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NEWSLETTER No. 396 October 2010

Society ANNUAL GENERAL in the membership of the Nomi- Meetings nating Committee. The slates for MEETING election were placed on the LMS and Events The Annual General Meeting of website on 2 August 2010. the Society will be held at 3.15 Please note that completed bal- 2010 pm on Friday 19 November 2010 lot papers must be returned by Friday 19 November at University College London. Thursday 11 November 2010. Annual General The business shall be: A separate form on which to Meeting and Naylor (i) the adoption of the Annual suggest names of potential can- Lecture, London Report for 2009/10 didates for the 2011 elections [pages 1, 3] (ii) the report of the Treasurer for consideration by Nominating (iii) appointment of Auditors Committee is also included. Mem- 2011 (iv) elections to Council and bers may also make direct nomi- Nominating Committee nations; details will be in the May Friday 25 February (v) presentation of certificates 2011 Newsletter or are available Mary Cartwright to LMS prizewinners from Duncan Turton at the LMS Lecture, Oxford It is hoped that as many members ([email protected]). Tuesday 17 May as possible will be able to attend. LMS–Gresham Lecture, Fiona Nixon LMS ANNUAL London Executive Secretary DINNER Friday 1 July 2010 ELECTIONS TO The 2010 Annual Dinner will be London held after the Annual General Tuesday 19 July COUNCIL AND Meeting at 7.30 pm on Friday 19 Northern Regional NOMINATING November at The Russell Hotel, Meeting, Leeds COMMITTEE London WC1. The cost for members and their guests is £45 per The ballot papers for the Novem- person, which is for a three- ber elections to Council and course meal and wine. Members Nominating Committee are be- wishing to attend should make ing circulated with this copy of cheques payable to ‘London the Newsletter. Mathematical Society’ and also There are two candidates for the indicate if they have any di- post of Education Secretary. Eight etary requirements and send to: candidates for Members-at-large of Leanne Marshall, London Mathe- Council are proposed by the Nomi- matical Society, De Morgan NEWSLETTER nating Committee and one further House, 57–58 Russell Square, Lon- has been nominated directly, for don WC1B 4HS. Payment should ONLINE: six vacancies. Four names have arrive by Monday 8 November. Go to www.lms.ac.uk/ been proposed by the Nominat- Any queries should be sent to newsletter ing Committee for two vacancies [email protected].

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NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected]

CECIL KING EDITORIAL TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP Keen readers of the on-line version of 2010 the LMS Newsletter may have noticed something different in recent days: The 2010 Cecil King Travel Scholarship has news items, notices and contributed been awarded to Erik Pickett, a postdoctoral articles are published on the web first, assistant at the École Polytechnique Fédé- in advance of the printed copy. Items rale de Lausanne. The London Mathematical are being posted on line as they be- Society makes the award of up to £5,000 come ready, with the most recent items annually to a young mathematician of out- appearing at the top of each webpage. standing promise, to support a period of This is a first trial in what we expect study or research abroad for a typical period to be a progression of changes to the of three months. Dr Pickett will use the Newsletter in order to distribute up- Scholarship to fund a visit to the University of to-date information more quickly to Limoges to study algebra. readers. The new on-line version of the The Cecil King Travel Scholarship was Newsletter can be viewed at www.lms. established in 2001 by the Cecil King Memo- ac.uk/newsletter. rial Fund. The award is made by the Council Tony Mann of the LMS on recommendation of the Cecil General Editor King Prize Committee, nominated by the Society’s Education Committee.

LMS Newsletter www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter

Editorial office: [email protected]; London Mathematical Society, De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS (t: 020 7637 3686; f: 020 7323 3655)

Events calendar: please send updates and corrections to [email protected] General Editor: Mr A.J.S. Mann ([email protected]) Reports Editor: Dr S.A. Huggett ([email protected]) Reviews Editor: Dr C.M. Roney-Dougal ([email protected]) Administrative Editor: S.M. Oakes ([email protected]) Typeset by the London Mathematical Society at De Morgan House; printed by Holbrooks Printers Ltd.

Publication dates and deadlines: published monthly, except August. Items and advertisements by the first day of the month prior to publication, or the closest preceding working day.

Advertising: for rates and guidelines, see www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/ratecard.html News items and notices in the Newsletter are free to be used elsewhere unless otherwise stated, although attribution is requested when reproducing whole articles. Contributions to the Newsletter are made under a non-exclusive licence; please contact the author for the rights to reproduce. The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or policy of the London Mathematical Society. Charity registration number: 252660.

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CECIL KING TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 2010

The 2010 Cecil King Travel Scholarship has ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND been awarded to Erik Pickett, a postdoctoral NAYLOR LECTURE assistant at the École Polytechnique Fédé- rale de Lausanne. The London Mathematical Society makes the award of up to £5,000 Friday 19 November 2010 annually to a young mathematician of outstanding promise, to support a period of Sir David Davies Lecture Theatre, University College London, study or research abroad for a typical period Roberts Building, Torrington Place, WC1E 7JE of three months. Dr Pickett will use the Scholarship to fund a visit to the University of Programme: Limoges to study algebra. The Cecil King Travel Scholarship was 3.15–3.30 Opening of the meeting established in 2001 by the Cecil King Memo- Annual General Meeting rial Fund. The award is made by the Council of the LMS on recommendation of the Cecil LMS business, including Elections to Council and Nominating King Prize Committee, nominated by the Committee and the presentation of certificates to the Society’s Education Committee. 2010 LMS prize winners

3.30–4.30 Helen Byrne (Nottingham) LMS Newsletter www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter Modelling Matters in Medicine and Biology Editorial office: [email protected]; London Mathematical Society, 4.30–4.55 Tea De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS (t: 020 7637 3686; f: 020 7323 3655)

Events calendar: please send updates and corrections to [email protected] 4.55–5.00 Announcement of Election Results

General Editor: Mr A.J.S. Mann ([email protected]) 5.00–6.00 Philip Maini (Oxford) Reports Editor: Dr S.A. Huggett ([email protected]) Reviews Editor: Dr C.M. Roney-Dougal ([email protected]) 2010 Naylor Lecture Administrative Editor: S.M. Oakes ([email protected]) Modelling Aspects of Solid Tumour Growth Typeset by the London Mathematical Society at De Morgan House; printed by Holbrooks Printers Ltd. Followed by a Reception at De Morgan House. Publication dates and deadlines: published monthly, except August. Items and advertisements by the first day of the month prior to publication, or the closest preceding working day. The Naylor Lecture is given by the winner of the 2009 Naylor Prize Advertising: for rates and guidelines, see www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/ratecard.html in Applied Mathematics. News items and notices in the Newsletter are free to be used elsewhere unless otherwise stated, although attribution is requested when reproducing whole articles. Contributions to the Newsletter There are funds available to contribute in part to the expenses of are made under a non-exclusive licence; please contact the author for the rights to reproduce. The members of the Society or research students to attend the meeting. LMS cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed Requests for support, and any other queries about the AGM, should do not necessarily represent the views or policy of the London Mathematical Society. be sent to Isabelle Robinson ([email protected]). Charity registration number: 252660.

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NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected]

ANNUAL LMS SYLVESTER MEDAL

SUBSCRIPTION 2010–11 The Royal Society has awarded the 2010 Members are reminded that their annual sub- Sylvester Medal to Professor Graeme Segal, FRS scription, including payment for publications, for his highly influential and elegant work on for the period November 2010 – October 2011 is the development of topology, geometry and due on 1 November 2010. By the second week of quantum field theory, bridging the gap be- October members will be sent notification via tween physics and pure mathematics. The medal email or letter, detailing how to pay their subscrip- is named after James Joseph Sylvester who tion. In the case of members who already have a was Savilian Professor of Geometry, Oxford, Direct Debit set up, no action need be taken. in the 1880s and LMS President 1866–68.

