DOCSLIB.ORG

December 2010

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
December 2010 THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER No. 398 December 2010 Society LMS COUNCIL DIARY to have a special Strategy Day in February. Among the issues to Meetings 8 October 2010 be discussed are the recommen- and Events At its meeting on 8 October, dations from the Membership Council noted with regret the Working Group led by Garth 2010 resignation from Council with Dales. In particular, do we want Monday 6 December immediate effect of Simon to increase the membership of Society Meeting, Chandler-Wilde, due to pres- the LMS, and if so, in what way? ICMS, Edinburgh sure of work in his new role as How do we make membership [page 3] Head of the School of Mathe- of the LMS more attractive while matical and Physical Sciences at staying within the charity law 2011 Reading. Thus I am writing this which states that the overall cost Council Diary in his stead. of members’ benefits must not Friday 25 February Among the substantial mat- exceed the total subscriptions Mary Cartwright ters before Council was the paid? Since any large change in Lecture, Oxford job of considering and approv- membership may alter the char- [page 20] ing the annual accounts and acter of the Society irrevocably, Friday 6 May trustees’ report. This is perhaps it is important to think carefully Women in Mathematics our single most important le- before making changes. Day, London gal duty as trustees, and Brian Ken Brown led a discussion on [page 2] Stewart, the Treasurer, ably the three research policy docu- led us through the mass of ments (see article on page 2), Tuesday 17 May figures, clearly pointing out to which had been substantially LMS–Gresham Lecture, us where to find the real fig- updated since they were dis- London [page 2] ures in amongst the accounting cussed by Council in July. They Friday 1 July fictions. The overall picture is were generally agreed to be London that the Society is in a healthy very helpful in arguing the case Tuesday 19 July position financially, with a for mathematics, and they were Northern Regional small recovery in invested capi- formally approved by Council. Meeting, Leeds tal, and a significantly greater These documents also fed into profit from publications than the LMS submission to the cur- Friday 18 November expected this year. Neverthe- rent International Review of LMS AGM, London less, the continued economic Mathematics being undertaken uncertainty means that con- by EPSRC. The LMS made a stant vigilance is still required. strong case that mathematics It is one of the jobs of Coun- in the UK is highly successful, NEWSLETTER cil to make decisions on policy despite serious and chronic and strategy, but there is never underfunding relative to both ONLINE: enough time at ordinary Council comparator countries and com- Go to www.lms.ac.uk/ meetings to discuss these matters parator disciplines. newsletter properly. We decided therefore John Greenlees reported on Dec10-NL.indd 1 23/11/2010 16:58:38 THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected] the regular meeting between the CMS and invited us to start thinking about the 50th EPSRC, which had little cheer for mathe- anniversary of the founding of the LMS, matics, as various nightmare scenarios were which occurs in 205. Stephen Huggett played out in front of us. In the event, the reported on the slow progress on the new Government’s Comprehensive Spending Re- website, but since the Council meeting view has protected the overall cash spent there has been more movement, and there on research in STEM subjects, but it is too are signs that we might actually have at early to say what will happen to the share least a skeleton of a brand new website be- of this currently allocated to mathematics. fore long. We then came to a discussion of policy on Robert Wilson school education, which continues to gen- erate great controversy. Numerous bodies with the word ‘mathematics’ in their title RESEARCH POLICY have widely differing views. After much discussion, Council decided that in repre- COMMITTEE senting its members, the LMS represents The Research Policy Committee, as a part of university mathematics, and that it was the LMS input into the International Review quite legitimate for us to have a different of Mathematics, has produced three papers. 2 view from other bodies which have differ- These are now available on the LMS website ent constituencies. We therefore declined at www.lms.ac.uk/activities/research_policy. to support initiatives which we felt would The statements are: be detrimental to university mathematics. • Research and Teaching in Symbiosis On a happier note, June Barrow-Green This paper aims to set out the context in which research and training in the mathe- LMS Newsletter www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter matical sciences are currently carried out Editorial office: [email protected]; London Mathematical Society, in UK higher education. De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS (t: 020 7637 3686; f: 020 7323 3655) • UK Government Funding for Mathematical Events calendar: please send updates and corrections to [email protected] Sciences Research This paper sets out the methods by which General Editor: Mr A.J.S. Mann ([email protected]) research in the UK is financially supported. Reports Editor: Dr S.A. Huggett ([email protected]) Reviews Editor: Dr C.M. Roney-Dougal ([email protected]) • Doctoral Training Administrative Editor: S.M. Oakes ([email protected]) This paper sets out the current issues surrounding doctoral training in the mathe- Typeset by the London Mathematical Society at De Morgan House; printed by Holbrooks Printers Ltd. matical sciences in the UK. Publication dates and deadlines: published monthly, except August. Items and advertisements by the Initial drafts of these