We discuss the distribution of the trace of a random matrix in the compact Lie group USp2g, with the normalized Haar measure. According to the generalized Sato-Tate conjecture, if A is an abelian variety of dimension g defined over the rationals, the sequence of traces of Frobenius in the successive reductions of A modulo primes appears to be equidistributed with respect to this distribution. If g = 2, we provide expressions for the characteristic function, the density, and the repartition function of this distribution in terms of higher transcendental functions, namely Legendre and Meijer functions.[-]

Beyond endoscopy is the strategy put forward by Langlands for applying the trace formula to the general principle of functoriality. Subsequent papers by Langlands (one in collaboration with Frenkel and Ngo), together with more recent papers by Altug, have refined the strategy. They all emphasize the importance of understanding the elliptic terms on the geometric side of the trace formula. We shall discuss the general strategy, and how it pertains to these terms.[-]

In this series of lectures, we will focus on simple Lie groups, their dense subgroups and the convolution powers of their measures. In particular, we will dicuss the following two questions.
Let G be a Lie group. Is every Borel measurable subgroup of G with maximal Hausdorff dimension equal to the group G?
Is the convolution of sufficiently many compactly supported continuous functions on G always continuously differentiable?
Even though the answer to these questions is no when G is abelian, the answer is yes when G is simple. This is a joint work with N. de Saxce. First, I will explain the history of these two questions and their interaction. Then, I will relate these questions to spectral gap properties. Finally, I will discuss these spectral gap properties.[-]

Given a nilpotent Lie algebra over a characteristic zero field, one can construct a group in a universal way via the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula. This integration procedure admits generalizations to dg Lie or L∞-algebras, giving in general ∞-groupoid of deformations that it encodes, as by the Lurie-Pridham correspondence, infinitesimal deformation problems are equivalent to dg Lie algebras. The recent work of Brantner-Mathew establishes a correspondence between infinitesimal deformation problems and partition Lie algebras over a positive characteristic field. In this talk, I will explain how to construct an analogue of the integration functor for certain point-set models of (spectral) partition Lie algebras, and how this integration functor can recover the associated deformation problem under some assumptions. Furthermore, I will discuss some applications of these constructions to unstable p-adic homotopy theory.[-]