THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
Forthcoming COUNCIL DIARY Independently of these dis- 18 November 2005 cussions, October Council had Society highlighted the need for possi- Meetings The main business at this, the ble radical revision of the last Council meeting of Frances Society's organisation. To 2006 Kirwan's presidency, was con- progress this, a Council Retreat Friday 10 February sideration of the Framework will be held in January 2006 to London Studies Initiative on the rela- discuss matters such as the G. Segal tionship between the London Society's core values and objec- U. Tillmann Mathematical Society and the tives in the modern world, and (Mary Cartwright Institute for Mathematics and to identify and prioritise the Lecture) its Applications. Council was activities that are central to very grateful for the carefully members’ perception of the 1 Monday 15 May considered views that had been LMS. This will lead on to consid- Leicester received from many members eration of the governance and Midlands Regional during the consultation period. management best suited to Meeting Council authorised further con- delivering these outcomes. M. Bridson sideration of versions of the Reporting from the N. Hitchin H-framework and the inverted November meeting of the H. Kraft Y-framework, as a route to uni- Council for the Mathematical A. Zelevinsky fication of the two societies. Sciences, the President and the A choice between the two alter- Education Secretary expressed Friday 16 June natives will be made in March concern at the momentum London 2006. It was recognised that the building up from the Bologna Yu Manin H-framework was viable only if agreement, intended to unify (Hardy Lecture) it had a life of at most 10 years qualifications across Europe. as a route to unification, with Particularly worrying is the pres- Friday 3 July the option for either Council to sure to discontinue undergradu- Leeds halt the process at any time. ate masters degrees such as the Northern Regional The concerns expressed by MMath. Any department that is Meeting members will be considered asked to reconfigure its courses U. Haagerup very carefully over the next few as a result of the Bologna agree- N. Kalton months. Once a plan has been ment is urged to contact the prepared and approved by the CMS Bologna Group, a national Monday 11 September Councils of both societies it will committee set up to try to pro- Bath be put to the members for a tect the interests of mathemat- South West & South vote according to the rules of ics in this context (the Group Wales Regional their individual charters. For may be contacted through Brian Meeting fuller account see page 3 of this Stewart, retiring Education Newsletter. Secretary). cont’d THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
Council received the report of the TREASURER'S REPORT basement area of De Morgan House to pro- ants' costs in resolving the issue) is also Programme Committee, which has the dual vide disabled access and to improve facilities. included in this increase role of arranging Society meetings and allo- TO THE AGM 2005 It is hoped that in future it will be possible to Total membership fell slightly to 2572. cating research grants under various In the financial year 1 September 2004 to hold more Society and other mathematical Subscription income rose from £57K to £61K, schemes. One particular change in policy was 31 August 2005, the Fixed Assets of the Society meetings there, and also to raise additional and the cost of membership services from approved: from 2007 to reduce the budget increased in value from £10.2m to £11.4m. revenue by letting the rooms for confer- £59K to £67K. for Society Regional Meetings and associated During the year, Credit Suisse was replaced ences. Work began over the summer, and There are no dramatic changes to report. workshops from £8,000 to £7,500, but more as fund manager by Morgan Stanley. The will be funded by drawing on reserves, I again acknowledge the enormous contribu- significantly to ring-fence £1,500 of the transition was complex, but went smoothly. which will be replenished over the coming tion that Susan Oakes and Peter Cooper budget to support members and research The new manager has been set the aim of years from the new revenue generated. make to the orderly conduct of our affairs, students to attend the meetings. It was producing a real return of at least 4% pa. The Because the Society holds considerable bal- and particularly the contribution of Ephrem hoped that this would have the dual benefits management of the portfolio conforms with ances in cash, there will be no need to sell Belay, who for the first time this year pre- of increasing regional participation in the the Trustee Act. investments. pared the Society's accounts in-house. meetings and helping to broaden the educa- The level of the reserve funds was It has been another good year for the N.M.J. Woodhouse tion of PhD students, as recommended by the reviewed during the year. The Building and Society's publishing activities, which gener- Treasurer International Review of UK Mathematics and Development Reserve Fund now stands at ated a surplus of £757K (against £690K last sought by the research councils. £442K (reduced from £500K at the begin- year). Again I should draw attention to THE LMS AND THE IMA The meeting ended with a vote of thanks ning of the year); the Printing and the essential role that the publications' 2 to the members of Council who were stand- Publication Reserve Fund is unchanged at surplus plays in enabling the Society to Discussions about the relationship between 3 ing down: Amanda Chetwynd (Vice £1.2M. Other reserve funds are used to hold support mathematical activity in the the LMS and the IMA have been going on for President), Brian Stewart (Education gifts and bequests to the Society (£23K, United Kingdom, and congratulate the about two years. The report of the Secretary), and Rachel Camina. Special unchanged on last year), to meet the costs of Publisher, Susan Hezlet, and all the publica- Frameworks Study Initiative was published thanks were accorded to the retiring grants that have been awarded but not yet tions staff for the energetic and forward- in April 2005, and copies have been circulat- President, Frances Kirwan, for her dedicated claimed (£94K), and to separate Compositio looking way in which they pursue the ed to members. Many written comments leadership and work over two particularly from other publishing activities (balance Society's interests. Council continues to be were received and these were considered demanding years. transferred at the end of the year). Council concerned about the implications of pro- by the LMS Council at its meeting on Kenneth Falconer has decided to refurbish and extend the posed changes in scientific publishing and 18 November, together with feedback from their potential impact on the financial regional meetings. health of the Society. After discussion, the Council voted by a The total spent on grants, subscriptions, substantial majority in favour of the follow- LMS Newsletter and prizes fell from £345K to £309K. The ing proposal. The Council authorises further decrease included a drop of £9K (4.2%) in consideration of the merits of versions of the General Editor: Dr D.R.J. Chillingworth ([email protected]) Programme Committee grants, and is other- H-framework and the inverted-Y framework, Reports Editor: Dr S.A. Huggett ([email protected]) wise explained by a fall in the net cost (but as a route to unification of the two societies. Reviews Editor: Professor M.P.F. du Sautoy ([email protected]) not expenditure) of the Research Meetings The Council of the IMA approved an identical Administrative Editor: Miss S.M. Oakes ([email protected]) Committee, the absence of a Hardy Fellow in proposal at its meeting on 16 November. Editorial office address: London Mathematical Society, De Morgan House, post during the year, and the fact that there It will require much work in order to deter- 57-58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS (tel: 020 7637 3686; fax: 020 7323 3655; was no major international meeting support- mine the details of the route, the timetable email: [email protected], web: www.lms.ac.uk) ed by the Society. and, most importantly, the destination. The Designed by CHP Design (tel: 020 7240 0466, email: [email protected], web:www.chpdesign.com) The costs under Administration rose by LMS Council will continue to operate as a Publication dates and deadlines: published monthly, except August. 2.1% to £557,248. It should be remembered fully independent body for the time being. Items and advertisements by first day of the month prior to publication. that the costs of running De Morgan House Members will be kept fully informed of Information in the Newsletter is free to be used elsewhere unless otherwise stated; attribution is and of supporting the grant-giving activities progress, and there will be further consulta- requested when reproducing whole articles. The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy also come under this heading. The Society's tion, as laid down in the Charter, Statutes of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or policy VAT status was renegotiated during the year and By-laws, before any irrevocable decision of the London Mathematical Society. Charity registration number: 252660. and the unrecoverable VAT (and account- is made. Regarding the time-scale, Council is THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
