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The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences

Our Mission Our Community

The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences PIMS is a partnership between the following organi- (PIMS) was created in 1996 by the community zations and people: of mathematical scientists in Alberta and British Columbia and in 2000, they were joined in their en- The six participating universities (Simon Fraser deavour by their colleagues in the State of Washing- University, University of Alberta, University of ton. PIMS is dedicated to: British Columbia, University of Calgary, Univer- sity of Victoria, University of Washington) and af- Promoting innovation and excellence in research filiated Institutions (University of Lethbridge and in all areas encompassed by the mathematical sci- University of Northern British Columbia).

ences;

The Government of British Columbia through the Initiating collaborations and strengthening ties be- Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise, tween the mathematical scientists in the academic The Government of Alberta through the Alberta community and those in the industrial, business and government sectors; Ministry of Innovation and Science, and The Gov- ernment of Canada through the Natural Sciences Training highly qualified personnel for academic and Engineering Research Council of Canada. and industrial employment and creating new op- portunities for developing scientists; Over 350 scientists in its member universities

who are actively working towards the Institute’s

Developing new technologies to support research, mandate. Their disciplines include pure and ap- communication and training in the mathematical plied mathematics, statistics, computer science, sciences. physical, chemical and life sciences, medical sci- Building on the strength and vitality of its pro- ence, finance, management, and several engineer- grammes, PIMS is able to serve the mathematical ing fields. sciences community as a catalyst in other areas of great importance: Scientists, practitioners and government re- searchers using mathematical ideas in dozens of The communication and dissemination of mathe- companies across Canada and the U.S. matical ideas; public outreach, mathematical edu- cation and training at all school levels; A large and rapidly growing group of high school

and elementary school teachers and educators in The creation of strong mathematical partnerships Alberta, British Columbia and Washington State. and links within Canada and organizations in other countries, with a focus on the nations of the Pacific Rim. From the Chair of the Board Hugh Morris, FRSC

My association supported by PIMS during 2001–02, together with with the Pa- a glimpse at the planned busy programme ahead. cific Institute for PIMS not only strives to be a world-class research the Mathemat- institute in the mathematical sciences, but also to be ical Sciences prominent in the application of mathematics to in- (PIMS) contin- dustry and in mathematics education at all levels. ues to be an ex- Through its Industrial Problem Solving Pro- citing and re- gramme and its Industrial Math Training Pro- warding expe- gramme, PIMS has played a key role in bringing rience. I am mathematical scientists in academia together with as fascinated their counterparts in the private sector. This year’s by the energy, the Industrial Problem Solving Workshop and the the vitality and Graduate Industrial Mathematics Modelling Camp the pace that continued the highly successful format of previous the mathemat- years. Hugh Morris, Chair of the PIMS Board ical scientists This year PIMS has continued its involvement in of Directors.

of PIMS are mathematics education, in the Sky magazine is now putting into their task as I was when I became Chair distributed to more schools, and as you will see there of the PIMS Board of Directors back in 1998. are many education activities taking place in British The reallocation results of NSERC echo my faith Columbia and Alberta. PIMS is certainly doing a lot in PIMS as one of the most innovative and promising to reveal to students of all levels how much fun math- research institutes in the mathematical sciences. ematics can be. The opening of the Banff International Research The development of the PIMS Collaborative Re- Station (BIRS) is just weeks away. BIRS is des- search Groups is something to truly be proud of. I tined to provide a tremendous boost for research in look forward to seeing what these multi-university the mathematical sciences all over the world, and it groups of mathematical scientists achieve in 2003. will be exciting to see BIRS actually open its doors My warmest congratulations to the director, Dr. after all the hard work. Nassif Ghoussoub and to all mathematical scientists This annual report represents a compendium of and staff of PIMS for their wonderful accomplish- the various activities and programmes organized and ments.

ii Director’s Notes Nassif Ghoussoub, FRSC

NSERC’s reallocations results are out and PIMS and the 3 institutes the Canadian mathematical community have every with the Statis- reason to be proud of the accomplishments of the tics Grant Se- last 5 years. The site visit report had much to say lection Com- about the institute’s contributions: “PIMS activi- mittee (GSC ties have broken through discipline and geographical 14) for a 4- boundaries”. They echoed the referees comments: year “National “PIMS has become in a very short time a model Programme for the research institute of the twenty first century” on Complex and “PIMS has moved from an “idea” to a lead- Data Struc- ing international institute”. One anonymous ref- tures” has also eree wrote about the international leadership shown been funded Nassif Ghoussoub, Director of PIMS by the Canadian mathematical community adding: at the rate of “Here, PIMS seems to be in the driver’s seat with $172K/year. incredible results for the world’s mathematical com- munity”. Another referee concurred: “Although NSERC Increases its Funding for the [PIMS] is the youngest of the three, I believe that Mathematics Grant Selection Committees its reputation is rapidly on the rise, so I find the in- cremental funding which is requested in the PIMS The synergies between the math community and the proposal to be compelling. I believe that the lead- institutes have again played a major role, even as the ership of PIMS is energetic and creative, and PIMS institutes carry on with their outreach efforts to other is perhaps the most ambitious of the three Canadian disciplines. Indeed, mathematics is one of only six Institutes”. submissions (out of 19 GSCs) that ended up with a budget increase: A major change from the dynamic of the first NSERC re-allocation exercise in 1994. PIMS: A Model for the Research Institute of the ¢¡¤£¦¥ The reallocations committee first recognized the Century importance of increased funding to new applicants The site visit committee also stated that “PIMS has by returning $805K/year to the GSC 336/337. In ad- been successful at multiplying the opportunities pro- dition, the committee allocated $270K/year to pro- vided by NSERC funds. However, it is also partic- mote structured initiatives by recognized leaders. In- ularly underfunded compared to the other two insti- deed, this innovative approach was well received by tutes.” NSERC’s reallocations committee agreed by the Committee which noted that “initiatives that are awarding PIMS a 60% increase in its budget. Each built around a leader have been a recognized model one of the 3 Institutes (PIMS, Fields and CRM) will for success in mathematics and other disciplines. receive a grant of approximately $1 million/year for The institutes are also using this model quite exten- the period 2003–07. In addition, a joint proposal of sively”.

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All are encouraged to take a look at the NSERC purpose of completing the National Network for Re- webpage, www.nserc.ca, so as to be aware of the search in the Mathematical Sciences (A first attempt new opportunities created by this result. Congrat- at an NSERC’s RPP research network had failed in ulations to all involved, especially to Richard Kane 1997!). The 3 institutes funding for AARMS (At- and Robert V. Moody who led this year’s exercise lantic Association for Research in the Mathematical for mathematics with exemplary judgment, skill, and Sciences) has been matched by the Memorial Uni- patience. versity of Newfoundland in St. John’s, the Uni- versity of Nova Scotia at Dalhousie and the Uni- Referees’ Unanimity on the Banff International versity of New Brunswick at Fredericton. In addi- Research Station (BIRS) tion, MITACS has committed substantial funds for seed projects subject to appropriate matching from BIRS has been referred to as a major coup for the the provincial governments and local industries. The Canadian community. The annual budget of BIRS is $600K/year package should provide a great boost to about $2M ($500K from each of NSF, ASRA, and Atlantic Canada research in the mathematical sci- NSERC’s MFA program; $100K from MITACS and ences. Here Hermann Brunner is to be heartily con- $400K from PIMS). In addition $1.1M have finally gratulated for his efforts and leadership. been secured to renovate and upgrade the facilities ($300K from the PIMS universities and $800K from the Alberta government). We are looking forward to an outstanding inaugural programme for 2003 and The National Programme Committee to be we anticipate that our recently approved 2004 pro- Restructured gramme will be of an equally high calibre. Many thanks to Robert V. Moody for the incredible amount of work and energy he is investing to help set up this The National Programme Committee of the 3 in- great continental resource. stitutes will be restructured soon so that it can ef- fectively deal with the developing picture across the country. Every active Canadian researcher The MITACS Network up for Renewal should/will have access to the infrastructural re- The MITACS Network of Centres of Excellence de- sources and to the research opportunities, new and veloped by the 3 institutes has been a great boost old. to the applied and industrial mathematical science community in Canada. It has continued to thrive un- der the capable hands and entrepreneurial spirit of Arvind Gupta. The $14.4M grant (given for the pe- Search for a New Director riod 1999/03) is up for renewal next year. We invite the math. science research community to join the Though my mandate as director ends on June 30, institutes in vigourously preparing for a successful 2004, I have recommended that the Board launches a renewal of MITACS. search for a new director. The PIMS organization is complex and by now quite extensive, hence the need Supporting Atlantic Canada and the Completion for time to select the next leadership and to insure a of the National Network for Collaboration in the smooth transition. I am hoping that the new director Mathematical Sciences (NNCMS) can take over sometime between the summer of 2003 and June 2004. The directors of CRM, Fields and PIMS have just fin- ished a tour of universities in Atlantic Canada, for the It has been a great ride! Contents

From the Chair of the Board ii Director’s Notes iii PIMS PERSONNEL 1 PIMS Management 1 PIMS Site Personnel 9 PIMS Scientific Personnel 12 BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION 13 I. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS 23 II. THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 31 Theme 2001 (A): Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations 32 Theme 2001 (B): Theoretical, Numerical and Industrial Fluid Dynamics 38 Theme 2002 (A): Asymptotic Geometric Analysis 42 Theme 2002 (B): Selected Topics in Mathematical and Industrial Statistics 47 Theme 2003 (A): Inverse Problems and Applications 52 III. CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 57 PIMS Mini-Programmes 58 Distinguished Chairs 62 Pacific Northwest Seminar Series 66 PIMS Lecture Series 73 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 79 Extra-Thematic Scientific Workshops 80 National Programme Committee 91 International Initiatives 93 V. INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 99 PIMS Industrial Problem Solving Programme 100 Industrial and Scientific Training Activities 105 MITACS: An NCE in the Mathematical Sciences 112 VI. MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME 117 Initiatives for K–12 Students 118 Initiatives with K–12 Teachers 129 Initiatives for Undergraduate Students 131 Initiatives for Graduate Students 134 VII. COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 135 VIII. PIMS PRIZES 2001 147 APPENDIX: Financial Report 151

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PIMS PERSONNEL

PIMS Management

Board of Directors man of the Board of Directors of the Lithoprobe Project. He is past-president of both the Geoscience Council of The Board of Directors has final responsibility for Canada and the Geological Association of Canada, and all aspects of the PIMS’ operation. In particular, the was also Treasurer of the Canadian Geological Foundation Board ensures fiscal accountability, monitors the op- from 1987 to 1996. He is a member of the Geological So- eration of the PIMS, and advises the Executive Com- ciety of London, the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, UK, the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the mittee. Association of Professional Engineers of BC and a number of other scientific and professional associations. Chair of the Board: Dr. Hugh Morris holds a Dr. Michael Boorman re- Ph.D. in Mining Geology ceived his Ph.D. from Univer- from the University of Witwa- sity of Nottingham in 1964 tersrand, Johannesburg, South and is a professor in the Africa and has 44 years of Chemistry Department at the experience in the mineral in- University of Calgary. Cur- dustry. He is a fellow of rently he is the Dean of Sci- the Royal Society of Canada ence at the University of Cal- and is Chair of the Society’s gary. Dr. Boorman’s re- Canadian Global Change Pro- search activities are in Inor- Hugh Morris gramme. Michael Boorman ganic Chemistry and in Het- From 1962 to 1979 he erogeneous Catalysis. held a series of positions with Cominco Ltd. in its Ex- ploration and Mining Departments in several Canadian lo- cations, eventually becoming Director of Exploration for Mr. Robert Chase has been its worldwide activities. In 1979 Dr. Morris became asso- a businessman for thirty years. ciated with the E & B-Geomex Group of affiliated compa- He is a graduate of the Uni- nies in Calgary, initially as President and Chief Operating versity of Manitoba and a Officer of Geomex Minerals Ltd., and in 1981, as Pres- Chartered Accountant. From ident and Chief Executive Officer of E & B Canada Re- 1979–1994, Mr. Chase was sources Ltd. Following the merger of the E & B-Geomex associated with the Westar Group and Imperial Metals Corporation of Vancouver in Group where he was Senior May 1983, he was appointed Chairman and Chief Execu- Vice-President, Finance and tive Officer of Imperial Metals and of three public compa- Chief Financial Officer from nies within the Imperial Metals Group. He resigned from 1989–1994. He has been Pres- these positions in February 1993 to pursue other interests. ident and Chief Executive Of- Robert Chase Currently, he is a mineral industry consultant and board ficer of Lexacal Investment member of six Canadian public companies. Corp. since 1995 and Chief Financial Officer of Biometric Dr. Morris has demonstrated special interest in na- Identification from 1999 until it merged with BioScrypt. In tional and international scientific and professional associ- 2000, Mr. Chase became President of Safeguard BioMetric ations. He is a member of NSERC’s Council, a member Corp., the predecessor of Devon. Mr. Chase also serves on of the Standing Finance committee of ICSU, and Chair- the board of other public companies. 2 PIMS PERSONNEL

Dr. Bruce Clayman re- Mr. Kenneth Foxcroft ceived his Ph.D. from Cornell served on the board of Di- University in 1968. He is cur- rectors of Factors Limited, rently a professor of Physics Toronto Dominion Securities at Simon Fraser University as (USA) Inc., and of the Ontario well as the Vice-President Re- Securities Advisory Commis- search. His past administra- sion. He has also held the po- tive duties include Dean of sitions of Chairman for Com- Graduate Studies, President of modity Futures and President Bruce Clayman the Canadian Association for for the Forex Association of Graduate Studies and Acting Canada. Presently, Mr. Fox- Dean of Science. He is a member of the Sigma Pi Sigma croft is the Deputy Chairman Ken Foxcroft Physics Honour Society. His research interests include & Chief Trading Officer for superconductors, impurity states in solids, and layered TD Securities Inc. compounds. He has published over 80 papers in refereed journals and refereed conferences. Dr. Nassif Ghoussoub ob- tained his Doctorat d’etat´ in 1979 from the Univer- site´ Pierre et Marie Curie in Dr. James Delgrande is a Pro- Paris, France and is currently fessor of Computing Science at a Professor of Mathematics Simon Fraser University and he at the University of British is the Director of the School of Columbia. His present re- Computing Science. He received search interests are in non- Nassif Ghoussoub his Ph.D. from the University of linear analysis, optimization Toronto in 1985. His research and partial differential equations. He was the recipient of is in formal aspects of knowledge the Coxeter-James prize in 1990, of a Killam senior fel- representation in artificial intelli- lowship in 1992 and has been a fellow of the Royal Society James Delgrande gence. of Canada since 1993. He was chair of NSERC’s grant selection committee for mathematics in 1995–1996 and vice-president of the Canadian Mathematical Society from 1994 to 1996. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Mathemat- Dr. Don W. Denney re- ics from 1993 to 2002 and is currently on the editorial ceived his Ph.D. from the Uni- board of various international journals. versity of Waterloo in 1978 He is the founder Director of PIMS since 1996. He is and spent two years as a post- a founding member of the Board of Directors of MITACS doctoral fellow at the Univer- since 1998. He is also the founding Chair of the executive sity of Colorado engaged in committee of BIRS since 2001. atmospheric chemistry stud- ies and in developing statis- tical pattern recognition tech- Dr. Gary Kachanoski has niques. He is a Director of been the Vice-President (Re- Don Denney PRECARN/IRIS, serving as a search) and Professor (De- Board Chair for 1999/2000. partment of Renewable Re- Dr. Denney spent 10 years at Syncrude Research de- sources) at the University of veloping On-line Sensors and applying Pattern Recogni- Alberta since August 2001. tion techniques to data analysis. He is currently Manager From 1996–2001 he was of Advanced Control Alliance at Syncrude Canada Ltd. Dean, College of Graduate Studies and Research, and Professor at the University of Gary Kachanoski Saskatchewan. He received PIMS PERSONNEL 3 his B.Sc. (honors Biology 1976) and M.Sc. (Soil Science Dr. Barry McBride has 1980) from the University of Saskatchewan, and his Ph.D. been the Vice-President Aca- (Soil Physics 1984) from the University of California, demic and Provost of UBC Davis. At the University of Saskatchewan he was also since 1999. He received his appointed Dean, Virtual College of Biotechnology, a uni- Ph.D. from the University versity wide initiative to coordinate teaching and research of Illinois (Urbana) in 1970. in the social, ethical, legal, commercial, and science issues He was the Dean of Science related to biotechnology. From 1985 to 1996 Gary was at at UBC (1990–1999), Head the University of Guelph, finishing his appointment there of the Microbiology Depart- as Chair, Department of Land Resource Science, and Di- ment at UBC (1986–1989) rector of Research (Environment and Natural Resources) and Head of the Oral Biology in the Vice-President (Research) Office. At Guelph he Department at UBC (1981– Barry McBride had significant involvement in the planning, coordination, 1986). He has consulted with and transfer of research and technology to industry, gov- Cominco, Energy Mines and Resources Canada, the Na- ernment, user groups, and the general public. He was tional Institute of Health, USA and Ventures West. He is awarded the Distinguished Faculty Extension and Service a member of many Professional Committees including the Award for his work in this area. Medical Research Council (where he is also on the Exec- utive Committee), the Standing Committee on Manpower (MRC), Scientific Advisory Council - Alberta Council - Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research - Research Dr. Prabha Kundur holds Advisory Council. His major area of research is in ecology a Ph.D. in Electrical Engi- and pathogensis of the microbial flora of man with specific neering from the University of reference to pathogens of the mouth. Toronto and has over 30 years of experience in the electric power industry. He is cur- Dr. Edwin Perkins is Pro- rently the President and CEO fessor of Mathematics at UBC of Powertech Labs Inc., the where he was first appointed research and technology sub- as a postdoctoral fellow in sidiary of BC Hydro. Prior to 1979. He did is his under- Prabha Kundur joining Powertech in 1993, he graduate degree at U. Toronto worked at Ontario Hydro for 25 years and was involved in and obtained his doctoral de- the planning, design and operation of power systems. gree from the U. Illinois. His He has served as Adjunct Professor at the University research interests in probabil- of Toronto since 1979 and at the University of British ity include the general the- Columbia since 1994. He is the author of the book Power ory of processes, Brownian System Stability and Control (McGraw-Hill, 1994), which motion, stochastic differential Edwin Perkins is the standard modern reference for the subject. He equations and partial differ- has performed extensive international consulting and has ential equations, interacting particle systems, measure- delivered technical courses for utilities and universities valued diffusions and stochastic models in population ge- around the world. netics. He has won numerous awards for his research Dr. Kundur is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and including the Coxeter-James Lectureship (1986) and G. Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He is also very active in the de B. Robinson Award (1996) (CMS), the Rollo David- Conference Internationale des Grands Reseaux Electriques son Prize (1983) (Cambridge) and a Steacie Fellowship (CIGRE). He is the recipient of the 1997 IEEE Nikola (1992–93) (NSERC). He is a Fellow of the Royal Soci- Tesla Award and the 1999 CIGRE Technical Committee ety of Canada and currently sits on the Academy of Sci- Award. ence Council. He is presently on the editorial boards of the Canadian J. of Mathematics, the Annals of Applied Proba- bility, the Annales de l’Institute Henri Poincare,´ and Prob- ability Theory and Related Fields. He has given several in- vited lectureships including an invited address at the 1994 International Congress of Mathematicians in Zurich. 4 PIMS PERSONNEL

