Regina Lectures on Fat Points

These notes are a record of lectures given in the Workshop on Connections Between Algebra and Geometry at the University of Regina, May 29--June 1, 2012. The lectures were meant as an introduction to current research problems related to fat points for an audience that was not expected to have much background in commutative algebra or algebraic geometry (although sections 8 and 9 of these notes demand somewhat more background than earlier sections).Comment: 32 pages, 3 figure

Four lectures on secant varieties

This paper is based on the first author's lectures at the 2012 University of Regina Workshop "Connections Between Algebra and Geometry". Its aim is to provide an introduction to the theory of higher secant varieties and their applications. Several references and solved exercises are also included.Comment: Lectures notes to appear in PROMS (Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics), Springer/Birkhause