Adian-Rabin theorem

The statement that has become known as “Adian-Rabin theorem” was first proved in S.I.Adian's PhD thesis (1955). It is absolutely fascinating due to its generality and simplicity of the formulation. In this talk I will speak about the theorem itself, including its history and applications, and perhaps will also mention some morally similar problems in other areas. Time permitting, we will also discuss main ideas of the proof.