NEWSLETTER No. 468 April 2017

CMS AT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

he Council for the Mathematical Sciences tions. Guests had the chance to network with T(CMS) (www.cms.ac.uk) held an event colleagues and also heard an address from Sir recently at the House of Commons on Mathemat- Adrian Smith, Chair, CMS, about his upcoming ics Education, hosted by Stephen Metcalfe MP, review of post-16 provision in Chair, Science and Technology Select Committee. England where he drew on general points from Over 100 invited guests from parliament, his yet to be published review. The invited guests including Sir Julian Brazier MP and Stephen also heard from the new chair of the Advisory Timms MP, government departments including Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) the Department for Education, academia, (www.acme-uk.org) Professor Frank Kelly, about education and a range of Science, Technology, new developments within the Committee and Education and Mathematics (STEM) organisa- the vision moving forward.

Sir Adrian Smith, Chair, CMS Professor Frank Kelly, Chair, ACME

SOCIETY MEETINGS AND EVENTS 2017 • 3 April: Society Meeting at BMC, Durham page 25 • 18 September: Midlands Regional Meeting, • 18–22 April: LMS Invited Lectures, Newcastle page 11 Loughborough page 31 • 5 May: Mary Cartwright Lecture, London page 13 • 10 November: Graduate Student Meeting, London • 1 June: Northern Regional Meeting, York page 30 • 10 November: Annual General Meeting, London • 30 June: Graduate Student Meeting, London • 11 December: SW & South Regional • 30 June: Society Meeting, London Meeting,

NEWSLETTER ONLINE: newsletter.lms.ac.uk @LondMathSoc LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk

Contents No. 468 April 2017

28 42

Awards European Study Groups with Industry...... 35 Clay Research Fellows 2017...... 27 Extremal Combinatorics...... 38 Oxford Mathematics...... 20 Gender Diversity in Mathematics ...... 36 Gravity and Black Holes...... 34 Calendar of Events 46 2 History of Open Quantum Systems...... 35 LMS Items Hooley Day...... 41 Durham Symposia 2018 – call for proposals...21 Interacting Systems and Stochastic PDEs...... 38 Grant Schemes...... 6 Mathematical Logic...... 34 Election News...... 5 Mathematical Physics Day...... 36 Library at UCL...... 14 Nonlinear Water Waves...... 40 LMS Council Strategic Retreat...... 3 Profinite Groups...... 34 LMS Publications Strategic Retreat...... 8 Random Graphs and Random Processes...... 35 Holgate Lectures and Workshops...... 7 The Mathematical Association...... 38 News for Early Career Researchers Variational Methods...... 39 and Students...... 18 News Revised Committee Structure at the LMS...... 4 Alan Turing's Lost Notebook...... 22 LMS Meetings Chalkdust Issue 05...... 26 Aitken UK Lecture Tour 2017 – Hinke Osinga...33 CMS at the House of Commons...... 1 Algebraic Topology of Manifolds European News...... 20 Research School...... 17 Mathematical Stamps Website...... 29 Introduction to Geometry Research School.....16 Mathematics Policy Round-Up...... 19 Invited Lecturer 2017 – Jim Agler...... 11 Swiss Mathematical Society...... 28 Mary Cartwright Lecture...... 13 Obituary Mathematics Can Make You Fly?...... 37 Wilson, Brian...... 40 Midlands Regional Meeting...... 31 Northern Regional Meeting...... 30 Report Society Meeting at BMC...... 25 COW and CALF in Cardiff...... 32 & Computation LMS–IMA Reviews Joint Meeting...... 12 A Doubter’s Almanac...... 44 Meetings Hidden Figures...... 42 Boundary Integral Methods...... 34 Mathematics at the Science Museum...... 43 Escher and Coxeter: A Mathematical Visit Conversation...... 36 Madritsch, Manfred...... 29 [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

LMS COUNCIL STRATEGIC RETREAT A Personal View

Council’s 2017 Strategic Retreat was held early feedback from Council to the Review on the 3rd and 4th of February at Chicheley Group. Any proposed changes in the Charter Hall. and Statutes will require further approval. The 2014–2019 strategic plan arose from The Review Group was requesting Council's the Council’s previous strategic retreat, in feedback on two key proposed changes. February 2013. The five strategic priorities One concerned the size and composition of this plan are Communication, Review of Council (there was a proposal to cut it of grants, Early career researchers, Society to eleven members) and the nominations meetings, and Data collection. A report had procedure. been provided to bring Council up to date In addition, there was a suggestion, not with the work undertaken so far on each of previously discussed by the Standing Orders these priorities. Review Group and not reflected in the draft Council was invited to consider current Charter, to separate completely the roles activities in relation to the strategic plan. of the Council and the Board of Trustees. The main points of the discussion included: The issue of the composition of Council improvement of communication between triggered a lively and inconclusive discus- Council and Committees, development of sion. Many Council members felt that such communications policy with government, changes would be unhelpful for the govern- the membership and the public; improve- ance of the Society. There were also sugges- 3 ment of the web site; schemes focusing on tions that there was room for improvement early career researchers; data collection. in governance which could be achieved One of the more important issues discussed now without waiting for new governing at the retreat were the possible changes in documents: for example, draft minutes of the Charter, Statutes, and By-laws of the Council produced more rapidly; clarification Society. A special working group of the of the delegation to, and reporting from, Council, the Standing Orders Review Group Committees, and so on. has been working for several years on these The General Secretary gave a presenta- documents. An annotated preliminary tion outlining the Society’s current activi- version was presented to Council. It was not ties by committee with an indication of the a recommendation, but a way of getting budgetary allocation for these activities.

Editorial team Publication dates and deadlines http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk Editorial office General Editor Published monthly, except August. Items and adver- London Mathematical Society, Mr A.J.S. Mann tisements by the first day of the month prior to publi- De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell ([email protected]) cation, or the closest preceding working day. Notices Square, London WC1B 4HS and advertisements are not accepted for events that Reports Editor occur in the first week of the publication month. (t: 020 7637 3686; Professor I. A. Stewart f: 020 7323 3655) ([email protected]) News items and notices in the Newsletter may be freely used elsewhere unless otherwise stated, al- Events calendar Reviews Editor though attribution is requested when reproducing Updates and corrections to Professor D. Singerman whole articles. Contributions to the Newsletter are [email protected] ([email protected]) made under a non-exclusive licence; please contact Articles Administrative Editor the author or photographer for the rights to repro- Send articles to Susan Oakes duce. The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the [email protected] ([email protected]) accuracy of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or Advertising Typeset by the LMS at De policy of the London Mathematical Society. For rates and guidelines see Morgan House; printed by newsletter.lms.ac.uk/rate-card Holbrooks Printers Ltd. Charity registration number: 252660. LMS Items

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After presentations from Treasurer and After agreeing on the minutes of the Publications Secretary, there was a dis- previous Council meeting and noting the cussion of future financial security of the unconfirmed minutes of the Finance and Society under various economic and political General Purposes Committee meeting and scenarios, and possible fundraising activities. the Annual General Meeting, the Council On the basis of these discussions, Council received an update on the activities of considered possible updates in the Society's the President undertaken since the last Strategic Plan. Council members were invited meeting of the Council. to consider how the Society might develop a The main activities included attend- summary strategy document similar to that ance at: the Parliamentary and Scientific of the American Mathematical Society. Committee Annual Lunch, the Standing The retreat was a success: the atmosphere Orders Review Group. Alice Rogers, June of all the discussions was relaxed and very Barrow-Green and Fiona Nixon attended amicable, and the range of complex issues the Science Museum reception at the covered in very limited time was quite im- opening of its new mathematics gallery. pressive. The Programme Secretary, Vice-President Council will consider the next steps at its Greenlees and the Executive Secretary had meeting on 31 March 2017. attended the South West and South Wales Regional Meeting. The most important topics discussed were LMS Council Diary financial matters and the consultation on 4 The Council meeting was held on Saturday 4 the next Research Excellence Framework, February, after the Retreat, and was shorter as well as some governance matters. than usual. Alina Vdovina

Revised Committee structure at the London Mathematical Society Over the last year Council set up a Meetings Committee. Council is pleased to working group under the chairmanship announce the three new Chairs, who will of the General Secretary to reconsider the lead these committees from 1 August 2017: structure of its standing committees. In par- • Chair of Early Career Research Commit- ticular, Council had previously identified at a tee: Chris Parker (Birmingham). strategic retreat the need to have a standing • Chair of Research Grants Committee: committee dedicated to supporting young Francis Clarke () and early career research mathematicians • Chair of Society, Lectures and Meetings and to bring together all of the support- Committee: Iain A. Stewart (Durham). ing activities for this constituency under The primary remits of the three new Com- its own standing committee. Following mittees are broadly outlined below: recommendations from the working group, Council approved the disbanding Early Career Research Committee of the current Programme Committee and Postdoctoral Support: Research Meetings Committee and in their • Travel Grants to the International Con- place has formed three new committees, gress of Mathematicians (ICM) and Euro- Early Career Research Committee, Research pean Congress of Mathematics (ECM) for Grants Committee, and Society Lectures and Early Career Researchers. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

• Grants to Celebrate New Lecturers’ • International Grants (African Math- Appointments. ematics Millennium Science Initiative • Cecil King Scholarship. (AMMSI), Mentoring African Research Postgraduate Support: Mathematics (MARM)). • Research Schools. • LMS Durham Symposia. • Graduate Student Meetings. • Research Workshop Grants. • Postgraduate Conference Grants. • Travel Grants to ICM and ECM for mid – Undergraduate Support: late Career Researchers. • Undergraduate Research Bursaries. • Undergraduate Summer Schools. Society Lectures and Meetings • LMS Prospects in Mathematics Committee Meetings. • Society meetings. • UK Undergraduate Mathematical Socie- • Spitalfields Days. ties grants. • Lectureships (Hardy, Invited Lecture • Travel Grants to Heidelberg Laureate Series, LMS-NZMS Forder/Aitken, Hirst). Forum. Council wishes to thank the current members who have served on the Research Research Grants Committee Meetings Committee and Programme These are primarily grants for established Committee and is grateful that they will researchers. continue to support the Society by serving • Research Grant Schemes (Conference, on these new committees. Visits to the UK, Joint Research Groups, Stephen Huggett 5 Research in Pairs). LMS General Secretary

LMS Election News

Members are asked to note that two Officer Committee would be pleased to receive roles on Council will be vacated by the in- suggestions of names of those who might cumbents at the 2017 AGM. After serving be considered for either of these vacancies. as a Vice-President for 8 years, Professor The deadline for receipt of suggestions is Ken Brown will not seek a further term Friday 5 May 2017. Suggestions should be of office in order to avoid the two Vice- sent to the Chair of Nominating Committee, Presidents, who were both appointed at Professor John Toland, at nominations@ the same time, having to step down at the lms.ac.uk. Of course members may make same time due to having served full terms their own nominations as usual. of office during the same period. After serving as Education Secretary for 5 years, Future role of the Society’s Programme Professor Alice Rogers will not seek re- Secretary election to the role of Education Secretary. The revised committee structure put in The Society wishes to place on record place by Council will have an impact on its thanks to both Professors Brown and the role of the Programme Secretary. At Rogers for their services and wishes them present the Programme Secretary chairs well for the future. the Programme Committee, which will Elections for a Vice-President and shortly cease to exist. One possibility is Education Secretary will take place as that in future the Programme Secretary normal at the AGM. The Nominating chairs the new Research Grants Committee, LMS Items

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as this will become the standing committee to take this matter under consideration at which supports the major programme of its meeting in May to agree an election grant-giving within the Society. Council slate. will be considering this at its next meeting, Fiona Nixon and Nominating Committee will be invited Executive Secretary, LMS