mindful of the view that the so-called described in the report of the Frameworks ‘H-framework’ should be considered as Study Initiative. There will also be further dis- having a working life of ten years at most. cussion with the IMA. It is envisaged that this Further discussion will take place at the process will lead to a decision regarding a LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY next Council meeting on 20 January 2006, preferred option at the Council meeting on and at the Council Retreat which immediate- 17 March. ly follows it. At these meetings Council will Norman Biggs MARY CARTWRIGHT LECTURE evaluate the merits of the various options General Secretary Friday 10 February 2006 LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY 2005-06 Council Chemistry Auditorium, Christopher Ingold Building, As a result of the annual election, membership of the Council is the following: University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1 President Professor J.F. Toland FRS (Bath) Vice-Presidents Professor M.R. Bridson (Imperial College London) Dr F.A. Rogers (King’s College London) 4.15 pm Graeme Segal (Oxford University) 4 Treasurer Professor N.M.J. Woodhouse (Oxford) 5 General Secretary Professor N.L. Biggs (LSE) Locality in quantum field theory Programme Secretary Dr S.A. Huggett (Plymouth) Publications Secretary Professor J. Howie FRSE (Heriot-Watt) 5.15 pm Tea Education Secretary Professor C.J. Budd (Bath) Members-at-Large Professor I.D. Abrahams (Manchester) 5.45 pm Mary Cartwright Lecture Professor R.T. Curtis (Birmingham) Ulrike Tillmann (Oxford University) Professor H.G. Dales (Leeds) Dr P.J. Davies (Strathclyde) The topology of strings: Professor A.M. Etheridge (Oxford) Mumford’s conjecture and beyond Professor K.J. Falconer FRSE (St Andrews) Professor C.M. Goldie (Sussex) Dr I.G. Gordon (Glasgow) A reception will be held at De Morgan House at 7.00 pm with a Professor F.P. Kelly FRS (Cambridge) dinner afterwards at the Il Fornello Restaurant, 150 Southampton Row, Sir John Kingman FRS (Isaac Newton Institute) London WC1 at 7.30 pm. The cost will be £20.00 per person, inclusive Dr N.C. Snaith (Bristol) of wine. Those wishing to attend should inform Susan Oakes, London Dr E. Winstanley (Sheffield) Mathematical Society, De Morgan House, 57-58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS, enclosing a cheque payable to the ‘London Mathematical Society’ to arrive no later than Monday 6 February. January deadlines There are limited funds available to contribute to the travel expenses of Society members or research students to attend the Society meeting. 13th Polya, Senior Berwick and Whitehead Prizes nominations Requests for support, including an estimate of costs, may be addressed to Isabelle Robinson at the Society ([email protected]). 31st David Crighton Medal nominations 31st LMS annual subscription payments (final deadline) THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
AMBROSE ROGERS elected to the Royal Society and in 1961 spent a year in Canada where, in particular, Professor C. Ambrose Rogers FRS, who was working with Maurice Sion he developed elected a member of the London an interest in analytic sets and put the Mathematical Society on 13 December 1945, final touches to his influential book Packing died on 5 December 2005 at the age of 85. He and Covering. was born 1 November 1920 and attended During the 1960s, Ambrose concentrated Berkhamsted School before studying at mainly on Hausdorff Measure Theory. This University College London 1938-40, including culminated in a wonderful example (with being evacuated to Bangor in 1939. From Roy Davies) of a compact metric space of 1940-5 he served as an experimental assistant infinite Hausdorff measure which has no sub- and officer in the Applied Ballistic sets of finite positive measure. His book Department of the Ministry of Supply, but Hausdorff Measures is a standard text. From managed to keep up his research interest by 1970-2, following the untimely death of Sir part-time study at Birkbeck College under the Edward Collingwood, he took over the guidance of R.G. Cooke and L.S. Bosanquet. Presidency of the LMS and in 1977 received In 1946 Ambrose returned to UCL as an the Society’s highest honour, the De Morgan Assistant Lecturer and began a most fruitful Medal. He was also Vice-President from 6 collaboration with Harold Davenport on the 1958-59 and 1972-74. 7 Geometry of Numbers. In 1949 he went to During the 1970s his interests switched the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton back to convex sets with spectacular success. as a Commonwealth Fund Fellow and This second period produced the famous teamed up with Dvoretsky to produce their work on the measure of the directions of line famous result on absolute and unconditional segments on the boundary of a convex body convergence. Leaving a Readership at UCL, in and a 12-dimensional counterexample to the 1954 Ambrose went to Birmingham as Mason Busemann-Petty problem. Retiring in 1986, Professor of Pure Mathematics. In collabora- he continued to work mainly on analytic sets, tion with Geoffrey Shephard and James in the context of functional analysis, with Taylor during that period his interest in con- John Jayne and Isaac Namioka. vex geometry and Hausdorff Measure Theory Ambrose was a passionate supporter of the widened. In particular, with Geoffrey LMS and attended every London Meeting Shephard, he produced sharp bounds for the until his health began to fail. He was also volume of a difference body, a problem passionate about research. I recall being sum- which had been open for 30 years. moned to his home to discuss research while A Junior Berwick Prize followed in 1957 he lay in bed recovering from pneumonia. His and when Davenport moved to Cambridge in wide interests and depth of thought meant 1958, Ambrose returned to UCL as Astor that most visitors to the UCL Mathematics Professor of Pure Mathematics. He was Department ended up collaborating on a deemed to be too young to be the sole Head joint project with him. of Department and so for the next 28 years He was married in 1952 to Joan North, he was Joint Head, firstly with W.R. Dean and a writer of children’s books, who died in 1999. later with Keith Stewartson. Throughout this They had two daughters, Jane and Petra. period he was the Principal Editor of Ambrose was also very proud of the achieve- Mathematika a journal that Harold ments of his nephew L.C.G. (Chris) Rogers. Davenport had founded with the purpose of David Larman fast publication of results. In 1959 he was University College London THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