Dr. Indira Samarasekera, tional and international scenes. Vice President Research UBC, Dr. Salahub has served the science and innovation has been a Professor in the communities on a broad front. He was the Program Leader Department of Metals and of the Centers of Excellence in Molecular and Interfacial Materials Engineering and Dynamics (CEMAID) from 1991 to 1994 and a founding the Centre for Metallurgical member of the Centre de Recherche en Calcul Applique´ Process Engineering at UBC (CERCA) in 1991. He has served on NSERC’s Grant Se- since 1980. She obtained a lection Committee and twice on the Reallocation Steering Ph.D. degree at UBC in 1980. Committee for Chemistry (1997, 2001, Chair). He was the Dr. Samarasekera was the first lead applicant for an $18M Canada Foundation for Inno- Indira Samarasekera incumbent of the Dofasco vation grant that brought high-performance computing to Chair in Advanced Steel Pro- Quebec in 1998 and was an early proponent of the c3.ca cessing at UBC and has received the Killam Prize and the organization which is fostering high-performance comput- McDowell Medal from UBC for research excellence. In ing and networking in Canada. He has been a consultant 1991 she was awarded an E.W.R. Steacie Fellowship by for industry and the Steacie Institute is currently fostering the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council several incubation and spin-off companies. of Canada and the B.C. Science Council Award for New At the Steacie Institute, Dr. Salahub shaped research Frontiers in Research in 1997. She is a Fellow of the Royal thrusts in nanoscience and technology, bioscience and Society of Canada, of the Canadian Academy of Engineer- technology, and optical science and technology, under the ing and of CIMM. In 2002 she was appointed an Officer banner of the Insitute’s motto “The fundamental things ap- of the Order of Canada. Dr. Samarasekera currently serves ply”. He contributed to NRC’s vision for nanotechnology on the Board of Directors of Discovery Parks Inc., The in Canada and to the founding of the new $120M National Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Genome Institute for Nanotechnology in Edmonton, Alberta. British Columbia and the Provincial Health Services Au- Dr. Salahub has been the recipient of a CNC-IUPAC thority. Award, the Noranda Award of the Canadian Society for Chemistry and a Killam Research Fellowship. In 1998 he was named as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Dennis R. Salahub as- sumed the position of Vice- President (Research) at the Dr. Martin Taylor has a BA University of Calgary on July in Geography from the Uni- 1, 2002. He was the Director versity of Bristol (UK), and General of the Steacie Insti- an MA and Ph.D. from UBC. tute for Molecular Sciences at He was appointed at McMas- the National Research Coun- ter in 1974. He was Chair cil of Canada in Ottawa, from of Geography (1991–1997), 1999 until June, 2002. Prior founding Director of the In- to this he was a Professor of stitute of Environment and Chemistry at the Universite´ de Martin Taylor Health (1991–96), and Act- Dennis Salahub Montreal from 1976 to 1999, ing Vice-President Research holding a McConnell Chair from 1990. (1994–95). His research and teaching interests focus on A native of Alberta, Dr. Salahub has been interested environmental health and health promotion issues. His on- in theoretical and computational chemistry since his un- going projects include research on the psychosocial effects dergraduate days in Edmonton and his doctorate at the of environmental contamination and on community-based Universite´ de Montreal. Following postdoctoral studies at heart health promotion. He has authored one book and over Sussex, Waterloo, Johns Hopkins and the General Electric 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He moved to UVic laboratories in Schenectady, New York, he returned to the in July 1998 to be the University’s first Vice-President Re- Universite´ de Montreal and set up an internationally recog- search as well as being a full professor in the Geography nized research program in quantum chemistry, specializing Department. in the development of Density Functional Theory and its applications in materials and biomolecular modeling. He The Steering Committee of the Board consists of has published some 250 research papers, four edited books M. Boorman (Chair), J. Delgrande, N. Ghoussoub, and has delivered more than 300 invited lectures on the na- G. Kachanoski, E. Perkins and M. Taylor. PIMS PERSONNEL 5

Scientific Review Panel out the world including courses in the Troisieme´ Cycle at Lausanne in 1992, Centre Emile Borel in 1998 and the The Scientific Review Panel is responsible for: NachDiplom program at ETH, Switzerland. He is on the

Executive Committee and is the treasurer for the Interna-

The review and selection of scientific programmes tional Association of Mathematical Physics. and determination of their funding levels His interests are centred on the Renormalization The selection of PIMS Distinguished Chairs and Group in quantum field theory, statistical mechanics and The PIMS Research Prize. probability, in particular self-avoiding walk. Provide advice on longterm scientific planning for PIMS. Randy Goebel is currently professor and chair in the Nassif Ghoussoub, Director of PIMS, serves as the Department of Computing chair of the Scientific Review Panel. Members of the Science at the University Panel include the following people: of Alberta He received the B.Sc. (Computer Science), David Brillinger is a re- M.Sc. (Computing Science), searcher in the area of time se- and Ph.D. (Computer Sci- ries, which involves him in the ence) from the Universities of analysis of random processes Regina, Alberta, and British in the biological and physical Columbia, respectively. Randy Goebel sciences. He has made contri- Professor Goebel’s re- butions to the theory and ap- search is focused on the theory and application of intel- plication of statistical methods ligent systems. His theoretical work on abduction, hypo- in subject areas including neu- thetical reasoning and belief revision is well know, and his rophysiology (the analysis of recent application of practical belief revision to scheduling David Brillinger neural spike trains), seismology, and web mining is now having industrial impact. Randy and demography. He is the au- has previously held faculty appointments at the University thor of Time Series Analysis: Data Analysis and The- of Waterloo and the University of Tokyo, and is actively ory, former editor of the International Statistical Review, involved in academic and industrial collaborative research and current President of the Institute of Mathematical projects in Canada, Australia, Europe and Japan. Statistics. David Brillinger is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a Fellow of the Royal Ronald Graham is cur- Society of Canada. He received a D.Sc. degree from the rently Chief Scientist of University of Western Ontario in 1999. AT&T Research. He was President of the American David Brydges received the Mathematical Society from Ph.D. in 1976 at the Univer- 1993–95. His other current sity of Michigan under the di- obligations include: member- rection of Paul Federbush. He ship of the Scientific Advisory held a postdoctoral position at Committee of the Santa Fe Rockefeller University working Institute, of the National Re- for James Glimm. In 1978 he search Council, Mathemati- became Assistant Professor at cal Sciences Education Board, Ron Graham the University of Virginia. He and of the Joint Policy Board was promoted to Full Profes- on Mathematics. He is Treasurer of the National Academy David Brydges sor of Mathematics and Physics of Sciences (1996–2000). Dr. Graham’s academic awards in 1981 and became Common- include: Membership in the National Academy of Sci- wealth Chair in 1996. He was recently appointed as ences and Fellowships in the American Academy of Arts a Canada Research Chair at the University of British & Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Columbia. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Brydges received the Alfred P. Sloan Research fellow- He was the Scientist of the Year, World Book Encyclope- ship in 1982. He has given numerous lectures through- dia in 1981, and won the Polya Prize in Combinatorics in 6 PIMS PERSONNEL

1972, the Carl Allendorfer Award of the Math. Assoc. of Bob Russell received the America in 1990, a Lester Ford Award of the Math. Assoc. Ph.D. in 1971 at the Uni- of America, in 1991, and the Euler Medal of the Institute versity of New Mexico un- of Combinatorics in 1994. Ron Graham’s current math- der the direction of Lawrence ematical interests include combinatorics, number theory, Shampine. In 1971 he be- graph theory, discrete and computational geometry, theo- came Assistant Professor at retical computer science, and applications thereof. In all Colorado State University and of these areas he has made fundamental contributions. He in 1972 he moved to Simon is also a very gifted juggler. Fraser University. He was promoted to Full Professor in 1981. He has held numer- Robert V. Moody is Profes- ous visiting positions through- Bob Russell sor of Mathematics at the Uni- out the world, including at Stanford, University of Auck- versity of Alberta. He re- land and Imperial College (as an SERC Fellow). ceived his Ph.D. from the Uni- Russell’s travels include as an Invited Scholar at the versity of Toronto in 1966 USSR and Chinese Academies of Science and as a ple- and spent most of his aca- nary speaker at SIAM’s Dynamical Systems Conference demic career at the University in 2000. His journal editorships have included SIAM Jour- of Saskatchewan before com- nal on Numerical Analysis and SIAM Journal for Scientific ing to Alberta in 1989. He is Computing. He is a founding member and past Vice Pres- best known for the discovery, ident of CAIMS, has served two terms on NSERC’s Grant independently with V. Kac, Selection Committee in Computer Science, is on IMACS and subsequent investigations Robert Moody Board of Directors, and is a Canadian representative for of the Kac-Moody Algebras, ICIAM. for which he was awarded the 1994–1996 Eugene Wigner His field of research is scientific computing, with spe- Medal jointly with Kac. He has presented both the cial emphasis on the numerical solution of PDEs and Coxeter-James Prize Lecture (1978) and the Jeffrey- ODEs. An interest is in dynamical systems and compu- Williams Prize Lecture (1995) to the Canadian Mathemati- tational methods which preserve qualitative features of so- cal Society. He has served nationally on the Scientific Ad- lutions of differential equations. This has recently been visory Boards of both the CRM and the Fields Institute, in the context of developing mathematical software using and on the Council of the Academy of Science, Royal So- adaptive gridding techniques. ciety of Canada.

Elizabeth Thompson re- Ian F. Putnam received his ceived a B.A. in Mathe- Ph.D. from the University matics (1970), a Diploma of California at Berkeley in in Mathematical Statistics 1985. He was an NSERC (1971), and Ph.D. in Statis- University Research Fellow at tics (1974), from Cambridge Dalhousie University before University. In 1974–5 she was moving to the University of a NATO/SRC post-doc in the Victoria where he is currently Department of Genetics, Stan- Elizabeth Thompson professor in the Department ford University. From 1975– of Mathematics and Statistics. 81 she was a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, and His research concerns the in- from 1981–5 was Fellow and Director of Studies in Math- teractions between topologi- ematics at Newnham College. From 1976–1985 she was a Ian F. Putnam cal dynamics and C*-algebras. University Lecturer in the Department of Pure Mathemat- He has received the Israel Halperin Prize and the Andre ics and Mathematical Statistics, University of Cambridge. Aisenstadt prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of She joined the faculty of the University of Washington in Canada. December 1985, as a Professor of Statistics. Since 1988, Dr. Thompson has been Professor also of Biostatistics, and since Spring 2000, she is also an Adjunct Profes- sor in Genetics (now Genome Sciences) at the University PIMS PERSONNEL 7 of Washington, and an Adjunct Professor of Statistics at Gunther Uhlmann re- North Carolina State University. She served as Chair of ceived the Ph.D. in 1976 at the Department of Statistics from 1989–94. MIT under the direction of In 1981, she was elected a member of the Interna- Victor Guillemin. He held tional Statistical Institute, and in 1988, she was awarded postdoctoral positions at Har- an Sc.D. degree by the University of Cambridge. In 1994, vard, Courant Institute and she gave the R.A. Fisher Lecture at the Joint Statistical MIT. In 1980 he became As- Meetings in Toronto. In 1996, she gave the Neyman Lec- sistant Professor at MIT and ture (IMS) at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Chicago. In in 1985 he moved to the Uni- 1998, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy versity of Washington as an of Arts and Sciences. In 2001, she received the inaugu- Associate Professor. He was ral Jerome Sacks Award for Cross-Disciplinary Research promoted to Full Professor in Gunther Uhlmann from the National Institute for Statistical Science, and was 1987. also awarded the Weldon Prize, an international prize for Uhlmann was awarded the Annual National Prize of contributions to Biometric Science awarded by the Univer- Venezuela in Mathematics in 1982. He received the Alfred sity of Oxford. P. Sloan Research fellowship in 1984 and a John Simon Dr. Thompson’s research interest is in the development Guggenheim fellowship in 2001. He has given numerous of methods for inference from genetic data, and partic- lectures throughout the world included an invited address ularly from patterns of genome sharing observed among at the Portland meeting of the AMS in 1991, the CBMS- members of large and large and complex pedigree struc- NSF lectures on “Inverse Problems and Nondestructive tures, whether of plants, animals, or humans. Questions Evaluation” in 1995 and an invited lecture at the Interna- of interest range from human genetic linkage analysis to tional Congress of Mathematicians in Berlin in 1998. gene extinction in highly endangered species, and from in- His current interest is inverse problems in particular ference of relationship to inferences of the genetic basis inverse boundary value problems and inverse scattering of traits, Her current focus is on developing research and problems. In these problems one attempts to determine education in Statistical Genetics at the University of Wash- internal parameters of a medium by making measurements ington. at the boundary of the medium or by remote observations.

