Joint Summer Research Conferences 2005
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Conferences formal invitations (including specific offers of support if Joint Summer applicable), a brochure of conference information, program information known to date, along with information on travel Research Conferences and local housing. Questions concerning the scientific program should be addressed to the organizers. Questions of a nonscientific in the Mathematical nature should be directed to the Summer Research Con- ferences coordinator at the address provided above. Please Sciences watch http://www.ams.org/meetings/ for future de- Snowbird Resort velopments about these conferences. Snowbird, Utah *Lectures begin on Sunday morning and run through June 5–July 21, 2005 Thursday. Check-in for housing begins on Saturday. No lectures are held on Saturday. See below for separate The 2005 Joint Summer Research Conferences will be held dates for the Summer School in Commutative Algebra. at the Snowbird Resort (http://summer.snowbird.com/ pages/home/default.php) June 5–July 21, 2005. The topics and organizers for the conferences were selected Quantum Topology—Contemporary by a committee representing the AMS, the Institute of Issues and Perspectives Mathematical Sciences (IMS), and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). Committee members at Sunday, June 5–Thursday, June 9 the time were Bjorn Birnir, Michael Fried, William Mark Goldman, Ilse Ipsen, Tasso Kaper, Ludmil Katzarkov, Steven Organizing Committee Lalley, Hema Srinivasan, Toby Stafford, and Kenneth Louis H. Kauffman (co-chair), University of Illinois Stephenson. at Chicago It is anticipated that the conferences will be partially Jozef H. Przytycki (co-chair), George Washington funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation University and perhaps others. Special encouragement is extended to Fernando J. O. Souza (co-chair), University of Iowa junior scientists to apply. A special pool of funds expected Quantum topology is the interdisciplinary study of a num- from grant agencies has been earmarked for this group. ber of new invariants of manifolds, links, and related Other participants who wish to apply for support funds objects, as well as some possible frameworks for them. It should so indicate; however, available funds are limited, has established many unexpected, exciting relations and individuals who can obtain support from other sources between low-dimensional topology and various areas of are encouraged to do so. mathematics and theoretical physics. It was born through All persons who are interested in participating in one a few independent contributions in the early 1980s and of the conferences should request an invitation by quickly ramified into a wide variety of techniques at several sending the following information to Summer Research levels of abstraction and generality. Quantum topology Conferences Coordinator, AMS, P.O. Box 6887, Providence, comprises algebraic, analytical, categorical, combinatorial, RI 02940, or by email to [email protected] no later than geometrical, and mathematical-physical approaches. March 3, 2005. Presently, a lot is yet to be learned on the topological inter- Please type or print the following: pretation of those new invariants. 1. Title and dates of conference. This conference aims to: Create a forum that will be a 2. Full name. bridge between the several trends in quantum topology, 3. Mailing address. bringing together leading experts in a majority of its 4. Phone numbers (including area code) for office, home, topics; examining the surprising recent developments in and fax. the area, including cutting-edge contributions by junior 5. Email address. researchers; and provoking the participants to make an 6. Your anticipated arrival/departure dates. overall assessment of contemporary quantum topology 7. Scientific background relevant to the conference top- with a bird’s-eye view of the perspectives for the subject, ics; please indicate if you are a student or if you received fostering further developments and directions. In addition, your Ph.D. on or after 7/1/98. this conference will ultimately promote awareness of 8. The amount of financial assistance requested (or state-of-the-art quantum topology through its proceed- indicate if no support is required). ings, which shall contain expositions targeted at a wide All requests will be forwarded to the appropriate orga- audience. nizing committee for consideration. In late April applicants This conference will cover quantum topology in the selected by the organizers for each conference will receive large sense regarding approach and topic. Its scope will 1294 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 51, NUMBER 10 Conferences span invariants of links and related objects, 3-manifolds, École Polytechnique), A. Pankov (Math, College of William and 4-manifolds that are construed via: categorification and Mary), F. Santosa (Math, Arizona), V. Shalaev (Engi- (Khovanov homology included), state models and state neering, Purdue University), M. Sigalas (Engineering, summations, functional integration, skein modules, topo- Agilent), J. Sipe (Physics, Univ. of Toronto), S. Venakides logical modular functors and topological quantum field (Math, Duke University), M. Weinstein (Applied Math, theories, as well as generalizations of those methods. Of Columbia University), and A. Yariv (Physics, Engineering, equal interest are link polynomials and Vassiliev/finite-type Caltech). invariants and how they fit into the spirit of quantum Further information about the conference is available topology. The algebraic topology of the above invariants at http://www.math.utah.edu/~dobson/src05/. is a particularly important aspect to be explored. A website for this conference will be developed at: http://www.math.uiowa.edu/~fsouza/Snowbird2005/. Quantum Graphs and Their Applications Sunday, June 19–Thursday, June 23 Mathematical Modeling of Novel Optical Materials and Devices Organizing Committee Gregory Berkolaiko,Texas A&M University Sunday, June 12 –Thursday, June 16 Robert Carlson, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Organizing Committee Stephen Fulling, Texas A&M University David Dobson (chair), University of Utah Peter Kuchment (chair),Texas A&M University Peter Kuchment, Texas A&M University Leonid Kunyansky, University of Arizona The conference will bring together a group of mathe- Shari Moskow, University of Florida maticians and physicists to discuss problems of the newly Fadil Santosa, University of Minnesota solidifying quantum graph theory and its applications. A graph considered as a (singular) one-dimensional variety In recent years, one has seen an avalanche of discoveries and equipped with a differential (in some cases pseudo- and inventions in optical technology. There is a large math- differential) “Hamiltonian” is said to be a quantum graph. ematical component in most of the research leading to Such objects have been arising lately in a variety of areas these discoveries. Physicists and engineers have been in- of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Spectral theory volved in intensive research into this area for many years, of quantum graphs is also related to the older and more while the growing need for mathematical advances in this developed spectral theory of combinatorial graphs. One area is just starting to be met and begs for active partici- can get an idea of current developments in this field from pation of mathematicians. the articles and references therein in the recent special issue The goal of this conference is to bring together re- of the journal Waves in Random Media (v. 14, no. 1, 2004). searchers with common interests from mathematics, It is planned that the conference will address the follow- physics, and engineering to facilitate further progress in ing related topics: Spectral theory of quantum and com- this inherently multidisciplinary field. binatorial graphs; Analysis on fractals; Applications of Among the main themes of this conference are: spec- quantum graphs to nanotechnology, optics, quantum tral analysis of pure and doped photonic band gap chaos, and other areas. (PBG) materials, and design of such materials; modeling Among the confirmed invited speakers are: and analysis of optical waveguides; spectral analysis of Michael Aizenman, Princeton Univ.; Gregory Berkolaiko, microstructured optical fibers; nonlinear optical media (in particular, analysis of nonlinear PBG materials and gap Texas A&M; Robert Carlson, U. Colorado, Colorado Springs; solitons); understanding loss mechanisms in PBG struc- Fan Chung Graham, UC San Diego; Yves Colin De Verdiere, tures; optimal design of photonic structures; numerical Fourier Institute; Pavel Exner, Nuclear Physics Inst. and analysis and simulation of photonic structures. These Doppler Inst., Acad. Sci.; Mark Freidlin, U. Maryland; Lenny themes encompass a wide range of mathematical ideas Friedlander, University of Arizona; Stephen Fulling, Texas from spectral theory, linear and nonlinear partial differ- A&M; Rostislav Grigorchuk, Texas A&M; Jonathan Keating, ential equations, optimization theory, numerical analysis, U. Bristol; Jun Kigami, Kyoto University; Vadim Kostrykin, and many other areas. Fraunhofer Inst.; Peter Kuchment, Texas A&M; Stanislav Invited speakers who have tentatively confirmed: Molchanov, Univ. of N. Carolina, Charlotte; Petri Ola, Nevan- D. Allan (Physics, Corning), H. Ammari (Math, École linna Institute; Lassi Paivarinta, Nevanlinna Institute; Boris Polytechnique), A. Babin (Math, UC Irvine), G. Bao (Math, Pavlov, Univ. of Auckland; Koby Rubinstein, Indiana Univ.; Michigan State Univ.),