ALBERT BOYD detailed and meticulous instructions in his Mathematics Project has been awarded the across the UK are invited to make a single precise handwritten notes. His examples, Queen's Anniversary Prize. This is a tribute to entry in each biennial round. Entries must Professor Albert Vyvyan Boyd, who was elect- exercises, and assignments were illustrative the vision of those in the University who ini- demonstrate outstanding achievement and ed a member of the London Mathematical and extended concepts, and were frequently tiated this project, those in the outside world benefit brought to the institution and the Society on 17 January 1952, died on updated from recent journal articles. He was who added their support for it, and all the wider community, and the Awards Council 1 November 2005, aged 75. He began his a diffident and shy man, but he could still a members of our dedicated Project team who look in particular for signs of initiative, inno- long and distinguished association with the rowdy lecture theatre (and a student whom have made such a wide-ranging impact in vation and originality. University of the Witwatersrand (South he felt had not given sufficiently to the work schools and amongst the general public. This Uniquely in the field of education, these Africa) in early 1946 as a first year student, on required) with a piercing look and some very Prize is also a welcome confirmation of the Prizes sit within the national honours system. a campus crowded with war veterans. His sharp words. vital importance of mathematics to the Names of Prize-winners are put forward to reaction to certain chemicals persuaded him His final job, on the day before his death, United Kingdom.’ the Prime Minister, who advises the Queen change direction from Chemistry to the was to evaluate the 2006 SA Statistical The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes recognise and seeks her assent. The formal presenta- Mathematical Sciences. He graduated in 1949 Association education committee bursary and honour outstanding achievement and tion of the Prize medal by Her Majesty the and was jointly awarded the William Cullen applications. Albert never left work unfinished. excellence at world-class level in UK universi- Queen will take place at Buckingham Palace gold medal for the most distinguished grad- ties and colleges. All universities and colleges on 16 February 2006. uand in Science Faculty, obtaining an QUEEN'S ANNIVERSARY Honours (first class) and a Masters degree. ANNUAL LMS SUBSCRIPTION 2005-06 He became a graduate assistant in 1950 and PRIZE 8 a lecturer in Mathematics in 1953. His teaching The Millennium Mathematics Project has The Society is appreciative of those members who have paid their 2005-06 subscriptions. May 9 duties oscillated between Mathematics and been awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize we remind those who have not yet paid, that subscriptions were due on 1 November 2005. Mathematical Statistics, with Statistics being for Higher and Further Education. This is the Prompt payment ensures continuity of publications and avoids the need for time-consuming the focus since the ’80s. On retiring in 1995, he highest award for achievement in the higher reminders. The Society reserves the right to discontinue the supply of periodicals and the continued as an Honorary Research Fellow, and further education sector and is the edu- Newsletter to members whose subscription remains unpaid by 31 January 2006. assisting with sessional lectures. As his illness cational and research counterpart of the The methods of payment are either by a sterling cheque drawn on a UK bank; a US$ cheque progressed, and his voice became too soft for Queen's Awards for Industry. drawn on a US bank, direct debit or credit card. It is our preference that members who have a the classroom, he continued to prepare and The Millennium Mathematics Project UK bank account, pay by direct debit. Request a direct debit mandate to take advantage of this update course material and mentor any mem- (MMP) was launched in 1999 as a joint proj- convenient form of payment. If you have misplaced your renewal of subscription form either ber of staff who asked for help, often using ect between the Faculties of Mathematics download the form from the membership section of the LMS website (www.lms.ac.uk) or checks on test and examination questions for and Education at the University of contact the LMS office (email: [email protected]; tel: 020 7637 3686; fax: 020 7323 3655). this. For him there was only one way – the cor- Cambridge. The aim of the project is to sup- rect way, and he required it of all who worked port mathematics education in primary and Individual members 2005-06 rates: with him. The last of his 37 papers was secondary schools throughout the UK and published in 2001. promote the development of mathematical Subscriptions £ US$ He developed a course on Actuarial skills and understanding, particularly Ordinary 36.00 72.00 Mathematics in the ’70s, resulting in the through enrichment and extension activities Reciprocity 18.00 36.00 Actuarial Science undergraduate and post- beyond the school curriculum, and through Associate 9.00 18.00 graduate program. A former head of depart- activities designed to increase the mathemat- European Mathematical Society (additional) 16.00 32.00 ment and director of Actuarial Studies wrote ical understanding of the general public. Publications upon hearing of his death: ‘I know that he The project's activities have a significant Bulletin Volume 38 36.00 72.00 generated a warm appreciation from the regional, national and international impact, Journal Volumes 73 & 74 72.00 144.00 actuarial students that he taught, although I and MMP resources have been repeatedly Proceedings Volumes 92 & 93 72.00 144.00 often thought that they did not fully appre- commended by the Department for JCM (electronic) Volume 9 free free ciate his exceptional gifts in laying down an Education and Skills. Nonlinearity Volume 19 – except North America 57.00 undoubtedly world class foundation for their Professor John D Barrow FRS, the Director – North America 145.00 statistical and actuarial training.’ of the Millennium Mathematics Project, said: Journal of Applied Probability Volume 43 43.00 86.00 Albert was a superb organiser, giving ‘I am delighted that the Millennium Journal of the European Mathematical Society Volume 8 34.00 68.00 THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
LONG-STANDING MEMBERS LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY The following is a list of mathematicians who have completed fifty years or more of membership of the London Mathematical Society, with their date of election.
Cecil King Travel Scholarship 13 Dec 34 Meyler, D.S. 17 Jun 48 Bateman, P.T. 18 Dec 52 Reeve, J.E. 8 Feb 40 Kendall, D.G. 18 Nov 48 Mullender, P. 18 Jun 53 Rayner, M.E. The London Mathematical Society annually awards a Cecil King Travel Scholarship 17 Dec 40 Good, I.J. 13 Dec 48 Fishel, B. 18 Jun 53 Marstrand, J.M. in Mathematics to the value of £5000, to a young mathematician of outstanding 17 Mar 43 Dyson, F.J. 20 Jan 49 Borwein, D. 17 Dec 53 Ringrose, J.R. promise, to support a period of study or research abroad for a typical period of 15 Jun 44 Williams, A.E. 17 Mar 49 Kilmister, C.W. 17 Dec 53 Gruenberg, K.W. three months. Many mathematicians have found that such a visit has benefited 25 Jan 45 Ollerenshaw, K. 28 Apr 49 Austin, M.C. 17 Dec 53 Samet, P.A. both their mathematics and their career; the Society urges young mathematicians 25 Jan 45 Collard, K. 19 Jan 50 Shepherdson, J.C. 21 Jan 54 Zeeman, E.C. and their supervisors seriously to consider this opportunity. 17 May 45 Henstock, R. 16 Feb 50 Lehner, J. 18 Feb 54 Cohen, D.E. The award is competitive and based on a written proposal describing the intended 28 Jun 45 Tropper, A.M. 23 Mar 50 Ponting, F.W. 18 Feb 54 James, I.M. programme of study or research abroad and the benefits to be gained from such 25 Apr 46 Rothman, M. 15 Jun 50 Ackroyd, R.T. 17 Jun 54 Taylor, S.J. a visit. 23 May 46 Huppert, E.L. 14 Dec 50 Patterson, E.M. 25 Nov 54 Amson, J.C. Applicants should normally be nationals of the UK or Republic of Ireland, under 23 May 46 Rees, D. 19 Apr 51 Chen, D.L.C. 25 Nov 54 Halberstam, H. 10 the age of 25 years, either registered for or having recently completed a doctoral 19 Dec 46 Ruston, A.F. 17 May 51 Roth, K.F. 16 Dec 54 Preston, G.B. 11 degree at a UK University. 19 Dec 46 Higman, G. 14 Jun 51 Jackson, M. 27 Jan 55 Atiyah, M.F. 16 Jan 47 Macbeath, A.M. 14 Jun 51 Ledermann, W. 24 Feb 55 Rayner, F.J. The initial application should include: 20 Mar 47 Hayman, W.K. 20 Dec 51 Herszberg, J. 24 Mar 55 Farahat, H.K. • a completed application form; 22 May 47 Ghaffari, A. 20 Dec 51 Dowker, Y.N. 12 May 55 Murdoch, B.H. • a short proposal (4 pages maximum) indicating the proposed programme of study 19 Jun 47 Cassels, J.W.S. 17 Jan 52 Wilson, D.H. 12 May 55 Wall, G.E. abroad, the benefit of such an opportunity in advancing the candidate's studies, 27 Nov 47 Hilton, P.J. 15 Feb 52 Shephard, G.C. 12 May 55 Harrop, R. and the Institution that the candidate wishes to visit; 18 Mar 48 Burkill, H. 20 Mar 52 Bonsall, F.F. 15 Dec 55 Armitage, J.V. • a letter of support from the applicant’s Head of Department, or from his or her 18 Mar 48 Isaacs, G.L. 20 Mar 52 Swinnerton Dyer, H.P.F. 15 Dec 55 Butler, M.C.R. Research Supervisor. 18 Mar 48 Reade, M.O. 20 Nov 52 Knight, A.J. 15 Dec 55 Newman, M.