Hugh Williams holds the Gang Tian received his iCORE Chair in Algorithmic Ph.D. from Harvard Univer- Number Theory and Comput- sity in 1988. After positions at ing at the University of Cal- Princeton University and the gary and is a professor in State University of New York the Mathematics and Statis- at Stony Brook, he went to the tics Department at that institu- Courant Institute of Mathe- tion. His main research inter- matical Sciences at New York ests are in computational num- University in 1991 as full pro- ber theory, cryptography and fessor. He is currently a pro- Gang Tian the design and development of fessor at Massachusetts Insti- special-purpose hardware de- tute of Technology. Prof. Tian is a recipient of the Alfred Hugh Williams vices. His work in computa- P. Sloan research fellowship (1991–1993). He presented tional number theory extends from analyzing the complex- a 45-minutes invited address at the International Congress ity of number theoretic algorithms to the actual implemen- of Mathematicians in Kyoto in 1990 and the Bergmann tation and testing of such algorithms. Memorial Lecture at Stanford University in 1994. The Dr. Williams has published more than 130 refereed same year, he received the 19th Alan Waterman Award journal papers, 20 refereed conference papers and 20 from the National Science Foundation. In 1996, Prof. Tian books or (chapters therein). From 1983–85, he held a na- received the Veblen Prize of the American Mathematical tional Killam Research Fellowship, He has been an asso- Society. ciate editor for Mathematics of Computation since 1978 and is also a member of the editorial boards of two other journals. Dr. Williams has also served on the Natural Sci- ence and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Grant 8 PIMS PERSONNEL

Selection Committees for both Computing and Informa- Simon Fraser University: tion Science (1972–75) and Pure and Applied Mathemat- Malgorzata Dubiel* ics (1991–94), and chaired the latter from 1993–4. He has Loki Jorgenson also been a member of the Steacie Awards Selection Com- Rina Zaskis mittee. University of Alberta: Hans Brungs Executive Committee Ted Lewis* Andrew Liu The Executive Committee consists of the Director, the five Site Directors, and other members appointed University of Calgary: by the Board as required. The Executive is respon- Claude Laflamme sible for the day to day management of the PIMS as Indy Lagu* delegated by the Board. Director: Nassif Ghoussoub, (UBC, Math) SFU Site-Dir.: Manfred Trummer (SFU, Math) National Programme Committee UA Site-Dir.: James Muldowney (UA, Math) UBC of the Canadian Mathematical Site-Dir.: Dale Rolfsen (UBC, Math) UC Site-Dir.: Gary Margrave (UC, Math) Sciences Institutes UVic Site-Dir.: Florin Diacu (UVic, Math) UW Site-Dir.: S. Paul Smith (UW, Math) The three Canadian Institutes in the Mathematical Sciences CRM, Fields and PIMS have initiated a new programme for the support of joint activities in the Education and Communication mathematical sciences. This programme is admin- istered by a National Programme Committee, which Education Facilitator: Klaus Hoechsmann (UBC) makes recommendations to the Directors of the three institutes. Local Committees The 2001/02 committee consisted of: The Local Coordinators are indicated by an asterisk. Chair: Anne Bourlioux (CRM & Universit´e de University of Victoria: Montr´eal) Kelly Choo John Harnad (CRM & Concordia University) David Leeming* Bradd Hart (Fields Institute & University of Toronto) Bill Pfaffenberger Lisa Jeffrey (University of Toronto) University of BC: Subhash Lele (University of Alberta) Andrew Adler* Niky Kamran (CRM & McGill University) Phillip Loewen Dale Rolfsen (PIMS & UBC) Edwin Perkins David Sankoff (Universit´e de Montr´eal) PIMS Site Personnel

PIMS Main Office PIMS at University of British

Dr. Nassif Ghoussoub, Director Columbia Dr. Sandy Rutherford, Scientific Executive Officer Dr. Dale Rolfsen, Site Director Dr. Klaus Hoechsmann, Education Officer Dr. Martial Agueh, PDF Ms. Andrea Hook, PIMS Administrator Dr. Dominic Brecher, PDF Mr. Derek Bideshi, Programme Coordinator Dr. R. Fazio, PDF Ms. Heather Jenkins, Communications Officer Dr. Kazuyuki Furuuchi, PDF Ms. Fanny Lui, Financial Clerk Dr. Xavier Granier, PDF Mr. Kelly Choo, Website Administrator Dr. Yuri Gusev, PDF Mr. Shervin Teymouri, Computer Systems Dr. Antal Jarai, PDF Administrator Dr. Luis Lehner, PDF Ms. Clarina Chan, MITACS Administrator Dr. Nathaniel Newland, PDF Ms. Jessica Douglas, BIRS Programme Coordinator Dr. Ehud Schreiber, PDF Dr. Xiang Tao, PDF Dr. Yuqing Wang, PDF Dr. Zhenya Yan, PDF Dr. Ana Granados, MITACS PDF Dr. Joern Sass, MITACS PDF

Dale Rolfsen, UBC-PIMS Site Director, 1997-2002.

Fanny Lui, Derek Bideshi, Andrea Hook and Clarina Chan (l–r).

9 10 PIMS PERSONNEL

PIMS at Simon Fraser University PIMS at University of Alberta

Dr. Manfred Trummer, Site Director Dr. Jim Muldowney, Site Director Ms. Fuyuko Kitazawa, Administrative Assistant Ms. Shirley Mitchell, Executive Assistant Ms. Andrea Kiefner, PIMS/MITACS Receptionist Dr. Ted Lewis, Education Coordinator Mr. Brent Kearney, Computer Systems Dr. Wen Chen, PDF Administrator Dr. Christina Cobbold, PDF Dr. Malgorzata Dubiel, Education Coordinator Dr. Matthias Neufang, PDF Dr. Nils Bruin, PDF Dr. Sumati Surya, PDF Dr. Grace Chiu, PDF Dr. Chuong Tran, PDF Dr. Will Galway, PDF Dr. Roman Vershynin, PDF Dr. Russell Luke, PDF Dr. Hongwei Long, Industrial Collaborative Dr. Riste Skrekovski, PDF Associate Dr. Janez Ales, MITACS PDF Dr. Peter Berg, MITACS PDF Dr. Edgardo Cheb-Terrab, MITACS PDF Dr. Ronald Ferguson, MITACS PDF Dr. Daya Gaur, MITACS PDF Dr. Alexander Kononov, MITACS PDF James Muldowney, U. Alberta-PIMS Dr. Stefan Langerman, MITACS PDF Site Director, Dr. Snezana Mitrovic-Minic, MITACS PDF 2001–02. Dr. Andrew Solomon, MITACS PDF Dr. Bettina Speckmann, MITACS PDF Dr. Brett Stevens, MITACS PDF

Manfred Trummer, SFU-PIMS Site Director, 2001–02. PIMS PERSONNEL 11

PIMS at University of Calgary

Dr. Gary Margrave, Site Director Ms. Marian Miles, Administrative Assistant Dr. Indy Lagu, Education Coordinator Florin Diacu, Dr. Peter Hoyer, PDF U. Victoria-PIMS Site Director, Dr. Luigi Santocanale, PDF 1998–2002. Dr. Tatjana Stykel, PDF Dr. Hugh Geiger, MITACS-PDF Dr. Peter Gibson, MITACS-PDF

PIMS University of Washington

Gary Margrave, Dr. S. Paul Smith, Site Director U. Calgary-PIMS Ms. Jessica Baird, Administrative Assistant Site Director, 2001–02.

S. Paul Smith, U. Washington- PIMS Site Director, PIMS at University of Victoria 2002.

Dr. Florin Diacu, Site Director Ms. Dil Bains, Admin. Assistant Mrs. Timea Halmai, Admin. Assistant (on leave) Dr. David Leeming, Education Coordinator Mr. Kelly Choo, Web Manager Dr. Vladislav Panferov, PDF Dr. Inhyeop Yi, PDF University of Lethbridge Dr. Joachim Stadel, PDF Dr. Julien Arino, MITACS PDF Dr. Jorgen Rasmussen, PDF PIMS Scientific Personnel

PIMS Distinguished Chairs Richard Lockhart (Stats, SFU), Bryant Moodie (Math, UA) and Frank Ruskey (Comp Sci, UVic). PIMS Distinguished Chairs for 2001/02 1. Inhyeop Yi: Dynamical systems and operator algebras. Vladimir Turaev (CNRS Strasbourg VI) Supervised by Ian Putnam (UVic). Site: University of Calgary 2. Vladislav Panferov: PDEs (kinetic theory). Supervised by Reinhard Illner (UVic). July–August, 2001 3. Kazuyuki Furuuchi: Theoretical physics (string theory). Gang Tian (MIT) Supervised by Gordon Semenoff (UBC). Site: University of British Columbia 4. Zhenya Yan: Applied math (soliton theory and nonlinear integral systems). August 2001 Supervised by George Bluman (UBC). Michael Shelly (Courant Institute) 5. Xavier Granier: Computer science (computer graphics). Site: Simon Fraser University Supervised by Wolfgang Heidrich (UBC). November–December 2001 6. Ehud Schreiber: Theoretical physics (quantum field and string theories). Supervised by Moshe Rozali, Mark Van Raamsdonk PIMS Distinguished Chairs for 2002/03 (UBC). 7. William Galway: Computational number theory. Donald G. Saari (University of California, Irvine) Supervised by Jonathan Borwein, Peter Borwein, Imin Site: University of Victoria Chen, Stephen Choi and Petr Lisonek (SFU). September 2002 8. Russell Luke: Applied math (image processing). Supervised by Jon Borwein (SFU). Klaus Schmidt (University of Vienna and Director, 9. Grace Chiu: Statistics (applications to the life sciences). Erwin Schrodinger¨ Institute) Supervised by Richard Lockhart and Rick Routledge (SFU). Site: University of Victoria 10. Riste Skrekovski: Computer science (graph theory). November 2002 Supervised by Pavol Hell (SFU). Gunther Uhlmann (University of Washington) 11. Wen Chen: Signal & image processing. Site: University of British Columbia Supervised by Bin Han and Rong-Qing Jia (U of A). 12. Roman Vershynin: Geometric functional analysis. November 2002 Supervised by Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann (U of A). See page 62 for more information about the PIMS 13. Christina Cobbold: Mathematical biology. Supervised by Mark Lewis (U of A). Distinguished Chairs for 2001/02 and 2002/03. 14. Chuong Tran: Applied math (fluid dynamics). Supervised by John Bowman (U of A). 15. Peter Hoyer: Algorithmics, data structures, complexity PIMS PDFs for 2002/03 theory and quantum computing. Supervised by Richard Cleve (U of C). 16. Tatjana Stykel: Applied math (numerical linear algebra, The review panel for the 2002/03 competition were control theory). Michael Lamoureux, (Chair, Math, UC), David Bry- Supervised by Peter Lancaster (U of C). dges (Math, UBC), Leah Keshet (Math, UBC),

12 THE BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION

Corbett Hall at the Banff Centre on a fall morning. 14 BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION

provides a forum for lively and vigorous discussion for the latest theories and proposals.

Robert V. Moody, BIRS Two-day Workshops Scientific Director The normal scheduling of the five-day workshops will leave 2 day periods open (Friday and Satur- day) that may be used for a variety of shorter meet- ings such as Pacific Northwest Seminars ans special events. The official announcement of the Banff Interna- tional Research Station (BIRS) occurred on Septem- Research in Teams ber 24, 2001 at the Banff Centre in Banff, Al- berta, and at the National Science Foundation in In addition to its ongoing workshops, the station may Washington D.C. The ceremony included speeches host teams of 2–4 researchers for periods of 2–4 by: Dr. Rita Colwell (Director, NSF), Dr. Tom weeks. This programme will offer individuals from Brzustowski (President, NSERC), Dr. Robert Church different institutions who are collaborating together, (Chair of Board, Alberta Science and Research the location and freedom from distraction to concen- Agency), Dr. Philippe Tondeur (Director of Division trate on their research or to finish major projects. for the Mathematical Sciences, NSF), Hon. Cindy Ady (MLA for Calgary Shaw), Ms. Mary Hofstet- Focused Research Groups ter (President and CEO of The Banff Centre) and Mr. Raul E. Chavera (US Consul General in Cal- There will be possibilities to have research collabo- gary). The ceremony is available in realvideo from rative groups in residence together for longer stays www.pims.math.ca/birs/past menu/announce/. (Aspen mode) and some with other formats. A typ- ical configuration might be groups of 10–15 mathe- maticians each, up to 8 of them being in residence The Location of BIRS at BIRS for 2–4 weeks. This would provide a good venue for collaborative work for teams of mathemat- BIRS is located in two adjacent buildings at the ical researchers like those identified and supported Banff Centre: the Max Bell building will have two by NSF’s Focused Research Groups program and lecture rooms and several smaller meeting and dis- NSERC’s Collaborative Research Opportunities pro- cussion rooms, and Corbett Hall, which will be en- gram. tirely taken over by BIRS, will house the living quar- ters for all BIRS visitors. Summer Schools Modes of Operation BIRS will run some longer events (10–12 days) in the form of research schools directed principally to- Five-Day Workshops wards graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The fundamental mode of BIRS is the five-day workshop, which runs from Sunday a.m. through to The Opening of BIRS Thursday p.m. Each workshop is devoted to one spe- cific area of high research interest. About 40 expert BIRS will open its doors on March 15, 2003. To cel- participants from around the world are invited to at- ebrate the remarkable achievement of creating this tend. The objective is to exchange the latest advances new institution there will be a reception on February in the field and to provide an environment which fos- 28, 2002 at the Banff Centre. This will be a gala af- ters new collaborations and new ideas, and which fair involving the Boards of Trustees of PIMS, MSRI BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION 15

and MITACS, the Academic Sponsors of MSRI, The BIRS Scientific Advisory Board the Scientific Advisory Board of BIRS, and rep-

Robert V. Moody (Chair, U. Alberta): Lie Theory and resentatives of NSERC, ASRA, and the NSF— Mathematical Physics approximately 150 people. The speakers will include

Doug Arnold (U. Minnesota): PDE and Numerical James J. Heckman (U. Chicago), Jay Ingram (Dis- Analysis cover Channel) and Donald Saari (UC, Irvine).

James Arthur (U. Toronto): Representation Theory

Jennifer Chayes (Microsoft Research): Complexity theory and Statistical Mechanics

Richard Cleve (U. Calgary): Quantum Computing The Evaluation of the BIRS 2003

Ronald Coifman (Yale): Harmonic Analysis Programme

Henri Darmon (McGill): Number Theory

David Gross (UC, Santa Barbara): Quantum Field The Call for Proposals for workshops at BIRS in Theory and String Theory 2003 was very enthusiastically received, resulting in

Peter Guttorp (U. Washington): Environmental Stats 108 proposals. The overall level of proposals was

Craig Huneke (U. Kansas): Algebra outstanding. The various committees were guided

Nancy Kopell (Boston University): PDE and Applied by the principle that BIRS has to be inclusive of all Mathematics the mathematical sciences and that each year its pro-

Mark Lewis (U. Alberta): Math Biology and Ecology gramme should provide a broad sampling of these.

L´aszl´o Lov´asz (Microsoft Research): Combinatorial Thus the proposals were broken down into some 22 Optimization, Algorithms and Complexity areas, and within each area the proposals were evalu-

Jitendra Malik (UC, Berkeley): Computer Vision ated and compared against each other. The commit-

Dusa McDuff (SUNY, Stony Brook): Topology and tee then made sure that these were represented and Symplectic Geometry that no area was grossly over- or underrepresented.

David Mumford (Brown University): Machine and Not surprisingly many fine proposals were omitted Natural Intelligence in this process.

Robert Myers (McGill and Perimeter Institute): Super- The features the committees looks for when mak-

string Theory and Quantum Gravity ing their selections were:

Edwin Perkins (UBC): Probability Theory The proposal should be well focused.

Nicholas Pippenger (UBC): Computer Science

The set of proposed applicants should be realistic

Ian Putnam (U. Victoria): Dynamics and Operator Al- and should be logical to the coherence and goals gebras of the workshop. Nancy Reid (U. Toronto): Statistics The workshop ought to be sufficiently innovative Gang Tian (MIT): Geometry

or sufficiently timely that holding it has signifi-

Robert Tibshirani (Stanford): Data Mining and Com- cant potential to make a difference to the subject.

putational Statistics

The organizers (at least some) should be of recog- Margaret Wright (Courant Institute): Algorithmic Op-

timization nized stature.

