Title: Hilbert schemes of plane curve singularities and knot invariants

Abstract: To a singular point on a complex plane curve in a surface, one associates a link by intersecting the curve with a 
small sphere around the singularity.  It has long been understood that there is a close relationship between the topology of 
the link and the geometry of the singularity.  I will discuss here a conjectural relationship between the Khovanov-Rozansky 
invariants of the link and the cohomology of Hilbert schemes of points on the singular curve.