Candidates selected for interview will be asked to approach the intended research institution or research leader to be visited, to confirm that a visit would indeed be ACME UPDATE Post14 Mathematics welcomed if an award were made. ACME held a focused workshop on 13 October Subject specific issues for teachers to allow the Committee Members and others At the end of the Scholarship, the student will be expected to write a short report The Advisory Committee on Mathematics in the mathematics community to consider the indicating the activities and benefits gained from the visit. Education (ACME) continues to work closely way forward on 14-19 mathematics curriculum The Cecil King Travel Scholarship was established in 2001 by the Cecil King Memorial with key stakeholders to ensure that the new change and the Committee subsequently Fund. The award is made by the Council of the London Mathematical Society on the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching offered advice to those charged its with imple- recommendation of the Cecil King Prize Committee, nominated by the Society's of Mathematics offers sound strategic direc- mentation. A report on the workshop will be Education Committee. tion on mathematics CPD. Close involvement available on the website from mid-December, of ACME in the work of the Teaching and see: www.royalsoc.ac.uk/acme/post14.htm. Application forms for the 2006 Scholarship are available on the Society's website Development Agency for Schools on Projects (www.lms.ac.uk/activities/cecil_king/index.html) or from Isabelle Robinson at the Society professional standards for teachers will help ACME is contracting consultants to provide addi- ([email protected]). The closing date for applications is Friday 10 February 2006. bring more coherence to the accreditation of tional data on mathematics in Further Education CPD mathematics teachers, thereby making it colleges and expects to receive a report from The London Mathematical Society is a registered charity for the promotion of mathematical knowledge. more relevant. For further information see: them by end of February 2006. ACME is current- www.royalsoc.ac.uk/acme/mathsteaching.htm. ly scoping out work on a primary project. THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
NEWS FROM THE EPSRC held at the NEC Birmingham on 16-17 January FACES COMPETITION groups. CMI recognized Dencker for his com- 2006. The principal aims of the event are to: plete resolution of a conjecture made by MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES • Discuss the challenges of interdisciplinary Have you considered what to do to celebrate F. Treves and L. Nirenberg in 1970. The PROGRAMME working the New Year after you have filled in the awards were presented at CMI’s annual • Consider various approaches to collabora- bumper-size Sudoku puzzles and read the meeting on 11 October 2005 at Oxford Senior Media Fellowships tion and learn from previous experience LMS Book of Presidents? You might like to University, at which there were talks on the The Public Engagement Programme invites • Scope elements/activities that might form get a little help from your friends in identi- awardees' work and a public lecture by Sir applications for Senior Media Fellowships. part of an award fying the faces on this year’s LMS Andrew Wiles (www.claymath.org/news/ These enable leading researchers to devote • Identify possible interdisciplinary research Publications Catalogue (sent out with the research_award_2005.php). time to develop a higher media profile. The themes November issue.) We don't know who all the aim is to advance public engagement with Closing date for receipt of proposals is faces are, so don't be discouraged if you can Electronic World Directory of Mathematicians the physical sciences, mathematics and 12 noon 26 April 2006. only name a few – there is a prize of 10 Two years age, IMU asked every mathemati- engineering via the broadcast and written books from the Lecture Notes and Student cian to set up and maintain a personal media. Senior Media Fellowships are intend- Call for Statistics Mobility Fellowships Texts and full details can be found at homepage and to register the homepage at ed to be used for active development of The Mathematical Sciences Programmes are www.lms.ac.uk/publications/facescomp.html. the Electronic World Directory of Math- media opportunities (not research, scholar- offering Statistical Mobility Fellowships to Invite the mathematics department round ematicians (EWDM), see ‘The Personal ship or teaching). There is an email account enable researchers without a permanent for mulled wine and leftover mince pies to Homepage Call’ at www.mathunion.org/ specifically for enquiries relating to this call position and from a non-statistics back- play spot the mathematician! MPH-EWDM). On 6 October 2005, the 1000th 12 ([email protected]). ground to move into statistics within 10 years mathematician registered. 13 Current senior media fellows are: of completing their PhD. Each fellowship is to NEWS FROM THE IMU The webpage www.mathunion.org/ewdm • Noel Sharkey (Robotics, University of be linked to a statistics mentor who will be offers a simple search interface allowing to Sheffield) responsible for ensuring that the fellow will ICM 2006 look for registered persons (try John), • Tony Ryan (Materials Chemistry, University acquire the necessary statistical expertise and Information about special activities. institutions (try ZIB), or countries (try of Sheffield) who will advise the fellow on the research • Emmy Noether Lecture: Yvonne Choquet- America). For reasons of data protection, all • David Howard (Electrical Engineering, project associated with the fellowship. The Bruhat (Université Pierre et Marie email addresses are listed as images. This University of York) fellowship will be for three years with the Curie, Paris) minimizes misuse. • Marcus du Sautoy (Mathematics, University expectation that in the first year the fellow • e-Learning Mathematics, a panel discussion Below is the list of top ten countries (with of Oxford) will familiarise him/herself with the necessary organised by the Executive Committee of the largest number of registered persons on statistical training while the second and third the Spanish Conference of Deans of 12 November 2005): The closing date for this call is 12 noon year will be spent carrying out research Mathematics (www.usc.es/mate/cdm) 26 January 2006. involving substantial innovation in statistical • Special lecture on the Poincaré Conjecture: 134 UK 36 Canada Bridging the Gaps between theory or methodology. Closing date is John Morgan (Columbia University, 122 USA 33 India Mathematical Sciences, ICT and 12 noon 9 March 2006. New York) 88 Germany 32 Russia Engineering Please see a full list of current calls on our For further information see: www.icm2006.org/ 67 France 29 Spain Workshop and Call for Proposals website: www.epsrc.ac.uk/CallsForProposals. scientificprogram/specialactivities. 44 Italy 29 Iran EPSRC wishes to promote interdisciplinary For details on the Mathematical Sciences working, within institutions, across the broad Programme, please see: www.epsrc.ac.uk/ 2005 Clay Research Awards If you are interested in joining EWDM, research areas of the mathematical sciences, ResearchFunding/Programmes/Mathematical Manjul Bhargava (Princeton University, USA) please go to www.mathunion.org/ewdm/ information and communications technology Sciences. and Nils Dencker (Lund University, Sweden) join.php for the registration mechanism. The (ICT), and engineering. Funding is available have been awarded the 2005 Clay Research registration form allows easy subscription to to support institutions in the development of ADAMS PRIZE Awards, which recognize extraordinary IMU-Net as well. And tell your friends and collaborative research programmes. achievement in mathematics. The Clay colleagues about EWDM and IMU-Net. Institutions are invited to submit a bid for The Adams Prize for 2004, on the subject Mathematics Institute (CMI) recognized The above items are taken from the 14th funding to establish an environment that Differential Equations, has been awarded joint- Bhargava for his discovery of new composi- issue of the IMU electronic newsletter IMU- nurtures interdisciplinary working. ly to Dr M. Dafermos and Dr D. Stuart of the tion laws for quadratic forms, and for his Net (see www.mathunion.org/Publications/ A workshop to scope this activity will be Faculty of Mathematics, Cambridge University. work on the average size of ideal class Newsletter). THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