LMS GRANT SCHEMES Next Closing Date for Research Grant Applications: 15 May 2017

Applications are invited for the following Research in Pairs (Scheme 4) grants: Grants of up to £1,200 are available to support a visit for collaborative research Conferences (Scheme 1) either by the grant holder to another in- Grants of up to £7,000 are available to stitution abroad, or by a named mathema- provide partial support for conferences tician from abroad to the home base of held in the . This includes the grant holder. Grants of up to £600 are a maximum of £4,000 for principal speakers, available to support a visit for collabora- £2,000 to support the attendance of tive research either by the grant holder to 6 research students who are studying at uni- another institution within the UK, or by a versities in the UK, and £1,000 to support named mathematician from within the UK the attendance of participants from Scheme to the home base of the grant holder. 5 or former Soviet Union countries. International Short Visits (Scheme 5) Celebrating New Appointments Grants of up to £3,000 are available to (Scheme 1) support a visit for collaborative research, by Grants of up to £600 are available to a named mathematician from a country in provide partial support for meetings held which mathematics could be considered to in the United Kingdom to celebrate the be in a disadvantaged position, to the home new appointment of a lecturer at a UK uni- base of the grant holder. Grants of up to versity. £2,000 are available to support a visit for col- laborative research by the grant holder to a Postgraduate Research Conferences country in which mathematics could be con- (Scheme 8) sidered to be in a disadvantaged position. Grants of up to £4,000 are available to Applicants will be expected to explain in provide partial support for conferences their application why the proposed country held in the United Kingdom, which are fits the circumstances considered eligible for organised by and are for postgraduate Scheme 5 funding. Applicants unsure if the research students. proposed country is eligible under a Scheme 5 grant should contact the Grants team. Visits to the UK (Scheme 2) For full details of these grant schemes, and Grants of up to £1,500 are available to to download application forms, please visit provide partial support for a visitor to the the LMS website: www.lms.ac.uk/content/ UK, who will give lectures in at least three research-grants. separate institutions. Awards are made to • Applications received by 15 May 2017 the host towards the travel, accommoda- will be considered at a meeting in June tion and subsistence costs of the visitor. 2017. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

• Applications should be submitted well to decline funding. in advance of the date of the event for Queries regarding applications can be which funding is requested. addressed to the Grants Administrator, • Grants are not awarded for events which Anthony Byrne (tel 0207 927 0807, email: have already happened, and in cases [email protected]) who will be pleased to where insufficient time has been allowed discuss proposals informally with potential for processing of the application, the applicants and give advice on the submis- Programme Committee reserves the right sion of an application.

LMS HOLGATE LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS

The Holgate Lectures and Workshops It is anticipated that the majority of the sessions scheme provides session leaders sessions would be held in schools and ap- who are willing to give a talk on a math- plicants with strong contacts in schools ematical subject to groups of students or are particularly welcomed. The LMS will teachers. The sessions are of mathematical advertise the Holgate Scheme, however content and are not, for example, careers session leaders will be expected to promote talks. Rather they are intended to enrich themselves and the Holgate sessions they and enhance mathematical education, offer locally. 7 looking both within and beyond the cur- The local organiser of a session may be riculum. Holgate session leaders do not a school, or a group of schools, or a local charge a fee for giving talks, but local or- branch of a mathematical organisation. ganisers are expected to pay travel expenses Schools will be strongly encouraged to col- and subsistence costs, together with any laborate when hosting sessions. There is no local costs of organising the session. The required minimum or maximum attendance LMS will pay an annual honorarium to the for the sessions, and appointees will be free session leaders. to decide whether to accept or decline a The scheme is named in memory of Philip request. Holgate, who helped ensure the success of There will be no upper or lower bound the LMS Popular Lectures. on the session leader’s workload. As an in- There will be three vacancies on the dicative number it is anticipated that they Holgate Lecture/Workshop sessions scheme will give three or four sessions during each from July 2017. The Society invites appli- academic year with the possibility of doing cations from people who would like to more, although proposals for alternative become Holgate Session Leaders. models will be considered. It is anticipated that, primarily, each Appointees will be asked to provide session leader should offer a range of material for the LMS website such as titles/ sessions for those in education outside abstracts/descriptions of talks. They will also of higher education. This could be at be asked to provide an e-mail contact and primary, secondary or A-Level or equiva- a short profile, including areas of expertise, lent (including STEP/AEA). It may also cover interests and experience. It is not intended adult education. The leader would also that the sessions listed on the website be free to offer sessions to other relevant would be comprehensive and session groups, for example teachers of mathemat- leaders would be encouraged to develop or ics, to enhance their professional mathe- adapt content in light of requests. matical development. Applicants are asked to send a short (2-page) LMS Items

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CV and a letter detailing what it is they think they could offer as a Holgate Session Leader, and what they believe that the Holgate sessions could offer as an educational experi- ence. The Society is open to a wide range The New Mathematical of proposals and applicants are encouraged Science to set out ideas. Applicants are asked to set out what contacts they have that will help by Dr Mehran Basti them to reach those learning and/or teaching mathematics and those who would benefit from the Holgate Lectures and Workshops. DIFFERENTIAL Applications should be received by 30th April 2017, sent to [email protected]. EQUATIONS While there is no particular person specifi- cation, applicants should have a track-record AND POLYNOMIALS in mathematics education, communicat- ing with people learning and/or teaching Volumes 1 – 3 mathematics outside of HE. They may be research-active mathematicians in a univer- Abstract available at sity department or be someone mathemati- www.infinitypublishing.com/ cally or statistically qualified based outside 8 of academia. There is no requirement that applicants be members of the LMS. Additional work: Session leaders and local organisers will DNA of Mathematics be asked to provide a short report on each session and will be paid £450 per year as friesenpress.com an honorarium. Appointment will be for a three year term (August 2015 – August 2018) renewable by agreement.

LMS PUBLICATIONS STRATEGIC RETREAT

Publishing mathematics is one of the ties that may work for us. In that spirit, the essential roles of the London Mathemati- Publications Secretary organised a Strategic cal Society, and is extremely important to Retreat in January this year to gather a our purpose as a learned society and our range of people — around 30 mathemati- charitable aims. We have been doing this cians, including early career and established, since the first volume of the Proceedings in publishers, editors, authors, independent 1865, and have seen the landscape change publishing consultants, and our President several times and adapted with it. With Designate — to discuss the position of our open access, online publishing and recent journals and book series, and other forms growth in output by high-quality publishers, of disseminating mathematics. it seems we are at another turning point. I certainly have my own axe to grind, Through our Publications Committee, the being a now-grumpy associate editor of Society regularly reviews the health of its the LMS Journal of Computation and Math- publications, and discusses new opportuni- ematics, which Council recently chose to [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

terminate, so I was very happy to be invited giving research and scholarship the impri- and to stick my oar in. And so we all met matur that the model of science we know in a hotel outside Leamington Spa for two depends upon. And another is that publish- days in January. The itinerary was packed, ing supports our promotion of mathematics with large group discussions broken up by to other audiences, such as policy makers small break-out groups focusing on particu- and science funding bodies, and the high- lar questions, and presentations from the quality mathematics we publish represents Society's publisher, Wiley, and editors and UK science (even though most authors are other consultants. not from the UK) and tells a story about the As you probably know, the Society is science we undertake. involved in publishing 12 journals (one You will have noticed the absent elephant: fewer than last year...) and two book series publishing is also a commercial venture that — which over the years have included pre- earns the Society most of its annual income, eminent texts that are still in demand, vital without which it could not function as we translations from our Russian friends and know it and could not support and influence colleagues, and ranging from student texts mathematics in the UK as it does through to cutting-edge research conferences. its grants and events and policy commit- Why does the LMS play the publishing tees and prizes and so on. From this point game at all? After all, anyone can write of view, the work we contribute towards a professional-looking paper and put it Society publications is a direct and essential online for the world to see. One part of contribution to enabling its function as a the answer is that publishing addresses our charity and learned society. Not surpris- 9 principal missions directly by disseminat- ingly, there was a lot of discussion during ing mathematical knowledge worldwide. the retreat of the balance between our Another is that the rigorous (and costly) ethical obligations as a charity and scientif- processes of refereeing and editing are ic publisher, the value the Society makes of a service to both authors and readers, the income, and the costs and risks we are LMS Items

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exposed to by being in the business. of our performance and that of similar Granted that publishing is a key part publishers, we debated dozens of such of the Society’s mission, however, there questions, and identified themes and ideas are many questions to be asked. Are our that resonated with the different perspec- current publication aims right for modern tives of the group. Our overall aim at the publication of contemporary (largely pure) retreat was to come away with a broad list mathematics? Are we adept at responding of priorities for consideration by the Pub- to new mathematical streams as they arise? lications Committee. Some points came up Should we be considering additional open again and again. We asked the Committee access initiatives? How might we improve to consider ways to improve the experi- the reputation of our books and journals, ence of authors — perhaps especially in and do we even want to? Is the quantity cases where papers are not accepted. We of work we publish too high, too low or thought it should consider the quantity about right? How should quality, financial of mathematics we publish, in a growing returns and level of dissemination be market of high-quality papers. We asked balanced against each other? Should we how it might raise the visibility of our pub- aim to increase international input into the lishing. And we asked the Committee to editorial processes? Could we use special keep the ethics of publishing as a charita- events or social media to promote our pub- ble society at the heart of any development. lications (which is something publishers Over the coming months the Publica- themselves are good at and could help us tions Committee will form a smaller dis- 10 with)? Is the experience of authors good cussion group to meet regularly in De enough? How should the work of Council, Morgan House to prepare an analysis of the Publications Committee and the indi- the outcomes that the Committee can vidual Editorial Boards fit together? And so consider later this year. I will be there too, on. These are some of the questions that and look forward to tying the different we addressed at the retreat, in the light of ideas together into a single story, even if professional reviews of the Society's pub- we don’t have quite as much fun on day lishing activities that we commissioned in release in Russell Square as we did at the 2012 and 2016. retreat in Leamington Spa. The meeting seemed, to me at least, to Gavin Brown be extremely successful. In a short space Mathematics Institute of time, armed with an inch-thick analysis University of Warwick [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

LMS INVITED LECTURER 2017 Professor Jim Agler (UCSD) Function Theory by Hilbert Space Methods 18-22 April 2017, Herschel Building, Newcastle University Our topic will be a powerful machinery that has been developed in the last 60 years both to discov- er and to prove theorems about analytic functions in one and several complex variables through the construction of operators on Hilbert space. The lectures will begin with expositions of the elementary operator theory that is required to achieve interesting results in function theory. 11 Next we will show how a number of classical results in the theory of analytic functions in one variable, when cast in a Hilbert space setting, can be proved by operator-theoretic methods which are largely algebraic in nature. These results will include the Herglotz Representation Theorem, the Carathéodory and Pick Interpolation Theorems, Nevanlinna’s Representation Theorems, the Car- athéodory-Julia Theorems, and Loewner’s Theorem. The remainder of the talks will focus on how the operator-theoretic proofs of these one- variable theorems can be generalized to yield a variety of new results in several complex variables. Guest Lectures There will also be supplementary lectures by: Professor John McCarthy (Washington University in St. Louis, USA) Research interests: Analysis, especially Operator Theory and one/several Complex Variables Associate Professor Greg Knese (Washington University in St. Louis, USA) Research interests: Complex Function Theory, Operators, Harmonic Analysis Assistant Professor Kelly Bickel (Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA) Research interests: Multivariate Operator Theory, Several Complex Variables, Harmonic Analysis Accommodation, Travel Funding and Registration Accommodation will be provided at the Osborne Hotel. Limited fi nancial support is available with preference given to UK research students. Please contact the organiser for further details: Zinaida Lykova [email protected].