Rates KYOTO PRIZE The annual subscription to the London Mathe- matical Society for 2010–11 is: The 2010 Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences for • Ordinary membership £51.50 Outstanding Contributions to Mathemati- • Concessions on Ordinary membership: cal Sciences Based on Discrete Optimization – Reciprocity £25.75 Algorithms has been awarded to Professor – Career break or part-time working £13.50 László Lovász (Eötvös Loránd University, • Associate membership £13.50 Hungary). Through his advanced research Members also have the option to pay their on discrete structures, Professor Lovász has European Mathematical Society subscription provided a link among various branches of via the LMS (£23) and subscribe to the Journal mathematics in terms of algorithms, there- of the EMS (£88). by influencing a broad spectrum of the The member prices of the Society’s journals mathematical sciences – including discrete for 2011 are: mathematics, combinational optimization Print Online* Print+Online* and theoretical computer science. Bulletin £53.00 £42.00 £64.00 Journal £101.00 £81.00 £121.00 Proceedings £106.00 £85.00 £127.00 VISIT OF Nonlinearity (except N. America) (N. America) PROFESSOR S. PILIPOVIC £72.00 £93.00 JCM (electronic) — free — Professor Stevan Pilipovic will be visiting the (*inclusive of VAT) UK from 20 November to 5 December 2010. He Members now have the choice of taking an is an expert in the theory of generalised func- electronic subscription to the Bulletin, Journal or tions, partial differential equations, stochastic, Proceedings of the LMS at a discount of 20% on and more general analysis. He is an Academician the standard price for a print subscription. Alter- of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, natively, members may receive both the print and and a Professor at the University of Novi Sad. electronic versions for an additional 20% above Professor Pilipovic will give lectures at: the price of the print subscription. Once an order • The London Analysis Seminar for an electronic version has been processed by • Imperial College PDE Seminar the LMS, your email address will be passed to • University of Bath Oxford University Press who will contact you • Heriot-Watt University with details on how to access the journals. For further information contact Michael Isabelle Robinson Ruzhansky ([email protected]). The Group Head (Society & Grants) visit is supported by an LMS Scheme 2 grant.

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 4 01/10/2010 16:53:18 www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected] No. 396 October 2010

SYLVESTER MEDAL

The Royal Society has awarded the 2010 Sylvester Medal to Professor Graeme Segal, FRS for his highly influential and elegant work on the development of topology, geometry and quantum field theory, bridging the gap between physics and pure mathematics. The medal is named after James Joseph Sylvester who was Savilian Professor of Geometry, Oxford, in the 1880s and LMS President 1866–68. KYOTO PRIZE

The 2010 Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences for Outstanding Contributions to Mathemati- cal Sciences Based on Discrete Optimization Algorithms has been awarded to Professor László Lovász (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary). Through his advanced research on discrete structures, Professor Lovász has provided a link among various branches of mathematics in terms of algorithms, there- by influencing a broad spectrum of the mathematical sciences – including discrete mathematics, combinational optimization and theoretical computer science. VISIT OF PROFESSOR S. PILIPOVIC Professor Stevan Pilipovic will be visiting the UK from 20 November to 5 December 2010. He is an expert in the theory of generalised func- tions, partial differential equations, stochastic, and more general analysis. He is an Academician of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Professor at the University of Novi Sad. Professor Pilipovic will give lectures at: • The London Analysis Seminar • Imperial College PDE Seminar • University of Bath • Heriot-Watt University For further information contact Michael Ruzhansky ([email protected]). The visit is supported by an LMS Scheme 2 grant.

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 5 01/10/2010 16:53:20 THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected]

IAIN ADAMSON GRAHAM EVEREST MATHEMATICS POLICY ROUND UP

Dr Iain T. Adamson, who was elected a mem- Professor Graham R. Everest, who was elected LMS Policy Position Papers ber of the London Mathematical Society on 19 a member of the London Mathematical Society The LMS Research Policy Committee is prepar- December 1957, died on 9 June 2010, aged 81. on 18 November 1983, died on 30 July 2010, ing position and information statements in- Arthur Sands writes: Iain graduated from St aged 52. tended to inform the upcoming International Andrews University in 1950 and then went to Thomas Ward writes: Graham’s talent for Review of Mathematics and beyond. The Princeton University where he obtained his doc- mathematics took him to Bedford College statements themselves may also be of inter- torate with Emil Artin as supervisor. In 1953 he and doctoral study under the supervision est to mathematics departments around the joined the Mathematics Department at Queen’s of Colin Bushnell at King’s College London. country. Three statements are in production University, Belfast. After seven years he returned He joined the University of East Anglia as a and during September the Committee sent to his home town of Dundee to take up a lec- lecturer in 1983, and spent his whole career an open call to all those in the mathematics tureship at Queen’s College which was soon to there. community interested in commenting on become the University of Dundee. He remained His research appeared in the form of some these statements. there as lecturer and senior lecturer until his 70 research papers and three monographs, • Facts and figures – shows the current con- retirement, apart from visits to the University of and spanned diverse areas of number theory. text of UK mathematical sciences. Western Australia where he met Robin who was Three themes informed his research. First, the • RAE-based funding of UK mathematical to become his wife. impact of twentieth-century developments sciences research – shows the RAE mecha- Iain wrote three textbooks on algebra at in Diophantine analysis and transcendence nism and its operation. A separate paper honours/postgraduate level as well as trans- theory on counting problems and questions on REF and ‘impact’ will follow once the lated books by Artin and by Hilbert. His main in algebraic number theory. Second, the fas- timing and details are clearer. interests were in teaching but he also played cinating arithmetic properties of recurrence • Doctoral training – discusses the nature a prominent role on Senate and on Court. He sequences, including classical questions in of UK doctoral training in mathematical taught linear algebra successfully using the the spirit of Mersenne, Lehmer, Zsigmondy sciences. Keller Plan and was disappointed when the and so on, as well as more modern devel- department did not take this further. opments on bilinear sequences and elliptic Mathematics A-level numbers continue to rise When staff were needed to teach Computing divisibility sequences. Third, Graham had an The number of A-level mathematics entries he switched mainly to this, but did so properly abiding interest in all aspects of the interac- across the UK is up 6.2% on last year, with by taking an MSc by thesis at St Andrews. Then tion between number theory and dynamical 77,001 students sitting the exam. This is a he wrote a textbook in this area. He also ran systems. greater percentage increase than other STEM the departmental library, which contained more As a researcher Graham brought great joy subjects – physics up 5.2% (to 30,976), biology than 10,000 books as well as periodicals. Dur- and creativity to his work, and the generos- up 4.3% (to 57,854) and chemistry up 3.7% ing 1983–84 he was President of the Edinburgh ity of his approach to mathematics will be (to 44,051). Mathematical Society. familiar to his thirty co-authors. Graham Figures released by the Joint Council for When calls for early retirement were made he was a dedicated teacher and supervisor, and Qualifications also show that: accepted this, but returned to teach part-time many generations of students will remember • A-level further mathematics has continued as well as continued to run the library. Undoubt- the energy and enthusiasm of his lectures. to rise in popularity, with entries increasing edly he gave much more than the 35% which His belief in the transforming power of higher by 11.5% (to 11,682) was required in his contract. He also trained as education was recognized in the form of a • AS mathematics entries increased by 9.2% an auxiliary Church of Scotland minister. Upon UEA Excellence in Teaching award in 2005. (to 112,847) ordination he helped a full-time minister who Graham is survived by his children James, • AS further mathematics entries continued had charge of four churches in the Carse of Philip and Rebekah, and his wife Sue. the trend, increasing by 13.1% (to 14,884) Gowrie, taking two services each Sunday. A memorial fund has been started in the Since 2003 the number of students taking After final retirement he returned with Robin School of Mathematics, the details of which A-level further mathematics has more than to Western Australia. He is survived by her and are on the School’s website at www.uea. doubled, from 5315 to 11,682, and the fig- by their daughter Margaret. ac.uk/mth/frontpage/grahameverest. ure for AS further mathematics has roughly