58TH BRITISH MATHEMATICAL COLLOQUIUM LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY The 58th British Mathematical Colloquium will be held at the University of Newcastle, from 1 pm on Monday 10 April to 1 pm Thursday 13 April 2006. MEETINGS IN 2006 Plenary speakers: • Nigel Higson (Penn State, USA) Friday 10 February – London • Victor Kac (MIT, USA) • Mary Cartwright Lecture • Alexander Kirillov (Pennsylvania, USA) • Preda Mihailescu (Paderborn, Germany) G.B. Segal (Oxford) U.L. Tillmann (Oxford) Morning speakers include: • Gordon Blower (Lancaster) • Manfred Schocker (Swansea) • Mihalis Dafermos (Cambridge) • Anthony Scholl (Cambridge) Monday 15 May – Leicester • Michael Farber (Durham) • Eugene Shargorodsky (King's College London) • Midlands Regional Meeting • Jim Howie (Heriot-Watt) • Nicole Snashall (Leicester) Teichmüller Theory and Cluster Algebras • Charles Read (Leeds) M. Bridson (Imperial College London) Analysis and Geometry on Groups special session N. Hitchin (Oxford) 14 • Paul Baum (Penn State, USA) H. Kraft (University of Basel, Switzerland) 15 • Alain Valette (Neuchtel, Switzerland) A. Zelevinsky (Northeastern University, Boston) • Andrzej Zuk (CNRS, Paris, France) Operator Theory special session Friday 16 June – London • Miroslav Englis (Czech Academy of Sciences) • Kristian Seip (NTNU, Trondheim, Norway) • Hardy Lecture • Joel Shapiro (Michigan State University, USA) Yu Manin (Northwestern University, Evanston) Public Lecture by David Acheson (Oxford) Friday 3 July – Leeds In addition, there are splinter groups being organised allowing for contributed • Northern Regional Meeting talks in the following areas: Functional Analysis • Arithmetic algebraic geometry • Operator theory U. Haagerup (Odense, Denmark) • Random matrices and operators • Geometry and topology N. Kalton (Missouri) • Logic • Semigroup theory • Group theory and its applications • Differential equations • Hyberbolic geometry • Operator algebras 11 September – Bath To register and book accommodation, visit the BMC 2006 website www.ncl.ac.uk/bmc06. • South West & South Wales Regional Meeting Details on registration fees, payment deadlines, and so forth are contained Analysis and Stochastics of Growth Processes in the registration form. The principal deadline is 28 February for university accommodation and reduced registration fees. Friday 17 November – London The organisers are: Michael Dritschel, Andrew Duncan, Zina Lykova, Graham Niblo, Jonathan Partington, Alina Vdovina and Michael White. They gratefully acknowledge • Annual General Meeting the support of the London Mathematical Society, the Edinburgh Mathematical Geometric Analysis Society, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the SAgE Faculty Research Committee of Newcastle University. As usual all the regional meetings will have an associated workshop. THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
NUMBER THEORY activity including instructional courses and ALGORITHMIC BIOLOGY RANDOMNESS workshops. Sixty-one programmes have now AND POLYNOMIALS been completed, the most recent being The Institute for Mathematical Sciences AND COMPLEXITY A workshop on Number Theory and Model Theory and Applications to Algebra (Singapore) is organizing a programme on A workshop on Randomness and Complexity Polynomials will be held at the Department and Developments in Quantitative Finance. Algorithmic Techniques in Computational will be held in the Department of of Mathematics, University of Bristol, from The programmes currently taking place are Biology. The programme will take place from Mathematics, University of Bristol, from 3-7 April, sponsored by the Heilbronn Pattern Formation in Large Domains and June 1 – 31 July in Singapore. The organizing 3-7 July, sponsored by the Heilbronn Institute Institute for Mathematical Research. The Global Problems in Mathematical Relativity. committee of this programme consists of: for Mathematical Research. The organisers organisers are J.F. McKee and C.J. Smyth, and The Institute now invites new proposals for • Hon Wai Leong (National University of are D.J.A. Welsh and M.R. Jerrum. confirmed main speakers include: programmes for 2008 onwards. A choice of Singapore) Preliminary enquiries should be addressed to • Francesco Amoroso (Caen) six-month or four-month programmes is • Pavel Pevzner (University of California, San the Heilbronn co-ordinator, Cathy Badley • Marie Jose Bertin (Paris) available, and short programmes of four Diego) ([email protected]). • Frits Beukers (Utrecht) weeks' duration are invited for July/August • Franco Preparata (Brown University) • Peter Borwein (Simon Fraser) each year. These short programmes are • Ken W. K. Sung (National University of RANDOM MATRIX THEORY • Steve Cohen (Glasgow) intended for more narrowly focussed topics Singapore) • Arturas Dubickas (Vilnius) or for subjects that may be at an embryonic • Louxin Zhang (National University of The Institute for Mathematical Sciences • Tamas Erdelyi (Texas A&M) stage of development, and for which a longer Singapore) (Singapore) is organizing a programme on • Graham Everest (UEA) programme might not be as yet justified. The theme of this programme is algorith- Random Matrix Theory and its Applications to 16 • Michael Filaseta (South Carolina) Proposals should be addressed to the mic biology: algorithmic techniques in com- Statistics and Wireless Communications. The 17 • Alan Lauder (Oxford) Director, Sir John Kingman, at the Institute. putational biology. The programme will programme will take place from 26 February • Michael Mossinghoff (Davidson) Proposers should state whether they would bring together researchers in algorithmic – 31 March in Singapore. The organizing • Igor Pritsker (Oklahoma State) prefer a six-month, four-month or four-week biology from a wide spectrum of application committee of this programme consists of: • Georges Rhin (Metz) programme. The Institute is pleased to areas including, but not limited to, sequence • Zhi-Dong Bai (National University of • Andrzej Schinzel (Warsaw) receive proposals at any time. Proposals for comparison and analysis, microarray design Singapore) Further information, and registration forms, consideration at the next meeting of the and analysis, whole genome alignment, • Yang Chen (Nanakai University, China, and may be obtained from the conference Scientific Steering Committee (April 2006) motif finding, recognition of genes and reg- Imperial College, London) website: www.maths.bris.ac.uk/heilbronn/ should be received by 31 January 2006. ulatory elements, gene network, phylogeny • Ying-Chang Liang (Institute for Infocomm conferences.html. The Call for Proposals, together with sub- reconstruction, phylogenetic networks, Research, Singapore) mission instructions and a summary of future molecular evolution, computational pro- It is proposed to invite workers in probabil- ISAAC NEWTON INSTITUTE programmes so far confirmed, is available at teomics, and systems biology. The pro- ity, mathematical statistics, mathematical www.newton.cam.ac.uk/callprop.html. gramme will consist of tutorials and work- physics, and wireless communications with the Call for Proposals shops, with ample opportunities for collabo- intention of cross-fertilization. In line with the The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical YORKSHIRE AND DURHAM rative research among local and internation- interest of the organizers, it is likely that term Sciences is a national research institute in al participants. visitors will be working in these fields. Cambridge. It aims to bring together mathe- GEOMETRY DAY Activities of the programme: Reflecting the theme of the programme, matical scientists from UK universities and A Yorkshire and Durham Geometry Day will • Workshop 1: Regulatory Genomics there will be tutorials for the purposes of leading experts from overseas for concentrat- be held at the School of Mathematics, (19 – 23 June, tentative) introducing the classical aspect of random ed research on specialised topics in all branch- University of Leeds on Friday 20 January. • Workshop 2: Bioalgorithmics (17 – 21 July) matrix theory to postgraduate students and es of the mathematical sciences from pure Yorkshire and Durham Geometry Days are a • Tutorials: (to be advised) the more specialized topics in statistics and mathematics, applied mathematics and statis- joint seminar series of the Universities of For further information and registration, visit wireless communications. The programme will tics, to engineering, computer science, theo- Durham, Leeds and York, supported by a the website www.ims.nus.edu.sg/Programs/ consist of tutorials and workshops, with ample retical physics and mathematical biology. Scheme 3 LMS grant. For further information algorithmicbiology/index.htm. For general opportunities for collaborative research At any time there are two visitor pro- contact John Wood ([email protected]) or enquiries email [email protected]. For among local and international participants. grammes in progress, each with about twenty Martin Speight ([email protected]) enquiries on scientific aspects of the For further information and registration, scientists in residence. Included within these or visit the website www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/ programme email Hon-Wai Leong visit the website www.ims.nus.edu.sg/ programmes are periods of more expanded pure/geometry/ydgd. ([email protected]). Programs/randommatrix/index.htm. For general
cont’d THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