For further details and how to register for the 2017 Invited Lectures please visit: http://www.mas.ncl.ac.uk/~nek29/lmslectures2017/function_theory.html LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk

12 [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

LMS Mary Cartwright Lecture Friday 5 May 2017 De Morgan House, 57-58 Russell Square, London, WC1B 4HS 3.30 Opening Lecture Sinead English () Information use within and across generations: implications for 13 understanding animal development and non-genetic inheritance 4.30 Tea 5.00 Mary Cartwright Lecture Rebecca Hoyle (University of ) Transgenerational plasticity and environmental change 6.00 Wine reception

Rebecca Hoyle

To register please contact Katy Henderson on [email protected] by Friday 28 April The reception will be followed by dinner at the Montague Hotel, at a cost of £35 per person

1865 - 2017 LMS Items

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LMS LIBRARY AT UCL

Registering and Renewing can be downloaded from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ Members of the Society are reminded that they library/docs/borrowerform) and bring the fol- may register as users of the University College lowing items with you: London Library, where the London Mathemati- • passport-size photograph cal Society Library is held and which contains a • proof of Identity e.g. passport, photocard collection of: driving licence. • periodicals published by other mathematical • proof of address e.g. utility bill, recent bank societies which are received in exchange for statement, valid photocard driving licence the Society's publications • proof of membership – a letter of confirma- • copies of books and journals published by tion can be obtained from the Society, please the Society email [email protected] • items acquired by the Society as review To Register/Renew (by post) copies or gifts. To register by post, please complete the appli- The Society’s Library is housed in the UCL Science cation form (which can be downloaded from Library. Members may also use all the material http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/docs/borrower available in the reading rooms and stores of the form) and return it with: UCL family of libraries. These privileges include: • a passport-size photograph • Borrowing up to ten items at any one time. • proof of membership – a letter of confirma- • Placing up to three concurrent reservations tion can be obtained from the Society, please 14 on material already on loan. email [email protected]. • Borrowing books by post without service To: charge (costs for returning the books must be Head of Membership, UCL Library Services covered by the user). University College London • Access to MathSciNet and specific electronic Gower Street journals from designated terminals in the London WC1E 6BT Science Library. Telephone: 020 7679 7953 • Use of the Explore access points to search for Fax: 020 7679 7373 and view electronic publications and save Email: [email protected] single copies of articles (no more than one When registering by post, library cards will be article per journal issue) for your own per- posted back to the address given on the applica- sonal use. You can save articles to standard tion form. USB sticks, note that USB sticks containing en- Please note that library cards are valid for 12 crypted software do not work on the Explore months from date of issue and will need to be access points. renewed each year. • Use of photocopying facilities at UCL libraries No charge is made is made for the initial reg- (charged at the same rate as UCL staff). istration or for renewing expired library cards or • Rapid photocopying service by post - cards which are within one calendar month of Photocopy Request and Copyright Declara- expiring. tion Form. Reminders to Renew - To receive reminders to Please note that, for licensing reasons, use of renew by email from the Library at UCL, please the Library at UCL does not include remote elec- remember to include an email address on the tronic access to journals and articles. To check form when registering and renewing. The UCL the listings of electronic journals available to vis- Library will send out reminders two weeks be- itors, before your visit to the Library, use Explore fore your library card is due to expire. (http://sfx.ucl.ac.uk/sfx_local/az/walkin). Forgotten Cards – Please note that if you for- To Register/Renew (in person) get your library card, you will not be admitted to Please complete the application form (which any UCL Library. This rule is strictly applied. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

Visiting the library 24 Hour Opening The Science Library is open 24 hours for UCL Library card holders and has extended the opening hours of the assistance desk. Opening Hours

Help Point and Self Service Reading Rooms Collection Point Monday 09:30 – 21:00 Open from 08:45 Open from 08:45 Tuesday 09:30 – 21:00 24 hour opening 24 hour opening Wednesday 09:30 – 21:00 24 hour opening 24 hour opening Thursday 09:30 – 21:00 24 hour opening 24 hour opening Friday 10:00 – 21:00 24 hour opening 24 hour opening Saturday 11:00 – 18:00 Close at 20.45 Close at 21:00 Sunday Closed 11:00 – 20:45 11:00 - 21:00 (holders of UCL Library Cards only)

Please note: • During the weekends and evenings, the Library is open principally to offer book loans and to 15 handle related queries. For all other queries, please contact a member of staff during office hours (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/help). • During the year, the opening hours may change. Please check the Science Library website before travelling (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/sites/science#open). Checking seat availability You can also check online for the availability of seats in the reading rooms and computer cluster at the Science Library: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/sites/science/#current. For further information about the Society’s Library visit www.lms.ac.uk/library/lms-library.

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Introduction to Geometry, Dynamics, and Moduli in Low Dimensions LMS-CMI Research School Warwick 11 – 15 September 2017

Organisers: J. Aramayona (Madrid), S. Schleimer (Warwick), J. Smillie (Warwick)

Course outline The Research School will offer a broad introduction to low-dimensional geometry, topology, and dynamics. Experts in the fi eld will each deliver a mini-course devoted to a particular sub-area. The mini-courses will be accompanied by problem sessions, supervised by tutors. The School is 16 the opening event of the EPSRC-Warwick Symposium “Geometry, dynamics, and moduli in low dimensions” to be held at Warwick during the academic year 2017-18. Participants of the School are also invited to apply to the other workshops of the symposium. Lecture Courses Yael Algom-Kfi r (Haifa) Free groups as fundamental groups of graphs Tara Brendle (Glasgow) Description of Teichmüller space in terms of hyperbolic geometry Nathan Dunfi eld (UIUC) Methods for computation of geometric structures and invariants Erwann Lanneau (Grenoble) Teichmüller dynamics Julien Marché (Paris VI) Geometric structures viewed in terms of representations These lecture courses will be supplemented by tutorial sessions. For further information, please visit: www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/research/events/2017-18/ symposium/igdm/ Apply online (https://tinyurl.com/gwgv8lr) by 16 June 2017. Research students, post-docs and those working in industry are invited to apply. A reference is also required: https://tinyurl.com/ jcmgffk *All applicants will be contacted within three weeks after the deadline; information about indi- vidual applications will not be available before then.* Fees Research students: £150. There will be no charge for accommodation and subsistence costs. Early career researchers: £250. There will be no charge for accommodation and subsistence costs. Other participants (e.g. those working in industry): £250 Research students who have not completed their PhDs by the start of the Research School and who would otherwise be unable to attend can apply for fi nancial aid. Fees are not payable until a place at the Research School is offered but will be due by 11 August 2017. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

Algebraic Topology of Manifolds LMS-CMI Research School Oxford 11 – 15 September 2017 Organiser: Ulrike Tillmann (Oxford) Manifolds are at the centre of much of geometry and topology, and through the infl uence of axiomatic topological quantum fi eld theory they have become an important organising force in category and representation theory. Classically, in the 1960s, algebraic topology was at the heart of their classifi cation theory in form of characteristic classes and numbers, cobordism theory, surgery theory, and later Wald- hausen’s K-theory of manifolds. We are now experiencing a renaissance of the fi eld as well as a paradigm shift where manifolds not only are the objects of study but become the tools. The school aims at inspiring the next generation with this exciting success story of interwoven 17 ideas bouncing between different fi elds, and giving the participants the tools to contribute to this lively research area. Lecture Courses Dan Freed (Austin, USA) Topological Quantum Field Theory Oscar Randall-Williams (Cambridge, UK) Characteristic classes & moduli spaces of manifolds Greg Arone (Virginia, USA) The Goodwillie–Weiss embedding calculus Nathalie wahl (Copenhagen, Denmark) Homological stability These lecture courses will be supplemented by tutorial sessions. In addition there will be guest lectures. For further information, please visit: https://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/tillmann/ATM-SCHOOL.html Apply online (www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RS33-ATManifoldsApplicationForm) by 16 June 2017. Research students, post-docs and those working in industry are invited to apply. *All ap- plicants will be contacted within three weeks after the deadline; information about individual applications will not be available before then* Fees Research students: £150. There will be no charge for subsistence costs. Early career researchers: £250. There will be no charge for subsistence costs. Other participants: £250 plus subsistence costs. Research students who will not have completed their PhDs by the start of the Research School and who would otherwise be unable to attend can apply for fi nancial aid to cover their travel costs. Fees are not payable until a place at the Research School is offered but will be due by 21 July 2017. LMS Items, News

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NEWS FOR EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS AND STUDENTS

UNDERGRADUATES Funding for Undergraduate Society Meetings Funds of up to £500 are available to support meetings of Undergraduate Mathematical Societies to cover the travel and accommoda- tion costs for an invited speaker (from academia or industry) and to cover catering costs e.g. a wine reception after the meeting. Further in- formation and an application form is available online: www.lms.ac.uk/grants/LMS-Funding-Un- dergrad-Soc-Meetings. LMS Graduate Student Meeting MASTERS STUDENTS Date for your diary you are new lecturer who has been appointed 30 June 2017: Graduate Student Meeting in within the last two years, why not celebrate London. Look out for further details next your appointment with a research meeting? month. The LMS offers grants of up to £600 to support costs for speakers and participants. Find out PhD STUDENTS more here: https://www.lms.ac.uk/grants/cele- Dates for your diary: brating-new-appointments-scheme-1 18 15 May 2017: Deadline for Postgraduate Confer- ence (Scheme 8) Grant Applications. Planning to LMS-CMI RESEARCH SCHOOL organise a conference for you and your fellow APPLICATION DEADLINES research students? The LMS offers grants of 16 June 2017: Deadline for applications to the up to £4,000 to support costs for speakers and LMS-CMI Research School Algebraic Topology participants. Find out more here: https://www. of Manifolds, Oxford; 11-15 September 2017. lms.ac.uk/grants/postgraduate-research-confer- Further details here: https://people.maths. ence-grants-scheme-8 ox.ac.uk/tillmann/ATM-SCHOOL.html Apply here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RS33- POST-DOCS AND EARLY ATManifoldsApplicationForm. CAREER RESEARCHERS A reference will also be required so ask your Dates for your diary: referee to complete the form here: https://www. 15 May 2017: Deadline for Celebrating New Ap- surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RS33-ATManifoldsRefer- pointments (Scheme 1) Grant Applications. If eeForm 16 June 2017: Deadline for applications to the LMS-CMI Research School Introduction to Geometry, Dynamics, and Moduli in Low Di- mensions, Warwick; 11-15 September 2017. Further details here: http://www2.warwick. ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/research/events/2017-18/ symposium/igdm/ Apply here: http://www.sur- veymonkey.co.uk/r/RS30IntroToGeometryDy namicsAndModuliInLowDimensionsApplnForm A reference will also be required so ask your referee to complete the form here: https://www. surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RS-30Introductiontoge Jinan Raheem al-Asady (Leicester) gives a talk at the Young Re- ometrydynamicsandmoduliinlowdimension searchers in Mathematics Conference, August 2016, St Andrews sRefereeForm. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