David Eisenbud (Director, MSRI): Commutative Alge- The proposal should be written carefully, plac- bra, Algebraic Geometry, Computation ing the above points clearly in the context of the

Nassif Ghoussoub (Director, PIMS): Non-linear Anal- present state of the subject. ysis, PDE The following points, although not of primary Arvind Gupta (Program leader, MITACS): Combina-

torics, Optimization, Complexity Theory importance, were also considered:

Ken Davidson (Director, Fields Institute): Opera- The committee would like to see each workshop ¡£¢ tor Theory, Nonselfadjoint operator algebras, - make some effort to involve young and emerging algebras talent in the form of post-docs or advanced grad- Jacques Hurtubise (Directeur, CRM): Topology, Geom- uate students. etry 16 BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION

It is always good to keep in mind the appropriate compatible with the PIMS scientific, industrial and representation of women in the list of participants. educational programmes, as dictated by the provin-

Priority will be given to those workshops that pro- cial funding sources for the institute and of BIRS. mote Canada-US research collaboration. There- Priority is given to events that fit into other par- fore each workshop ideally would have at least allel PIMS activities—particularly the Graduate In- one organiser from a Canadian institution and one dustrial Modelling Camps, the Periods of Concen- from an institution in the US. tration for Collaborative Research Groups, the The- matic Programmes, as well as various educational The Other Programmes at BIRS activities. Beyond that the proposals should also have a strong connection to groups, strengths, or on- There were also about fifteen proposals for the other going activities within the PIMS participating uni- aspects of the BIRS programme: Focused Research versities in Canada and the US. Groups and Research in Teams. These were all very worthwhile proposals and it was possible to satisfy all these requests, including hosting the Canadian BIRS Calendar for 2003 Mathematical Olympiad Team for 2 weeks in the summer of 2003. From the 118 proposals that were received the fol- lowing were selected. The Review Process The selection process is a multistage process. All 2003 Programme for 5-day Workshops incoming proposals are placed in one master file and all 27 members of the BIRS Scientific Advisory Mar 15–20: Recent Developments in Superstring The- Board (SAB) can provide their written evaluations ory online about any proposal they wish to comment on. Organizers: Jim Bryan, Moshe Rozali, Gordon W. Se- In addition, each proposal gets reviewed by two menoff, Mark Van Raamsdonk (UBC), Steve Giddings members of the SAB, assigned by the Scientific Di- (UC, Santa Barbara), Mikhail Kapranov, Amanda W. Peet (Toronto), Andreas Karch (Washington), K. Viswanathan rector according to expertise in the subject area. In (SFU) some cases, external refereeing was also solicited. All available information goes to the scientific Mar 22–27: Scattering and Inverse Scattering panels of PIMS (resp., MSRI) who have the respon- Organizers: Richard Froese (UBC), Gunther Uhlmann sibility to select 12 (resp., 6) BIRS proposals of in- (Washington) terest to their own scientific programmes from this Mar 29–Apr 3: Commutative Algebra and Geometry file. The BIRS Scientific Steering Committee fin- Organizers: Mark Green (IPAM), Jur¨ gen Herzog ishes off the selection process choosing another 22 (Gesamthochschule-Essen), Bernd Sturmfels (UC, Berke- workshops, based on the recommendations of its ley) SAB and on the input of the MITACS Scientific Di- Apr 5–10: BIRS Workshop on Noncommutative Geom- rector so that there are at least two weeks of industri- etry ally oriented workshops. Organizers: Alain Connes (IHES), Joachim Cuntz (Muen- ster), George Elliott (Toronto), Masoud Khalkhali (West- ern Ontario), Boris Tsygan (Penn State) The PIMS Proposals Apr 12–17: Quantum Mechanics on the Large Scale The PIMS Scientific Review Panel has the responsi- Organizers: P.C.E. Stamp, G.A. Sawatzky (UBC) A.J. bility of selecting 12 of the full set of proposals. An Leggett (Illinois, Urbana), T. Havel (MIT), S. Popescu appropriate BIRS workshop proposal for the PIMS (HH Wills Lab), R. Gill (Utrecht) Scientific Review Panel has to satisfy all criteria of Apr 19–24: Computational Fuel Cell Dynamics—II excellence and innovation that are required by the Organizers: John Kenna (Ballard), Trung Van Nguyen BIRS evaluation process. In addition, they have to be (Kansas), Keith Promislow (SFU), Brian Wetton (UBC) BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION 17

Apr 26–May 1: The Many Aspects of Mahler’s Measure Organizers: Alice Chang, Paul Yang (Princeton), Pengfei Organizers: David Boyd (UBC), Doug Lind (Washington), Guan (McMaster) Fernando Rodriguez Villegas (Texas, Austin), Christopher Aug 9–16: Localization Behavior in Reaction-Diffusion Deninger (Muenster) Systems and Applications to the Natural Sciences (1/2 May 3–8: Recent Advances in Algebraic and Enumera- workshop) tive Combinatorics Organizers: A. Bernoff (Harvey Mudd College), P. Fife Organizers: Sara Billey (MIT), Ian Goulden, David (Utah), T. Hillen (Alberta), M. J. Ward (UBC), J. Wei (Chi- Jackson (Waterloo), Curtis Greene (Haverford College), nese U.) Richard Stanley (MIT) Aug 9–16: Defects and their Dynamics (1/2 workshop) May 10–15: Statistical Mechanics of Polymer Models Organizers: Peter W. Bates (Brigham Young), Lia Bron- Organizers: Christine E. Soteros (Saskatchewan), De Witt sard (McMaster), Changfeng Gui (Connecticut) Sumners (Florida State), Stuart G Whittington (Toronto) Aug 16–21: Current Trends in Arithmetic Geometry May 24–29: Constraint Programming, Belief Revision, and Number Theory and Combinatorial Optimization Organizers: Imin Chen (SFU), Brian Conrad, Chris Organizer: Randy Goebel (Alberta) Skinner (Michigan), Eyal Goren (McGill), Adrian Iovita May 31–Jun 5: Symmetry and Bifurcation in Biology (Washington), Nike Vatsal (UBC) Organizers: Martin Golubitsky (Houston), William F. Aug 23–28: Computational Techniques for Moving In- Langford (Guelph), Ian Stewart (Warwick) terfaces Jun 7–12: Applicable Harmonic Analysis Organizers: Randy LeVeque (Washington), Robert D. Rus- Organizers: Rong-Qing Jia (Alberta), Sherman D. sell, Steven Ruuth (SFU) Riemenschneider (West Virginia), M. Victor Wickerhauser Aug 30–Sep 4: A Scientific Creative Writing Workshop (Washington) at BIRS (1/2 workshop) Jun 14–19: Integration on Arc Spaces, Elliptic Genus Organizers: Marjorie Senechal (Smith College), Chandler and Chiral de Rham Complex Davis (Toronto) Organizers: Mikhail Kapranov (Toronto), Anatoly Lib- Aug 30–Sep 4: Locally Finite Lie Algebras (1/2 work- gober (Illinois at Chicago), Franc¸ois Loeser (ENS), shop) Jun 21–26: Point Processes—Theory and Applications Organizers: Yuri Bahturin (Memorial Newfoundland), Organizers: Peter Guttorp (Washington), Bruce Smith Georgia Benkart (Wisconsin-Madison), Ivan Penkov (UC- (Dalhousie) Riverside), Helmut Strade (Hamburg), Alexander Za- Jun 28–Jul 3: Joint Dynamics lesskii (Northern Anglia) Organizers: Douglas Lind, Boris Solomyak (Washington), Sep 6–11: Regularization in Statistics Daniel Rudolph (Maryland), Klaus Schmidt (Vienna) Organizers: Ivan Mizera (Alberta), Roger Koenker (Illi- Jul 5–10: Mathematical Biology: From Molecules to nois) Ecosystems; The Legacy of Lee Segel Sep 13–18: Topology in and around Dimension Three Organizers: Leah Keshet (UBC), Simon A. Levin (Prince- Organizers: Steve Boyer (Quebec), Martin Scharlemann ton), Mark Lewis (Alberta) (UC Santa Barbara), Abigail Thompson (UC Davis) Jul 12–17: Perspectives in Differential Geometry Sep 20–25: Structural and Probabilistic Approaches to Organizers: Richard Schoen (Stanford), Gang Tian (MIT), Graph Colouring Jingyi Chen (UBC) Organizers: Professor Bruce Reed (McGill), Paul Seymour Jul 19–24: Differential Invariants and Invariant Differ- (Princeton) ential Equations Sep 27–Oct 2: Stochastic Partial Differential Equations Organizers: Niky Kamran (McGill), Peter J. Olver (Min- Organizers: Martin Barlow, Edwin Perkins (UBC), nesota) Krzysztof Burdzy (Washington), Robert Dalang (Ecole Jul 26–31: Analysis and Geometric Measure Theory Polytechnique Fed´ erale)´ Organizers: Ana Granados (UBC), Herve´ Pajot (U. Cergy- Oct 4–9: Quadratic forms, Algebraic Groups, and Ga- Pontoise), Tatiana Toro (Washington) lois Cohomology Aug 2–7: Monge-Ampere Type Equations and Applica- Organizers: R. Elman, A.S. Merkurjev (UCLA), J. Minac tions (Western Ontario), C. Riehm (McMaster) 18 BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION

Oct 11–16: BANFF Credit Risk Conference 2003 2003 Programme for Focused Research Organizers: Tom Astebro (Waterloo), Peter Beling (Vir- Groups (FRG), Research in Teams ginia), David Hand (Imperial College), Robert Oliver (Fair Isaac Companies), Lyn Thomas (Southampton) (RIT), Summer Schools (SS) and 2-Day Workshops Oct 18–23: MITACS Special Industrial Forum Organizer: Arvind Gupta (MITACS) Mar 28–29: Northwest Functional Analysis Symposium (2-day workshop) Oct 25–30: Current Trends in Representation Theory Organizers: Michael Lamoureux (Calgary), Tony Lau, of Finite Groups Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann (Alberta), Ian Putnam (Vic- Organizers: Jonathan L. Alperin (Chicago), Michel Broue toria) (Paris VII), Gerald Cliff (Alberta) Apr 3–6: Restricting syzygies of algebraic varieties (RIT) Nov 1–6: PIMS HOT TOPICS: Galaxy Formation; a Organizer: David Eisenbud (MSRI) Herculean Challenge Apr 11–12: Mathfair Workshop (2-day workshop) Organizers: Arif Babul, Julio Navarro, Frank van den Organizers: Ted Lewis, Andy Liu (Alberta) Bosch (Victoria), Jeremiah Ostriker (Cambridge), Tom Quinn (Washington), Neal Katz (Massachusetts) Apr 26–May 10: Topological Orbit Equivalence for Dy- namical Systems (RIT) Nov 8–13: MSRI HOT TOPICS Organizers: T. Giordano (Ottawa), C. Skau (Norwegian Organizer: Michael Singer (MSRI) Science & Technology), I. Putnam (Victoria) Apr 26–May 10: Field Theory & Cohomology of Nov 15–20: The Interaction of Finite Type and Groups (RIT) Gromov-Witten Invariants Organizers: J. Minac (Western Ontario), A. Adem Organizers: Jim Bryan (UBC), David Auckly (Kansas (Wisconsin-Madison), D. Karagueuzian (Binghamton) State) May 10–24: Regularity for Hypergraphs (FRG) Nov 22–27: Theory and Numerics of Matrix Eigenvalue Organizers: P. Haxell (Waterloo), V. Rodl (Emory), J. Problems Skokan (Illinois Urbana-Champaign), L. Thoma (Rhode Organizers: J. W. Demmel (UC Berkeley), N.J. Higham Island) (Manchester), P. Lancaster (Calgary) May 15–17: The regression discontinuity method in economics: theory and applications (2-day workshop) Nov 29–Dec 4: Nonlinear Dynamics of Thin Films and Organizer: Thomas Lemieux (UBC) Fluid Interfaces Organizers: A. L. Bertozzi, R. P. Behringer, T.P. Witelski May 17–22: PIMS Graduate Industrial Mathematics (Duke), R. Almgren, M. C. Pugh (Toronto), M. Shearer Modelling Camp (SS) (NC State) Organizers: R. Kuske (PIMS), F. Santosa (IMA) May 24–Jun 7: Topology and Analysis: Complementary Dec 6–11: Calabi-Yau Varieties and Mirror Symmetry Approaches to the Baum-Connes and Novikov Conjec- Organizers: Victor Batyrev (Tubingen),¨ Shinobu Hosono tures (FRG) (Tokyo), James D. Lewis (Alberta), Bong H. Lian (Bran- Organizers: N. Higson (Penn State), J. Kaminker (Indiana- deis), S.-T. Yau (Harvard), Noriko Yui (Queen’s), Don Za- Purdue), S. Weinberger (Chicago) gier (Max-Planck) Jun 7–21: Quantum Algorithms & Complexity Theory Dec 13–18: p-adic Variation of Motives (1/2 workshop) (FRG) Organizers: Kevin Buzzard (Imperial College), Robert Organizer: R. Cleve (Calgary) Coleman (UC Berkeley), Matthew Emerton (Northwest- Jun 21–27: Summer School in Differential Geometry ern), Eyal Goren (McGill) (SS) Organizer: R. Bryant (UC Berkeley) Dec 13–18: Coordinate Methods in Nonselfadjoint Op- erator Algebras (1/2 workshop) Jun 28–Jul 10: 2003 Summer IMO Training Camp (SS) Organizers: Allan Donsig (Nebraska), Michael Lam- Organizer: W. Sands (Calgary) oureux (Calgary) Jul 12–26: Problems in Discrete Probability (FRG) BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION 19

Organizers: R. Pemantle (Ohio State), Y. Peres (UC Berke- BIRS Calendar for 2004 ley), P. Winkler (Bell Labs)

Jul 26–Aug 16: Representation Theory of Linearly 2004 Programme for 5-day Workshops Compact Lie Superalgebras and the Standard Model Mar 13–18: Interactions between model theory and ge- (RIT) ometry Organizers: V. Kac (MIT), A. Rudakov (NTNU) Organizers: Deirdre Haskell (McMaster), Jan Denef (Leu- Aug 2–16: Variance of Quasi-coherent Torsion Cousin ven), Ehud Hrushovski (Hebrew U.), Angus Macintyre Complexes (RIT) (Edinburgh), Anand Pillay (UIUC), Patrick Speissegger Organizers: J. Lipman (Purdue), S. Nayak (Harish- (Wisconsin & McMaster) Chandra Research Inst.), P. Sastry (Toronto) Mar 20–26: Topology of Manifolds and Homotopy The- ory Aug 16–30: Invariant Manifolds for Stochastic PDEs Organizers: Ian Hambleton (McMaster), Erik Pedersen (RIT) (SUNY, Binghamton), Gunnar Carlsson (Stanford) Organizers: T. Caraballo (Universidad de Sevilla), J. Duan (Illinois Tech), K. Lu (Brigham Young), B. Schmalfuss Mar 27–Apr 1: Orthogonal Polynomials; Interdisci- (Merseburg) plinary Aspects Organizers: Jacek Szmigielski (Saskatchewan), Percy De- Aug 16–Sep 6: Local Uniformization and Resolution of ift (Courant), Lance Littlejohn, David Sattinger (Utah Singularities (RIT) State) Organizers: S.D. Cutkosky (Missouri-Columbia), F.- Apr 3–8: Model Reduction Problems and Matrix Meth- V. Kuhlmann (Saskatchewan) ods Aug 28–30: Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Organizers: Anne Greenbaum (Washington), Gene Golub Alberta Symposium (2-day workshop) (Stanford), Jim Varah (UBC) Organizer: Helmy Sherif (Alberta) Apr 10–15: Analytic and Geometric Aspects of Stochas- tic Processes Sep 6–20: Arithmetic of Fundamental Groups (RIT) Organizers: Martin Barlow (UBC), Alexander Grigoryan Organizers: D. Harbater (Pennsylvania), F. Pop (Bonn) (Imperial College), Elton Hsu (Northwestern) Sep 18–20: Canadian Mathematics Chairs Meeting (2- Apr 17–22: Celestial Mechanics (1/2 workshop) day workshop) Organizers: Florin Diacu (Victoria), Donald Saari (UC, Organizer: Ted Bisztriczky (Calgary) Irvine)

Sep 20–Oct 2: Mathematical Models for Plant Disper- Apr 17–22: BIRS Workshop in Creative Scientific Writ- sal (FRG) ing (1/2 workshop) Organizers: M. Lewis (Alberta), J. Bullock (NERC Centre Apr 24–29: Microeconometrics of Spatial and Grouped for Ecology and Hydrology) Data Organizers: Thomas Lemieux (UBC), David Card (UC, Oct 2–4: West Coast Operator Algebra (2-day work- Berkeley) shop) Organizer: B. Brenkan (Calgary) May 1–6: Mathematical structures in economic theory and econometrics (1/2 workshop) Organizers: Ivar Ekeland (UBC), Pierre-Andre Chiappori (Chicago) May 1–6: Singular Cardinal Combinatorics (1/2 work- shop) Organizers: Claude Laflamme (Calgary), Matthew Fore- man (UC, Irvine), Stevo Todorcevic (Toronto, CNRS Paris) May 8–13: Knots and their manifold stories Organizers: Orr Kent (Indiana), Tim Cochran (Rice), Dale Rolfsen (UBC) 20 BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION

