R Venkatesh:  Unique factorization of symmetric functions
	Chair: Sankaran Viswanath

	Abstrat:  In this talk, I will give an introduction to
	symmetric functions and prove some of their basic properties.
	We first realize the symmetric group as a reflection group
	via its natural action on Euclidean space.  We then use this
	realization to define symmetric functions and their special examples.
	After this (if time permits), I will discuss the unique factorization
	of symmetric functions in terms of Schur functions.
	Some basic knowledge on linear transformations will be assumed.