MATHEMATICS POLICY ROUND-UP April 2017

RESEARCH for algorithmic decision-making to Government responds to Select Committee eliminate, introduce or amplify biases or reports discrimination, and how any such bias can The government has responded to the recent be detected and overcome; whether and House of Commons Science and Technol- how algorithmic decision-making can be ogy Committee report: Leaving the EU: im- conducted in a ‘transparent’ or ‘account- plications and opportunities for science and able’ way, and the scope for decisions made research. The response is available at http:// by an to be fully understood and tinyurl.com/h39xlr2. challenged; the implications of increased The government has also responded to transparency in terms of copyright and the House of Lords Science and Technology commercial sensitivity, and protection of an Committee reports: A time for boldness: EU individual’s data. membership and UK science after the referen- • Methods for providing regulatory oversight dum and EU membership and UK science. The of algorithmic decision-making, such as the responses are available at http://tinyurl.com/ rights described in the EU General Data ho3y3bk. Protection Regulation 2016 http://tinyurl. com/zjtouov. EPSRC publishes the results of its Balancing The closing date for submissions is Friday 21 19 Capability exercise April 2017. More information is available at The Engineering and Physical Sciences http://tinyurl.com/hcgvvmm. Research Council (EPSRC), after ‘extensive engagement and dialogue with the research High level stakeholder working group on EU community’, has published refreshed research exit area rationales as part of its Balancing Capabil- The government has convened a stakeholder ity strategy. The results for the Mathematical working group to provide a forum for the De- Sciences theme are available at http://tinyurl. partment for Business, Energy and Industrial com/hkeb98w. Strategy (BEIS), the Department for Education (DfE), the Department for Exiting the European OTHER Union (DExEU) and a broad range of UK repre- in decision-making inquiry sentatives of the universities, science, research launched and innovation communities to discuss issues The House of Commons Science and Technology of common interest in approaching the UK’s Select Committee has launched a new inquiry exit from the EU. The emphasis will be on con- into the use of algorithms in public and sidering all factors related to research and in- business decision making. novation that need to be taken into account as The Committee would welcome written sub- government policy develops. Professor Sir John missions on the following points. Holman, President, Royal Society of Chemistry, • The extent of current and future use of is representing the Council for the Mathemati- algorithms in decision-making in govern- cal Sciences, Institute of Physics, Royal Society ment and public bodies, businesses and of Biology and Royal Society of Chemistry as a others, and the corresponding risks and member of the group. opportunities. More information is available at http:// • Whether 'good practice' in algorithmic tinyurl.com/hcl8nwu. decision-making can be identified and Dr John Johnston spread, including in terms of: the scope Joint Promotion of Mathematics News

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OXFORD MATHEMATICS UK-Networking Scheme The Mathematical Institute invites appli- cations from UK-based mathematicians under its UK-networking scheme. Applica- tions are invited for funds up to £500 from individuals who have no other support • to participate in events at the Oxford Mathematical Institute; Applications outside the remit but in the • to invite members (including visitors) of spirit of the above are welcome. For more the Oxford Mathematical Institute to details see http://tinyurl.com/j62fbyy. visit their own institutions.

EUROPEAN NEWS

European Science to the US from seven countries. I support the The EMS is one of the European societies statement signed by the AMS Board and the which signed an open letter with the title online academic petition opposing the ban. 20 European science organisations: maintain I share their worries about the consequences transparency, open communication and of this measure. mobility of scholars and scientists motivated Europe in the last century amassed too by the recent events in the United States. The much experience of bans based on group letter text is available at www.euroscience. identity and we know the devastating con- org/news/press-release-open-letter and will sequences they have. I am afraid that such be sent, in particular, to the EU authorities. policies will harm scientific work everywhere, including the United States. Researchers stranded abroad Initiative for Science in Europe, a lobbying German Mathematical Society organization of which the EMS is a member, Gerd Faltings will be awarded the Cantor has come up with an initiative to coordinate Medal of the German Mathematical Society offers of help to researchers stranded abroad (DMV) in September this year. Jean-Pierre after the US immigration ban. Those who Bourguignon (who was the second President want to offer a temporary harbour to such of the EMS) has been named honorary people are invited to visit www.embo.org/ member of the DMV. science-solidarity and present their proposals there. CNRS Medals in Mathematics Christophe Breuil (CNRS and Univer- EMS President on Trump's EO sité Paris-Sud Orsay) is the winner of the Professor Pavel Exner, President of the Médaille d’Argent 2017, and Béatrice de European Mathematical Society, has issued Tilière (CNRS, Université Paris-Est Créteil, the following statement: Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée) is the The European Mathematical Society winner of the Médaille de Bronze 2017. For is closely following the activities of our more details see www.cnrs.fr/insmi/spip. American colleagues in response to the php?article2049 Executive Order signed by US President David Chillingworth Donald Trump, temporarily suspending travel LMS/EMS Correspondent [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

LMS DURHAM SYMPOSIA 2018 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The London Mathematical Society and Durham University invite proposals for LMS Durham Symposia in 2018 and intend to support two Symposia to take place in August 2018. The Symposia began in 1974, and have now become an established and recognised series of international research meetings. They provide an excellent opportunity to explore an area of research in depth, to learn of new developments, and to instigate links between different branches. The format is expected to allow substantial time for interaction and research. The meetings are by invitation only and held in August, 21 lasting 5 days, with up to 50 participants, roughly half of whom will come from the UK. They are held at the University of Durham. Prospective organisers should send a formal proposal to the Durham Representative, Dirk Schuetz ([email protected]) by Monday 10 April 2017. Proposals should include: • A full list of proposed participants, divided into specific categories (please see the guidance on submission of proposals at www.lms.ac.uk/events/durham-symposia for more details). Proposers are encouraged to actively seek to include women speakers and speakers from ethnic minorities, or explain why this is not possible or appropriate. • A detailed scientific case for the symposium, which shows the topic is active and gives reasons why UK mathematics would benefit from a symposium on the proposed dates. • Details of additional support from other funding bodies, which will be sought if the application is successful, with the view to increase the number of participants and/or the number of days. The Durham Representative will provide an estimated cost for accommodation for the symposium and estimated travel costs for participants. For further details about the Durham Symposia, please visit the Society’s website: www.lms.ac.uk/events/durham-symposia. Before submitting: Organisers are welcome to discuss informally their ideas with the Durham Representative ([email protected]) and/or the Chair of the Research Meetings Committee, Professor Chris Parker ([email protected]). News

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ALAN TURING'S LOST NOTEBOOK

dy The Leibniz notation dx I find extremely difficult to understand in spite of it having been the one I understood best once! — Turing in Notes on Notations

Turing's mathematical notebook went on ematical logician. In 1944-5 Gandy and display recently at Bletchley Park. Until Turing had worked in the same Nissen then, the notebook had been seen by few hut at Hanslope Park. Gandy remem- — not even scholars specializing in Turing's bered thinking Turing austere at first, but work. It is on loan from its current owner, soon found him enchanting — he discov- who acquired it in 2015 at a New York ered that Turing liked parties and was a auction for over one million dollars.1 little vain about his clothes and appear- The yellowing notebook — from ance. As we sat chatting in his house in Metcalfe and Son, just along the street Oxford, Gandy mentioned that upstairs from Turing's rooms at King's College he had one of Turing’s notebooks. For a in Cambridge — contains 39 pages in moment I thought he was going to show his handwriting. The auction catalogue it to me, but he added mysteriously that it (which inconsequentially inflated the contained some private notes of his own. page count) gave this description: In his will Turing left all his mathematical 22 papers to Gandy, who eventually passed "Hitherto unknown wartime manu- them on to King's College library — but script of the utmost rarity, consisting not the notebook, which he kept with him of 56 pages of mathematical notes by up till his death in 1995. Subsequently the Alan Turing, likely the only extensive notebook passed into unknown hands, holograph manuscript by him in until its reappearance in 2015. Gandy's existence." private notes turned out to be a dream diary. During the summer and autumn of A question uppermost in the minds of 1956, two years after Turing's death, he Turing fans will be whether the notebook had filled 33 blank pages in the centre of gives new information about his code- the notebook with his own handwriting. cracking breakthroughs at Bletchley Park, What he said there was indeed personal. or about the speech-enciphering device Only a few years before Gandy wrote named "Delilah" that he invented later down these dreams and his autobiograph- in the war at nearby Hanslope Park. The ical notes relating to them, Turing had answer may disappoint. Although most been put on trial for being gay. Gandy probably written during the war, the began his concealed dream diary: "It seems notebook has no significant connection a suitable disguise to write in between with Turing's work for military intelli- these notes of Alan's on notation; but gence. Nevertheless it makes fascinat- possibly a little sinister; a dead father ing reading: Turing titled it Notes on figure and some of his thoughts which I Notations and it consists of his commen- most completely inherited." taries on the symbolisms advocated by leading mathematicians. Mathematical Reformer My interest in the notebook was first Turing's own writings in the notebook are piqued more than 20 years ago. This was entirely mathematical, forming a critical during a visit to Turing's friend Robin commentary on the notational practices Gandy, an amiable and irreverent math- of a number of mathematicians, including

1 [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

Extract from the notebook

Courant, Eisenhart, Hilbert, Peano, Titch- Today, of course, virtually every program- marsh, Weyl, and others. In his wartime ming language incorporates type-based typescript titled The Reform of Mathe- distinctions: in emphasizing the impor- matical Notation and Phraseology, Turing tance of type theory for day-to-day math- said that an ill-considered notation was a ematics Turing was as usual ahead of his "handicap" that could create "trouble"; it time. could even lead to "a most unfortunate 23 psychological effect", namely a tendency Link to the Real Turing "to suspect the soundness of our [math- Turing never displayed much respect for ematical] arguments all the time".2 status and — despite the eminence of This typescript, which according to those whose notations he was discuss- Gandy was written at Hanslope Park ing — his tone in Notes on Notations is in 1944 or 1945, provides a context far from deferential. "I don't like this" for Turing's notebook. In the type- he wrote at one point, and at another script Turing proposed what he called a "this is too subtle and makes an incon- "programme" for "the reform of mathe- venient definition". His criticisms bristle matical notation". His programme would, with phrases like "there is obscurity", he said, "help the mathematicians to "rather abortive", "ugly", "confusing", improve their notations and phraseology, and "somewhat to be deplored". There is which are at present exceedingly unsys- nothing quite like this blunt candour to tematic". The programme called for "An be found elsewhere in Turing's writings; extensive examination of current math- and with these phrases we perhaps get a ematical … books and papers with a view sense of what it would have been like to to listing all commonly used forms of sit in his Cambridge study listening to him. notation", together with an "[e]xamina- This scruffy notebook gives us the plain tion of these notations to discover what unvarnished Turing. they really mean". His Notes on Notations Jack Copeland formed part of this extensive investiga- University of Canterbury tion. New Zealand Key to Turing's proposed reforms were applications of the theory of types. Turing 1www.bonhams.com/auctions/22795/lot/1/ favoured the version due to his mentor, 2http://www.turingarchive.org/browse.php/C/12 Church, and said that Wittgenstein also Editor’s note: The full version of this article was influenced his thinking about types.2 an OUPBlog. LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk

Going to the British Mathematical 24 Colloquium? Stop by the Cambridge University Press stand for discounts on and to browse a selection of our top titles.

Can’t make it to the BMC? You can still save!

Visit Cambridge.org/BMC17 and enter 96466 code at the checkout for 20% off and free shipping, valid until May 2nd. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

BMC 2017: 3–7 April 2017 including LMS Society Meeting Monday 3 April Durham 3:45 pm LMS Society Meeting Plenary Lecture: Isabelle Gallagher (Université Paris-Diderot, IMJ-PRG) This Society Meeting is part of the British Mathematical Colloquium 2017. The full conference 25 will also include a public lecture by Noam Elkes (Harvard), and plenaries given by Eva Bayer-Fluckiger (ÉPFL), Kenji Fukaya (Kyoto University/Simons Center), Laurent Lafforgue (IHÉS), Jacob Lurie (Harvard University) and (MIT). MORNING SPEAKERS Alessandra Bernardi, Gérard Besson, Tara Brendle, Jan Bruinier, Olivia Caramello, Alexander Grigor’yan, Fanny Kassel, Ari Laptev, Diane Maclagan, Oscar Randal-Williams, James Robinson. Workshops (Tuesday & Wednesday afternoon) Algebra, organiser: Emilie Dufresne Analysis, organisers: Norbert Peyerimhoff, Ari Laptev Geometry, organiser: John Parker Number Theory, organiser: Jens Funke Topology, organiser: Dirk Schuetz The plenary and morning talks will take place in the Calman Learning Centre (CLC) on the Science Site. The tea/coffee and lunches will be served in the Earth Sciences (ES) building, adjacent to the CLC. Rooms E101 and E102 are in the Engineering building and CM101 is in the Maths building. The cost of registration is £50 (early bird until 28 February 2017; £80 thereafter). The registration fee for postgraduate students is £50. The conference dinner is £50. The accommodation is in Collingwood College, which is a 10 minute walk from the Science Site, where the conference will take place.

