Theatre B, Richard Berry Building
The University of Melbourne
Centre for Mathematics and its Applications,
School of Mathematical Sciences,
Australian National University
We will begin by reminding the audience of usual determinants. Then we will talk about the definition of K_1, and the universal determinant into it. After that, we will talk about extending the definition of determinants still further. We will then discuss identities of determinants, and how they are related to defining K_1 directly from the derived category (which will be explained). We will recall an old counterexample due to Deligne. Then we will discuss the positive results in the subject.