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GRAHAM EVEREST MATHEMATICS POLICY ROUND UP

Professor Graham R. Everest, who was elected LMS Policy Position Papers trebled, standing at 14,884 in 2010. The LMS a member of the London Mathematical Society The LMS Research Policy Committee is prepar- and IMA welcome this growth at A-level and on 18 November 1983, died on 30 July 2010, ing position and information statements in- AS, which are fundamental to providing a aged 52. tended to inform the upcoming International range of opportunities for young people in Thomas Ward writes: Graham’s talent for Review of Mathematics and beyond. The their future career choices. mathematics took him to Bedford College statements themselves may also be of inter- and doctoral study under the supervision est to mathematics departments around the Mathematics GCSE of Colin Bushnell at King’s College London. country. Three statements are in production The number of GCSE mathematics entries He joined the University of East Anglia as a and during September the Committee sent across the UK is up 1.1%, to 762,792. Full tables lecturer in 1983, and spent his whole career an open call to all those in the mathematics of results are available on the Joint Council there. community interested in commenting on for Qualifications website at www.jcq.org.uk. His research appeared in the form of some these statements. 70 research papers and three monographs, • Facts and figures – shows the current con- Comprehensive Spending Review and spanned diverse areas of number theory. text of UK mathematical sciences. The government’s Comprehensive Spending Three themes informed his research. First, the • RAE-based funding of UK mathematical Review (CSR) will be published on Wednesday impact of twentieth-century developments sciences research – shows the RAE mecha- 20 October 2010 and will set out plans for the in Diophantine analysis and transcendence nism and its operation. A separate paper years 2011–12 to 2014–15. International de- theory on counting problems and questions on REF and ‘impact’ will follow once the velopment and NHS spending are protected in algebraic number theory. Second, the fas- timing and details are clearer. and this means that the remainder of public cinating arithmetic properties of recurrence • Doctoral training – discusses the nature spending needs to be cut by 25% to meet the sequences, including classical questions in of UK doctoral training in mathematical Budget. This could have significant repercus- the spirit of Mersenne, Lehmer, Zsigmondy sciences. sions for the STEM community, with the po- and so on, as well as more modern devel- tential for restructuring the landscapes of UK opments on bilinear sequences and elliptic Mathematics A-level numbers continue to rise research and development, and education, for divisibility sequences. Third, Graham had an The number of A-level mathematics entries years to come. A copy of the CSR framework can abiding interest in all aspects of the interac- across the UK is up 6.2% on last year, with be downloaded at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ tion between number theory and dynamical 77,001 students sitting the exam. This is a d/spending_review_framework_080610.pdf systems. greater percentage increase than other STEM As a researcher Graham brought great joy subjects – physics up 5.2% (to 30,976), biology Leelavati Award and creativity to his work, and the generos- up 4.3% (to 57,854) and chemistry up 3.7% This award was presented to Simon Singh ”for ity of his approach to mathematics will be (to 44,051). outstanding contributions to public outreach familiar to his thirty co-authors. Graham Figures released by the Joint Council for in mathematics by an individual”. The award was a dedicated teacher and supervisor, and Qualifications also show that: carries a citation and a cash prize of around US many generations of students will remember • A-level further mathematics has continued $20,000, and was presented at the closing cer- the energy and enthusiasm of his lectures. to rise in popularity, with entries increasing emony of the International Congress of Mathe- His belief in the transforming power of higher by 11.5% (to 11,682) maticians (ICM) 2010 on 27 August. education was recognized in the form of a • AS mathematics entries increased by 9.2% UEA Excellence in Teaching award in 2005. (to 112,847) Other ICM News Graham is survived by his children James, • AS further mathematics entries continued For the first time an International Conference Philip and Rebekah, and his wife Sue. the trend, increasing by 13.1% (to 14,884) of Women Mathematicians was held as part of A memorial fund has been started in the Since 2003 the number of students taking the ICM. The next ICM will be held in Seoul, School of Mathematics, the details of which A-level further mathematics has more than South Korea in 2014. are on the School’s website at www.uea. doubled, from 5315 to 11,682, and the fig- Dr John Johnston ac.uk/mth/frontpage/grahameverest. ure for AS further mathematics has roughly Mathematics Promotion Unit

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 7 01/10/2010 16:53:23 THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected]

LMS CONFERENCE GRANTS (SCHEME 1) Conference Dates, Place Applicant Grant

Grants are made to the organisers of conferences to be held in the United Kingdom, and Emerging Problems in Nonlinear Analysis 1–4 Jun 2010, S. Pott £4,750 may be used to cover the expenses of principal speakers, and to provide support for research and Differential Equations Glasgow students and for participants from Scheme 5 or former Soviet Union countries. Further infor- Durham Conference on Geometry and 20–22 Jun D. Schütz £4,700 mation on the Society’s grant schemes is available at www.lms.ac.uk/grants. In 2009–10 grants Topology 2010, Durham were awarded to support the following conferences: Partial Differential Equations and Fluid 5–9 Jul 2010, J. Robinson £5,360 Conference Dates, Place Applicant Grant Mechanics 2010 Warwick Techniques in Applied Fluid Dynamics and 11 Sep 2009, D. Lesnic £2,160 Individual and Collective Fluid Mechanics of 6–8 Jul 2010, N. Hill £4,000 Diffusion Reaction Problems Leeds Swimming Microorganisms Glasgow Aerodynamic Boundary Layers: Meeting in 10–11 Dec 2009, M. Blyth £1,970 Rigidity of Frameworks and Applications 12–15 Jul 2010, S. Power £4,960 honour of the 75th Birthday of Professor East Anglia Lancaster Norman Riley 13th Galway Topology Colloquium 13–15 Jul 2010, C. Good £3,006 One-Day Combinatorics Meeting 17 Mar 2010, A. Scott £2,050 Birmingham Oxford Recent Trends in Applied Inverse Problems 19–20 Jul 2010, B. Johansson £3,210 Young Researchers in Mathematics 25–27 Mar 2010, I. Leader £4,276 Birmingham Cambridge 21st International Workshop on 26–28 Jul 2010, C. Iliopoulos £1,900 Geometric Model Theory 25–29 Mar 2010, J. Kirby £5,691 Combinatorial Algorithms London Oxford 28th International Colloquium on 26–30 Jul 2010, M. Angelova £1,000 Workshop on Stochastics, Control and 12–14 Apr 2010, H. Zheng £4,000 Group-Theoretical Methods in Physics Newcastle Finance Imperial College upon Tyne London Algebra, Combinatorics, Dynamics and 30 Aug – 2 Sep N. Iyudu £5,200 5th Conference on Theory of Quantum 13–15 Apr 2010, P. Crompton £2,530 Applications 2010, QUB Computation, Communication and Leeds Models in Population Dynamics and Ecology 1–3 Sep 2010, S. Petrovskii £5,000 Cryptography 2010: Animal Movement, Dispersal and Leicester 14th UK Meeting on Integrable Models, 16–17 Apr 2010, C. Dunning £1,970 Spatial Ecology Conformal Field Theory and related topics Kent British Logic Colloquium 2–4 Sep 2010, E. Ritter £2,430 Network Dynamics and Synchronization 17–19 May 2010, P. Glendinning £4,978 Birmingham Manchester Scottish Computational Mathematics 6 Sep 2010, D. Duncan £3,360 Stochastic Differential Equations: 19 May 2010, C. Yuan £2,000 Symposium 2010 Heriot-Watt Theory, Numerics and Applications Swansea 18th Annual European Symposium on 6–8 Sep 2010, I. Potapov £4,210 Two linked one-day Combinatorics 19–20 May 2010, G. Brightwell £1,400 Algorithms (ESA) Liverpool Colloquia QMUL and LSE 25th British Topology Meeting 6–8 Sep 2010, J. Giansiracusa, £5,000 Sheaves in Representation Theory 23–28 May 2010, I. Gordon £5,444 Oxford O. Randal- Isle of Skye Williams Wales Mathematics Colloquium 2010 24–26 May 2010, D.H. Smith £1,781 Function Theory and Dynamical Systems 6–9 Sep 2010, R. Halburd £5,000 Powys (incorporating the One-Day Function UCL Theory Meeting) Banach Algebra and Operator Space 27–29 May and D. Salinger £6,000 Techniques in Topological Group Theory 28-30 Jun 2010, Analytic and Asymptotic Approaches to 10 Sep 2010, J. Merkin £1,385 Leeds Problems in Applied Mathematics Manchester

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LMS CONFERENCE GRANTS (SCHEME 1) Conference Dates, Place Applicant Grant

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 9 01/10/2010 16:53:23 THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected]

Conference Dates, Place Applicant Grant Anglo-Belgian Workshop on Model Theory 13–14 Sep 2010, I. Tomašić £3,300 and Application (2) QMUL Mathematical Modelling in Biology 14 Sep 2010, X. Mao £2,150 Strathclyde Algorithms and Complexity in Durham 2010 20–22 Sep 2010, I. Stewart £2,905 Durham Statistical Properties of Rare Events 27–28 Sep 2010, M. Holland £2,750 Exeter Birational Geometry 6–10 Dec 2010, I. Cheltsov £4,000 Edinburgh New Trends in Spectral Theory and 18–20 Dec 2010, I. Wood £6,000 Applications Cardiff Representations of Surface Groups and 14–18 Mar 2011, P. Newstead £4,000 Higgs Bundles Oxford 10 Nonlinear Waves and Solitons on Lattices 4–5 Apr 2011, J. Wattis, £4,400 Edinburgh G. Lord British Mathematical Colloquium (2011) 18–21 Apr 2011, J. Hunton £10,000 Leicester The Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture 2–4 May 2011, T. Dokchitser £3,500 Cambridge Nonlinear Diffusion: Algorithms, Analysis 6–8 Jun 2011, A. Stuart £3,790 and Applications Warwick New Developments in Noncommutative 26 Jun – 2 Jul U. Krähmer £5,000 Algebra and its Applications 2011, Isle of Skye

EUROPEAN WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS GENERAL MEETING

For more than 20 years the European The 15th EWM General Meeting will be Women in Mathematics (EWM) associa- hosted by the Centre de Recerca Matem�tica tion has organized biennial conferences (CRM) at the Universitat Aut�noma de which are open both to members and to Barcelona from 5 to 9 September 2011. The non-members of EWM. The most recent, programme will begin mid-morning on Mon- the 14th General Meeting, was held in Novi day 5 September and will finish at lunchtime Sad, Serbia from 25 to 28 August 2009, on Friday 9 September 2011. More details and the 13th General Meeting took place will be available soon on the EWM and CRM in September 2007 at the University of websites at www.europeanwomeninmaths. Cambridge, UK. org and www.crm.es.