statements were made first day of the month prior to publication, or the closest preceding working day. available during the summer on the LMS Advertising: for rates and guidelines, see www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/ratecard.html website for comment. Seventy responses of a News items and notices in the Newsletter are free to be used elsewhere unless otherwise stated, very high quality were received and the com- although attribution is requested when reproducing whole articles. Contributions to the Newsletter mittee is grateful for the input provided by are made under a non-exclusive licence; please contact the author or photographer for the rights to individual LMS members, their departments reproduce. The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy of information in the Newsletter. and other organisations in the mathematical Views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or policy of the London Mathematical Society. sciences. There is no doubt that many people Charity registration number: 252660. engaged constructively with the debate that the committee’s work prompted. Dec10-NL.indd 2 23/11/2010 16:58:38 www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected] No. 398 December 2010 invited us to start thinking about the 50th anniversary of the founding of the LMS, LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY which occurs in 205. Stephen Huggett reported on the slow progress on the new website, but since the Council meeting MEETING there has been more movement, and there are signs that we might actually have at Monday 6 December 2010 least a skeleton of a brand new website be- ICMS, 15 South College Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AA fore long. Robert Wilson Speakers: Yujiro Kawamata (Tokyo) RESEARCH POLICY Yum-Tong Siu (Harvard) COMMITTEE The LMS Meeting will take place on the first day of the conference Birational Geometry, to be held at the Institute of Geography, University of The Research Policy Committee, as a part of Edinburgh, from 6 to 10 December. Further information can be found at the LMS input into the International Review of Mathematics, has produced three papers. www.maths.ed.ac.uk/cheltsov/shokurov/index.html. These are now available on the LMS website There are limited funds available to contribute in part to the expenses of 3 at www.lms.ac.uk/activities/research_policy. members of the Society or research students to attend the meeting. Contact The statements are: Isabelle Robinson ([email protected]) for further information. • Research and Teaching in Symbiosis This paper aims to set out the context in All are welcome to attend. which research and training in the mathe- Although these statements were prepared LMS Newsletter www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter matical sciences are currently carried out with the IRM panel in mind we hope that Editorial office: [email protected]; London Mathematical Society, in UK higher education. they will be of use to anyone concerned with De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS (t: 020 7637 3686; f: 020 7323 3655) • UK Government Funding for Mathematical the position of the mathematical sciences Events calendar: please send updates and corrections to [email protected] Sciences Research in UK higher education. Please feel free to This paper sets out the methods by which print and distribute copies as you wish (while General Editor: Mr A.J.S. Mann ([email protected]) research in the UK is financially supported. – of course – giving due acknowledgement to Reports Editor: Dr S.A. Huggett ([email protected]) Reviews Editor: Dr C.M. Roney-Dougal ([email protected]) • Doctoral Training their provenance). Administrative Editor: S.M. Oakes ([email protected]) This paper sets out the current issues The Committee expects to revise the papers surrounding doctoral training in the mathe- in the light of developments, so any com- Typeset by the London Mathematical Society at De Morgan House; printed by Holbrooks Printers Ltd.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Royal Society Medals and Awards
    The Royal Society Medals and Awards Table of contents Overview and timeline – Page 1 Eligibility – Page 2 Medals open for nominations – Page 8 Nomination process – Page 9 Guidance notes for submitting nominations – Page 10 Enquiries – Page 20 Overview The Royal Society has a broad range of medals including the Premier Awards, subject specific awards and medals celebrating the communication and promotion of science. All of these are awarded to recognise and celebrate excellence in science. The following document provides guidance on the timeline and eligibility criteria for the awards, the nomination process and our online nomination system Flexi-Grant. Timeline • Call for nominations opens 30 November 2020 • Call for nominations closes on 15 February 2021 • Royal Society contacts suggested referees from February to March if required. • Premier Awards, Physical and Biological Committees shortlist and seek independent referees from March to May • All other Committees score and recommend winners to the Premier Awards Committee by April • Premier Awards, Physical and Biological Committees score shortlisted nominations, review recommended winners from other Committees and recommend final winners of all awards by June • Council reviews and approves winners from Committees in July • Winners announced by August Eligibility Full details of eligibility can be found in the table. Nominees cannot be members of the Royal Society Council, Premier Awards Committee, or selection Committees overseeing the medal in question. More information about the selection committees for individual medals can be found in the table below. If the award is externally funded, nominees cannot be employed by the organisation funding the medal. Self-nominations are not accepted.
