Title: Isomorphisms on sale Speaker: Charlotte Chan, The University of Michigan Abstract: We learn from character theory that any representation is uniquely characterized by its trace character, a conjugation-invariant function. Experience tells us that in general, character formulae for representations can be very complicated. This leads us to the following natural question: can we recognize representations from a selective set of character values? I will discuss joint work with Masao Oi where we study this question for several families of groups, including finite groups of Lie type and p-adic groups. Details: The Informal Friday Seminar is a space where members of our research group can explain interesting things to each other in a casual setting. The rules of the seminar are the following: Any question/additional explanation from the audience is allowed. Ego out the window. Examples, examples, examples. If you would like to join the mailing list or contribute a talk, please email finn.klein@sydney.edu.au.