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Conference Dates, Place Applicant Grant Anglo-Belgian Workshop on Model Theory 13–14 Sep 2010, I. Tomašić £3,300 and Application (2) QMUL Mathematical Modelling in Biology 14 Sep 2010, X. Mao £2,150 Strathclyde Algorithms and Complexity in Durham 2010 20–22 Sep 2010, I. Stewart £2,905 Durham Statistical Properties of Rare Events 27–28 Sep 2010, M. Holland £2,750 Exeter Birational Geometry 6–10 Dec 2010, I. Cheltsov £4,000 Edinburgh New Trends in Spectral Theory and 18–20 Dec 2010, I. Wood £6,000 Applications Cardiff Representations of Surface Groups and 14–18 Mar 2011, P. Newstead £4,000 Higgs Bundles Oxford 11 Nonlinear Waves and Solitons on Lattices 4–5 Apr 2011, J. Wattis, £4,400 Edinburgh G. Lord British Mathematical Colloquium (2011) 18–21 Apr 2011, J. Hunton £10,000 Leicester The Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture 2–4 May 2011, T. Dokchitser £3,500 Cambridge Nonlinear Diffusion: Algorithms, Analysis 6–8 Jun 2011, A. Stuart £3,790 and Applications Warwick New Developments in Noncommutative 26 Jun – 2 Jul U. Krähmer £5,000 Algebra and its Applications 2011, Isle of Skye

EUROPEAN WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS GENERAL MEETING

The 15th EWM General Meeting will be hosted by the Centre de Recerca Matem�tica (CRM) at the Universitat Aut�noma de Barcelona from 5 to 9 September 2011. The programme will begin mid-morning on Mon- day 5 September and will finish at lunchtime on Friday 9 September 2011. More details will be available soon on the EWM and CRM websites at www.europeanwomeninmaths. org and www.crm.es.

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NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected]

AN INDIAN SUMMER HGD visited the leading state university, by a Royal Society International Travel Grant; Sardar Patel, in Gujarat – and saw the celebra- 17 delegates were supported by the LMS, at Readers will know that the International Con- tions for India’s National Day on 15 August. This a cost of £10,500. This seems rather a modest gress of Mathematicians (ICM), which takes university teaches in English a two-year MSc, representation, perhaps reflecting limited - fi place every four years, was held from 19 to at about the level of our MMath, to selected nancial support. 27 August 2010 in Hyderabad in the state of students who have graduated from one of The opening ceremony of the ICM, attended Andhra Pradesh in southern India; there were about 25 three-year feeder colleges. Over by the President of India, was impressive: CMRD’s many related activities and satellite meetings. the past few years Here we give a few personal comments. (Full there has been an records of prize winners, decisions taken and explosion of private, main talks are easily available on the appro- English-medium schools priate websites, and so we shall not repeat in the state, these be- these here.) ing much sought after Garth Dales (HGD) started in Bangalore as by the increasing Indian a speaker at the satellite meeting on Func- professional class, and tional Analysis, held at ISI (Indian Statistical so the education system Institute); speakers were housed at the IISc is tending to bifurcate (Indian Institute of Science) and also in Banga- into one set of schools 12 lore (but rather a long bus journey from ISI). for the middle class and The campuses of ISI and IISc are oases of another for the poor. green peace in a vibrant, rapidly growing city We then assembled in of traffic chaos. Such Institutes, together with the city of Hyderabad, the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and a city of 10 million peo- some other institutes, are quite well funded ple, historic, but now by the central Indian government and func- rapidly expanding and tion throughout in English; they are centres changing, with gleam- of research excellence; competition to enter ing new buildings, as an undergraduate is intense, and the stu- crowded and chaotic dents seem to be extremely able, enthusiastic roads, thronged with and hard working. A problem for the country people, and some dire Ingrid Daubechies (President-elect of the IMU) in conversation with John Ball (left; IMU is that some 70% of the graduating students poverty. The convention President 2003–2006) and John Toland (elected to the IMU Executive Committee). from IITs leave immediately, often for the US, centre was some way from the city, and travel favourite quotation from the President’s speech a brain-drain for the country. required a complex system of buses that some- was ”Mathematics is not a science; but no other Colva Roney-Dougal (CMRD) together with times worked; the buses had to fight crowded subject can lay claim to being a science unless Stephen Huggett, Elizabeth Mansfield, Angus roads and some flooding after heavy rain, at mathematics is involved”. Here the Fields Medal Macintyre and John Toland were the LMS del- the tail end of the monsoon. winners were announced and congratulated, egates to the General Assembly of the IMU There were about 3,000 registered delegates, as were the winners of the Nevanlinna, Gauss (International Mathematical Union) in Bangalore. with about half of these from India. Sadly there and (new) Chern Prizes. It was announced that Several key decisions were taken at this meeting: were only two delegates from Pakistan, appar- Professor Ingrid Daubechies of Princeton will we congratulate John Toland, a former President ently an intrusion of politics: many intended be the next President of the IMU; she will be of the LMS, on being elected to the Executive delegates had problems with visas, despite the the first female President. Committee of the IMU; the IMU has decided to best efforts of the local organizers. There were One-hour lectures were given by the prize establish the permanent home of its secretariat about 70 delegates from the UK, of whom winners and by 19 Plenary Lecturers, none in Berlin at the Weierstrass Institute for Applied about 40 were mathematical colleagues from from the UK. The State of California may be Analysis and Stochastics; the next ICM, in 2014, UK universities. Some UK participants were imploding financially, but it still provided five will be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea. able to attend because they were supported Plenary Lecturers.

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HGD visited the leading state university, by a Royal Society International Travel Grant; Let us mention just three lectures. First, Sardar Patel, in Gujarat – and saw the celebra- 17 delegates were supported by the LMS, at W. Hugh Woodin of Berkeley gave a very im- tions for India’s National Day on 15 August. This a cost of £10,500. This seems rather a modest pressive talk on set theory, the limitations of university teaches in English a two-year MSc, representation, perhaps reflecting limited - fi ZFC, the independence of ‘most’ theorems of at about the level of our MMath, to selected nancial support. mathematics, and a possible (and possibly con- students who have graduated from one of The opening ceremony of the ICM, attended troversial) manner of resolving whether CH is about 25 three-year feeder colleges. Over by the President of India, was impressive: CMRD’s ‘true’. Second, Kim Plofker of Union College, New York, gave a remarkably articulate talk on Indian mathematics and the assimilation of ‘foreign mathematics’ both in and from India. Third, Irit Dinur from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem gave a fascinating talk on fixed length proofs of membership problems in NP, including a memorable analogy of ‘spreading jam blindfolded’ to describe a process for col- ouring graphs which demonstrates over a fixed number of vertices whether or not the graph is 3-colourable. There were about 150 Invited Lectures of 13 45 minutes each, and of these 12 were by colleagues based in the UK. They were David Benson (Aberdeen), Marianna Csörnyei (Univer- sity College London), Iain Gordon (Edinburgh), Roger Heath-Brown (Oxford), Marc Lackenby (Oxford), Philip Maini (Oxford), Peter Markowich (Cambridge), Oliver Riordan (Oxford), Gregory Seregin (Oxford), Richard Thomas (Imperial College London), Dmitry Turaev (Imperial Col- lege London) and Xunyu Zhou (Oxford). Ingrid Daubechies (President-elect of the IMU) in conversation with John Ball (left; IMU There were about 750 ‘short communications’ President 2003–2006) and John Toland (elected to the IMU Executive Committee). of 15 minutes each, apparently by self-elected centre was some way from the city, and travel favourite quotation from the President’s speech speakers. Our (admittedly sparse) sampling of required a complex system of buses that some- was ”Mathematics is not a science; but no other these suggests very varied quality of content times worked; the buses had to fight crowded subject can lay claim to being a science unless and exposition; maybe in future there should roads and some flooding after heavy rain, at mathematics is involved”. Here the Fields Medal be some attempts at quality control and efforts the tail end of the monsoon. winners were announced and congratulated, to persuade strong mathematicians to offer There were about 3,000 registered delegates, as were the winners of the Nevanlinna, Gauss such communications. with about half of these from India. Sadly there and (new) Chern Prizes. It was announced that There were various panel discussions. One, were only two delegates from Pakistan, appar- Professor Ingrid Daubechies of Princeton will on Mechanisms for strengthening mathemat- ently an intrusion of politics: many intended be the next President of the IMU; she will be ics in developing countries, was organized by delegates had problems with visas, despite the the first female President. the LMS and ably chaired by our President, best efforts of the local organizers. There were One-hour lectures were given by the prize Angus Macintyre. It described our Mentor- about 70 delegates from the UK, of whom winners and by 19 Plenary Lecturers, none ing African Mathematicians programme. The about 40 were mathematical colleagues from from the UK. The State of California may be meeting was an opportunity for members to UK universities. Some UK participants were imploding financially, but it still provided five sign the famous LMS membership book; we able to attend because they were supported Plenary Lecturers. are pleased that Ingrid Daubechies was among