    [Show full text]
  • AR 96 Covers/Contents
    ICTP FULL TECHNICAL REPORT 2018 INTRODUCTION This document is the full technical report of ICTP for the year 2018. For the non-technical description of 2018 highlights, please see the printed “ICTP: A Year in Review” publication. 2 ICTP Full Technical Report 2018 CONTENTS Research High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (HECAP) ........................................................................ 7 Director's Research Group – String Phenomenology and Cosmology ...................................... 30 Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics (CMSP)............................................................................................ 32 Sustainable Energy Synchrotron Radiation Related Theory Mathematics ........................................................................................................................................................................ 63 Earth System Physics (ESP) ......................................................................................................................................... 71 Applied Physics Multidisciplinary Laboratory (MLab) ....................................................................................................... 97 Telecommunications/ICT for Development Laboratory (T/ICT4D) ....................................... 108 Medical Physics ................................................................................................................................................. 113 Fluid Dynamics ..................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Functional Effects Detailed Research Plan
    GeCIP Detailed Research Plan Form Background The Genomics England Clinical Interpretation Partnership (GeCIP) brings together researchers, clinicians and trainees from both academia and the NHS to analyse, refine and make new discoveries from the data from the 100,000 Genomes Project. The aims of the partnerships are: 1. To optimise: • clinical data and sample collection • clinical reporting • data validation and interpretation. 2. To improve understanding of the implications of genomic findings and improve the accuracy and reliability of information fed back to patients. To add to knowledge of the genetic basis of disease. 3. To provide a sustainable thriving training environment. The initial wave of GeCIP domains was announced in June 2015 following a first round of applications in January 2015. On the 18th June 2015 we invited the inaugurated GeCIP domains to develop more detailed research plans working closely with Genomics England. These will be used to ensure that the plans are complimentary and add real value across the GeCIP portfolio and address the aims and objectives of the 100,000 Genomes Project. They will be shared with the MRC, Wellcome Trust, NIHR and Cancer Research UK as existing members of the GeCIP Board to give advance warning and manage funding requests to maximise the funds available to each domain. However, formal applications will then be required to be submitted to individual funders. They will allow Genomics England to plan shared core analyses and the required research and computing infrastructure to support the proposed research. They will also form the basis of assessment by the Project’s Access Review Committee, to permit access to data.
    [Show full text]
  • Mothers in Science
    The aim of this book is to illustrate, graphically, that it is perfectly possible to combine a successful and fulfilling career in research science with motherhood, and that there are no rules about how to do this. On each page you will find a timeline showing on one side, the career path of a research group leader in academic science, and on the other side, important events in her family life. Each contributor has also provided a brief text about their research and about how they have combined their career and family commitments. This project was funded by a Rosalind Franklin Award from the Royal Society 1 Foreword It is well known that women are under-represented in careers in These rules are part of a much wider mythology among scientists of science. In academia, considerable attention has been focused on the both genders at the PhD and post-doctoral stages in their careers. paucity of women at lecturer level, and the even more lamentable The myths bubble up from the combination of two aspects of the state of affairs at more senior levels. The academic career path has academic science environment. First, a quick look at the numbers a long apprenticeship. Typically there is an undergraduate degree, immediately shows that there are far fewer lectureship positions followed by a PhD, then some post-doctoral research contracts and than qualified candidates to fill them. Second, the mentors of early research fellowships, and then finally a more stable lectureship or career researchers are academic scientists who have successfully permanent research leader position, with promotion on up the made the transition to lectureships and beyond.
