Speaker: Pankaj Vishe
Date: August 14, 2014
Affiliation: University of York, UK

Abstract: Let $G=\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb R)\ltimes \mathbb R^{2k}$ and let $\Gamma$ be a congruence subgroup of $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb Z)\ltimes \mathbb Z^{2k}$. We give an effective equidistribution result for a family of 1-dimensional unipotent orbits in $\Gamma\backslash G$. The proof involves Specral methods and bounds for exponential sums. We apply this result to obtain an effective Oppenheim type result for a class of indefinate irrational quadratic forms. This is based on a joint work with Andreas Strombergsson.