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those who did. This was followed by the tradi- with the LMS meeting), performances of Indian tional LMS reception. dance and music and talks on this, the play Another panel discussed the use of metrics A Disappearing Number based on the story for evaluating research and journals; the asinine of Hardy and Ramanujan, and a simultaneous ‘Impact factor’, run by a company for commer- chess match between world champion Vishwa- cial purposes, was excoriated as it stands, but nathan Anand and 40 selected mathematicians; there was debate whether we should abjure Anand won 39 games and drew 1. such metrics altogether or try to devise better The booth of the LMS, ably staffed by Fiona ones; an IMU panel is considering the latter Nixon, Susan Hezlet, Susan Oakes and various alternative. Council members, was very active. Other attractive activities included a popular H. Garth Dales, Leeds lecture by Simon Singh (unfortunately clashing Colva M. Roney-Dougal, St Andrews

RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS 14 ORDINARY MEETING held on Wednesday 25 August 2010 at the Hyderabad International Conference Centre, during the International Congress of Mathematicians. About 130 members and visitors were present. The meeting began at 5.00 pm, with the President, Professor A.J. MACINTYRE, FRS, FRSE, in the Chair. Seven members signed the book and were admitted to the Society. The President, on Council’s behalf, announced that Professor Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat of Université Pierre et Marie Curie and Professor Terence Tao of the UCLA had accepted Honorary Membership of the Society. A discussion meeting was held on Mechanisms for strengthening mathematics in developing countries. The panellists were: • Angus Macintyre (Chair), President of the LMS • John Ball, member of the MARM Board • Frank Neumann, an experienced mentor in the MARM scheme • Wandera Ogana, Chair of the AMMSI Programme Committee • Angel Pineda, active in the Volunteer Lecturer Program • Ramadas Ramakrishnan, Acting Head of Mathematics at ICTP • Felix Shu, a mathematician at the University of Buea, Cameroon An account of the discussion meeting will appear in Volume 1 of the Proceedings of ICM 2010. After the meeting, the Society held a reception for its members and guests which provided an opportunity for overseas members to meet other members of the Society. There were 120 members and guests present, including representatives of many other mathematical societies, members of the IMU Executive Committee, and a Fields medallist. Professor Macintyre gave a warm welcome to all.

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with the LMS meeting), performances of Indian dance and music and talks on this, the play A Disappearing Number based on the story of Hardy and Ramanujan, and a simultaneous chess match between world champion Vishwa- nathan Anand and 40 selected mathematicians; Anand won 39 games and drew 1. BCS-FACS EVENING SEMINAR The booth of the LMS, ably staffed by Fiona A joint event with the London Mathematical Society Nixon, Susan Hezlet, Susan Oakes and various Council members, was very active. Professor Peter O’Hearn (Queen Mary, University of London) H. Garth Dales, Leeds Colva M. Roney-Dougal, St Andrews Reasoning about programs using a scientific method Tuesday 16 November 2010, 6.00 pm RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS London Mathematical Society, 57–58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS AT MEETINGS ORDINARY MEETING 15 held on Wednesday 25 August 2010 at the Hyderabad International Conference Centre, during the International Congress of Mathematicians. About 130 members and visitors were present. The meeting began at 5.00 pm, with the President, Professor Picture courtesy of Sunok Kang Sunok of courtesy Picture A.J. MACINTYRE, FRS, FRSE, in the Chair. Seven members signed the book and were admitted to the Society. The President, on Council’s behalf, announced that Professor Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat of Université Pierre et Marie Curie and Professor Terence Tao of the UCLA had accepted Honorary Membership of the Society. A discussion meeting was held on Mechanisms for strengthening mathematics in Reasoning about programs has traditionally been done using deductive reasoning, where developing countries. The panellists were: mathematical logic is used to make proofs that connect programs with specifications. In this talk Professor O’Hearn describes an approach where an automated reasoning • Angus Macintyre (Chair), President of the LMS tool approaches program code as a scientist would the natural world. Instead of just • John Ball, member of the MARM Board deductive logic, versions of abductive reasoning (generation of new hypotheses) and • Frank Neumann, an experienced mentor in the MARM scheme inductive generalization are used in an iterative fashion to discover specifications that • Wandera Ogana, Chair of the AMMSI Programme Committee describe what programs do, starting from bare code. The resulting specifications are • Angel Pineda, active in the Volunteer Lecturer Program partial or conservative, but the inference/discovery aspect makes it much easier to • Ramadas Ramakrishnan, Acting Head of Mathematics at ICTP approach large code bases, quickly, than with the traditional deductive-only approach. • Felix Shu, a mathematician at the University of Buea, Cameroon Professor O’Hearn reports on experience using a software tool – Abductor, which An account of the discussion meeting will appear in Volume 1 of the Proceedings of automates the method – on large open-source code bases, and he speculates on the ICM 2010. potential role of an ‘automated scientific method’ in program verification and design. After the meeting, the Society held a reception for its members and guests which This talk is based on joint work with Cristiano Calcagno, Dino Distefano and Hongseok Yang. provided an opportunity for overseas members to meet other members of the Society. Refreshments will be available from 5.30 pm. There were 120 members and guests present, including representatives of many other mathematical societies, members of the IMU Executive Committee, and a Fields The seminar is free of charge and open to everyone. If you would like to attend, please medallist. Professor Macintyre gave a warm welcome to all. confirm by email to [email protected] by12 November.

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BIRATIONAL GEOMETRY

A workshop on Birational Geometry will take place at the International Centre for Mathe- matical Sciences, Edinburgh, from 6 to 10 December 2010. The workshop will be held in honour of Slava Shokurov’s 60th birthday. The following invited speakers have con- firmed that they will give talks: • Valery Alexeev (Georgia, USA) • Fedor Bogomolov (Courant) • Alexey Bondal (Aberdeen) • Jean-Pierre Demailly (Grenoble) • Simon Donaldson (Imperial College) • Osamu Fujino (Kyoto) • Ludmil Katzarkov (Vienna) • Yujiro Kawamata (Tokyo) • Kenji Matsuki (Purdue) 16 • James McKernan (MIT) • Shigefumi Mori (RIMS) • Viacheslav Nikulin (Liverpool) • Mihai Paun (Nancy) • Yuri Prokhorov (Moscow State) • Miles Reid (Warwick) • Nick Shepherd-Barron (Cambridge) • Yum-Tong Siu (Harvard) • Gang Tian (Princeton) • Burt Totaro (Cambridge) • Hajime Tsuji (Sophia) © ScienceCartoonsPlus.com

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BIRATIONAL GEOMETRY • Claire Voisin (Jussieu) • Shing-Tung Yau (Harvard) A workshop on Birational Geometry will take • Yuri Zarhin (Penn State) place at the International Centre for Mathe- The organizers of the workshop are Ivan matical Sciences, Edinburgh, from 6 to 10 Cheltsov (Edinburgh) and Caucher Birkar December 2010. The workshop will be held (Cambridge). The workshop is supported by in honour of Slava Shokurov’s 60th birthday. the ICMS and an LMS Conference grant. For The following invited speakers have con- further details visit the website at www.icms. firmed that they will give talks: org.uk/workshops/birational. • Valery Alexeev (Georgia, USA) • Fedor Bogomolov (Courant) THE FIELDS INSTITUTE • Alexey Bondal (Aberdeen) • Jean-Pierre Demailly (Grenoble) The following major programmes are sched- • Simon Donaldson (Imperial College) uled at the Fields Institute, Toronto: • Osamu Fujino (Kyoto) • Asymptotic Geometric Analysis • Ludmil Katzarkov (Vienna) (July – December 2010) • Yujiro Kawamata (Tokyo) • Dynamics and Transport in Disordered • Kenji Matsuki (Purdue) Systems (January – June 2011) • James McKernan (MIT) • Discrete Geometry and Applications 17 • Shigefumi Mori (RIMS) (July – December 2011) • Viacheslav Nikulin (Liverpool) • Galois Representations (January – June 2012) • Mihai Paun (Nancy) • Forcing and its Applications • Yuri Prokhorov (Moscow State) (July – December 2012) • Miles Reid (Warwick) See www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific • Nick Shepherd-Barron (Cambridge) for links to these and the many other up- • Yum-Tong Siu (Harvard) coming workshops, conferences, etc. To be • Gang Tian (Princeton) informed of upcoming Scientific Activities, • Burt Totaro (Cambridge) subscribe to the mailing list at www.fields. • Hajime Tsuji (Sophia) utoronto.ca/maillist.