For further information and to register: http://www.maths.dur.ac.uk/bmc2017/index.xhtml News

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CHALKDUST ISSUE 05: MATHEMATICS IN POLITICS

I would, I suppose, be preaching to the We remain, how- converted if I wrote that maths was useful ever, embedded (which, in fact, I have just done). If I went out in the real world. into the street and said it to the first person Mathematics has who passed, however, the reaction might a vital role to play be somewhat different—even setting aside in shedding light the terrified look that inevitably follows an on the pressing is- approach to a stranger. So-called ‘applied sues of our time mathematics’, maybe, is more generally and influencing accepted as being useful, provided the listener decision making at knows what it refers to. Maths can—and is— the highest level.

used to explain the social structures and behav- Many government Bernard Silverman iours of many animals, such as stags and bees; departments have and, despite the recent rapid advancement of teams of scientists experimental and computational technology and mathematicians conducting and collat- that has seen us go from slide rules to high ing research to inform policy. In the Home performance computing in little over a century, Office, researchers led by Bernard Silverman our subject should remain of great importance look at important national concerns: crime in not only validating results obtained from prevention, community safety, security and 26 numerical models, but also providing an insight identity assurance, among many others. Sil- into physical phenomena observed. verman made his name in data analysis, and What is traditionally considered more ‘pure’ the engagement of statistics with governance mathematics, however, has also proved itself dates back, not famously enough, to Florence (excuse the pun) to be extremely useful. The Nightingale’s use of it to reform healthcare: example most often given is that of factoris- better treatment for soldiers, better nursing ing large primes and its application to RSA in hospitals, better sanitary conditions for cryptography, although finding square roots the army and the local population in India. in modular arithmetic is just as challenging a Perhaps most importantly, she championed problem. However, the applications of pure the use of diagrams to present findings to mathematics go much further and include, the public in a format they could understand. for example, the link between quantum In her work, maybe, there are lessons for us computing or system theory and the represen- today as we strive to look past stereotypes, tation of linear algebra as circuit diagrams. It is question our assumptions and acknowledge linear algebra, of course, that has contributed our ignorance. so much to our ability to solve (approximately) At the same time, one should remember the difficult partial differential equations that that humans are not rational decision makers govern much of nature. faced with a payoff matrix, aiming to employ Many of us, though, do maths for the fun of an optimum strategy; nor are we isolated in- it, for the journey, for the thrill. As an outlet dividuals. We never have been, and we never for our curiosity, for the ability to ask imagi- will be. In fact, it is our diversity, our irration- native questions about what is possible and ality, our imagination, our desire to challenge what is not. For the moments when we spot ourselves and take the hard road, along links between different fields (folding paper with our willingness to collaborate with one to produce dragon curves and the complex another, that has driven the development of plane, for example) or gain an insight into the mathematics and led to the explosion of such behaviour of shapes in higher dimensions by a rich and fascinating range of fields and ap- constructing . plications. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

Chalkdust, a maga- sue 5, which came out on 7 March. Thanks zine for the math- to the generous support of our sponsors, ematically curious including the London Mathematical Soci- founded at Univer- ety, we distribute it for free to numerous sity College London universities but you can also find it on our two years ago, aims website www.chalkdustmagazine.com; to communicate this and you can stay in touch with us via Twit- beauty to as wide an ter (@chalkdustmag), Facebook (/chalk- audience as possible dustmag), or our newsletter, which you through weekly arti- can sign up to on our website. We always cles and a magazine welcome articles: send them through to published twice a year. The examples in- [email protected]. cluded above, as well as an interview with Pietro Servini Bernard Silverman, can all be found in Is- Chalkdust Academic Coordinator

CLAY RESEARCH FELLOWS 2017

The Clay Mathematics Institute is pleased Peter has been appointed as a Clay Research to announce that Peter Hintz and Akhil Fellow for a term of three years beginning Mathew have been awarded Clay Research 1 July 2017. 27 Fellowships. Akhil Mathew will receive his PhD in 2017 Peter Hintz studies hyperbolic partial from Harvard University under the supervi- differential equations arising in general sion of Jacob Lurie. Akhil's research focuses relativity using methods from microlocal on homotopy theory, higher categories, and analysis, spectral and scattering theory, and their applications, especially to derived dynamical systems. His recent work concerns algebraic geometry and algebraic K-theory. the stability of black holes in expanding spa- Some of his past work studied various gen- cetimes. Peter received a PhD in 2015 from eralizations of faithfully flat descent in Stanford University under the supervision of stable homotopy theory and their role in András Vasy. He is a Miller Research Fellow describing certain invariants of structured (2015-17) at the University of California ring spectra. Akhil has been appointed as a at Berkeley, mentored by Maciej Zworski. Clay Research Fellow for a term of five years beginning 1 July 2017. Clay Research Fellowships are awarded on the basis of the ex- ceptional qual- ity of candidates' research and their promise to become math- ematical leaders. For more infor- mation visit www. Peter Hintz Akhil Mathew claymath.org. News, Visit

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SWISS MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

In 1883, on the centenary of Euler's death, Ferdinand Rudio suggested to publish all books, papers and the correspondence of in a scientific edition. Rudio was one of the organizers of the first International Congress of Math- ematicians in 1897 in Zürich and advanced his plan on that occasion further. Finally, in 1907, the bi- centennial of Euler’s birth, the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences agreed to pursue this project and an Euler Committee was installed. The resulting activities made it desirable to have a national mathematical Euler's desk society which was then founded on 4 September 1910 by Marcel Grossmann, again in Zürich in 1932 and in 1994. Each Rudolf Fueter and Henri Fehr. A few years time, the SMS played a major role in organ- 28 later, the need for a mathematical journal izing the Congress. Moreover, in 2007, the was felt. Since has four official SMS was the hosting organization of the languages, a Latin title for the journal was ICIAM in Zürich. chosen in a meeting of the Swiss Mathemati- In 1930, a Committee was set up by the SMS cal Society (SMS) on 20 May 1928: Commen- to take care of the legacy of Jakob Steiner, tarii Mathematici Helvetici. In the sequel, and in 1937 the same committee was given in 1929, Michel Plancherel, , the responsibility for the archive left by Émile Marchand and Rudolf Fueter estab- Ludwig Schläfli. The journal Elemente der lished the Foundation for the Promotion Mathematik was founded in 1946 by Louis of the Mathematical Sciences with the aim Locher-Ernst. In order to guarantee the con- to provide, together with the SMS, a solid tinuance of the journal, the SMS took over financial basis for the new journal. the responsibility for its publication in 1975. Zürich is the only city which hosted the ICM The SMS played a leading role in the three times: After the first ICM in 1897, the creation of the European Mathematical international mathematical community met Society Publishing House in 2002 whose permanent office resides at ETH Zürich. In particular, the SMS decided to have their journals published by the new publishing house. In order to join the efforts of the mathematical community to make the global mathematical corpus digitally available, the SMS founded in 2005 the Swiss Digital Math- ematical Library which archives the Com- mentarii, Elemente and L'Enseignement Mathématique, the official organ of the In- ternational Commission on Mathematical In- struction. This journal was founded in 1899 by Henri Fehr and Charles-Ange Laisant. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

Today, the SMS organizes an Annual Meeting the Mathematical Sciences, the Swiss National in spring with a public lecture. The meeting Science Foundation and the Swiss Academy of also includes the General Assembly of the Sciences support this new venture. Society. Moreover, the SMS hosts a Fall Confer- Today, an important concern of the SMS is ence which is dedicated to a scientific topic. It the promotion of mathematical instruction also supports national and international math- and of young mathematicians. In even years, ematical conferences in Switzerland. the SMS awards a Prize for young talents, The century-long task of publishing Euler's namely for the best maturity works in math- Opera Omnia is shortly before its comple- ematics at the school leaving examination. tion with 74 volumes in the Series I-III, and 9 The SMS publishes a weekly Bulletin, has volumes in the Series IVA with Euler's scientific reciprocity and double member agreements correspondence. The Bernoulli-Euler Center, with many sister societies, among them the founded in 2010 and the Bernoulli-Euler LMS, and supports mathematics in developing Society, founded in 2014, aims to promote countries. In its history, the SMS has appointed research about the life and work of the over 30 eminent mathematicians as honorary scholars who are counted among the most members. important scientists of the 18th century, and Further information about the SMS can be the conversion of the classic editorial activi- found on the website http://math.ch. ties into the digital age for the benefits of Norbert Hungerbühler the research and the future generations. The Past President SMS, the Foundation for the Promotion of Swiss Mathematical Society 29

MATHEMATICAL STAMPS WEBSITE

The Sociedade Portuguesa de Matemática and in English and Portuguese, and it is hoped that the British Society for the History of Mathemat- other languages will be added in due course. ics have produced a Mathematical Stamps A one-hour public lecture given by Robin website, www.mathematicalstamps.eu, for Wilson on The History of Mathematics in 300 use by teachers and others. Featuring over 450 Stamps is available for watching on the Oxford postage stamps depicting mathematics and Mathematical Institute website at www.maths. mathematicians from around the world, it also ox.ac.uk/node/13353. includes an extensive historical commentary See a selection of the stamps on the back written by Robin Wilson. These are currently page of this Newsletter.

VISIT OF MANFRED MADRITSCH Dr Manfred Madritsch (Institute Elie Cartan • 29 - 31 May, University of Reading (contact Nancy, Universite de Lorraine, Nancy, France) will Titus Hilberdink: [email protected]) be visiting the UK between 24 May and 2 June • 31 May - 2 June, (contact 2017. His research interests are in exponential Tim Browning: [email protected]) sums. Dr Madritsch will be visiting the following Precise dates and times as well as titles will be institutions where he will give talks: available closer to the time. Further details of • 24 -28 May, Royal Holloway, University of these arrangements may be obtained from Titus London (contact Martin Widmer: Martin. Hilberdink ([email protected]). The [email protected]) visit is supported by an LMS Scheme 2 grant. LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk

30 [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

LMS Midlands Regional Meeting and Workshop Modern Geometry and Physics 18 September 2017 Loughborough University

The LMS Midlands Regional Meeting will take place at Loughborough 31 University on Monday, September 18th, 2017. The speakers are: • Giovanni Felder (ETH, Zurich) • Nigel Hitchin (Oxford) • Nikita Nekrasov (Simons Center, Stony Brook). The meeting will be followed by a three-day workshop on Modern Geometry and Physics, September 19-21. The speakers include Barbara Bolognese (Sheffi eld), Andrea Brini (Imperial), Leonid Chekhov (Mos- cow), Fiorenza Domenico (Rome), Boris Dubrovin (Trieste), Vladimir Fock (Strasbourg), Lotte Hollands (Heriot-Watt), Marina Logares (Plymouth) and Elisa Postinghel (Loughborough). Funds may be available to support the attendance of the UK research students.