    [Show full text]
  • Twenty Female Mathematicians Hollis Williams
    Twenty Female Mathematicians Hollis Williams Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Alba Carballo González for support and encouragement. 1 Table of Contents Sofia Kovalevskaya ................................................................................................................................. 4 Emmy Noether ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Mary Cartwright ................................................................................................................................... 26 Julia Robinson ....................................................................................................................................... 36 Olga Ladyzhenskaya ............................................................................................................................. 46 Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat ....................................................................................................................... 56 Olga Oleinik .......................................................................................................................................... 67 Charlotte Fischer .................................................................................................................................. 77 Karen Uhlenbeck .................................................................................................................................. 87 Krystyna Kuperberg .............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Diversity Data Report 2019 Diversity Data Report 2019 Issued: November 2020 DES6507
    Diversity data report 2019 Diversity data report 2019 Issued: November 2020 DES6507 The text of this work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The license is available at: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Images are not covered by this license. This report can be viewed online at: royalsociety.org/diversity Contents Introduction .....................................................4 The Fellowship ..................................................11 Committees, panels and working groups ..........................19 Research Fellowship Grants ......................................26 Scientific programmes ...........................................38 Public engagement .............................................50 Publishing ......................................................62 Schools engagement ............................................67 Royal Society staff ..............................................72 Gender pay gap .................................................75 Definitions .....................................................77 DIVERSITY DATA REPORT 2019 3 Introduction The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. The Society is committed to increasing sections of this report such as organisers, diversity in science, technology, engineering chairs and speakers at scientific meetings, and mathematics (‘STEM’)
    [Show full text]
  • Former Fellows Biographical Index Part
    Former Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783 – 2002 Biographical Index Part Two ISBN 0 902198 84 X Published July 2006 © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 PART II K-Z C D Waterston and A Macmillan Shearer This is a print-out of the biographical index of over 4000 former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh as held on the Society’s computer system in October 2005. It lists former Fellows from the foundation of the Society in 1783 to October 2002. Most are deceased Fellows up to and including the list given in the RSE Directory 2003 (Session 2002-3) but some former Fellows who left the Society by resignation or were removed from the roll are still living. HISTORY OF THE PROJECT Information on the Fellowship has been kept by the Society in many ways – unpublished sources include Council and Committee Minutes, Card Indices, and correspondence; published sources such as Transactions, Proceedings, Year Books, Billets, Candidates Lists, etc. All have been examined by the compilers, who have found the Minutes, particularly Committee Minutes, to be of variable quality, and it is to be regretted that the Society’s holdings of published billets and candidates lists are incomplete. The late Professor Neil Campbell prepared from these sources a loose-leaf list of some 1500 Ordinary Fellows elected during the Society’s first hundred years. He listed name and forenames, title where applicable and national honours, profession or discipline, position held, some information on membership of the other societies, dates of birth, election to the Society and death or resignation from the Society and reference to a printed biography.
    [Show full text]
  • Writing the History of Dynamical Systems and Chaos
    Historia Mathematica 29 (2002), 273–339 doi:10.1006/hmat.2002.2351 Writing the History of Dynamical Systems and Chaos: View metadata, citation and similar papersLongue at core.ac.uk Dur´ee and Revolution, Disciplines and Cultures1 brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector David Aubin Max-Planck Institut fur¨ Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, Germany E-mail: [email protected] and Amy Dahan Dalmedico Centre national de la recherche scientifique and Centre Alexandre-Koyre,´ Paris, France E-mail: [email protected] Between the late 1960s and the beginning of the 1980s, the wide recognition that simple dynamical laws could give rise to complex behaviors was sometimes hailed as a true scientific revolution impacting several disciplines, for which a striking label was coined—“chaos.” Mathematicians quickly pointed out that the purported revolution was relying on the abstract theory of dynamical systems founded in the late 19th century by Henri Poincar´e who had already reached a similar conclusion. In this paper, we flesh out the historiographical tensions arising from these confrontations: longue-duree´ history and revolution; abstract mathematics and the use of mathematical techniques in various other domains. After reviewing the historiography of dynamical systems theory from Poincar´e to the 1960s, we highlight the pioneering work of a few individuals (Steve Smale, Edward Lorenz, David Ruelle). We then go on to discuss the nature of the chaos phenomenon, which, we argue, was a conceptual reconfiguration as
    [Show full text]
  • The Royal Society Medals and Awards Overview