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UK–JAPAN WINTER SCHOOL man-made artefact to feature, an impressive sculpture by Peter Randall-Page, was not at all 2011 out of place amongst these. The show particu- The UK–Japan Winter Schools have been held larly suited the interesting gallery space, but since 1999. The aim of the School is to bring happily the images can also be seen online at together Japanese and UK scientists, in par- www.southviewimages.co.uk. These images of

ticular young researchers and students, in a www.southviewimages.co.uk © the beauty of natural mathematical structures relaxing and stimulating atmosphere. The are inspiring and stimulating: on leaving next UK–Japan Winter School will be held at the exhibition I found myself seeking out King’s College London from 10 to 13 January patterns as I walked through Holland Park. 2011 on New Methods in Geometry. There The photographs would look good – and will be three short courses plus a number of provide food for thought for students – in individual talks. The courses are: a department of mathematics with suitable • Simon Donaldson (Imperial College London) display space: an opportunity perhaps for a Exceptional holonomy, gauge theory and future showing of these fascinating images? calibrated geometry Tony Mann • John Jones (University of Warwick) University of Greenwich String topology 18 • Keiji Oguiso (Osaka University) Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Classification of general singular fibers of Information by Vlatko Vedral, 2010, Oxford proper holomorphic Lagrangian fibrations University Press, 229 pp, £16.90, ISBN 978-01- via characteristic curves 9923769-2. For further information visit the website Vlatko Vedral takes on quite a tinyurl.com/2uz2rdz. job: his aim is to unify our understanding of the nature of reality MATHSJAM Ammonite, by Simon Williams through the notion of quantum information. All this in a popular MathsJam will take place the weekend of 13 science book. It is unsurprising to to 14 November 2010 at Yarnfield Park Train- REVIEWS find that – for me at least – he is ing Centre, Staffordshire. It is an opportunity not entirely successful. for like-minded self-confessed maths enthusi- MATHEMATICS IN NATURE The book is split into three asts to get together and share stuff they like. Exhibition of photographs by Simon Williams, parts. In the first, Vedral intro- Puzzles, games, problems, or just anything Ice House Gallery, Holland Park, London, duces Shannon’s classical notion of they think is cool or interesting. The pro- 14–29 August 2010. ’information‘. He then considers gramme is designed to maximise the number Simon Williams, who trained as a botanist, this idea in a variety of differ- of ideas shared, while making the most of the has an eye for patterns in nature, and fascinat- ent settings – around questions of efficient opportunity to connect with others with simi- ing mathematical structures abounded in this communication (error correction, security), lar interests. The event includes around 40 or beautiful collection of photographs display- biology (DNA, evolution), physics (entropy), 50 ‘lightning’ talks, lunch both days, a three- ing Fibonacci numbers and fractals, symmetry probability (betting) and sociology (social course dinner and accommodation. and spirals. Over 3000 visitors saw the exhi- connectivity) – with a view to demonstrating For more information about the programme bition in its fortnight in London, apparently how the notion of information can, in some and to register visit the website at www. including one mathematics phobic who loved sense, unify our understanding of these dis- mathsjam.com. In particular you can read the pictures but shied away in horror from the parate areas. about the opportunities offered and the team explanatory mathematics books on display. Unfortunately the treatment is too much behind the event (Colin Wright, David Bedford, Williams’s subjects included fossils, broccoli at the popular end of the popular science James Grime, Matt Parker and Rob Eastaway). and pineapple, ferns and orchids, and the one spectrum. Although I got the impression that

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man-made artefact to feature, an impressive everything discussed could be made rigorous, sculpture by Peter Randall-Page, was not at all his unwillingness to use equations or diagrams out of place amongst these. The show particu- of any sort left me in a fair fog. larly suited the interesting gallery space, but In the second section he was substantially happily the images can also be seen online at more successful – his explanation of the more www.southviewimages.co.uk. These images of general notion of ’quantum information‘ was

© www.southviewimages.co.uk © the beauty of natural mathematical structures clear and interesting. His discussion of ideas are inspiring and stimulating: on leaving around randomness and its importance in the exhibition I found myself seeking out connection with the theory of evolution, and patterns as I walked through Holland Park. with notions of free will, was stimulating and The photographs would look good – and well written. Again equations, and particu- provide food for thought for students – in larly pictures, would have helped a lot but, a department of mathematics with suitable still, I got the drift. display space: an opportunity perhaps for a In the final section come the “big ideas”: future showing of these fascinating images? that the notion of quantum information can Tony Mann unify the theories of quantum mechanics and University of Greenwich gravity, and can explain how the universe emerged out of the void (creation ex nihilo). Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Unfortunately the fog was back. Although 19 Information by Vlatko Vedral, 2010, Oxford his explanation of theories around creation University Press, 229 pp, £16.90, ISBN 978-01- ex nihilo, in particular, was interesting, I was 9923769-2. left frustrated. I really wanted to Vlatko Vedral takes on quite a understand more! job: his aim is to unify our under- I have two remaining criticisms. standing of the nature of reality The first pertains to an aside in Ammonite, by Simon Williams through the notion of quantum Chapter 5 where Vedral spends a information. All this in a popular couple of pages discussing global science book. It is unsurprising to warming, and its inevitability in REVIEWS find that – for me at least – he is light of the second law of ther- not entirely successful. modynamics. I have no doubt that MATHEMATICS IN NATURE The book is split into three everything Vedral wrote here is Exhibition of photographs by Simon Williams, parts. In the first, Vedral intro- entirely correct but of course his Ice House Gallery, Holland Park, London, duces Shannon’s classical notion of notion of global warming is not 14–29 August 2010. ’information‘. He then considers at all what is meant when we Simon Williams, who trained as a botanist, this idea in a variety of differ- read the phrase in the popular has an eye for patterns in nature, and fascinat- ent settings – around questions of efficient media. Given the importance of global warming mathematical structures abounded in this communication (error correction, security), ing (as popularly understood), and given the beautiful collection of photographs display- biology (DNA, evolution), physics (entropy), vast amount of misinformation around the ing Fibonacci numbers and fractals, symmetry probability (betting) and sociology (social same, it seems vital that science writers treat and spirals. Over 3000 visitors saw the exhi- connectivity) – with a view to demonstrating this subject with particular care. Best not to bition in its fortnight in London, apparently how the notion of information can, in some muddy the waters with new definitions. including one mathematics phobic who loved sense, unify our understanding of these dis- My last criticism is philosophical. At one the pictures but shied away in horror from the parate areas. point in the book, Vedral writes “physicists explanatory mathematics books on display. Unfortunately the treatment is too much are not as witty as playwrights, but ... they Williams’s subjects included fossils, broccoli at the popular end of the popular science probably have a deeper insight into the be- and pineapple, ferns and orchids, and the one spectrum. Although I got the impression that haviour of the universe.” Oh dear, thought I,

