi OuNote: Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1VZzEXuHJP0