May 15–20: New developments on variational methods Organizers: Jennifer Bryan (UBC), Sandrine Dudoit, Mark and their applications van der Laan (UC, Berkeley) Organizers: Changfeng Gui (Connecticut), Kung-Ching Aug 21–26 : Computation and Dynamics in Genetic Chang (Peking), Paul Rabinowitz (Wisconsin, Madison), and Metabolic Networks, and Mathematical Control Jingyi Chen (UBC) Theory in Systems Biology May 22–27: Mathematical Foundations of Scientific Vi- Organizers: Leon Glass (McGill), Erik Winfree (Caltech), sualization, Computer Graphics, and Massive Data Ex- John Reinitz (SUNY, Stony Brook), Brian Ingalls (Water- ploration loo), Eduardo Sontag (Rutgers), Jim Collins (Boston) Organizers: Torsten Moller, Robert Russell (SFU), Bernd Aug 28–Sep 2: Combinatorial Hopf Algebras Hamann (UC, Davis) Organizers: Frank Sottile (Massachusetts), Nantel Berg- May 29–Jun 3: Aperiodic Order: Dynamical Systems, eron (York), Louis Billera (Cornell), Stephanie van Willi- Combinatorics, and Operators genburg (UBC) Organizers: Michael Baake (Institut fuer Mathematik), Sep 4–9: Pluripotential Theory and its Applications David Damanik (Caltech), Ian Putnam (Victoria), Boris Organizers: Len Bos, Alex Brudnyi (Calgary), Eric Bed- Solomyak (Washington) ford (Indiana), Al Taylor (Michigan) Jun 5–10: Semimartingale Theory and Practice in Fi- Sep 11–16: Commutative Algebra: Homological and nance Birational Theory Organizers: Tom Hurd (McMaster), Thaleia Za- Organizers: Ragnar-Olaf Buchweitz (Toronto), Paul riphopoulou (Texas, Austin), Philip Protter (Cornell), Lane Roberts (Utah), Bernd Ulrich (Purdue) Hughston (King’s College) Sep 18–23: Quantum Computation and Information Jun 12–17: New Horizons in String Cosmology Theory Organizers: James Cline (McGill), Robert Brandenberger Organizers: John Watrous, Richard Cleve (Calgary), (Brown), Steve Giddings (UC, Santa Barbara), Brian Umesh Vazirani (UC, Berkeley) Greene (Columbia), Rob Myers (Perimeter Institute), Gor- don Semenoff (UBC) Sep 25–30: Interaction of Finite Dimensional Algebras Jun 19–24: PIMS Hot Topic Workshop with other areas of Mathematics Organizers: Vlastimil Dlab (Carleton), Claus Ringel Jun 26–Jul 8: PIMS International Summer School (2 (Bielefeld), Leonard Scott (Virginia) weeks) Oct 2–7: Self-Stabilizing Distributed Systems Jul 10–15: Convex Geometric Analysis Organizers: Lisa Higham (Calgary), Anish Arora (Ohio Organizers: Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann (Alberta), Vitali State), Faith Fich (Toronto), Maurice Herlihy (Brown), Ted Milman (Tel Aviv), Elisabeth Werner (Case Western Re- Herman (Iowa), serve) Oct 9–14: Free probability theory Jul 17–22: Modeling Protein Flexibility and Motions Organizers: Alexandru Nica (Waterloo), Roland Speicher Organizers: Walter Whiteley (York), Michael Thorpe, (Queen’s), Dan Voiculescu (UC, Berkeley) Leslie Kuhn (Michigan State) Oct 16–21: Braid Groups and Applications Jul 24–29: Geometric Evolution Equations Organizers: Dale Rolfsen (UBC), Joan Birman Organizers: Christine Guenther (Pacific University), (Columbia), Patrick Dehornoy (Caen), Roger Fenn (Sus- Jingyi Chen (UBC), Bennett Chow (UC, San Diego), sex), Vaughan Jones (UC, Berkeley) Klaus Ecker (Freie Universitaet Berlin) Oct 23–28: Mathematical Image Analysis and Process- Jul 31–Aug 5: Conformal Geometry ing Organizers: Thomas Branson (Iowa), Michael Eastwood Organizers: Mary Pugh (Toronto), Selim Esedoglu (Adelaide), McKenzie Wang (McMaster) (UCLA), Sung Ha Kang (Kentucky), Jackie Shen (Min- Aug 7–12: Stochastic processes in evolutionary and dis- nesota) ease genetics Oct 30–Nov 4: The structure of amenable systems Organizers: Ellen Baake (Greifswald), Don Dawson (Car- Organizers: George Elliott (Toronto), Andrew Dean leton), Warren Ewens (Pennsylvania), Bruce Rannala (Al- (Lakehead), Thierry Giordano (Ottawa), Guihua Gong berta) (Puerto Rico), Huaxin Lin, N. Christopher Phillips (Ore- Aug 14–19: Statistical Science for Genome Biology gon) BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION 21

Nov 6–11: New Techniques in Lorentz Manifold (1/2 (U. Ghent, Belgium) workshop) Jul 10–24: String Field Theory Camp (FRG) Organizers: Virginie Charette (Manitoba), Todd Drumm Organizers: Gordon Semenoff, Mark van Raamsdonk, (Swarthmore College), William Goldman (Maryland) Moshe Rozali (UBC) Nov 6–11: Functional Differential Equations (1/2 work- May 15–Jun 5: Maximal functions in non-commutative shop) analysis (RIT) Organizers: Jianhong Wu (York), Hans-otto Walther Organizers: Marius Junge (U. Illinois, Urbana- (Giessen), John Mallet-paret (Brown) Champaign), Quanhua Xu (Besancon, France) Nov 13–18: Explicit Methods in Number Theory Organizers: Peter Borwein (SFU), H. W. Lenstra (UC, May 22–Jun 5: Geometric analysis of One and Several Berkeley), P. Stevenhagen (Leiden), H. Williams (Calgary) Complex Variables (RIT) Organizers: Steven Krantz (Washington U. St. Louis), Nov 20–25: Diophantine approximation and analytic Joseph Cima (North Carolina), Ian Graham (Toronto), number theory Kang-Tae Kim (Pohang Institute, Korea) Organizers: Michael Bennett, Greg Martin (UBC), John Friedlander (Toronto), Andrew Granville (Montreal), Jul 24–Aug 7: Stability and Computations for Stochas- Cameron Stewart (Waterloo), Trevor Wooley (Michigan) tic Delay Differential Equations (RIT) Organizers: Salah Mohammed (Southern Illinois), Eve- Nov 27–Dec 2: Mathematical Models for Biological In- lyn Buckwar (Humboldt), Tony Shardlow (Manchester), vasions Rachel Kuske (UBC) Organizers: Mark Lewis (Alberta), Mark Kot (Washing- ton), Pauline van den Driessche (Victoria) Jul 25–Aug 22: Modular Invariants and NIM- Dec 4–9: Numeracy and Beyond (1/2 workshop) Representations (RIT) Organizers: Klaus Hoechsmann (PIMS), Tony Gardiner Organizers: Terry Gannon (Alberta), Matthias Gaberdiel (Birmingham), Yarom Sagher (Illinois), Guenter Toerner (Kings College) (Duisburg) Mar 18–20: Retreat on Mathematical Ecology and Evo- Dec 4–9: Generalizations of de Bruijn Cycles and Gray lution (2-day workshop) Codes (1/2 workshop) Organizers: Mark Lewis, Thomas Hillen (Alberta), Ed Organizers: Brett Stevens (Carleton), Joe Buhler (Reed McCauley (Calgary), Michael Doebeli (UBC), Mark Kot College), Persi Diaconis (Stanford), Fan Chung, Ronald (Washington) Graham (UC, San Diego), Frank Ruskey (Victoria) Mar 25–27: Human Infant Speech Perception and Lan- Dec 11–16: Workshop on resolution of singularities, guage Acquisition (2-day workshop) factorization of birational mappings, and toroidal ge- Organizers: Janet Werker (UBC) ometry May 6–8: Directions in Combinatorial Matrix Theory Organizers: Kenji Matsuki, Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk (Pur- (2-day workshop) due), Dan Abramovic (Boston), Edward Bierstone, Pierre Organizers: Shaun Fallat, Steve Kirkland (Regina), Milman (Toronto), Steven Dale Cutkosky (Missouri) Hadi Kharaghani (Lethbridge), Bryan Shader (Wyoming), Michael Tsatsomeros (Washington State), Pauline van den 2004 Programme for Focused Research Driessche (Victoria) Groups (FRG), Research in Teams May 12–14: Decentralized Discrete Event Systems: (RIT), Summer Schools (SS) and 2-Day Structure, Communication and Control (2-day work- Workshops shop) Organizers: Peter Caines (McGill), Stephane Lafortune Jun 5–19: Robust Analysis of Large Data Sets (FRG) (Michigan), Laurie Ricker (Mount Allison), Karen Rudie Organizers: Ruben Zamar (UBC), Stefan Van Aelst (Queen’s), John Thistle (Waterloo)

BIRS website: http://pims.math.ca/birs/ 22 BANFF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH STATION I. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS

Upcoming Areas of Concentration: 2003–05 As part of its second phase of development, PIMS is embarking on a plan that will cre- String Theory ate and support collaborative multi-university teams of mathematical scientists. These Col- Scientific Computing laborative Research Groups (CRGs) will pool talent across universities to form world-class Number Theory research groups that will generate and sustain the scientific programme of PIMS in the years Mathematical Ecology and Evolution to come. The research programmes of these groups Topological Dynamics will be supported through a new PIMS pro- gramme that supports concentrated activities in 5–10 research areas each year. This pro- Upcoming Areas of Concentration: 2004–06 gramme, run on a competitive basis, will sup- port multi-site activities of selected CRGs over Topology and Knot Theory a 1–2 year period of concentration. Probability and Statistical Mechanics 24 COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS

What is a PIMS CRG? Periods of Concentrated activities for the CRGs The CRGs typically consist of researchers with a common research interest and with a common desire The Periods of Concentration are designed to pro- to collaboratively develop some aspects of their re- mote and support longer term, multi-event, multi- search programmes. Groups may already be organiz- site coordinated activities of competitively selected ing joint seminars and workshops, making joint PDF CRGs, in tandem with their national and interna- appointments, or developing joint graduate training tional collaborators and visitors. Every year, the programmes. However, with the resources and orga- PIMS Scientific Review Panel will select on a com- nizational structure of PIMS they will be able to do petitive basis, up to 5 areas of research from those considerably more. proposed by existing or developing CRGs. The se- The CRGs act as a vehicle for networking be- lected areas will be the focus of much of the insti- tween universities. They effectively integrate the tute’s programme over a 1–2 year period of concen- mathematical sciences community at the various trated activities that will be delivered through the se- PIMS universities into the scientific infrastructure of lected CRGs. Thus, at any given time, as many as 10 PIMS. They will build on already existing joint ef- CRGs may be leading the PIMS scientific enterprise. forts and links between the researchers of Western Proposals can vary greatly according to the needs of Canada and the US Pacific Northwest thereby open- the particular group and may combine a number of ing up a new era of scientific collaborations between existing PIMS activities. During its period of con- the two countries. They will also will assume sci- centration, a CRG can expect to receive priority for: entific leadership at the Banff Station and some will have the potential to lead industrial projects through Thematic programmes and mini-programmes the MITACS network. The CRGs will create critical mass that will sub- PIMS postdoctoral fellowships

stantially enhance training programmes at all levels.

The pooling of PIMS support with other sources and Pacific Northwest mini-conference series the joint planning of resource allocation will allow 5-day workshops at BIRS the CRGs to support a large number of PDFs and graduate students and will create new research op- Focussed workshops at host universities portunities for these young scientists, including ex- changes, joint supervision, and summer schools. Intensive two week graduate courses

The CRGs directly address the problems of re- Distinguished chairs & long term visitors tention and recruitment of faculty. They are a venue

for new faculty to get plugged into a larger commu- Graduate students exchanges nity, they give young faculty an effective network to build their research programme, and they enhance Graduate & senior undergrad schools

the attractiveness of the universities.

PIMS has identified 32 potential CRGs within its Industrial training camps

community, spanning five broad areas of research to International collaborations which PIMS is committed: Fundamental Mathemat- ics, Applied and computational Mathematics, Math- Research fellowships for teaching relief ematical Biology and Medicine, Statistical Sciences and Theoretical Computer Science. While some are With this support, a CRG can plan to gather a already well established and structured, in most cases significant portion of the world’s experts in its focus they are just forming. Each CRG, which consists of topic for periods of intense collaboration. The fruits 10–15 Canadian and US researchers, are to be jointly of such intensity can be expected to persist for many coordinated by at least 3 senior researchers repre- years and to be exponentially greater than the results senting various PIMS sites. of more normal activity levels. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS 25

In due course, all 32 of the PIMS CRGs recog- Create new research opportunities and enhance nized so far would be given the benefit of a period training: The periods of concentration will allow of concentration. This approach should dramatically for the planning of a series of advanced gradu- increase the effectiveness of the PIMS research pro- ate courses at any one site with the participation gramme by making its facilities and its opportunities of students from multiple PIMS universities. The available to all CRGs on a periodic basis. Western Dean’s agreement allows graduate stu- dents at any Western Canadian university to take courses, for credit, at any Canadian PIMS univer- Expected Impact of the Periods of sity. The result will be new opportunities for PIMS Concentration graduate students and a larger audience for PIMS and visiting scientists. This will directly lead to a A targeted and coordinated, yet inclusive grass-roots vigorous graduate student exchange programme. approach of this form will present a new and inno- vative way for the institute to drive and stimulate Support existing collaborative research groups research and will result in a significant impact on and foster new groups: The periods of concentra- the research excellence of its activities. The pro- tion will help to strengthen groups and give them gramme’s extended time scale, its multi-event na- a vehicle for long-range planning of research and ture and its cross-university character together dis- advanced education activities. As well it will en- tinguish it from any other institute programme. Its courage and empower isolated groups or smaller implementation will allow PIMS to achieve several ones at one university by bringing them into larger

of its goals. It will: collaborative teams.

Provide new ways of having its scientific pro- Effectively facilitate Canada-US collaborations: grammes driven by its member scientists: The The programme will effectively integrate the programme will help elicit proposals for thematic mathematical sciences community at the U. of summers, miniprogrammes, BIRS events, and dis- Washington into the operations of the institute. It tinguished scholars as part of the application pro- will allow the 12 groups of Canadian and US re- cess. These programmes will have strong local searchers that are currently organizing the PNW interest and will encourage grass-roots generation Seminars to develop further their collaborative ac- and longterm planning of activities with a much tivities, and allow other groups to launch these more inclusive and flexible format than standard types of activities. The programme will also pro- thematic programmes. vide researchers with the means to play a leader- Foster multi-site interactions and collaborations: ship role on the national and international level. The programme will continue to build the inter- site collaborative nature of the PIMS community Attract additional support for research: Periods of and will alleviate the problems of interconnec- concentration will provide departments and uni- tion inherent in large geographical separations be- versities with a mechanism for granting teaching tween the PIMS sites. It creates a context through and administrative releases to the scientists in- which researchers can collectively profit from the volved. Such programmes can also be developed opportunities created by PIMS, BIRS and the MI- in collaboration with other organizations and in- TACS network. stitutes, hence multiplying the opportunities. 26 COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS

Upcoming Areas of PIMS Distinguished Chairs: The CRG will have another Distinguished Chair in 2003 and two more Concentration: 2003–05 in 2004. These chairs will visit the group for at least one month and give a minicourse of lectures. String Theory Ehud Schreiber, PIMS Postdoctoral Fellow, UBC, Recently, the concentration of research manpower in 2003. string theory and closely related fields in the com- PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows: This CRG will include munities associated with PIMS has reached a criti- another PDF. cal size so that it now has the potential to be a ma- jor player in the international research community. Pacific Northwest Seminars on String Theory: The purpose of this Period of Concentration in String These seminars will continue in 2003 and 2004. Theory is to galvanize this group of researchers into a leading research unit. The members of this group Frontiers of Mathematical Physics Summer already have a formal structure as a PIMS Collab- School on String Theory, PIMS-UBC, July 14–25, orative Research Group. The Period of Concentra- 2003. PIMS, the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical tion on String Theory gives this Group the resources Physics and the Perimeter Institute are cosponsoring to carry on a strong research programme at PIMS, this summer school. This annual summer school will to form a pan-Canadian network with the emerging again concentrate on the most recent developments groups at the University of Toronto and the Perime- in string theory and related subjects. ter Institute and to communicate and collaborate with Recent Developments in Superstring Theory, 5- other string theory research groups worldwide. day workshop, BIRS, March 15–20, 2003. The aim is to incubate significant original re- search in string theory and those areas of physics New Horizons in String Cosmology, 5-day work- and mathematics that are influenced by string theory. shop, BIRS, June 11–16, 2004. The Period of Concentration will contribute by edu- String Field Theory Camp, Focused Research cating researchers on the latest developments in the Group, BIRS, July 9–23, 2004. field, encouraging and enhancing their research ac- tivity and providing a ready venue for dissemination of their results. One essential part of this Period of Concentra- Scientific Computing tion consists of hiring Postdoctoral Fellows who help The major goal of this period of concentration is to with the organization of events and participate ac- develop the group’s common research programmes tively in the research themes. and to promote research in scientific computing and increase related interdisciplinary collaboration Members of the CRG: B. Campbell, V. Frolov, within the region. In addition, this period of in- D. Page, T. Gannon (UA); G. Semenoff, M. Rozali, creased activity in scientific computing provides a M. Van Raamsdonk, K. Schleich, D. Witt, M. Chop- focus to kickstart and solidly establish SFU’s Centre tuik, W. Unruh, J. Bryan, K. Behrend (UBC); for Scientific Computing (CSC). The majority of the M. Walton (Lethbridge); R. Myers, L. Smolin activity of this concentration period will take place at (Perimeter Institute); K. Viswanathan (SFU); A. Peet the PIMS sites at SFU, UW and UBC and at BIRS. (Toronto); and A. Karch (Washington). The organizers are committed to organizing a num- ber of activities which bring in the other PIMS sites as well. A Glimpse ahead: A special feature of this period of concentration is the promotion of a multidisciplinary approach to Ashoke Sen (Harish-Chandra Research Institute), the subject and the inclusion of important research PIMS Distinguished Chair, UBC, 2003. topics such as the earth and atmospheric sciences. COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS 27