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here we must disagree. real-time computing, and so had to be fast and Duel at Dawn by Amir Alexander, 2010, If the physicist’s role is to shed light, then very reliable. These requirements eventually Harvard University Press, 307 pp, US$29, the playwright’s is to move through the dark- led to many firsts, including the design and use £21.95, €26.10, ISBN 978-0-674-04661-0. ness that remains. Their activities are comple- of random-access magnetic-core memory, and If the title of this book does not make mentary: one goes where the other cannot, the use of graphic displays and ’light guns‘ for a mathematician of sense and sensibility both (potentially) bringing rich insight into human–computer interaction. However, Whirl- wince, its contents will. It has a sort of sub- the human situation. Crucially, too, both have wind was a huge and costly project, which was title ‘Heroes, martyrs, and the rise of modern an important aesthetic role in human life. not fulfilling the original aims of the US Navy, mathematics’. This is not a subtitle in the The aesthetic of the physicist is one of sim- and its future was threatened. Fortunately, Whirl- ordinary sense. It appears on only one of plicity; hence the rhythm and movement of wind was exactly the sort of computer the (rela- the three title pages; it is not printed on this book is ever towards ’reduction‘: towards tively new) US Air Force needed in its plans for the cover of the book, though it appears on simpler theories explaining more phenom- a complex air-defence system, urgently required the paper jacket, down in the bottom right ena. The reduction so described is impressive after the Soviets tested an A-bomb unexpect- corner, well separated from the title. It but – for me – Vedral’s presentation lacked an edly early, in 1949, and the Whirlwind project seems to serve as a substitute for a preface appreciation of the aesthetic implications of was saved. In the end, Whirlwind technology and may help mathematicians and non- such a process. I want my reality to be more was used in the computers (built by IBM) for the mathematicians alike to get some idea what than impressive, I want it to be beautiful, I SAGE air-defence system, and the subsequent the book is about. want it to move me. Whilst Vedral’s presen- development of the SAGE system and its tech- According to the author the book be- 20 tation is erudite and engaging it wasn’t, for nology formed the pre-history of the internet. longs to ”the new field of mathematics and me, beautiful. Perhaps a playwright’s feel for All this should be a very interesting story, but culture” (p. 299). What is this new field? Is mystery and darkness is just what this book I did not warm to the book. First, there is an mathematics not a part of culture? He writes is missing. annoying gung-ho style; for example when (p. 1): Nick Gill the author makes grand claims such as: “If the the central argument of this book is simple University of Bristol country had pinned its hopes on the Manhattan and can be stated briefly: the duel that ended Project to end a war, its trust was pinned on the the life of young Galois marks the end of an Bright Boys by Tom Green, 2010, A.K. Peters, bright boys to help save a world. … they poked a era in the practice of mathematics and the 320 pp, £33.00, $39.00, ISBN 978-1-56881- gaping hole in the future and dragged into being beginning of another. In a word, it marks 476-6. the modern world of Information Technology”. the birth of modern mathematics. This book is about the development of the Also, there is little technical detail and no real Is modern mathematics, then, such a Whirlwind computer (one of the first large- mathematics. In fact, mathematicians “and their well-defined concept that it can be said to scale electronic digital computers), the SAGE penchant for quickly factoring the previously have been born on 30 May 1832? Of course (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) North impossible” (whatever that means), who want to not. Mathematics evolves. Even its precisely American air-defence system, the young so- use computers for stand-alone calculations, are called ’bright boys‘ who made them happen, sometimes cast as enemies of the MIT engineers and some of the surrounding Cold War Amer- designing and building their expensive, real- ican military history. time, command-and-control computer. Perhaps The Whirlwind project started life at the the book I should have read instead is: Project Massachusetts Institute of Technology Servo- Whirlwind: The History of a Pioneer Computer, mechanisms Laboratory in 1944, in an attempt by Kent C. Redmond and Thomas M. Smith, Digit- to build a flight simulator using an analog al Press, Bedford, MA, 1980, for a more technical computer, and was initially funded by the US and satisfying account of Whirlwind. (Redmond Navy. The project later switched to building a and Smith have also written From Whirlwind to general-purpose electronic digital computer, MITRE: The R&D Story of the SAGE Air Defense with the application to flight simulation seem- Computer, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2000.) ingly abandoned. Unlike other digital comput- Leonard H. Soicher ers of the time, the Whirlwind was designed for Queen Mary, University of London

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real-time computing, and so had to be fast and Duel at Dawn by Amir Alexander, 2010, formulated theorems are usually the product very reliable. These requirements eventually Harvard University Press, 307 pp, US$29, of a long period of evolution. led to many firsts, including the design and use £21.95, €26.10, ISBN 978-0-674-04661-0. The author compares (p. 3) the story of of random-access magnetic-core memory, and If the title of this book does not make Galois with those of Abel, János Bolyai, the use of graphic displays and ’light guns‘ for a mathematician of sense and sensibility Ramanujan, Nash, Gödel, Grothendieck and human–computer interaction. However, Whirl- wince, its contents will. It has a sort of sub- Perelman: wind was a huge and costly project, which was title ‘Heroes, martyrs, and the rise of modern Among modern mathematicians, it seems, not fulfilling the original aims of the US Navy, mathematics’. This is not a subtitle in the extreme eccentricity, mental illness, and and its future was threatened. Fortunately, Whirl- ordinary sense. It appears on only one of even solitary death are not a matter of wind was exactly the sort of computer the (rela- the three title pages; it is not printed on random misfortune. They are, rather, tively new) US Air Force needed in its plans for the cover of the book, though it appears on almost signs of distinction, reserved only a complex air-defence system, urgently required the paper jacket, down in the bottom right for the most outstanding members of the after the Soviets tested an A-bomb unexpect- corner, well separated from the title. It field. edly early, in 1949, and the Whirlwind project seems to serve as a substitute for a preface So were Hilbert, Poincaré, Burnside, was saved. In the end, Whirlwind technology and may help mathematicians and non- Hardy, Littlewood, Emmy Noether, Philip was used in the computers (built by IBM) for the mathematicians alike to get some idea what Hall, Hodge, Feit not among the most out- SAGE air-defence system, and the subsequent the book is about. standing members of our field? And what development of the SAGE system and its tech- According to the author the book be- about those who, with sanity intact, are still nology formed the pre-history of the internet. longs to ”the new field of mathematics and with us, such as Serre, Atiyah, Hirzebruch, 21 All this should be a very interesting story, but culture” (p. 299). What is this new field? Is Thompson, Wiles? Depending on the force I did not warm to the book. First, there is an mathematics not a part of culture? He writes of the word ‘almost’ and the scope of the annoying gung-ho style; for example when (p. 1): word ‘only’ the logic of the above passage the author makes grand claims such as: “If the the central argument of this book is simple may have no such implication, but it comes country had pinned its hopes on the Manhattan and can be stated briefly: the duel that ended perilously close to doing so. Besides, is not Project to end a war, its trust was pinned on the the life of young Galois marks the end of an outstanding mathematical ability eo ipso bright boys to help save a world. … they poked a era in the practice of mathematics and the a form of eccentricity? This passage is fol- gaping hole in the future and dragged into being beginning of another. In a word, it marks lowed (p. 5) by the modern world of Information Technology”. the birth of modern mathematics. Remarkably, the new persona of the tragic Also, there is little technical detail and no real Is modern mathematics, then, such a mathematical misfit and the new practice mathematics. In fact, mathematicians “and their well-defined concept that it can be said to of pure and insular mathematics came on penchant for quickly factoring the previously have been born on 30 May 1832? Of course the scene at precisely the same time [the impossible” (whatever that means), who want to not. Mathematics evolves. Even its precisely early decades of the nineteenth century]. use computers for stand-alone calculations, are The central argument of this book is that sometimes cast as enemies of the MIT engineers this is no coincidence: the mathematical designing and building their expensive, real- legend that appeared in the age of Galois time, command-and-control computer. Perhaps is inseparable from the new mathematical the book I should have read instead is: Project practice that transformed the field in Whirlwind: The History of a Pioneer Computer, those years. by Kent C. Redmond and Thomas M. Smith, Digit- This ‘new mathematical practice’ near al Press, Bedford, MA, 1980, for a more technical the beginning of the nineteenth century and satisfying account of Whirlwind. (Redmond is pure mathematics ‘unsullied by the crass and Smith have also written From Whirlwind to realities of the world around us’ (p. 4). MITRE: The R&D Story of the SAGE Air Defense The principal characters treated in Computer, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2000.) the book are d’Alembert, Galois, Abel, Leonard H. Soicher Cauchy and János Bolyai. Each of these Queen Mary, University of London gets a chapter to himself (with the titles

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 21 01/10/2010 16:53:58 THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected]