enquiries email [email protected]. • Presentation of MSc and PhD programmes in tion of general relativity. This leads to a strik- Finally, the hall was packed for Sir Roger For enquiries on scientific aspects of Financial Mathematics and Applied Probability ing new view of the physical universe in Penrose on Before the Big Bang? A new per- the programme email Zhi-Dong Bai • Presentation of MSc and PhD programmes which, for example, area is quantised. For a spective on the Weyl curvature hypothesis. ([email protected]). in Information Processing, Disordered system with finitely many degrees of free- Accepting the observations of a positive cos- Systems and Neural Networks. dom, it leads to a modified quantum mological constant, and assuming that all mas- KOLMOGOROV LECTURE • Panel Discussion Doing an MSc, MPhil or mechanics and, in an application to cosmo- sive particles decay eventually, Sir Roger pro- PhD at King’s logy, it becomes possible to evolve through poses a new view of the Universe at very late This annual University of London lecture cel- • Tea and informal discussion the Big Bang, an idea which recurs below. times. Then the matter content is solely mass- ebrates the life and work of Andrei Interviews (for PhD candidates), further Karsten Danzman (Albert Einstein Institute less particles and radiation, and space-time is Nikolaevich Kolmogorov, one of the greatest meetings with MSc applicants and discussions and University of Hannover) gave a very pol- very simple conformally. Now, according to his mathematical and scientific minds of the last with current postgraduate students will take ished talk on Gravitational wave astronomy: Weyl Curvature Hypothesis, the initial singular- century. The lecture addresses current issues place throughout the day. For copies of the The large detectors are going into operation!, ity of the Universe has finite or possibly zero arising from the impact of Kolmogorov’s registration form and further information with excellent graphics, including Einstein on Weyl curvature and so, at the level of confor- work in the fields of mathematical and com- contact: Miss Rebecca Cullen, Postgraduate a bicycle. The subject is full of exciting mal structure, the very early and very late puter science. The 2005 event was a great Administrator, Mathematics Department, prospects, as the observing run of the Geo Universe are very similar. They are distin- success, with Professor Per Martin-Löf giving King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 600 detectors starts at the end of this year guished by the behaviour of conformal factor the lecture to an audience of approximately 2LS (tel: 020 7848 2107, email: and the project will be fully operational and but, Sir Roger suggests, the conformal struc- one hundred people. [email protected]) or visit the website at collaborating with the LIGO project from next ture at the end of a phase of expansion may be 18 Each Kolmogorov Lecture is given by one www.mth.kcl.ac.uk/postgraduate/openday2006. spring. Already, the teams are looking for- continued through infinity as a new Big Bang. 19 of the leading figures in their field, who is Applications for taught masters and ward to the next generation of detectors, These were three excellent talks, whose dif- presented with a medal in recognition research degrees may be submitted at any which includes the ambitious LISA project for ferent styles complemented each other well. of their own contribution to science. The time using the forms available on the website a vast detector based on an array of satellites. Paul Tod lecture at the Fourth Annual Kolmogorov or from the above address. However, those Lecture on 3 February at Royal Holloway, PhD candidates who wish to arrange an University of London, will be given by interview during the Open Day are strongly Professor Norma Rissanen, Professor Emeritus encouraged to submit their application no of Tampere University. It is entitled The later than Friday 27 January. Structure Function and Distinguishable Models of Data. Contact Amanda Baker EINSTEIN AND BEYOND ([email protected]) for informa- LMS Spitalfields Day Report tion and reservations or visit the website The London Mathematical Society was established during the www.clrc.rhul.ac.uk. This Spitalfields Day was held at the Isaac energetic and confident heyday of Victorian Britain. Although Newton Institute on 7 November 2005 in con- several learned societies pre-date it, the LMS can claim to have led POSTGRADUATE OPEN DAY junction with the programme Global the way in a number of respects: firstly, in the rigorous reviewing Methods in Mathematical Relativity, which is standards it set from the outset, with two independent reviewers King’s College London is holding a Postgrad- running at the INI from August to December being appointed for each paper submitted to the Proceedings; and uate Open Day in Mathematics on Friday 17 this year. The Day marks the 90th birthday of secondly, in its acceptance of women as full members, which was February. Research degrees are offered in a General Relativity, the tough younger sibling progressive for its day. wide range of topics. Provisional programme: of the centenarian Special Relativity, and con- This volume, which contains over eighty photographs, concentrates on the first 100 years • Brief address by the Head of Department, sisted of three talks on it and its extensions. of the Society’s existence and traces its evolution through its Presidents and De Morgan Professor Andrew Pressley Under the title Quantum Riemannian Medallists, each of whom was a pre-eminent mathematician of his or her day. Through • Talk on Analysis and Partial Differential Geometry and its Ramifications, Abhay them we learn which branches of the discipline were in vogue at any particular time, Operators Ashtekar (Penn State) described the pro- and come to appreciate the Society’s rich history. • Talk on Number Theory gramme for quantum gravity pursued by him The Book of Presidents 1865-1965 is available from the London Mathematical Society. Email • Presentation of MSc and PhD programmes and collaborators. The aim is to construct a [email protected] to place your order. The LMS members price is £15, the full price is £19. in Theoretical Physics rigorous, background-independent quantisa- THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
LMS ANNUAL the moduli space of vector bundles on an algebraic curve ∑, where stability is charac- RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS GENERAL MEETING terised by a condition on slopes of sub bun- Friday 18 November 2005 dles. Geometrically, such a bundle is poly- AT MEETINGS A large audience attended this interesting stable if and only if it has a projective flat and enjoyable meeting. The routine business metric; more generally, a vector bundle over ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the annual elections, the Treasurer’s report, any compact Kähler manifold is polystable if appointment of auditors, admissions to the and only if it has a Hermitian Einstein metric. held on Friday 18 November 2005 at University College London. About 90 members and Society and the award of prize certificates to A conjecture of Donaldson offers an analo- visitors were present for all or part of the meeting. the 2005 LMS prizewinners was followed by gous characterisation of Kähler metrics of The meeting began at 3:15 pm, with the President, Professor F.C. KIRWAN FRS, in the the first talk, given by Professor Burt Totaro. constant scalar curvature on algebraic vari- Chair. The President reported that a recommendation for the scrutineers had not been After introducing the problem of construct- eties. An apparently innocent example is that made to the June General Meeting; on a recommendation from Council it was agreed ing quotient spaces in algebraic geometry of a vector space equipped with a number N to elect Dr D.J. Collins and Professor P.T. Saunders as scrutineers. Members who had not (initially for the case of a linear action of a of filtrations. Again there is a simple criterion yet voted were invited to hand their ballot papers to the scrutineers. reductive group G), he outlined the basics of for stability. This example is related to a num- The Treasurer, Professor N.M.J. Woodhouse, presented his annual report, which would Geometric Invariant Theory (GIT). One defines ber of interesting questions, including vector be published in the Newsletter. Recommendations for Auditors for 2005/06 would be stable (semistable, polystable) points, and a bundles and Roth type approximation theo- brought to the June General Meeting to allow time for a competitive review. good quotient exists for the set of stable rems, and to the question of relations 20 points. Next came the Hilbert Mumford crite- between the eigenvalues of Hermitian matri- 21 Seven people were elected to Ordinary Membership: K.U. Baur, A.M. Clark Jeavons, rion for stability, and the geometric approach ces A, B and A + B. M. Haase, D.D. Joyce, P.E. Lisseter, F.G. Moller, A.C. Simpson; four people were elected to of Kempf and Ness using a Hermitian metric Professor Frances Kirwan began her Associate Membership: F.T. Brunk, A.J. Collins, H.R. Pye, K.D. Smallbone. Five members invariant under a maximal compact subgroup Presidential address by announcing her plan signed the book and were admitted to the Society. of G, and its attractive application to the clas- to relate different coloured approaches to The President, on Council’s behalf, presented certificates to the 2005 Society sical problem of d tuples in P 1 . the problem of calculating the Betti numbers Prizewinners: Pólya Prize: Sir Michael Berry FRS, Senior Whitehead Prize: Professor Mumford’s extension of the theory using a of moduli spaces of stable bundles (of given H.K. Moffatt FRS, Berwick Prize: Dr I.G. Gordon; two of the Whitehead Prizes: G–linearisation leads to his famous study of mutually coprime rank and degree) over a Dr B. Kirchheim and Professor N.P. Strickland. Professor Burt Totaro, gave a lecture entitled Dividing sheep from goats: applications of the idea of ‘stability’ from geometric invariant theory. After tea, Dr Collins announced the results of the ballot. The following Officers and Members of the Council were elected: President: J.F. Toland FRS; Vice Presidents: M.R. Bridson; F.A. Rogers; Treasurer: N.M.J. Woodhouse; General Secretary: N.L. Biggs; Programme Secretary: S.A. Huggett; Publications Secretary: J. Howie; Education Secretary: C.J. Budd; Members at Large of Council for two years: R.T. Curtis, P.J. Davies, A.M. Etheridge, C.M. Goldie, I.G. Gordon, J.F.C. Kingman, Member at Large for one year: E. Winstanley. Council membership is completed by the following who were elected for two-year terms in 2004: I.D. Abrahams, H.G. Dales, K.J. Falconer, F.P. Kelly, N.C. Snaith. The following members were elected to the Nominating Committee: P.J. Giblin, M.A.H. MacCallum. The newly elected President, Professor J.F. TOLAND FRS, took the Chair. The retiring President, Professor F.C. Kirwan FRS, then gave her Presidential address on Yang Mills theory and Tamagawa numbers: the fascination of unexpected links in mathematics. After the meeting, a reception was held at De Morgan House, followed by the Annual Dinner, which was held at the Montague Hotel on the Gardens, and attended by 83 people. J.F. Toland M. Berry I.G. Gordon F.C. Kirwan B. Kirchheim N.P. Strickland H.K. Moffatt THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