Members of the CRG: R. Choksi, M. C. Kropin- and yet remains broadly useful in many areas of pure ski, T. Moller¨ , D. Muraki, K. Promislow, B. Rus- and applied mathematics. Indeed, it is remarkable sell, S. Ruuth, L. Trajkovic, M. Trummer, J. Verner, how often number theory comes to bear both in other R. Zahar (SFU); Y. Lin, J. Macki, P. Minev, areas of mathematics and in applications. A notable Y. S. Wong (UA); U. Ascher, O. Dorn, S. Dun- recent example is cryptography and internet security bar, I. Frigaard, A. Peirce, B. Seymour, B. Shiz- whose protocols are based on number theoretic prob- gal, J. Varah, M. Ward, B. Wetton, M. Yedlin lems. (UBC); T. Ware, R. Westbrook (UC); D. Olesky, Number theory is particularly strong in Canada P. van den Driessche (UVic); R. LeVeque, L. Adams, with the PIMS Number Theory Group featuring D. Durran, A. Greenbaum, G. Hakim, N. Kutz, prominently. The PIMS Number Theory Group is R. O’Malley, P. Schmid, J. Burke, C. Brether- large and well distributed in the PIMS Universities. ton (Washington); R. Bradean, J. Kenna (Ballard); It has a number of prominent senior world-class re- J. Lewis, S. Filipowski, M. Epton (Boeing); and searchers leading a group of richly talented young S. Reddy (Quadrus Financial). mathematicians. The recent influx of new number theorists into several PIMS universities has created A Glimpse ahead: an exciting working group. All areas of Number Theory will be dealt with PIMS Distinguished Chairs: The CRG will have in this concentration period, including computational two Distinguished Chairs in 2003 and two more in and arithmetic aspects. 2004. These chairs will visit the group for at least one month and give a minicourse of lectures. Members of the CRG: M. Bennett, D. Boyd, PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows: This CRG will include B. Casselman, R. Gupta, I. Laba, G. Martin, N. Vat- two PDFs in 2003 and two more in 2004. sal (UBC); P. Borwein, I. Chen, S. Choi, P. Lisonek (SFU); R. Guy, J. Jones, R. Mollin, R. Schei- Pacific Northwest Seminars on Numerical Analy- dler, H. Williams (UC); R. Greenberg, A. Iovita, sis: These seminars will continue in 2003 and 2004 N. Koblitz, B. Solomyak (Washington); A. Akbary, with approximately five seminars taking place each O. Kihel (Lethbridge); E. Dobrowolski (College of year. New Caledonia); M. Klassen (DigiPen Inst of Tech); IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate Math K. Lauter (Microsoft); and J. Lewis (UA). Modelling Workshop, UBC, SFU, February 15-16 2003. A Glimpse ahead: Computational Fuel Cell Dynamics—II, 5-day Jeffrey Vaaler (U. Texas), PIMS Distinguished workshop, BIRS, April 19–24, 2003. Chair, SFU and UBC. Computational Techniques for Moving Inter- PIMS Distinguished Chairs: The CRG will have faces, 5-day workshop, BIRS, August 23–28, 2003. another Distinguished Chair in 2003 and two more Mathematical Foundations of Scientific Visual- in 2004. These chairs will visit the group for at least ization, Computer Graphics and Massive Data one month and give a minicourse of lectures. Exploration, 5-day workshop, BIRS, May 21–26, PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows: This CRG will include 2004. two PDFs in 2003 and two more in 2004. Pacific Number Theory Northwest Seminars: Number Theory These seminars will continue in 2003 and 2004 with approximately five taking place each year. Number theory is one of the oldest, deepest and most vibrant branches of modern mathematics. It centrally Summer School on Diophantine Number Theory, incorporates some of the most sophisticated and pro- PIMS-SFU, Summer 2003. found mathematical ideas that have been developed The Many Aspects of Mahler’s Measure, 5-day (witness the recent proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem) workshop, BIRS, April 26–May 01, 2003. 28 COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS

Current Trends in Arithmetic Geometry and PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows: This CRG will include Number Theory, 5-day workshop, BIRS, August two PDFs in 2003 and two more in 2004. 16–21, 2003. PIMS Mathematical Ecology and Biology Sem- Explicit Methods in Number Theory, 5-day work- inar Series: This seminar series will continue in shop, BIRS, November 12–17, 2004. 2003 and 2004 with at least six lectures taking place Diophantine Approximation and Analytic Num- each year. The lectures will take place at U. Alberta ber Theory, 5-day workshop, BIRS, November 19– and other PIMS sites. 24, 2004. Mathematics of Biological Systems Undergradu- ate Summer School, U. Alberta, May 2003. Mathematical Ecology and Evolution Mathematical Biology: From Molecules to Ecosystems; The Legacy of Lee Segel, 5-day work- As the current revolution in biological information shop, BIRS, July 5–10, 2003. progresses, there is a well recognized need for new quantitative approaches and methods to solve prob- Retreat in Mathematical Ecology and Biology, 2- lems in ecology. One challenge is to model complex day meeting, BIRS, 2004. ecological systems—systems which depend upon a myriad of inputs, but often with incomplete details Mathematical Models for Biological Invasions, 5- regarding the inputs. day workshop, BIRS, November 26–December 1, The primary goal of this period of concentration 2004. is to develop and strengthen the synergistic inter- actions between mathematics and ecology in PIMS universities. Topological Dynamics Areas of mathematical ecology research at PIMS universities include: nonlinear population dynamics, The study of dynamical systems has had a long and spatially structured populations, adaptive dynamics, distinguished history in mathematics. This study model selection and validation and inverse meth- has ranged from applications involving differential ods, stochastic models for populations, and scaling equations and information theory, to more theoretical laws—from individuals to populations. work focusing on systems with topological or alge- braic structure. In the past few decades this field has Members of the CRG: M. Boyce, T. Hillen, grown dramatically, and completely new directions S. Lele, M. Lewis , M. Li, J. Roland, J. So (UA); have opened up. E. McCauley (UC); F. Brauer, M. Doebeli, N. Heck- Due to the diversity of the researchers in this man, L. Keshet, J. Zidek (UBC); J. Anderson, CRG a wide range of topics will be covered includ- C. Bergstrom, D. Grunbaum, R. Hilborne, M. Kot ing operator algebras, the dynamics of biological (Washington); B. Roitberg (SFU); and P. van den systems, and aperiodic order theory. Driessche (UVic).

A Glimpse ahead: Members of the CRG: R. Moody, A. Lau, V. Runde, A. Weiss (UA); M. Lamoureux, Bryan Grenfell (U. Cambridge), PIMS Distin- B. Brenken, I. Nikolaev (UC); D. Lind, C. Hoff- guished Chair, U. Alberta. man, S. Rohde, B. Solomyak, S. Tuncel, M. Ein- PIMS Distinguished Chairs: The CRG will have siedler (Washington); I. Putnam, J. Phillips, M. Laca, another Distinguished Chair in 2003 and two more C. Bose, R. Edwards (UVic); K. Schmidt (Vienna); in 2004. These chairs will visit the group for at least M. Boyle (Maryland); C. Denninger (Muenster); one month and give a minicourse of lectures. W. Parry (Warwick); and D. Rudolph (Maryland). COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS 29

A Glimpse ahead: D. Sjerve (UBC); K. Varadarajan, P. Zvengrowski (U. Calgary); E. Babson, E. Devinatz, M. Freedman, PIMS Distinguished Chairs: The CRG will have S. Mitchell, J. Palmieri, J. Segal (U. Washington). two Distinguished Chairs in 2003 and two more in 2004. These chairs will visit the group for at least A Glimpse ahead: one month and give a minicourse of lectures. PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows: This CRG will include PIMS Distinguished Chairs: The CRG will have two PDFs in 2003 and two more in 2004. two Distinguished Chairs in 2004. One will be based at UBC and the other at U. Calgary. These chairs PIMS Northwest Dynamics Symposium, U. Wash- will visit the group for at least one month and give a ington, 2003. minicourse of lectures. Summer School in Aperiodic Order, U. Victoria, PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows: This CRG will include 2004. two PDFs in 2004. Coordinate Methods in Nonselfadjoint Operator “Knots at PIMS” Miniprogramme, UBC, 2 weeks, Algebras, 5-day worksop, BIRS, December 13–18, 2004. 2003. MSRI-PIMS Summer Graduate Course, UBC, 2 Aperiodic Order; Dynamical systems, Combina- weeks, 2004. torics and Operators, 5-day worksop, BIRS, May 28–June 2, 2004. Topology of Manifolds and Homotopy Theory, 5- day workshop, BIRS, March 19–24, 2004. Knots and their Manifold Stories, 5-day workshop, Upcoming Areas of BIRS, May 7–12, 2004. Concentration: 2004–06 Braid Groups and Applications, 5-day workshop, BIRS, October 15–20, 2004. Topology and Knot Theory Cascade Topology Seminar, 2-day meeting, BIRS, 2004. The PIMS community has an active group of re- searchers in topology and related fields. Their research may be roughly divided into two major Probability and Statistical themes: geometric and algebraic. Among the ge- ometric issues being studied by PIMS topologists Mechanics are the classification of manifolds (particularly in di- Much of the original motivation for the study of mension 3 and 4), group actions on Riemann sur- spatially interactive stochastic systems came from faces, knot theory and its applications, and relating stochastic models in statistical physics. An intensive 3-manifold topology to relativity theory. A sample area of recent research centers around the idea that of the contributions in algebraic topology are: ap- complex local dynamics can lead to a small number plication of algebraic topology to robotics, develop- of well-understood continuum models upon space- ing equivariant minimal models in homotopy the- time rescaling. When the underlying system is at ory, applying subtle algebraic properties of projec- or near criticality the limit invariably seems to be tive spaces and bundles to solve classical problems in closely related to super-Brownian motion. quadratic forms and combinatorics. Because of their Other local interactions arising in models for geographic separation and diversity of interests, this competing species, predator-prey systems or symbi- community of scientists is particularly well-served otic branching lead to more complex stochastic mod- by forming a collaborative research group. els which behave locally like superprocesses but with branching, migration and drift coefficients which de- Members of the CRG: G. Peschke, J. Timourian pend on the current state of the system. Two chal- (U. Alberta); J. Bryan, K. Lam, D. Rolfsen, L. Scull, lenging and related topics are therefore: 30 COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH GROUPS

I. The development of a general theory of interactive visit the group for at least one month and give a mini- superprocesses and in particular methods to charac- course of lectures. terize these processes and study their properties. PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows: This CRG will include II. The use of such models in mathematical ecology two PDFs in 2004. and evolution. Pacific Northwest Statistics Meeting: These sem- inars will be part of this CRG in 2004 with at least Members of the CRG: D. Brydges, J. Feldman, two seminars taking place. G. Slade, M. Barlow, E. Perkins, J. Walsh (UBC); PIMS Summer School in Loewner Evolution, B. Schmuland, M. Kouritzin (U. Alberta); C. Bur- UBC, 2004. dzy, Z.-Q. Chen, B. Erickson, S. Rohde (U. Wash- inton); J. Chayes, C. Borgs, O. Schramm, D. Wil- Seminar on Stochastic Processes, 2004. son (Microsoft Research); C. Soteros, R. Srinivasan Statistical Mechanics of Polymer Models, 5-day (U. Saskatchewan); R. van der Hofstad (Eurandon); workshop, BIRS, May 10–15, 2003. Don Dawson (McGill). Stochastic Partial Differential Equations, 5-day workshop, BIRS, September 27–October 2, 2003. A Glimpse ahead: Analytic and Geometric Aspects of Stochastic PIMS Distinguished Chairs: The CRG will have Processes, 5-day workshop, BIRS, April 9–14, two Distinguished Chairs in 2004. These chairs will 2004. II. THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

The Asymptotic Geometric Analysis 2002 Thematic Programme organising committee: Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv), Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann (U. Alberta) and Gideon Schechman (Weizmann Institute). Missing from photo Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS and UBC) and Robert McCann (U. Toronto).

International Conference on Robust Statistics (ICORS 2002) participants during their excursion to Capilano. ICORS was part of the 2002 Thematic Programme on Selected Topics in Mathematical and Industrial Statistics.

Changfeng Gui (UBC), Fang Hua Lin (Courant), Michael Struwe (ETH) and Wei-Ming Ni (Minnesota), the minicourse lecturers for the Concentration Phenomena and Vortex Dynamics Workshop which was part of the 2001 PIMS Thematic Programme in Nonlinear PDEs. Theme 2001 (A): Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations

Programme Committee: Partial Differential Equations appear in the study of problems in material science, math- ematical physics, fluid dynamics, Riemannian Jingyi Chen (UBC) geometry, and many other related areas. Michael Crandall (UC Santa Barbara) Differential Geometry has been a great Maria J. Esteban (U. Paris-Dauphine) source of problems and inspirational ideas for Nassif Ghoussoub (UBC) PDEs. Recent developments deal with har- monic maps, prescribed curvature problems, Changfeng Gui (UBC) Monge-Ampere` equations, Kahler-Einstein Pierre-Louis Lions (U. Paris-Dauphine) manifolds, Seiberg-Witten invariants and their Wei-Ming Ni (U. Minnesota) connections to Gromov’s invariants in Sym- Paul Rabinowitz (U. Wisconsin) plectic Geometry. Concentration phenomena have been Panagiotis Souganidis (U. Texas, Austin) discovered in many different parts of science. Mathematically, they appear as vortices in Ginzburg-Landau equations, as spike-layers in Programme biological diffusions, or as bubbles in geomet- rical problems occur. Phase transitions often appear in material Viscosity Methods in PDEs, sciences problems such as the formation and PIMS-UBC, July 2–10, 2001 evolution of grain boundaries in alloys, vortex Phase Transitions, states in superconducting materials, flame pro- PIMS-UBC, July 11–18, 2001 pogation, and related phenomena. The related equations include the Cahn-Hilliard equations, Concentration Phenomena and Vortex Allen-Cahn equations and again the Ginzburg- Dynamics, Landau equations. PIMS-UBC, July 19–27, 2001 The emphasized methods (Variational and Viscosity solutions) are very active ar- Variational Methods and their eas of research, quite relevant to other areas of Applications, mathematics (Geometry, Topology, Analysis, PIMS-UBC, July 30–August 07, 2001 Applied mathematics) with many applications in other disciplines (Physics, Chemistry, Biol- Geometric PDEs, ogy, Economics and Engineering). PIMS-UBC, August 8–17, 2001

32 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 33

More than 500 researchers from 15 countries partic- tions of fully nonlinear first and second order, possi- ipated in the PIMS Thematic Programme on Nonlin- bly degenerate partial differential equations. As such ear PDE, which was held at PIMS-UBC from July they provide the tools which are necessary for the 2 to August 18. The programme dealt with several analysis and further understanding of such equations. interrelated topics originating in finance, physics, Some of the problems in this general context are: chemistry, biology and material sciences, as well as in geometry. The common feature of these topics is the theory of fully non-linear stochastic PDEs; the interplay between nonlinear, geometric and dy- boundary value problems with nonstandard namic components of partial differential equations. boundary conditions for fully non linear elliptic The focal point of each workshop was a series of PDEs;

minicourses given by some of the best world experts equations with singular coefficients and/or non in the field. standard growth conditions; There was an emphasis on: Viscosity meth- ods in partial differential equations, Phase Transi- various questions regarding the Stefan problems, tions, Concentration Phenomena and Vortex Dynam- which are related to the motion of moving inter- ics, Variational methods in partial differential equa- faces with velocity depending upon the interface, tions as well as Geometric PDEs. There were also positions, direction, curvature, gradient difference several related events happening at PIMS during the of the temperature, etc; summer of 2001: a workshop on Theoretical and Nu- the studies of ray theory for multiphase geometri- merical Fluid Mechanics, organized by Giovanni P. cal optics and of generalized characteristics which Galdi (Pittsburgh), John Heywood (UBC), Rolf Ran- connect the theory of viscosity solutions to contact nacher (Heidelberg) and the Second Canada-China and symplectic geometry;

Mathematics Congress which had an important com- regularity problems for nonlinear second order el- ponent in Geometry and PDEs. It was a highly liptic equations and free boundary problems. successful plan to capitalize on this large gathering of expertise in Western Canada so as to create a There was also an emphasis on the applications of favourable atmosphere for graduate training and col- the theory to Phase transition, Combustion, Control laborative research. theory, Mathematical Finance, and Image Process- The programme consisted of five consecutive ing. workshops. The overlap between them was sub- stantial enough and many participants were involved Minicourse Lecturers: with several events. Each workshop had at least three minicourses of up to four hours each. These ran in Xavier Cabre´ (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya)

the morning and targeted mainly graduate students, 2 lectures on Non-Convex Fully Nonlinear Elliptic Equa- ¥ post-docs and all nonspecialists who were interested tions: ¢¡¤£ Regularity for some Bellman-Isaacs Equa- in learning new active directions of research. In addi- tions. tion, about 25 one-hour lecturers were selected and Craig Evans (Berkeley): 2 lectures on Hamilton-Jacobi invited for each workshop by the programme com- Equations and Dynamical Systems. mittee. Robert Jensen (Loyola): 2 lectures on Variational Prob-

lems in ¦¨§ . Panagiotis Souganidis (Austin): 2 lectures on Fully Non- Viscosity Methods in PDEs, linear Stochastic PDEs. PIMS-UBC, July 2–10, 2001 Andrzej Swiech (Georgia Tech): 5 lectures on Viscos- Organizers: P. L. Lions (Paris), M. Crandall ity Solutions in Infinite Dimensional Spaces and Optimal (Santa Barbara), P. Souganidis (Maddison-Austin) Control of PDEs. Thaleia Zariphopoulou (Austin): 2 lectures on Viscosity This workshop focused on the theory of viscosity so- Solutions in Finance. lutions of differential equations and its applications. Viscosity solutions are the correct class of weak solu- 34 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