“The Eternal Child”, “A Habit of Insult: considerable amount of history of mathe- CALENDAR OF EVENTS The Short and Impertinent Life of Évariste matics. Neither is reliable. On pp. 202–206, Galois”, “The Exquisite Dance of the Blue for example, there is a horribly garbled This calendar lists Society meetings and Nymphs”, “A Martyr to Contempt”, “The account of Galois’ main contributions to other events publicised in the Newsletter. Gifted Swordsman” – if this is culture then the theory of equations. It is neither mathe- Further information can be obtained from the what is kitsch?). In between are three other matically nor historically correct. As far as appropriate LMS Newsletter whose number chapters: “Natural Mathematics”, on the history goes, the thesis that Abel, Cauchy is given in brackets. A fuller list of meetings Enlightenment and the thesis that all eight- and Galois were men who introduced a and events is given on the Society’s website eenth century mathematics is based on pro- kind of mathematics that was ‘not derived (www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/calendar.html). viding a description of how the world works; from the physical world but was, rather, a Please send updates and corrections to “The Poetry of Mathematics”, which com- world unto itself’ (p. 4) ignores the efforts [email protected]. pares mathematicians with other artists but of the many mathematicians of the two underrates Shelley and overlooks Büchner, preceding centuries (and, indeed, of earlier OCTOBER 2010 Rimbaud, Verlaine, for example, and fills a times) who had developed much thorough- 11-15 The Higher-Genus Sigma Function much-needed gap in the literature; “Purity ly ‘pure’ mathematics in, for example, the and Applications, ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh and Rigor: The Birth of Modern Mathemat- theory of equations and the theory of num- (394) ics”, in which ‘Cauchy Reinvents the Calculus’ bers. It also ignores the fact that Cauchy, 18 Patterns, Nonlinear Dynamics and and Galois solves ‘The Mystery of the Quintic for example, contributed at least as much Applications Meeting, Leeds (395) 22 Equation’. Preceding the eight chapters is to our understanding of differential equa- an introduction summarising their contents, tions, mathematical physics and mechanics NOVEMBER 2010 and following them is a conclusion entitled as he did to ‘pure’ mathematics and its 13-14 MathsJam, Yarnfield Park Training “Portrait of a Mathematician” in which por- ways of thinking. Furthermore, insofar as Centre, Staffordshire (396) traits of various people, some mathemati- Cauchy is credited with the construction of cians, some not, are discussed and related ”a new kind of mathematics, strictly circum- 16 BCS-FACS Evening Seminar, London to the theses propounded in the main body scribed, but pure and rigorous on its own (396) of the work. Presenting the gentle sketch of terms” (p. 185), it belittles (pp. 187–191) the 19 LMS Annual General Meeting, Naylor Galois aged 15 that was first published by achievements of Cauchy’s predecessors and Lecture, London (396) Paul Dupuy in 1896 the author focuses on over-rates his own. He was a great mathe- the eyes (p. 256): matician, but he was just one contributor DECEMBER 2010 Dark and piercing, they burn with a fire to a long-lasting effort to pin down what a 6-10 Birational Geometry, ICMS Workshop, that testifies to fierce passions within and function is, what continuity and differenti- Edinburgh (396) reaches out to distant and profound truths. ability are, what a real proof in Analysis is, 6-10 Uncertainty in Climate Modelling, INI, They look upon us with an ironic skepticism that began in the early eighteenth century Cambridge (395) that belies their owner’s tender years, and and progressed far beyond Cauchy’s own 6-10 Australian Statistical Conference 2010, they convey clearly that he is not truly quite primitive ideas of rigour later in the Fremantle, Australia (383) interested in us, who stand before him. nineteenth century. 13-17 PDE Models for Quantum Fluids, INI, What he sees lies far beyond our horizons. To some extent the author distances him- Cambridge (395) Really? That is not what I see there. And self from the mathematics and its history by 18-20 New Trends in Spectral Theory and why does the author not compare with the examining the development of myths about Applications Workshop, Cardiff (395) other extant picture, a sketch made from his romantic heroes alongside his treatment of memory by Alfred Galois in 1848, sixteen their lives and mathematical contributions. JANUARY 2011 years after his elder brother’s death? To me But it does not work. In my opinion there that one shows a shifty-eyed, untrustworthy is little of any value in the book. I cannot 5-14 School on Moduli Spaces, INI, Cambridge scamp. Oh dear! recommend it. (395) The narrative of this book is based upon Peter M Neumann 10-13 UK–Japan Winter School, King’s a small amount of mathematics and a The Queen’s College, Oxford College London (396)

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 22 01/10/2010 16:53:58 www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter [email protected] No. 396 October 2010

considerable amount of history of mathe- CALENDAR OF EVENTS 10-14 Embeddings, INI, Cambridge (395) matics. Neither is reliable. On pp. 202–206, 10-14 Torsors: Theory and Application, for example, there is a horribly garbled This calendar lists Society meetings and ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh (394) account of Galois’ main contributions to other events publicised in the Newsletter. the theory of equations. It is neither mathe- Further information can be obtained from the FEBRUARY 2011 matically nor historically correct. As far as appropriate LMS Newsletter whose number 25 LMS Mary Cartwright Lecture, Oxford history goes, the thesis that Abel, Cauchy is given in brackets. A fuller list of meetings and Galois were men who introduced a and events is given on the Society’s website kind of mathematics that was ‘not derived (www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/calendar.html). APRIL 2011 from the physical world but was, rather, a Please send updates and corrections to 4-8 Computational Challenges in Partial [email protected]. world unto itself’ (p. 4) ignores the efforts Differential Equations Meeting, Swansea of the many mathematicians of the two (392) OCTOBER 2010 preceding centuries (and, indeed, of earlier 25-29 The Kervaire Invariant and Stable times) who had developed much thorough- 11-15 The Higher-Genus Sigma Function Homotopy Theory, ICMS Workshop, ly ‘pure’ mathematics in, for example, the and Applications, ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh Edinburgh (394) theory of equations and the theory of num- (394) bers. It also ignores the fact that Cauchy, 18 Patterns, Nonlinear Dynamics and for example, contributed at least as much Applications Meeting, Leeds (395) JUNE 2011 to our understanding of differential equa- 6-8 Nonlinear Diffusion: Algorithms, Analysis 23 tions, mathematical physics and mechanics NOVEMBER 2010 and Applications Workshop, Warwick (395) as he did to ‘pure’ mathematics and its 6-10 Oscillatory Integrals in Harmonic 13-14 MathsJam, Yarnfield Park Training ways of thinking. Furthermore, insofar as Analysis, ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh (394) Centre, Staffordshire (396) Cauchy is credited with the construction of 26-30 Signal Processing with Adaptive ”a new kind of mathematics, strictly circum- 16 BCS-FACS Evening Seminar, London (396) Sparse Structured Representations ICMS scribed, but pure and rigorous on its own Workshop, Edinburgh (394) terms” (p. 185), it belittles (pp. 187–191) the 19 LMS Annual General Meeting, Naylor 26-30 New Developments in Non- achievements of Cauchy’s predecessors and Lecture, London (396) Commutative Algebra and Applications over-rates his own. He was a great mathematician, but he was just one contributor DECEMBER 2010 ICMS Workshop, Skye (394) to a long-lasting effort to pin down what a 6-10 Birational Geometry, ICMS Workshop, function is, what continuity and differenti- Edinburgh (396) JULY 2011 ability are, what a real proof in Analysis is, 6-10 Uncertainty in Climate Modelling, INI, 1 LMS Meeting, London that began in the early eighteenth century Cambridge (395) 4-8 Set Theory ICMS–ESF Meeting, Edinburgh and progressed far beyond Cauchy’s own 6-10 Australian Statistical Conference 2010, (394) quite primitive ideas of rigour later in the Fremantle, Australia (383) 18-22 ICIAM 2011, Vancouver, Canada (388) nineteenth century. 13-17 PDE Models for Quantum Fluids, INI, 19 LMS Northern Regional Meeting, Leeds To some extent the author distances him- Cambridge (395) 19-22 Homogeneous Structures Workshop, self from the mathematics and its history by 18-20 New Trends in Spectral Theory and Leeds examining the development of myths about Applications Workshop, Cardiff (395) his romantic heroes alongside his treatment of their lives and mathematical contributions. JANUARY 2011 SEPTEMBER 2011 But it does not work. In my opinion there 5-9 European Women in Mathematics is little of any value in the book. I cannot 5-14 School on Moduli Spaces, INI, Cambridge recommend it. (395) General Meeting, Barcelona (396) Peter M Neumann 10-13 UK–Japan Winter School, King’s 10-16 Turning Dreams into Reality ICME, The Queen’s College, Oxford College London (396) South Africa (388)

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 23 01/10/2010 16:53:58 E.H. RHODES LMS member 1875–1894 W. Hall & Son, Brighton (1891) W.

Edward Hawksley Rhodes, BA Deputy Keeper in Her Majesty’s Office of Land Revenue Records

Oct10-NL-REVISED.indd 24 01/10/2010 16:54:00