Enquiries should be addressed to the organisers: H. Ahmadinezhad ([email protected]) and A.P. Veselov ([email protected]) Report

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COW & CALF Report The COW algebraic geometry seminar is one community, while giving them an opportunity of the longest-running nationwide seminars to present their own results and receive po- in that subject. It originated in early 1990s as a tentially useful feedback. Judging by the busy joint seminar ran by the groups in Cambridge, discussions which took place during the breaks Oxford, and Warwick, and eventually between the talks and during the social dinner expanded. Its meetings are now held in many in Mowgli’s Indian Restaurant that aim was at other locations, such as London, Bath, Cardiff, least partially achieved. and there are occasional ventures abroad. The invited speakers were: The Calf is the junior offspring of COW, it is • Hamid Ahmadinezhad (Loughborough) organised by graduate students for graduate • Elana Kalashnikov (Imperial College) students and has been active since 1997. For • Anna Barbieri (Sheffield) over two decades now, the COW and the Calf • Roberto Laface (Hannover) together helped to raise several generations • Sjoerd Beentjes (Edinburgh) of UK algebraic geometers. • Sara Muhvić (Warwick) There was a joint two-day meeting of the • Alastair Craw (Bath) COW and the Calf in Cardiff from 23 to 24 • Elisa Postinghel (Loughborough) February 2017. It was attended by approxi- • Domenico Fiorenza (Rome Sapienza) mately 50 participants, over 20 of whom were • Rory Potter (Sheffield) 32 graduate students. Several speakers travelled • Roberto Fringuelli (Edinburgh) from Europe, including Rome and Hannover. • Jason Van Zelm (Liverpool) There was a mixture of talks by junior and senior More details on the meeting, as well speakers, running the full range from PhD as links to the COW and the Calf seminar students presenting their first independent webpages, are at: http://www.cantab.net/users/ work, to well-established algebraic geometers t.logvinenko/2017-2CinC/ index.html. giving a broad overview of their research field. The meeting was supported by an LMS Con- Indeed, the main aim of the meeting was ference grant and the School of Mathematics, to encourage interaction and collaboration . We are grateful to both across the herd. To expose junior participants bodies for making the meeting possible. to a cross-section of current research interests Timothy Logvinenko in UK and European algebro-geometrical Cardiff University [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

New Zealand Mathematical Society

LMS – NZMS AITKEN UK LECTURE TOUR 2017 The Society is delighted to announce that the 2017 LMS-NZMS Aitken Lec- turer is Professor Hinke Osinga FRSNZ (). Hinke Osinga, Professor of at the Univer- sity of Auckland in New Zealand, is the fourth Aitken Lecturer to visit the UK. She is an expert in dynamical systems and its applications. Her publications, illustrations, animations and outreach activities have made her famous worldwide in the mathematics and arts communities. 33 In 2017, there will be two Aitken Lecture Tours taking place. In May 2017, Professor Osinga will visit Bath, Cambridge, Exeter and Oxford. She will then return to in October 2017 to visit Bristol, Kent, Newcastle and Warwick. She will give lectures on “Chaos and wild chaos in Lorenz-type systems,” “The art of computing global manifolds,” and “Shaken but not stirred: Using mathematics in earth- quakes.”

The Aitken Lectureship scheme is part of Forder-Aitken Lectureship exchange, which is a collab- oration between the London Mathematical Society and the New Zealand Mathematical Society. Each Society invites an eminent mathematician from the other country to give lectures at different universities around the country. The Aitken Lectureship, named after Professor A. Aitken - one of New Zealand’s great mathema- ticians, is a Lecture Tour around the UK undertaken by a mathematician from New Zealand. The Forder Lectureship, named after Professor H. G. Forder (formerly of the University of Auckland and a benefactor of the London Mathematical Society) is a Lecture Tour around New Zealand under- taken by a mathematician from the UK. For further details about the Aitken Lectureship, please visit https://www.lms.ac.uk/events/lectures/forder-and-aitken-lectureship#Aitken Meetings

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MATHEMATICAL LOGIC Gibbons, Gabriela Gonzalez, James Hartle, Each year since 2015 the British Society for Thomas Hertog, Gary Horowitz, Ted Jacobson, the History of Mathematics (BSHM) have run Renata Kallosh, Eiichiro Komatsu, Pablo a one-day conference on mathematics and Laguna, Andrei Linde, Viatcheslav Mukhanov, its history at Birkbeck (University of London) Hiranya Peiris, Harald Pfeiffer, Frans Pretorius, supported by the Department of Economics, Douglas Stanford Jeff Steinhauer and Andrew Mathematics and Statistics at Birkbeck. Strominger. This year's event will take place on Saturday On Sunday 2 July the conference will be 27 May 2017 on the history of mathematical preceded by an afternoon of public lectures logic. The theme is to honour the eminent from Brian Cox, Gabriela Gonzalez and mathematical historian Ivor Grattan-Guinness, Stephen Hawking. For more information see former President of the BSHM, who died at http://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/activities/stephen75/. the end of 2014. This will be a particularly The conference is supported by an LMS Con- special conference. The speakers are: ference grant and also by Intel, STFC and the • Apostolos Doxiadis First there is no proof, Institute of Physics. then there is. • Susanne Prediger Learning the logical structures of deductive reason- PROFINITE GROUPS ing – insights into mathematics education A one-day meeting on Maximal Conditions research. and Embeddings of Profinite Groups will take • John Dawson How relevant has logic been place at the University of Lincoln on Friday 2 34 to mathematical practice? June 2017. The speakers are: • Volker Peckhaus Convolutions of 19th • John Wilson (Oxford) Century Logic. • Simon Smith (Lincoln) • Adrian Rice “Everybody makes errors”: The • Alejandra Garrido (Düsseldorf) intersection of De Morgan’s logic and prob- • Anitha Thillaisundaram (Lincoln) ability, 1837-1847. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. • Michel Serfati The search for Laws of Further information may be found at https:// Thought. Some mathematical and psycho- profinitelincoln2017.wordpress.com. Queries logical aspects in the work of Boole. may be directed to Anitha Thillaisunda- • Amirouche Moktefi Why make things sim- ram ([email protected]). This ple when you can make them complicated? meeting is supported by the LMS Celebrating An appreciation of Lewis Carroll’s symbolic New Appointments grant. logic. Registration will be £5 for students, £10 for BOUNDARY INTEGRAL BSHM members and Birkbeck staff, and £20 for non-members. For further information METHODS visit http://tinyurl.com/jqg5mhe. The Eleventh UK Conference on Boundary Integral Methods (UKBIM11) will take place at GRAVITY AND the Nottingham Conference Centre at Notting- ham Trent University from 10 to 11 July 2017. BLACK HOLES Mathematicians, scientists and engineers who This three day conference at Cambridge Uni- are interested in the theory and application of versity is being organized to mark the 75th boundary integral methods are encouraged to birthday of Stephen Hawking. The conference participate. The Plenary Speaker is Professor will run from Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 July Thanasis Fokas (University of Cambridge). 2017. Funding is available to cover travel and ac- The conference speakers are: Bruce Allen, commodation expenses for a limited number Raphael Bousso, Mihalis Dafermos, Gary of UK based PhD students in the Mathemati- [email protected] No. 468 April 2017 cal Sciences. Send expressions of interest to OPEN QUANTUM [email protected], giving a short descrip- tion of your research area. For further infor- SYSTEMS mation visit: http://nottinghamconferences. A one-day workshop on New Mathematical net/ukbim/. The conference is supported by an Methods for Open Quantum Systems will be LMS Conference grant. held at the University of Bristol on 12 May 2017, from approximately 10:30 until 18:00. RANDOM GRAPHS AND Speakers will include: • Joseph Viola (Nantes) RANDOM PROCESSES • Euan Spence (Bath) King's College London will be hosting a joint • Suresh Eswarathan (Cardiff) one-day workshop on Random Graphs and The meeting is one in a series of collab- Random Processes on 25 April 2017. The orative workshops between Universities workshop looks at recent work in the area of Bristol and Nottingham, and Imperial of random structures and algorithms and College, supported by an LMS Scheme 3 random processes on networks. Of particular grant. Funds may be available to support the interest are threshold behaviours, the short attendance of research students. Enquiries term dynamics of processes during approach should be addressed to the organiser Roman to equilibrium, the time taken to reach Schubert ([email protected]). equilibrium and algorithmic efficiency. The Further information about the workshop workshop will include talks by the following is available on the website at http://wwwf. speakers: imperial.ac.uk/~egraefe/lms-meetings.html. 35 • Fabio Caccioli (UCL) • Alan Frieze (CMU) EUROPEAN STUDY • Leslie Ann Goldberg (Oxford) • Reimer Kuehn (KCL) GROUPS WITH INDUSTRY • Riccardo Margiotta (KCL) The 130th European Study Groups with • Nicolas Rivera (KCL) Industry (ESGI130) will be held from 4 to • Thomas Sauerwald (Cambridge) 8 September 2017 at the University of • Fiona Skerman (Bristol) Warwick (http://warwick.ac.uk/esgi130). • Gregory Sorkin (LSE) The aim of the week is for companies • Andrew Wade (Durham) and other bodies to present mathematical Attendance is free, but if you plan to attend, problems to mathematical scientists and for register on the website at https://worksho- the mathematical scientists to team up in ponrandomgraphs.eventbrite.co.uk/ where groups to make progress towards solutions further details are available. of the problems. The workshop has been organised jointly Companies or other bodies interested in between the Department of Informatics and posing a problem are invited to contact Department of Mathematics at King's College, [email protected]. There will be a fee and the School of Computing, University of for accepted problems, which contributes Leeds. The organisers are Colin Cooper, Martin to the running costs of the event. Accepted Dyer, Reimer Kuehn, Andrew McDowell, problems receive an oral report on the last Tomasz Radzik and Peter Sollich. day of the workshop and a written report Due the support of an LMS Conference grant, shortly afterwards. the organisers will be able to provide some Mathematical scientists, including post- support towards travel costs for UK-based graduate students, interested in attending research students. For enquiries contact to help solve some of the problems are Andrew McDowell (andrew.mcdowell@kcl. invited to express interest via the form on ac.uk). http://warwick.ac.uk/esgi130. Meetings

