Tom Weston,
An introduction to etale cohomology


Abstract: Etale cohomology, invented by Grothendieck and Artin in the 1960's, is a purely algebraic replacement for singular cohomology of complex manifolds. In this talk I will try to emphasize the more concrete aspects of the theory, rather than obsessing over the foundations. In particular, I will explain the computation of the etale cohomology of curves over algebraically closed fields. I will then go on to discuss the interconnections between the theory over finite fields and over the complex numbers.