Main Speakers: Phase Transitions, Maurizio Falcone (Universita` di Roma “La Sapienza”): PIMS-UBC, July 11–18, 2001 Semi-Lagrangian schemes for Hamilton Jacobi equations Organizers: Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS & UBC) Pierpaolo Soravia (Universita` di Padova): Uniqueness and Changfeng Gui (UBC) for degenerate elliptic equations with discontinuous coef- ficients This workshop focused on problems in phase transi- tion such as formation and evolution of grain bound- Martino Bardi (Universita` di Padova): Ergodicity, singu- lar perturbations, and homogenization in the HJB equa- aries in alloys, vortex states in superconducting ma- tions of stochastic control terials, etc. The related equations include Cahn- Petri Juutinen (University of Jyvask¨ yla):¨ The infinity Hilliard equations, Allen-Cahn equations, Ginzburg- eigenvalue problem Landau equations, and others. Anne Bourlioux (University of Montreal): Effective Hamiltonians for numerical turbulent combustion Minicourse Lecturers: Espen Jakobsen (Norweigan University of Science Henri Berestycki (Universite´ Paris VI): 4 lectures on and Technology): Convergence rate for Approximation Propagation of fronts in excitable media Schemes for Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations David Kinderlehrer (Carnegie Mellon University): 4 lec- Hitoshi Ishii (Tokyo Metropolitan University): A model of tures on Topics in metastability and phase changes the wearing process of a non-convex stone Fabiana Leoni (Universita Di Roma): Diffusion generated Main Speakers: motions in codimension ¢¡ Elisabeth Rouy (Universite´ de Tours): Some applications Yuxi Zheng (Indiana U., Bloomington): The Semi- of the theory of viscosity solutions to the problem of re- Classical Limit of Schrodinger-Poisson to Vlasov-Poisson flected stochastic differential equations Equations Alexander Vladimirsky (UC Berkeley): Ordered upwind Hongming Yin (Washington State): A free boundary prob- methods for static PDEs lem arising in microwave heating processes Agnes Tourin (University of Toronto): Approximation Xavier Cabre´ (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya): A schemes for Hamilton-Jacobi equations conjecture of De Giorgi on symmetry for elliptic equations

Adam Oberman (University of Chicago): Level set mo- in £¥¤ ” tion by growth, advection & mean curvature & reaction- Reiner Schaetzle (ETH Zentrum): Quadratic tilt-excess diffusion advection equations decay and strong maximum principle for varifolds I. Capuzzo Dolcetta (Universita` di Roma “La Sapienza”): Masayasu Mimura (Hiroshima University): Annihilation On Hopf - Lax formulas for Hamilton-Jacobi equations and Reflection of Travelling Spots in Reaction-Diffusion Mariko Arisawa (Tohoku University): Long time aver- Maurizio Falcone (Universita` di Roma “La Sapienza”): aged reflection force and homogenizations of oscillating Large Time-Step Schemes for Front Propagation Neumann type boundary conditions Jacob Rubinstein (Technion): Phase transitions in quan- Shigeaki Koike (Saitama University): On the limit of min- tum wires imizers of variational problems Gieri Simonett (Vanderbilt University): On the Stefan Dejan Slepcev (University of Texas at Austin): Approxi- problem with surface tension mation schemes for front propagation with nonlocal veloc- Nicholas Alikakos (U. Tennessee Knoxville): Motion By ities Surface Tension In Curved Ambient Space Juan J. Manfredi (University of Pittsburgh): The Subel- Peter Sternberg (Indiana U., Bloomington): Existence liptic Maximum Principle and Non-existence Results for Permanent Currents in Su- Zhongdan Huan (Beijing Normal University): On Re- perconductivity movable Boundaries Daniel Phillips (Purdue University): Thermal effects in su- Michael Crandall (University of California, Santa Bar- perconductivity bara): Another way to say harmonic Pablo Padilla (Institute of Investigations in Mathematics, Applied and in Systems (IIMAS)): Global geometric prop- erties of solutions in a phase transition model THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 35

Jian-Jun Xu (McGill): Dynamics of Dendritic growth in Minicourse Lecturers: solidification—global stability and limiting state selection Michael Struwe (ETH Zurich): 4 lectures on Concentra- Masaharu Taniguchi (Tokyo Institute of Technology): In- tion problems in two dimensions stability of planar traveling fronts in bistable reaction- diffusion systems Wei-Ming Ni (University of Minnesota): 2 lectures onDiffusions, cross-diffusions, and their steady states Xiaofeng Ren (Utah State): Energy Equilibria of the Copolymer Problem Changfeng Gui (UBC), 2 lectures on Diffusions, cross- diffusions, and their steady states Francois Hamel (Universite´ Paris VI): Speed of propa- gation of fronts for rection-diffusion equations in periodic Fang-Hua Lin (Courant Institute): 4 lectures on Vortex and general domains Dynamics of Ginsburg-Landau and Related Equations. Yoshi Tonegawa (Hokkaido University): Singular pertur- bation problem with a variable mean curvature field Main Speakers: Changfeng Gui (UBC): About the De Giorgi conjecture Robert Jerrard (U. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign): Vortex in dimensions 4 and 5 filament dynamics for the Gross-Pitaevsky equation Michelle Schatzman (U. Claude Bernard Lyon 1): Asym- Yuan Lou (Ohio State): A Semilinear Parabolic System metric layers and solutions of elliptic systems in full space for Migration and Selection in Population Genetics Junping Shi (College of William and Mary): Saddle solu- Yung-Sze Choi (University of Connecticut): On the tions of semilinear elliptic equations blowup of heat flow for conformal 3-harmonic maps Alberto Farina (Universite´ de Picardie Jules Verne): Henry Warchall (National Science Foundation USA): Phase Transition and Symmetry Spectrally stable encapsulated-vortex solutions of nonlin- Danielle Hilhorst (Universite´ Paris-Sud): Singular limit ear Schrodinger equations (with Robert L. Pego Depart- of a reaction-diffusion system with resource-consumer in- ment of Mathematics University of Maryland) teraction Norman Dancer (University of Sydney): Peak solutions Yuan-Wei Qi (Hong Kong University of Science and on annular regions and non-degeneracy conditions Technology): Global self-similarity and Renormalization Amandine Aftalion (Universite´ Paris VI): Vortex energy Group of a thermal-diffusive combustion system with criti- and vortex bending in Bose Einstein condensates cal nonlinearity Dongho Chae (Seoul National University): Nontopologi- Yasumasa Nishiura (Hokkaido): Dynamics of interfaces cal Chern-Simons vortices-statics and evolutions for domain growth problems Jun Cheng Wei (Chinese University of Hong Kong): Mul- Xuefeng Wang (Tulane): Metastability and Stability of tiple Clusters Generated By Reaction-Diffusion Systems Patterns for a Convolution Model for Phase Transitions Izumi Takagi (Tohoku University): Remarks on the sta- bility of single-spike patterns in annuli Concentration Phenomena and Vortex Hirokazu Ninomiya (Minnesota): Reaction-diffusion ap- Dynamics, proximation to cross diffusion systems PIMS-UBC, July 19–27, 2001 Sylvia Serfaty (Ecole´ Normale Superieure´ de Cachan): Vortices in the static Ginzburg-Landau equations of super- Organizers: Changfeng Gui (UBC) and Wei- conductivity Ming Ni (Minnesota) Xingbin Pan (National University Singapore): Concentra- Concentration phenomena have been discovered in tion Phenomena of Ginzburg-Landau System and Surface many different areas. Mathematically they appear Superconductivity in the form of vortices in Ginzburg-Landau equa- Fang Hua Lin (Courant Institute): Vortex dynamics of tions and of spike-layers in biological diffusions, etc. Ginsburg-Landau and related equations This workshop dealt with the up-to-date advances Changfeng Gui (UBC): Diffusions, cross-diffusions, and in these phenomena and the variational methods in- their steady states volved. Related equations include Ginzburg-Landau Eiji Yanagida (Tohoku): Stability analysis for reaction- equations, nonlinear Schrodinger equations, Gierer- diffusions systems with gradient/skew-gradient structure Meinhardt systems, and others. Matthias Winter (U. Stuttgart): Concentrated solutions for the two-dimensional Gierer-Meinhardt system 36 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

Patricio Felmer (U. de Chile): Semi-classical limit for the Minicourse Lecturers: one dimensional Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation Maria Esteban (U. Paris IX): 4 lectures on Variational Masaharu Taniguchi (Tokyo Institute of Technology): In- problems related to operators with gaps and applications stability of planar traveling waves in bistable reaction- in relativistic quantum mechanics diffusion systems Eric Ser´ e´ (U. Paris IX): 4 lectures on Variational problems Joseph McKenna (Connecticut) in relativistic quantum mechanics: Dirac-Fock equations Jack Xin (U. Texas, Austin): Focusing PDEs and their Yann Brenier (Paris): 4 lectures on Variational problems Applications in Optics and Speech Processing related to fluid and plasma modelling. Stanley Alama (McMaster): Vortices in the Lawrence- Doniach Model of Layered Superconductors in a Parallel Field Main Speakers: Salome Martinez (Minnesota): Cross-Diffusion for 3x3 Vieri Benci (Universita` degli studi du Pisa): Variational competitive systems principles for Lorentz invariant field equations Shoji Yotsutani (Ryokoku University): Limiting equa- Jedrzej Sniatycki (U. Calgary): Structure of a space of tions for a cross-diffusion system solutions for Yang-Mills equations and its quantization Patricia Bauman (Purdue University): Results on a Robert McCann (U. Toronto): Optimal Transportation - Ginzburg-Landau Model including Pinning of Vortices from Monge and Kantorovich to Beckmann and Beyond: Vieri Benci (Universita` degli Studi di Pisa): Concentra- Uniqueness and Transport Density tion phenomena and solitary waves Kazunaga Tanaka (Waseda University): An elemen- Michael Ward (UBC): The Dynamics of Spikes for the tary method for construction of complex solutions in 1- Gierer-Meinhardt Model (joint work with David Iron dimensional singular perturbation problems (UBC grad student), Juncheng Wei (Chinese U. of Hong Zhi-Qiang Wang (Utah State University): On weighted Kong)) Sobolev inequalities and related PDEs Zheng Chao Han (Rutgers University): Patricio Felmer (U. de Chile): Peaks and Multipeaks for Dmitry Golovaty (University of Akron): On uniqueness Nonlinear Schrodinger equation: A Variational Appproach of vector-valued minimizers of the Ginzburg-Landau func- tional in annular domains Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS): On De Giorgi’s conjecture in dimensions 4 and 5 Gabriella Tarantello (Universita` Roma II): On Liouville type equations with singular data Ugo Bessi (Universita degli studi Roma III): Gero Friesecke (Oxford): 2D Curvature functionals as Gamma-limits of 3D non-linear elasticity theory Variational Methods and their

Yiming Long (Nankai University): Closed characteristics

¤ ¢¡ Applications in PDEs, Hamiltonian on convex and star-shaped hypersurfaces in £ Systems and Mathematical Physics, Bernhard Ruf (U. degli studi di Milano): On a result PIMS-UBC, July 30–August 7, 2001 by Carleson-Chang concerning the Trudinger-Moser in- equality Organizers: Maria J. Esteban (Paris), Nassif Pietro Majer (Universita` di Parma): Ghoussoub (UBC), Paul Rabinowitz (Wisconsin) Sergey Bolotin (U. Wisconsin, Madison): Variational This session dealt with modern variational methods methods for connecting orbits of Hamiltonian systems which have been at the core of mathematics for a Claude Le Bris (CERMICS, Ecole´ Nationale des ponts et long time, yet still experiencing major development: chaussees),´ On the ground state energy of systems com- Various infinite dimensional extensions of Morse posed of infinitely many particles theory, new “gluing” techniques and useful duality Susanna Terracini (Politecnico di Milano), Nehari’s methods. Variational methods have had enormous method and systems with large interaction new applications in the study of problems in phase Pietro Montecchiari (Universita` degli studi di Ancona), transition, Hamitonian systems, pattern formation, Multiplicity of entire solutions for non autonomous Allen- fluid dynamics, Riemannian geometry, etc., as they Cahn type equations are used to answer questions about existence, multi- Vittorio Coti Zelati (Universita` di Napoli), Chaotic be- plicity, location, asymptotics, concentration, etc. haviour for rapidly oscillating Hamiltonian systems THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 37

Gabriella Tarantello (Universit‘.a Roma II), Elliptic prob- Main Speakers: lems in vortex theory George Daskalopoulos (Brown University), The Yang- Eric Paturel (Universite´ Paris IX). Mills flow in higher dimensions Louis Jeanjean (U. de Franche Comte),´ An asymptotically

Pengfei Guan (McMaster University), Hessian equations ¡ linear problem on £ autonomous at infinity in classical and conformal geometry Chao-Nien Chen (National Changhua U. of Education) Boris Buffoni (Ecole´ Polytechnique Fed´ erale´ de Lau- Nicholas Kapouleas (Brown University), Singular pertur- sanne), Interfaces between homogeneous configurations bation constructions for minimal surfaces in the Sphere for elastic cylinders of infinite length Jiaping Wang (University of Minnesota) Counting har- Patrick Bernard (Ecole´ Normale Superieure) monic functions and massive sets Paul Rabinowitz (U. Wisconsin, Madison) McKenzie Wang (McMaster University) Daniel Pollack (University of Washington), Gluing and Geometric PDEs, wormholes for the Einstein constraint equations PIMS-UBC, August 8–17, 2001 Jose Escobar (Cornell University), New results on confor- mal deformation of metrics Organizers: Gang Tian (MIT) and Jingyi Chen Robert Gulliver (Minnesota), Embedded Minimal Sur- (UBC) faces and Total Curvature of Curves in a Manifold This workshop focused on PDE problems arising Jim Bryan (UBC), Curves in Calabi-Yau 3-folds, Gromov- from geometry particularly in the study of Kahler- Witten invariants, and BPS states of M2-branes Einstein manifolds, minimal surfaces, scalar curva-

Jeff Cheeger (Courant Institute), ¦ -bounds on curvature ture, harmonic maps, and other phenomena. ¡ and rectifiability of singular sets

Minicourse Lecturers: Jiayu Li (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Ignasi Mundet i Riera (Universidad Autonoma de Cliff Taubes (Harvard University), 4 lectures on Pseu- Madrid), Hamiltonian Gromov-Witten invariants doholomorphic geometry as a tool to study smoothe 4- dimensional manifolds Peter Li (UC, Irvine), Duality of local and global esti- mates for elliptic PDEs Richard Schoen (Stanford University), 4 lectures on Ge- ometric Variational Problems Yong Geun Oh (Korea Institute for Advanced Study, cur- Gang Tian (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), 4 lec- rently visiting University of Wisconsin–Madison), Holo- tures on Recent progress in complex geometry morphic volume preserving maps and special Lagrangian submanifolds Richard Wentworth (UC, Irvine) Emmanuel Hebey (Universite´ de Cergy-Pontoise), Sharp Sobolev-Poincare´ inequalities on Riemannian manifolds Bo Guan (University of Tennessee), A Minkowski Problem for Convex Hypersurface

Tom Ilmanen (ETH Zentrum), Minimal surfaces and ¦ mean curvature flows with ¡ curvature bounds Bill Minicozzi (Johns Hopkins University), Embedded Minimal Surfaces Jingyi Chen (UBC), Quaternionic maps between hyper- Gang Tian (MIT), Clifford Taubes (Harvard), Rick Schoen kahler manfolds. (Stanford) and Jingyi Chen (UBC). Theme 2001 (B): Theoretical, Numerical and Industrial Fluid Dynamics

Programme Organizers: The mathematical theory of waves has a wide Giovanni P. Galdi (Pittsburgh) spectrum of cross-disciplinary applications. John Heywood (UBC) In geophysical contexts waves are a primary method by which energy is transported in Rolf Rannacher (Heidelberg) fluids and they are thus responsible for global Bruce Sutherland (U. Alberta) circulation of the atmosphere, the oceans and Andrew Bush (U. Alberta) the earth’s mantle. In biological contexts, T. Bryant Moodie (U. Alberta) waves are used in the study of haemodynamic neural networks and respiratory flows. Waves Workshops: are also studied for their use in remote sensing and have been exploited to map our ¢¡¤£ Annual PIMS Summer School in atmosphere from space, to explore and see the Industrial Fluid Dynamics, deep oceans and to detect biological disease U. Alberta, June 4–8, 2001 by non-invasive methods. Wave Phenomena III: Waves in fluids from The equations that describe the most the microscopic to the planetary scale, fundamental behaviour of a fluid were derived U. Alberta, June 11–15, 2001 by Euler in 1755. They are the equations of Workshop on Theoretical and Numerical conservation of momentum and conservation Fluid Mechanics, of mass of a fluid that is incompressible, has Vancouver, August 20–25, 2001 constant density and is inviscid. The initial boundary value problem for the Euler equa- tions is surprising difficult and it is perhaps the most challenging of all problems in PDE that arises directly from physics. Incorpora- tion of the effects of viscosity (for friction) leads to the Navier-Stokes equations. The fundamental open questions are all related to the issues of the formation of singularities in finite time.