fixed curve: the (orange) number theory ding result for Grassmannians relates the BOOK REVIEW several times with her car, although he isn’t method, counting objects defined over finite Yang Mills and GIT descriptions of the moduli the only victim of ‘Serial Mum’. fields, and the (green) differential geometry space. Information on the Betti numbers of Mathematics, Art, Technology and Cinema Michelle Emmer and Mirella Manaresi’s method using Yang Mills theory, linked by the GIT quotient comes either by applying edited by Michelle Emmer and Mirella collection Mathematics, Art, Technology and algebraic geometry (red) using GIT, and equivariant Morse theory to the norm square Manaresi, Springer, 242 pp, $99, ISBN 3-540- Cinema provides a fascinating tour through topology (brown) using configuration spaces. of the moment map (a sort of finite dimen- 00601-X. some of the most recent outings of mathe- In the method of Atiyah and Bott one uses sional version of Yang Mills), or by counting The movies haven’t been too kind to maticians in the movies. There is an interest- equivariant Morse theory for the Yang Mills points on associated varieties defined over mathematicians. The introduction of a math- ing article by the Argentinean director functional on the space of connections (or finite fields, an approximation to the Harder ematician as a character in a movie plot is Gustavo Mosquera describing the making of equivalently holomorphic structures) on a Narasimhan method. usually a signal of impending madness, psy- his film Moebius. This is an adaptation of a smooth bundle, modulo gauge equivalence. The talk concluded with tantalising hints at chopathic behaviour or at least the chance to short story about a train that goes missing on Morse theory induces a stratification of this the development of a motivic cohomology introduce a socially inept stereotype of the the underground network. It transpires that space, with two holomorphic bundles in the theory (by Voevodsky and others) and its cal- autistic mathematician. the network contains a Moebius twist which same stratum iff their canonical filtrations culation for GIT quotients. In motivic homo- Take Jeff Bridges, Professor of accounts for the disappearance. What is fas- (with semistable quotients with decreasing topy theory there are two analogues to the Mathematics in A Mirror Has Two Faces. His cinating is hearing how the unsettling math- slopes) have pieces with the same ranks and circle in topology: ‘simplicial’ (affine line with chat-up line on his first date with the ematical object provides a powerful political degrees. The stratification is equivariantly 2 points identified) and ‘Tate’ (affine line English Professor played by Barbara metaphor for all those who disappeared in perfect; the equivariant cohomology of the punctured at a point), and a theory H p,q is Streisand is a description of the twin primes Argentina for political reasons. 22 total space is easily calculated, and by obtained, with the two gradings correspon- conjecture. Being a mathematician he is cont’d 23 induction we obtain the equivariant Betti ding to the two ‘circles’ and with many of the only interested in an affair of the mind and numbers for the open stratum, which coin- standard properties of cohomology theories. abhors the idea of bodily contact, even cide with the ordinary Betti numbers of the These groups include Milnor’s higher K when they are married. Or take Max Cohen, moduli space. groups of fields, and are equivalent to Bloch’s the hero of the film Pi, who gradually goes In the method of Harder and Narasimhan higher Chow groups. crazy in his search for patterns in the deci- we are led to an analogous study of the coset After the meeting a reception was held at mal expansion of pi. He is convinced the space SLn(AK)/SLn(K), where AK denotes the De Morgan House, followed by the Annual expansion contains the secret to the stock adèle ring of the field K of functions on ∑, Dinner at a nearby hotel. exchange together with cabalistic messages which is now defined over a finite field. C.T.C. Wall from God. By the end of the movie he takes There is a corresponding stratification, and a power drill to his brain to relieve himself one is led to an inductive procedure for of the madness of mathematics. David counting isomorphism classes of bundles and Auburn’s Pulitzer prize-winning play Proof thus, via the Weil conjectures, computing the is about to hit the silver screen starring Betti numbers of the moduli space. The cru- Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. cial step here (corresponding in the Yang Again madness is synonymous with Mills method to the simple description of the mathematician. cohomology of the classifying space of the But if we aren’t going mad then it seems gauge group) is the basic result that the that the mathematician ends up getting mur- Tamagawa number – the measure of dered instead. The mathematician in SLn(AK)/SLn(K) with respect to a canonical Sneakers who cracks RSA with his ‘break- measure on SLn(AK) – is 1. through of Gaussian proportions’ soon gets To link these methods we begin with a killed off as his discovery falls into the evil result of Segal, that the inclusion of the space hands of Ben Kingsley. In Jurassic Park, the of holomorphic maps ∑ P n of degree d into expert in chaos theory (played by Jeff the space of smooth maps induces isomor- Goldblum) is the first to be eaten by the phisms in homology up to a certain degree, © Sidney Harris dinosaurs. Kathleen Turner kills her son’s which tends to infinity with d. A correspon- mathematics teacher by running over him THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
One of my favourite mathematical movies The main goals of EWM are: in an environment where the audience was of different areas and at different stages in is The Cube. The movie is set in a network of • to encourage women to take up and con- supportive and encouraging of their efforts. their careers. The hope is that providing an cube shaped rooms. Six characters have to tinue their studies in mathematics; In this respect, the organisers felt that the opportunity to see women who are active work their way through the network to • to support women with or desiring careers Volgograd meeting was especially useful for and successful in mathematics, as well as to escape the maze. However some of the in research in mathematics or mathematics young women researchers. meet with them informally over lunch, will rooms are booby trapped and intermittently related fields; Other EWM activities include a newsletter, have a positive effect on those at career the rooms all get permuted like some huge • to provide a meeting place for these which is produced approximately once a interfaces. Feedback from the meetings has great Rubik’s cube. women; year, and an EWM email network. This shown that this is one of the aspects of day The book of essays grew out of a series of • to foster international scientific communi- is available for members to advertise that participants say has made a difference to meetings that Emmer has been organizing in cation among women and men in the positions in mathematics and to initiate them. This year 50 participants filled the Italy for nearly a decade. Exploring the mathematical community; discussions in areas of common interest. Hardy Room at De Morgan House. The morn- cultural significance of mathematics across • to cooperate with groups and organiza- An archive for the email network is main- ing speakers, Dr Nina Snaith, Professor the arts, these events have brought together tions, in Europe and elsewhere, with simi- tained on the web, along with minutes of Marion Scott and Dr Helen Joyce, provided a an eclectic mix of people. Although the lar goals. the EWM General Meetings, conference varied selection of talks on applications of majority of talks are in Italian, several of the The most visible activity of EWM is the reports, contact details for the regional rep- random matrix theory to number theory, proceedings of the earlier meeting have organisation of a series of European confer- resentative, and so on. The homepage is at: careers in statistics and communicating math- been translated into English by Springer. ences. To date there have been twelve meet- www.math.helsinki.fi/EWM. ematics. After lunch, there was a series of At this year’s meeting, Emmer