December 23, 1999. G.Mikhalkin ("Young Mathematician" Prize winner for 1999.) Surfaces in 3-space and their amoebas.

The amoeba of a hypersurface in the complex torus $(\C-0)^n$ is its image under the map $\mu:(x_1,...,x_n)\to (\log|x_1|,..., \log|x_n|)$. The shape of amoeba is especially peculiar when the hypersurface is real (i.e., invariant under complex conjugation). In the talk, special attention will be paid to the case of $n=3$, and a new theorem on the topology of surfaces in real toric 3-folds will be presented.

List of talks at previous sessions of the seminar.