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MATHEMATICAL ESCHER AND COXETER: PHYSICS DAY A MATHEMATICAL The 50th North British Mathematical Physics CONVERSATION Seminar (NBMPS) one-day meeting will take place at King's Manor, York on Friday 12 May The Gresham College Lecture Escher and 2017. The meeting is open to all. There will be Coxeter: A Mathematical Conversation a dinner arranged as part of our celebration will be given by Professor Sarah Hart on of 50 NBMPS meetings. All are welcome. Full Monday 5 June from 1 pm - 2 pm at the details of the programme and dinner arrange- Museum of London. ments are available at http://www-users.york. In 1954 the Dutch artist M.C. Escher ac.uk/~eh555/NBMPS50.html. met the Canadian mathematician and Currently three NBMPS meetings are held geometer Donald Coxeter at the Inter- each year, supported by an LMS Scheme 3 grant, national Congress of Mathematicians bringing together Mathematical Physics groups in Amsterdam. This meeting sparked a from Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt, lifelong correspondence which would Newcastle, Nottingham and York. The LMS have influence the work of both men. Coxeter supported theses regular meetings since the was preparing an article about symmetry, Inaugural Meeting in Edinburgh in 2002. Further and asked Escher’s permission to use some details about the NBMPS meetings are available of his pictures to illustrate the ideas. Escher at https://empg.maths.ed.ac.uk/NBMPS. agreed, and Coxeter in due course sent him 36 a copy of the finished paper. When Escher GENDER DIVERSITY IN looked at the paper, he was fascinated by one of the other diagrams it included – it MATHEMATICS was an illustration of a in hy- The St Andrews Mathematics Department perbolic geometry. Escher realised that this Undergraduate Mathematical Society will be opened up an entirely new possibility for hosting a Gender Diversity in Mathematics event his designs. on the afternoon of Wednesday 19 April 2017. This mathematical conversation continued The goal of the event is to start a discussion for many years. Coxeter wrote mathemati- on what we as a larger community can do to cal papers about Escher’s work, and said support women and gender minorities in maths. that it had led him to a new understanding The event will be split into two parts. There of the hyperbolic disc. Meanwhile Coxeter will be talks from a female and a nonbinary described to Escher how one could produce mathematician before a small refreshments many more hyperbolic tilings. break with coffee and tea provided. This will be In the talk, we will see examples of Escher’s followed by a panel discussion giving attendees work in the plane and on the sphere and a chance to voice their own opinions as well as discuss why the possibilities in these ge- hear from many established academics. The ometries are finite. We’ll look at what the speakers are: diagram in Coxeter’s paper was about, and • J. MacKenzie (they/them) how it helped Escher to produce new work. (University of Glasgow) Finally, we’ll give an indication about what • Eugenie Hunsicker (she/her) it was in Escher’s work that Coxeter found (University of Loughborough) mathematically fascinating. The event is open to the general public and Admission is free entry, first-come first- is free to attend. For more information email served. For further information visit the Isabella Scott ([email protected]). The con- website at https://www.gresham.ac.uk/ ference is supported by an LMS Funding for Un- lectures-and-events/escher-and-coxeter-a- dergraduate Mathematical Society Meetings. mathematical-conversation. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY JOINTLY WITH GRESHAM COLLEGE

Tuesday, 23 May 2017 6:00pm at The Museum of London Mathematics Can Make You Fly? Dr Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb 37 University of Cambridge Well, not quite. But it can make you seem to be flying, virtually. Some of the mathematical principles that can be used for creating such an effect will be discussed, with a focus on partial differential equations used for such a virtual image manipulation or restoration task. After lifting the mystery on the flying mathematician, we will see that such principles can be used beyond special effects, in the reconstruction of crucial information in satellite images of our earth, restoration of MR images in molecular imaging to the renovation of digital photographs and medieval artwork.

ADMISSION FREE

NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED – FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED

Museum of London, London Wall, London EC2Y 5HN Nearest underground stations: Barbican, St Paul’s, and Moorgate

020 7831 0575 [email protected] www.gresham.ac.uk Meetings

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THE MATHEMATICAL • Łukasz Grabowski (Lancaster) ASSOCIATION • Hong Liu (Warwick) • Konstantinos Tyros (Koç) The Mathematical Association Annual Confer- The conference will also include contributed ence, Common Denominators: Connections talks. To propose a talk, email your title and with and beyond Mathematics, will take place abstract to [email protected] before at Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham 1 August 2017. from 7 to 9 April 2017. An LMS Conference grant allows the organis- Hear from top speakers. Take part in inspiring ers to offer some financial support to UK-based workshops. There’s a programme full of research students and researchers from the exciting hands-on and interactive sessions. Have former USSR countries. If you belong to one of you ever wondered about the mathematics of these two categories and would like to apply bell ringing? Or would you like to investigate for financial support, email your CV and at most the new 2017 Mathematics A-Level? Perhaps three of your recent papers/preprints related you will allow Ems Lord to Welcome you to the to Extremal Combinatorics to excomb2017@ Wild Side! warwick.ac.uk before 1 August 2017 (UK-based Encounter like-minded people in sessions you students) or 20 June 2017 (researchers from the attend, and benefit from informal discussion former USSR countries). during coffee breaks and evening gatherings. Due to the sponsorship from the European Discounts and bursaries available. For Research Council, the LMS Conference grant further information visit the website at http:// and support from Warwick’s Mathematics 38 www.m-a.org.uk/annual-conference, email: Institute, there is no registration fee. All par- [email protected], telephone 0116 ticipants are required to register online by 17 2210016. August 2017. For more information, visit the conference’s website (http://go.warwick.ac.uk/ excomb2017) or contact the organisers, Oleg EXTREMAL COMBINATORICS Pikhurko and Katherine Staden (excomb2017@ The conference Extremal Combinatorics will warwick.ac.uk). take place at the University of Warwick from 18 to 22 September 2017. It will explore recent INTERACTING SYSTEMS breakthroughs in the exciting area of Extremal Combinatorics, a subfield of Discrete Math- AND STOCHASTIC PDES ematics. The aim is to bring together research- A mini conference on Interacting Systems and ers in this area and related fields to hear about Stochastic PDEs will be held at the University of recent important developments and powerful Sheffield from 13 to 15 June 2017. The speakers new tools and methods, in particular those that include Siva Athreya, Marton Balazs, Nicolas were pioneered by the speakers. The plenary Dirr, Benjamin Gess, Elena Issoglio, Davar Kho- speakers are: shnevisan (tbc), Cyril Labbe, Carl Mueller, Marcel • Zoltán Füredi (Urbana-Champaign and Rényi) Ortgiese, Nicolas Perkowski, Nadia Sidorova, • Penny Haxell (Waterloo) Jon Warren, Hendrik Weber and Nikos Zygouras. • Peter Keevash (Oxford) Additionally there will be two to three short • Dan Král’ (Warwick) talks by UK based PhD students. Partial funding • Daniela Kühn (Birmingham) is available for 10 UK based PhD students to • Imre Leader (Cambridge) attend the conference. • Deryk Osthus (Birmingham) Further details on the conference can be found • Tibor Szabó (FU Berlin) at http://nicfreeman.staff.shef.ac.uk/spde/index. The invited speakers (former group members) html. The conference is supported by an LMS are: Conference grant, EPSRC and a grant from the • Endre Csóka (Rényi) School of Mathematics and Statistics in Sheffield. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

VARIATIONAL METHODS, NEW OPTIMISATION TECHNIQUES AND NEW FAST NUMERICAL ALGORITHM 4 – 8 September 2017 in association with the Isaac Institute programme Variational methods and effective algorithms for imaging and vision (29 August - 20 December 2017)

Variational image processing typically leads to minimization problems which can be charac- terized by one or several of the following features: (extremely) large-scale, non-convex, non- smooth, or combinatorial. Each if these remarkable properties may be substantiated as follows: (i) The increase in the size of problem instances can be attributed to the ever increasing number of data collected by modern devices, the need to merge data from various sources (multi-mo- dality) or the type of application (such as, e.g., video surveillance) generating vast data. (ii) Non-smoothness has been of interest to the imaging community with the inception of total variation regularization by Rudin, Osher and Fatemi in their seminal work in Physica D, 1992. Besides non-smooth regularization, non-smooth data fidelity terms have become important in order to cope, e.g., with impulse noise. But non-smoothness is also an issue in optimal 39 parameter learning, which naturally leads to bilevel optimization problems. In cases (such as in case of total variation regularization) when the optimal solution of the lower level problem (i.e., the variational model with fixed regularization parameter) is characterized by a variation- al inequality, which contains the regularization parameter(s) as parameters in its own right, the overall problem falls into the realm of mathematical programs with equilibrium constraints. Such problems are non-smooth, non-convex, and they notoriously lack constraint qualifica- tion, all of which challenge stationarity principles and in particular numerical solution schemes. (iii) Non-convexity, on the other hand, is of independent interest, e.g., in image inpainting, segmentation, clustering and as a filter. An example for the latter is the l^p-quasi-norm regu- larization (0

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BRIAN WILSON the Colleges were reorganised in the 1980s. Brian Wilson, who Because he had been an active member of was elected a the Combinatorics Seminar run jointly by member of the Reading University and Royal Holloway London Mathe- College, it was natural for him to move to matical Society on Royal Holloway, which he did in 1985. 20 June 1986, died His work in finite geometry continued, and on 4 February 2017, he published several papers on this topic aged 82. in the 70s and 80s. Latterly, his detailed Norman Biggs and knowledge of geometric configurations Christine Farmer enabled him to obtain some interesting write: Brian James results on harmonious colourings of graphs. Wilson was born He remained an active member of the Com- in Gillingham, Kent on 10 June, 1934. He binatorics group at Royal Holloway until his attended Harrow County Grammar School, retirement in 1999. where there was a fine team of teachers of Brian’s love of mathematics and his will- mathematics, and throughout his life he re- ingness to work for the good of young mained active in the old boys’ association, people were combined in his contribution particularly in the rugby club. to the UK Mathematics Trust. He was a After National Service, Brian graduated founder member of the British Mathematical from Chelsea Polytechnic (as it then was) Olympiad Subtrust, and spent many happy 40 with a First Class University of London degree hours marking the ‘Kangaroos’. This work in 1958. He took an MSc there in 1960, and continued throughout his retirement. Sadly, taught for two years at Ealing Technical at the end of 2016 he suffered from a bout College and School of Art. In 1962 he of food poisoning, rare complications from returned to Chelsea as an Assistant Lecturer, which led to his untimely death. His boyish and studied with Lisa Stein for a PhD in enthusiasm for his interests was infectious, Finite Geometry, which was awarded in 1970. as was his smile. He will be remembered Chelsea became a College of the University of by many as a compassionate and valued London in 1966 and he remained there until colleague.

NONLINEAR WATER WAVES 7 – 10 August 2017 in association with the Isaac Newton Institute programme Nonlinear water waves (31 July – 25 August 2017)

The aim of the workshop is to bring together specialists from several independent in- ternational research groups working on various aspects of water waves, thus making connections between theory, numerical simulations and experiments.

Further information available from the website www.newton.ac.uk/event/nwww01

Closing date for receipt of applications: 30 April 2017 [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

School of Mathematics

Christopher Hooley and the Artin Conjecture: 50 years on A celebration of the 50th anniversary of Christopher Hooley’s research on the Artin Conjecture 41 1 September 2017 University of Bristol

Confirmed Speakers Alina Cojocaru, University of Illinois at Chicago Roger Heath-Brown, University of Oxford Christopher Hooley, Bristol University Pieter Moree, Max-Planck Institute Ram Murty, Queen’s University

Support for travel for UK based PhD. students may be available. Please contact [email protected] with any requests by Fri 18th Aug 2017. We welcome applications for caring costs.*

Further details TBA.