hinted that ings including Madrid (1995), Trieste (1997), The EWM head office is in the mathemat- shorter talks by final year PhD students and 24 2006 might be the last such event. Perhaps Loccum, Germany (1999), Malta (2001), ics department of the University of Helsinki. newly qualified PhDs, again covering a wide 25 another European country could continue Marseilles (2003) and, most recently, In addition, there are a number of regional spectrum of topics in pure and applied math- the fantastic work that has been going on in Volgograd, Russia. coordinators, who are responsible for organ- ematics. The final session was a discussion on Italy to provide bridges between mathemat- The Volgograd meeting was held from ising activities and publicity within their mentoring. The next meeting will be held at ics and the other creative arts. 18-23 September 2005. Thirty-three partici- country. Each country or region is free to the LMS in April 2006. Marcus du Sautoy pants from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, form its own regional or national organisa- EWM, as a cross-European organisation, Germany, Switzerland, France, Finland and tion, taking whatever organisational relies on member’s subscription fees to fund EUROPEAN WOMEN Sweden attended. This was rather fewer or legal form is appropriate to the local its activities. The membership rates for one than the organisers had hoped for but many circumstances. calendar year are: low (1), standard (20) IN MATHEMATICS of the lectures were also attended by stu- The UK branch of EWM currently has and high (50). Members decide which is the European Women in Mathematics (EWM) is dents and faculty (both men and women) of about 25 members, nearly all of whom work appropriate level for them. The subscriptions an affiliation for women bound by a com- Volgograd University. The meeting received in academic institutions. It produces a can go little towards the costs of running an mon interest in the position of women in financial support from the university and newsletter twice a year and works in close international meeting but can go some way mathematics. local authorities and was successful in collaboration with the Women in meeting minor expenses such as postage and The founders of EWM were originally achieving good reportage, with articles in Mathematics Committee of LMS, with the UK also contribute to the cost of producing con- inspired by the Association for Women in the press as well as on the television and co-ordinators serving on this committee. An ference proceedings. Mathematics, a highly successful organisation local radio. A multimedia presentation of example of this collaboration is the now The next biennial EWM conference is that was set up in the USA in 1971 with the EWM was prepared by the university's infor- annual Women in Mathematics Day, which planned for September 2007 and will be held aim of encouraging women to study and to mation services and was shown in the main was originally organised by the EWM with in Cambridge. It is very much hoped that hav- have active careers in the mathematical sci- hall of the university, thus helping to raise financial support from the LMS, but is now ing such a prestigious and beautiful location ences. By the mid-1980s, a number of awareness of EWM and its activities. One of organised by the Women in Mathematics which is easily accessible from other European women mathematicians were keen the most positive outcomes of the meeting Committee. One of the key aims of the day is European countries will attract a large num- that there should be a European-based organ- was that it allowed a number of PhD stu- to encourage women approaching the vari- ber of participants from many member isation for women in mathematics. Thus, at dents and recently qualified PhDs to present ous interfaces – undergraduate/postgradu- states. It should also raise the profile of EWM the International Congress in Berkeley in 1986, their work at an international meeting for ate, PhD/postdoctoral and so on – to stay and its role within the UK. EWM came into being. Today, EWM has the first time. Many of the speakers were working in and interested in mathematics. Cathy Hobbs (Oxford Brookes University) grown into a truly European organisation, also presenting their work in English for the Thus sessions include talks by practising Jennifer Scott (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory) encompassing both old and new Europe. first time. Clearly a daunting experience but women mathematicians working in a variety UK EWM coordinators THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER No. 344 January 2006
CALENDAR OF EVENTS 26-31 Mar Random Matrix Theory, Singapore (344) This calendar lists Society meetings and other events publicised in the Newsletter. MARCH 2006 Further information can be obtained from 13-17 3-manifolds after Perelman ICMS the appropriate LMS Newsletter whose num- Workshop, Edinburgh (342) Department of Mathematics ber is given in brackets. A fuller list of meet- 17 Edinburgh Mathematical Society ings and events is given on the Society’s web- Meeting, Dundee University (341) Chair in Financial Mathematics site (www.lms.ac.uk/meetings/calendar.html). 27-31 Mathematical Population Genetics ICMS Workshop, Edinburgh (342) Salary will be determined by the Director JANUARY 2006 27-7 Apr Non Equilibrium Dynamics of 1-31 Semi-definite Programming and Its Interacting Particle Systems School, INI, Applications, Singapore (342) Cambridge (341) Applications are invited for the post of Chair in the Mathematics 4-5 Meeting in Memory of Professor Andy Department. The appointment will be from September 2006 or as King, Reading University (342) APRIL 2006 soon as possible thereafter. 8-12 Dynamics and Arithmetics UK Japan 3-7 Number Theory & Polynomials Winter School, Bury St Edmunds (343) Workshop, Bristol University (344) The successful applicant will be a mathematician with international 9-10 Mathematics of Biomolecules 3-7 Jordan Structures in Analysis & 26 standing in financial mathematics. This new appointment represents Workshop, Warwick University (342) Geometry Conference, Taiwan (342) 27 a major investment by the School to expand the research activity and 9-13 Relaxation Dynamics of Macroscopic 10-13 BMC, Newcastle University (344) graduate teaching provision of the Department in the area of financial Systems Conference, INI, Cambridge (338) 10-13 New Directions in Proof Complexity 11-14 Homotopy Theory Conference, Workshop, INI, Cambridge (343) mathematics and we are looking for an outstanding scholar to lead Sheffield University (342) 11-13 Mathematical Education of this development. 18 Gresham College Geometry Lecture, Engineers IMA Conference, Loughborough London (343) University (342) Research activity at the LSE is centred primarily in the Social 20 Yorkshire & Durham Geometry Day, 24-27 BAMC, Keele University (343) Sciences. The Department's mission is to conduct outstanding Leeds University (344) 28 Edinburgh Mathematical Society research in Mathematics within this context. Information about 20 Edinburgh Mathematical Society Meeting, Aberdeen University (341) the Department and its current work can be found at Meeting, Edinburgh University (341) www.maths.lse.ac.uk. 23-27 Models & Methods for Human MAY 2006 Genomics Conference, Italy (340) 1-30 Jun Random Graphs and Large Scale Informal enquiries can be made to Professor Martin Anthony, 25 Winter Combinatorics Meeting, Real World Networks, Singapore (343) [email protected]. Further particulars and details of how Open University (343) 2 Gresham College Geometry Lecture, City of London School, London (343) to apply may be obtained from the Human Resources Division, FEBRUARY 2006 8-19 Combinatorics, Automata & Number LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, (telephone 020 7955 1 Gresham College Geometry Lecture, London (343) Theory Conference, Liège University, 6068 or e-mail [email protected]) 3 Kolmogorov Lecture, Royal Holloway, Belgium (339) University of London (344) 26 Edinburgh Mathematical Society Please Quote Job Reference Number: SA/05/01 10 LMS Meeting, Mary Cartwright Lecture, Meeting, St Andrews University (341) London (343) Closing Date for applications: 10th February 2006 17 Postgraduate Open Day, King’s College JUNE 2006 London (344) 1-30 Jul Algorithmic Biology, Singapore 17 Edinburgh Mathematical Society (344) We value diversity and wish to promote equality at all levels Meeting, Edinburgh University (341) 6-30 First Passage & Extreme Value 22 Gresham College Geometry Lecture, Problems in Random Processes Conference, London (343) INI, Cambridge (340) MICHAEL FRANCIS ATIYAH DE MORGAN MEDALLIST 1980
Extract from the citation: ‘Atiyah’s extensive tial equations. His work in algebraic geometry mathematical knowledge and keen insight continued the tradition of Baker, Hodge and have enabled him to found productive new Todd. Together with Hirzebruch he developed theories and to reveal deep seated connexions K theory. He found, in joint work with Singer, and analogies between diverse branches of an important result concerning elliptic partial mathematics. He has made important contribu- differential equations, the Index Theorem, gen- tions to algebraic geometry, to differential eralising the Riemann Roch theorem. Recently geometry and topology, to the theory of group he has investigated certain geometric objects, representations and to that of partial differen- instantons, introduced by physicists.’