    The Royal Society medals and awards Overview The Royal Society has a broad range of medals including premier awards, subject specific awards and medals celebrating the communication and promotion of science. All of these work to recognise and celebrate excellence in science. The following document provides guidance in the eligibility criteria for the awards, the nomination process and online nomination system. Eligibility Awards are open to citizens of a Commonwealth country or of the Irish Republic or those who have been ordinarily resident and working in a Commonwealth country or in the Irish Republic for a minimum of three years immediately prior to being proposed. Three of our premier awards are open internationally and the Milner Award is open to European citizens and residents of 12 months or more. Full details of eligibility can be found in Appendix one. Nominees cannot be members of the Royal Society Council, Premier Awards Committee, or selection Committees. If the award is externally funded, nominees cannot be employed by the organisation funding the medal. Self-nominations are not accepted and members of the selection Committee cannot nominate for their own awards. Nominations are valid for three cycles of the award unless otherwise stated. Nominators are given the opportunity to update nominations in December each year. The full list of medals that will be open in November 2017 are: Copley Medal Royal Medals (biological, physical and interdisciplinary) Croonian Medal and Lecture Bakerian Medal and Lecture Buchanan Medal
    [Show full text]
  • BILLIARDS in REGULAR 2N-GONS and the SELF-DUAL INDUCTION
    BILLIARDS IN REGULAR 2n-GONS AND THE SELF-DUAL INDUCTION SEBASTIEN´ FERENCZI Abstract. We build a coding of the trajectories of billiards in regular 2n-gons, similar but different from the one in [16], by applying the self-dual induction [9] to the underlying one-parameter family of n-interval exchange transformations. This allows us to show that, in that family, for n = 3 non-periodicity is enough to guarantee weak mixing, and in some cases minimal self-joinings, and for every n we can build examples of n-interval exchange transformations with weak mixing, which are the first known explicitly for n > 6. In [16], see also [15], John Smillie and Corinna Ulcigrai develop a rich and original theory of billiards in the regular octagons, and more generally of billiards in the regular 2n-gons, first studied by Veech [17]: their aim is to build explicitly the symbolic trajectories, which generalize the famous Sturmian sequences (see for example [1] among a huge literature), and they achieve it through a new renormalization process which generalizes the usual continued fraction algorithm. In the present shorter paper, we show that similar results, with new consequences, can be obtained by using an existing, though recent, theory, the self-dual in- duction on interval exchange transformations. As in [16], we define a trajectory of a billiard in a regular 2n-gon as a path which starts in the interior of the polygon, and moves with constant velocity until it hits the boundary, then it re-enters the polygon at the corresponding point of the parallel side, and continues travelling with the same velocity; we label each pair of parallel sides with a letter of the alphabet (A1; :::An), and read the labels of the pairs of parallel sides crossed by the trajectory as time increases; studying these trajectories is known to be equivalent to studying the trajectories of a one-parameter family of n-interval exchange transformations, and to this family we apply a slightly modified version of the self-dual induction defined in [9].
    [Show full text]
  • Review of the Year 2009/10
    Invest in future scientific leaders and in innovation Review of the year 2009/10 1 Celebrating 350 years Review of the year 2009/10 02 Review of the year 2009/10 President’s foreword Executive Secretary’s report Review of the year 2009/10 03 Contents President’s foreword ..............................................................02 Inspire an interest in the joy, wonder Executive Secretary’s report ..................................................03 and excitement of scientific discovery ..................................16 Invest in future scientific leaders and in innovation ..............04 Seeing further: the Royal Society celebrates 350 years .......20 Influence policymaking with the best scientific advice ........08 Summarised financial statements .........................................22 Invigorate science and mathematics education ...................10 Income and expenditure statement ......................................23 Increase access to the best science internationally ..............12 Fundraising and support ........................................................24 List of donors ..........................................................................25 President’s Executive foreword Secretary’s report This year we have focused on the excellent This has been a remarkable year for the Society, our opportunity afforded by our 350th anniversary 350th, and we have mounted a major programme not only to promote the work of the Society to inspire minds, young and old alike, with the but to raise the profile of science
    [Show full text]
  • Autumn 2005 SCIENCE in PARLIAMENT
    Autumn 2005 SCIENCE IN PARLIAMENT State of the Nation Plastic Waste Private Finance Initiative Visions of Science Airbus Launches the New A350 The Journal of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee http://www.scienceinparliament.org.uk THE STATE OF THE NATION 2005 An assessment of the UK’s infrastructure by the Institution of Civil Engineers PUBLISHED 18 OCTOBER 2005 About the Institution of Civil Engineers About the report As a professional body, the The State of the Nation Report For more information on the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is compiled each year by a panel background to the State of the is one of the most important of civil engineering experts. The Nation Report, contact ICE sources of professional expertise report’s aim is to stimulate debate External Relations: in road and rail transport, water and to highlight the actions that supply and treatment, flood ICE believes need to be taken to t +44 (0)20 7665 2151 management, waste and energy – improve the UK’s infrastructure. e [email protected] our infrastructure. Established in It has been produced since 2000. w www.uk-infrastructure.org.uk 1818, it has over 75,000 members This year, six regional versions throughout the world – including of the State of the Nation Report – over 60,000 in the UK. covering Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales as well as the North West, South West and West Midlands of England – are being produced, in conjunction with the UK-wide publication. To read the complete report please visit www.uk-infrastructure.org.uk Registered Charity No.
    [Show full text]