Please contact [email protected] for further information or visit heilbronn.ac.uk/events

* Applies to expenses incurred exceptionally as a result of attending the lecture series. Reviews

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HIDDEN FIGURES

Hidden Figures is an inspirational film telling would land. She did this for Alan Shepard, the true story of three African-American the first American to take a space flight, and women who worked for NASA in the early for John Glenn’s orbit of the earth in 1962. 60s, about the time that the Americans At the time, electronic computers were in started to build rockets to explore space. The their infancy, and Glenn did not trust their three women had all studied mathematics calculations. He was satisfied only when at college and later became maths teachers Katherine checked them by hand: “Get the before going on to NACA (National Advisory girl to check the numbers; if she says the Committee for Aeronautics), which went on numbers are good, I’m ready to go”. to become NASA. The other two women are Dorothy Vaughan These women were called 'computers', the and Mary Jackson. Dorothy was the supervi- name given to those who performed the sor but later worked with the IBM computers calculations. It is worth pointing out that at that NASA was to use. We see her taking a the time, computers, like secretaries, were book out of the 'white' section of the library mainly women. In fact, women were con- on FORTRAN. She told the women who were sidered superior to men at this job, as men working for her that they would have to were thought of as being too easily distract- learn FORTRAN or be out of a job. Mary is an ed. This film is fascinating on several levels. engineer; in fact, the first African-American The film is about prejudice against black woman engineer in NASA. To become an 42 people and women, but tells its story with engineer she needed to go to college to get a lightness of touch and some humour. It is more qualifications, and for this she had to also about the beginnings of the space race. go to court in order to bypass segregation America was shocked when the Russians, laws. Segregation is one of the themes of through Yuri Gagarin, made the first earth the film: Virginia was one of the states with orbit in 1961, and this led to NASA redou- the strictest segregation laws. The black bling its efforts to launch manned rocket women had to work in a special laboratory, flights. called 'coloured computers'. They also had One of Katherine Johnson's main tasks is to to use 'coloured' bathrooms which were half compute the launch windows for the astro- a mile from where they worked. nauts so that they can determine where they The period that occurred just before the

Taraji P. Henson as the Langley Research Center's space program mathematician Katherine Johnson [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

one in which this film is set was momentous culated the trajectories for the Apollo 11 for the United States. In 1957, two events moon landing and the Apollo 13 flight. On occurred almost simultaneously. The federal 24 November 2015, Katherine Johnson was government was trying to outlaw discrimi- awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom nation and this was being resisted in Little by Barack Obama. At NASA, there is now a Rock, Arkansas. The Governor of the state Katherine G. Johnson computational labora- used the National Guard to prevent students tory. attending school, and photographs of this It is amazing that this story has been hidden went around the world. At the same time, for too long (hence the title of the film). the Russians put up Sputnik. So, at the same The film is based on the book of the same time that America was being portrayed as title by Margot Lee Shetterley, which offers a backward country, Russia was seen to be more details about this fascinating history. advanced. The federal government realised From the epilogue to this book: “It’s the the importance of space exploration and in question that most often comes up when September 1958, NASA was born. I tell people about the black women who What about the maths? At one point, the worked at NASA: Why haven’t I heard this team are stuck. Katherine suggests Euler’s story before? […] It’s a story of hope that method. One of the engineers says that this is even among some of the country's harshest "old maths", to which Katherine replies, "but realities — legalised segregation, racial it works". As in all popular films involving discrimination — there is evidence of the maths, there are a few squirmy moments (for triumph of meritocracy, that each of us experts), but on the whole it is fairly convinc- should be allowed to rise as far as our talent 43 ing and it does show that mathematics is and hard work can take us”. important for human progress. David Singerman An epilogue reveals that Katherine cal- University of Southampton

MATHEMATICS EXHIBITION AT THE WINTON GALLERY, SCIENCE MUSEUM, LONDON

The London Science Museum’s recent gallery, followed overhaul of their mathematics section has by four essays on been much-hyped: this reviewer has seen topics such as the coverage of it in The Times, The Economist, role of women The BBC and several blogs before paying in mathematics. a visit. Consequently, my hopes and ex- It helps to put pectations before I arrived at the recently much of the gal- opened Winton Gallery were quite high. lery in context – Such a revamp is long overdue — this the intention is reviewer remembers visiting the old gallery not to present as a child and revisiting as an adult some what mathemat- twenty years later only to find that nothing ics is but rather had changed! the role it plays The book associated with the exhibition in wider society and how ordinary people (Mathematics: How it Shaped Our World unwittingly use it in their everyday lives. by David Rooney) consists of six sections The centre-piece of the exhibition itself (‘Trade and Travel’; ‘War and Peace’; ‘Mon- is a Handley Page Gugnunc aeroplane ey’; ‘Life and Death’; ‘Form and Beauty’ and surrounded by curves to illustrate the ‘Maps and Models’) one for each area of the modelling of the air-flow around its wings. Reviews

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Moreover, all the cabinets containing the visited a couple of years ago with hands-on exhibits are laid out in a way that extends machines for demonstrating how basic these curves to the rest of the room indeed probability works, devices showing how even the T-shirts available in the gift-shop equations can be translated into beautiful carry a design reminiscent of it. This curves and logic-problems galore – a much produces a design in which several spaces more hands-on experience!) Given that in the exhibition are left empty to accom- elsewhere in the museum the opening modate this awkward curvature (they are pages of both Shannon’s A Mathematical only displaying around a quarter of the Theory of Communication and Turing’s On objects its predecessor did). This also makes Computable Numbers are proudly exhibited, for a rather confusing lay-out: it is easy to this lack of substance is a little frustrating find yourself walking along the displays to the expert. Items that are on display only to find you’ve accidentally wondered include ‘Guinevere’, one of the National into one of the other sections by mistake Lottery’s original random-number genera- and very-likely over-looking some of the tors; The LSE’s famous ‘Moniac’ economic displays in the process. Combined with the model; an impressive cabinet of early 19th gallery being accessible from two different century weights and measures for keeping ends and the gallery over-all can be rather track of trading standards and an elaborate difficult to follow. The display around 1920s calculating device designed for per- the plane itself is somewhat over-bearing forming computations as specialised as with several of the curved pieces around working with reinforced concrete. 44 it so low that several visitors feel the need This exhibition was a lost opportunity. The to duck under them just to navigate the exhibitors avoided any real maths because display. of the widespread view that mathematics As a consequence of the galleries emphasis is off-putting to most people. It is bit like on mathematics’ role in society there is not having an art gallery without modern art as a single equation in sight and even many this is not always understood. It would have of the more esoteric features of the old been nice to have topics such as display – the brightly coloured polyhedra, and or four dimensions. Even the elaborate glass Klein bottles and the bring back the Platonic solids and the Klein vast number of slide rules – are essentially bottle! The audience could have been chal- all gone making for a much-more surface- lenged. scratching display. (One is tempted to make Ben Fairbairn, comparisons with the National Museum of Birkbeck College Mathematics in New York that this reviewer

A DOUBTER’S ALMANAC by Ethan Canin, Bloomsbury Publishing, hb 2016, £18.99, ISBN 978-1408879641, pb 2017, £9.99, ISBN 978-1408879566.

This is a novel about Milo Andret, an the sections where Milo is a PhD student. imaginary pure mathematician who in the The author does well to give a feel of the story wins a Fields Medal. The first part is life of a researcher, explaining how Milo from Milo’s point of view; the second is finds a problem, understands its current from his son’s. state, and forms his plans of attack. We The first part of the story contains some care for Milo as these attacks fail. The pacey and interesting sections, which can mathematics plays a pivotal role in this be absolutely gripping. I particularly liked first part and is mostly well researched. [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

After this, however, the mathematics he commented that “the two fields [pure appears to be filler rather than integral mathematics and physics] were like cricket to the story. Much of the and baseball: alike only to book then dwells on the those who knew the rules characters wallowing in of neither”. self-pity, mostly through On the whole the novel is internal monologues. These difficult to read: the charac- sections felt particularly ters are strange and self-ob- slow due to my lack of sessed, making them hard empathy for the characters, to relate to, and the plot is and they are made more slow and meandering. In frustrating by the issues not the second part, I had the being discussed, let alone impression that the author resolved. had come to regret using a The author has made Milo mathematician and wanted cold and uncaring, and to write about something therefore awkward and else. I felt I was reading a unlikable. Although initially different book, and one offset by his genius, it even- that had departed from the tually feels tedious and unnecessary. This is promising themes and direction the author a shame, and need not have been the case: had started with. at times Milo is a witty character. When Charles Garnet Cox 45 put in the same department as physicists, University of Southampton LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS Modelling Evolution in Complex Living Systems, This calendar lists Society meetings and other Leicester (467) mathematical events. Further information 7–9 Mathematical Association Annual may be obtained from the appropriate LMS Conference, Royal Holloway, University of London (468) Newsletter whose number is given in brackets. 10 Developing Efficient Methodologies for A fuller list is given on the Society’s website Modelling Stochastic Dynamical Systems in (www.lms.ac.uk/content/calendar). Please send Biology, Bath (465) updates and corrections to [email protected]. 10–12 BAMC, Surrey (463) 18–21 Research Students Conference, Durham (465) APRIL 2017 18–22 Function Theory by Hilbert Space 3 Society Meeting at BMC, Durham (468) Methods, LMS Invited Lecturer Jim Agler, 3–6 BMC, Durham (463) Newcastle (468) 4–7 Novel Mathematical Approaches for 19 Gender Diversity in Mathematics, St Andrews (468) [email protected] No. 468 April 2017

25 Reforms to Mathematics Qualifications 30 LMS Society Meeting, London Westminster Education Forum Seminar, London 25 Random Graphs and Random Processes, july 2017 King's College London (468) 3–5 Gravity and Black Holes, Cambridge (468) 27–28 Mathematical Ecology Workshop, 3–7 Scalable Statistical Inference, INI Cambridge (466) Swansea (464) 3–7 BSDEs, SPDEs and their Applications Workshop, Edinburgh MAY 2017 3–7 British Combinatorial Conference, 2 Rough Paths in Probability and Statistics, Strathclyde (464) Reading (466) 10–11 Boundary Integral Methods, Nottingham 5 Mary Cartwright Lecture, London (468) Trent University (468) 8–12 Approximation, Deformation, 10–12 Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution Quasification INI Workshop, Cambridge (464) Conference, City, University of London (466) 12 New Mathematical Methods for Open 10–14 Computer-aided Mathematical Proof, INI Quantum Systems, Bristol (468) Cambridge (466) 12 North British Mathematical Physics Seminar, 10–19 Foundations of Computational York (468) Mathematics Conference, Barcelona (461) 18 Index Theorems in Analysis, Geometry and 31–5 Aug International Mathematics Mathematical Physics, University of Kent (466) Competition, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria (466) 22–24 Gregynog Welsh Mathematics Colloquium, Gregynog Hall, Newtown, Powys (466) 47 AUGUST 2017 23 Mathematics Can Make You Fly? Museum of 7–10 Nonlinear Water Waves, INI Cambridge (468) London (468) 27 History of Mathematical Logic, Birkbeck (468) SEPTEMBER 2017 JUNE 2017 1 Christopher Hooley and the Artin Conjecture: 50 Years On, Bristol (468) 1 LMS Northern Regional Meeting, York (468) 4–8 September European Study Groups with 2 Profinite Groups, Lincoln Industry, Warwick (468) 5 Escher and Coxeter: A Mathematical Conversation, Gresham College London (468) 4–8 Variational Methods, New Optimisation 13–15 Interacting Systems and Stochastic PDEs, Techniques and New Fast Numerical Algorithm, Sheffield (468) INI Cambridge (468) 19–23 Group Actions and Cohomology In Non- 10–15 Mathematics Education for the Future Positive Curvature, INI Cambridge (465) Decade, Balatonfüred, Hungary (460) 19–23 New Trends in Representation Theory 11–15 Algebraic Topology of Manifolds LMS- LMS–CMI Research School, Leicester (468) CMI Research School, Oxford (468) 19–23 Summer School and Workshop: The Sen 11–15 Introduction to Geometry, Dynamics, and Conjecture and Beyond, University College Moduli in Low Dimensions LMS-CMI Research London School, Warwick (468) 26–30 Quantum Topology and Categorified 11–15 Scientific Computation and Differential Representation Theory, INI Cambridge (465) Equations, Bath (466) 26–30 Orthogonal Polynomials and Special 14–15 Heilbronn Annual Conference, Bristol Functions LMS-CMI Research School, Kent (467) 18 LMS Midlands Regional Meeting, 26–30 Microlocal Analysis and Applications Loughborough (468) LMS–CMI Research School, Cardiff (468) 18–22 Extremal Combinatorics, Warwick (468) 30 LMS Graduate Student Meeting, London 24–29 Heidelberg Laureate Forum (465) MATHEMATICAL STAMPS (article on page 29)

Sophie Germain Pedro Nunes

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Sofia Kovalevskaya Archimedes Isaac Newton