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Becky Armstrong

VUW Operator Algebra Seminar

I currently organise the Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) Operator Algebra Seminar.

The seminar is held on Thursdays at 14:00–15:00 in Cotton 431.

The schedule of talks for Trimester 1 2026 is as follows.

Date: Thursday, 5th February 2026
Speaker: Dr Anna Duwenig (University of New South Wales, Australia)
Title: The Zappa–Szép product of groupoid twists
Abstract: The Zappa–Szép (ZS) product of two groupoids is a generalisation of the semi-direct product: instead of encoding one groupoid action by homomorphisms, the ZS product groupoid encodes two (non-homomorphic, but "compatible") actions of the groupoids on each other. Together with my collaborator Boyu Li, I have been working on various ways of generalising this construction to the world of C*-algebras. In this talk, I will introduce you to our generalisation of the ZS product to two twists over groupoids and, if time permits, I will show how our construction ties in with Weyl twists from Cartan pairs arising from Kumjian–Renault theory. (Based on joint work with Boyu Li, New Mexico State University.)
[No seminar on 12th February 2026.]
Date: Thursday, 19th February 2026
Speaker: TBA
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Date: Thursday, 26th February 2026
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[No seminar on 5th or 12th March 2026 due to MATRIX Workshop.]
Date: Thursday, 19th March 2026
Speaker: TBA
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Date: Thursday, 26th March 2026
Speaker: Dr Samuel Evington (University of Münster, Germany)
Title: Principal groupoid models for Cuntz algebras
Abstract: TBA
Date: Thursday, 2nd April 2026
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[No seminar on 9th or 16th April 2026 due to Mid-Trimester Break.]
Date: Thursday, 23rd April 2026
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Date: Thursday, 30th April 2026
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Date: Thursday, 7th May 2026
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Date: Thursday, 14th May 2026
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Date: Thursday, 21st May 2026
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Date: Thursday, 28th May 2026
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