Participants in the Summer School.

38 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 39

¢¡¤£ PIMS Summer School in Industrial astrophysics, phys- Fluid Dynamics, iology, and biol- University of Alberta, ogy. In geophysical May 27–June 8, 2001 contexts, waves are a primary method Organizers: B. R. Sutherland and T. B. Moodie by which energy is (U. Alberta) transported in fluids and they are thus re- Colin Rogers (New South Wales) This summer school offered an enriched learning and T. Bryant Moodie (Alberta) environment in which the theoretical, experimental sponsible for global and computational aspects of fluid dynamics are syn- circulation of the atmosphere, the oceans, and the thesized. Participants attended a comprehensive se- earth’s mantle. In biological contexts, waves are ries of lectures, and were given hands-on experi- used in the study of haemodynamics, neural net- ence performing and analyzing experiments in the works, and respiratory flows. Waves are also studied Environmental and Industrial Fluid Dynamics Lab- intensively for their use in remote sensing and have oratory. In addition, they ran numerical simulations been exploited to map our atmosphere from space, using research-level codes. Topics included fluid dy- to explore and see the deep oceans, and to detect dis- namics fundamentals, industrial and environmental ease by non-invasive methods. The enormous range flows, geophysical fluid dynamics, turbulence mod- of spatial scales spanned by waves is indicative of elling and computational fluid dynamics. their relevance to many disciplines. The summer school was particularly rewarding The previous two Wave for the students since it was held in conjunction with Phenomena meetings were the PIMS Thematic Programme. also successful and focused on wave propagation phenomena in a wide spectrum of appli- Invited Speakers: cations. For the third Wave T. G. Shepherd (Toronto): The Fluid Dynamics of the Phenomena Meeting, we chose Middle Atmosphere to focus on the fluid medium H. J. S. Fernando (Arizona State): Turbulence and Mixing for wave transmission. We did in Stably Stratified Fluid Layers. this first because of the general P. L. Sachdev importance of the subject at Core Lecturers from University of Alberta this time with its relation to world climate change and our concerns with this change and second in John C. Bowman: Turbulence Modelling;

order to better mesh with the topics of the ¥§¦©¨ PIMS Andrew B. G. Bush: Climate Modelling; Summer School in Fluid Dynamics. Peter Minev: Computational Fluid Dynamics; Waves III was attended by 145 delegates from T. Bryant Moodie: Wave Theory; Canada, Mexico, USA, Turkey, Ghana, France, Ger- Bruce R. Sutherland: Stratified Flows and many, The Netherlands, Scotland, Italy, India, Den- Gordon E. Swaters: Physical Oceanography. mark, China, Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, and Russia. There were a total of 23 ple- Wave Phenomena III: nary talks that were given in the morning session Waves in fluids from the microscopic each day. These were then followed by the con- to the planetary scale, tributed talks that were held in 5 parallel sessions University of Alberta, June 11–15, 2001 during the afternoons. The opening address was given by Dick Peter Organisers: T. B. Moodie, Andrew Bush, Bruce (Dean of Science, U. Alberta) who emphasized the Sutherland and Gordon Swaters (U. Alberta) important role that has been played in the mathemat- The wave concept links together such diverse disci- ics community by PIMS and how meetings of this plines as geophysics, oceanography, meteorology, calibre wouldn’t be possible without PIMS’ support. 40 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

Plenary Speakers: J.A. Whitehead (Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.): Up- stream and Downstream Adjustment of Controlled Hy- Peter G. Baines (CSIRO, Australia): Dynamics of the draulic Flows Antarctic Circumpolar Wave Jerry L. Bona (U. Texas, Austin): Nearshore Zone Dy- A complete list of speakers together with their namics and Beach Protection abstracts, contact information, and pictures can be David Benney: Some Evolution Equations for Selective found at http://waves3.math.ualberta.ca. Disturbances in Hydrodynamics Carlo Cercignani (Poli. di Milano): On the Structure of Infinitely Strong Shock Waves Workshop on Theoretical and H.J.S. Fernando (Arizona State): Turbulence and Mixing Numerical Fluid Mechanics in Stably Stratified Fluid Layers Roger Grimshaw (Monash): Coupled Korteweg-de Vries Vancouver, August 20–25, 2001 Equations; Solitary Wave Interactions, Growth and Satu- ration Organizers: Giovanni P. Galdi (Pittsburgh), John Richard S. Lindzen (MIT): What Limits Linear Growth? Heywood (UBC, Chair), Rolf Rannacher (Heidel- berg) Michael S. Longuet-Higgins (UC, San Diego): Dynamics of Standing Surface Waves: a Review The meeting brought together leading researchers Andrew J. Majda (Courant): Convectively Coupled Trop- from several areas of fluid dynamics to share recent ical Waves developments, discuss their significance, and bring Michael E. McIntyre (Cambridge): The Pseudomomen- into focus new directions and problems. The topics tum Rule Revisited: Wave-Mean Interaction considered shared a unifying theme, in that their the- James C. McWilliams, Lee Paul Graves, Michael oretical starting points are in the mathematical theory T. Montgomery (UCLA): A Formal Theory for Vortex of the Navier-Stokes equations. Specifically, the fo- Rossby Waves and Vortex Evolution: Natural Selection of cus was on: Nonlinear Fluids, Turbulence, Viscous Anticyclones at F Compressible Flow, Classical Navier-Stokes Prob- Robert M. Miura, Jennifer Enns-Tuttan, Yuquing lems, and Numerical Methods for these various types Wang (UBC): Waves in the Brain of problems. A. Newell (Warwick): Wave Turbulence and Intermittency Another focus was to bring to attention interest- W.R. Peltier (Toronto): Breaking Waves and Mixing in ing problems for numerical computation. Presently, Stratified Flows we have achieved the capability to compute two S. George Philander (Princeton): How El Nino Changes and three dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes when Climate Changes flow in complicated geometries, provided that the R.T. Pierrehumbert (Chicago): Martian Baroclinic Am- complexity of the solution (its range of scales) does plitude Internal Solitary Waves in the Slope-shelf Area not exceed the limitations of our hardware. The aim Peter B. Rhines (Washington): Teaching Waves in the was to promote the extension of current numerical GFD Lab methods to problems for compressible and nonlinear Colin Rogers (U. New South Wales): Intrinsic Geometry fluids, and also to the modelling of turbulent flow. in Soliton Theory: Hydodynamic and Magnetohydrostatic Also, with improved computational ability, many Connections classical Navier-Stokes problems have become sug- P. L. Sachdev (Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore): gestive of interesting situations for numerical com- Asymptotic Behavior of Some Nonlinear Partial Differen- putation. Many of these raise interesting questions tial Equations concerning artificial boundary conditions, for the re- Theodore G. Shepherd (Toronto): Wave-vortex Interac- striction of idealized problems to bounded computa- tions and Implications for Mixing in the Middle Atmo- tional domains. Other problems for numerical com- sphere putation involve questions of stability and bifurca- Melvin E. Stern (Florida State): Internal Waves Amplified tion, and of attractors, and of the statistical properties by Salt Fingers of attractors, and of the energy dissipation in differ- ent regions of the spectrum. THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 41

Main Speakers: Kyuya Masuda (Meiji, Japan): Equations in Fluid Me- chanics and analyticity Herbert Amann (Institute for Mathematics, Zrich): Akitaka Matsumura (Osaka U.): Inflow problems for a Navier-Stokes equations in spaces of low regularity one-dimensional isentropic model system of compressible Joel Avrin (North Carolina, Charlotte): A Large- viscous gas Frequency One Point Attractor Theory for the incompress- ible Navier-Stokes Equation on Bounded Domains Philip Morrison (U. Texas, Austin): Transport by chaotic advection with nontwist Hamiltonian flows and symplectic Markus Bause (U. Erlangen): Approximation schemes for maps of the plane stationary compressible viscous flow Wayne Nagata (UBC): Bifurcations on spheres and hemi- Thomas J. Beale (Duke): Computational Methods for spheres: convection in planets and branching of plant tips Singular and Nearly Singular Integrals in Incompressible Fluid Flow Jindrich Necas (Charles U., Prague): Global Analysis for fluids with pressure dependent viscosities Rodolfo Bermejo (U. Complutense de Madrid): A numer- ical study of the attractor of 2D Navier-Stokes equations Jiri Neustupa (Charles U., Prague): Conditions for Local applied to Ocean dynamics Regularity of a Weak Solution to the Navier-Stokes Equa- tions John Bowman (U. Alberta): A Statistical Description of Two and Three-Dimensional Turbulence Antonin Novotny (U. Toulon): Navier-Stokes equations when the density is not square integrable Hi Jun Choe (KAIST): On the regularity criterion of Navier-Stokes equations Mariarosaria Padula (Ferrara): Stability of an isolated Reinhard Farwig (Inst. Tech. Darmstadt): Maximal Reg- fluid drop rotating with finite angular velocity ularity of the Stokes Operator in an Infinite Cylinder Konstantin Pileckas (Vilnius U., Lithuania): Asymptotics Robert Finn (Stanford): Six remarkable properties of cap- of Solutions to Navier-Stokes Equations in a Three- Di- illary surfaces mensional Layer Ian Frigaard (UBC): Stability problems in parallel shear Olivier Pironneau (Montpellier II and Paris VI): Optimal flows of visco-plastic fluids Shape Design with Turbulent flows Hiroshi Fujita (Tokai U.): Nonlinear Semi-group Theory Rolf Rannacher (Heidelberg): Adaptive discretization in and Nonstationary Stokes Flows under Boundary Condi- optimal control of flows tions of Friction Type Reimund Rautmann (Paderborn): Navier-Stokes Approx- Giovanni P. Galdi (Pittsburgh): Sedimentation of Sym- imations in Interpolation Spaces metric Particles in Newtonian and Viscoelastic Liquids: A Niko Sauer (Pretoria): A model for boundary permeation Mathematical Analysis with Applications Okihiro Sawada (Hokkaido): Global existence of two- Roland Glowinski (Houston): On the motion of pendula dimensionl Navier-Stokes flow with nondecaying initial ve- in incompressible viscous fluids: A numerical approach locity Ronald Guenther (Oregon State): Hydrodynamic Forces Maria Schonbek (UC, Santa Cruz): On zero mass solu- and Torques on Submerged Rigid Bodies - Steady Flow tions of viscous conservation laws Claus Heine (Inst. Tech. Aachen): A Numerical Method Yoshihiro Shibata (Waseda U., Japan): Stokes resolvent for Shape and Stability of the Rotating Drop problem with Neumann type boundary condition David Hoff (Indiana): Dynamics of Singularity Surfaces David Siegel (Waterloo): Equilibrium Configurations For for Multidimensional, Compressible Navier-Stokes Flows A Floating Drop Thomas J. R. Hughes (Stanford): Large eddy simulation Ivan Straskraba (Math. Inst., Czech Academy of Sci- and the variational multiscale method ences): A brief summary of global properties of solutions Reinhard Illner (U. Victoria): Diffusive equilibria in to the compressible Navier-Stokes equations granular flow Chuong Tran (U. Alberta): Constraints on the spectral Nicholas Kevlahan (McMaster): An adaptive wavelet distribution of energy and enstrophy dissipation in forced method for fluid-structure interaction two-dimensional turbulence Dietmar Kroener (Freiburg): Transparent boundary con- Stefan Turek (Dortmund): On the next generation of CFD ditions for compressible flows Tools Alex Mahalov (Arizona State): 3D Navier-Stokes and Michael Wiegner (Inst. Tech. Aachen): The Stokes Semi- Euler Equations with Initial Data Characterized by Uni- group on an Infinite Layer formly Large Vorticity Theme 2002 (A): Asymptotic Geometric Analysis

Scientific Committee: Asymptotic Geometric Analysis is concerned with the geometric and linear properties of finite-dimensional convex bodies, especially Vitali Milman (co-chair, Tel Aviv) with the asymptotics of various quantitative Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann (co-chair, University parameters as the dimension of the underlying of Alberta) space tends to infinity. The techniques here Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS and UBC) combine geometric, analytic, probabilistic and combinatorial methods. The main directions Robert McCann (University of Toronto) of study are: Gideon Schechtman (Weizmann Institute) Convex Geometric Analysis including prob- lems from Classical Convexity and Isomor- phic Geometry.

Asymptotic Combinatorics including ques- Programme tions in Complexity Theory and Computa- tional Geometry. Conference on Convexity and Asymptotic Theory Certain aspects of Statistical Physics that of Normed Spaces, deal with “Threshold” and “Phase Transi- PIMS-UBC, July 1–5, 2002 tion” phenomena. The main probabilistic tools used are devia- Concentration Period on Measure Transportation tion inequalities and the concept of concentra- and Geometric Inequalities, tion of measure phenomenon, which in fact is PIMS-UBC, July 8–12, 2002 an isomorphic form of isoperimetric type in- equalities. Measure Transport methods and re- Conference on Phenomena of Large Dimension, lated PDEs have provided new and powerful PIMS-UBC, July 14–23, 2002 Geometric Inequalities of Brunn-Minkowski and Brascamp-Lieb type as well as novel ap- Focused Research Groups on Random Methods proaches to Log-Sobolev and Talagrand-type and High Dimensional Systems, inequalities. The subject is also connected PIMS-UBC, July 24–August 5, 2002 with quantized functional analysis via impor- tant estimates for the distribution of eigenval- Conference on Non-commutative Phenomena and ues and norms of random matrices, as well Random Matrices, as with some aspects of free and quantum in- PIMS-UBC, August 6–9, 2002 formation theories, operator spaces and non-

commutative ¢¡ spaces. Conference on Banach Spaces, PIMS-UBC, August 12–15, 2002

42 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 43

The goal of this thematic programme is to bring metric analysis (asymptotic theory of convex bod- together some areas of Mathematics and Computer ies and normed spaces), some problems of discrete Science which are dealing with asymptotic be- mathematics (one may call it asymptotic combina- haviour of different parameters when the dimension, torics) including problems of complexity theory, and or a number of other relevant free parameters, in- some problems of statistical physics. A number of creases to infinity . lectures were also given on closely connected sub- Asymptotic geometric analysis is concerned jects in probability and nonlinear PDEs arising in with the geometric and linear properties of finite- convex analysis and geometric inequalities. dimensional convex bodies, especially with the The programme was strongly connected the- asymptotics of various quantitative parameters as the matically with many of the lectures illustrating the dimension of the underlying space tends to infin- crossover between these fields. Most of the partici- ity. This field is multidisciplinary in nature, typ- pants took advantage of this by attending a number ically combining geometric, analytic, probabilistic of the sessions in the programme. and combinatorial methods. This Thematic Pro- gramme brought together over 220 senior experts, young researchers, post- docs and advanced Ph.D. students from mathemat- ics and computer science. Represented among the programme of speakers AGA participants enjoying a reception at PIMS. were laureates of many different honours and Additional support for this Thematic Programme prizes, such as the Fields was provided by the CRC grant of Nicole Tomczak- Fields medallist Jean Medal, Nevanlinna Prize, Jaegermann, by the NSF conference grants of Erwin Bourgain, IAS. Wolf Prize, Salem Prize, Lutwak and Ted Odell, and by Microsoft. Ostrowski Prize, and many others. The flavour of the Workshop may be felt from the following examples of speakers and directions (in broad categories and Conference on Convexity and listed in every group alphabetically). Many more Asymptotic Theory of Normed Spaces talks in every direction were, in fact, given. PIMS-UBC, July 1–5, 2002 One-hundred and ten of the lectures in the pro- gramme were taped and are available in both stream- Organizers: Erwin Lutwak (Warsaw) and Alain ing realvideo and MP3 format. This provided an Pajor (Marne-La-Vall´ee). online resource to conference participants, by al- The programme opened with the Conference on lowing them to review previous lectures through- Convexity and Asymptotic Theory of Normed out the programme. To provide a resource to Spaces. Lasting one week, from July 1–5, this con- the mathematics community at large, we have now ference featured lectures on classical convexity the- made entire collection of taped lectures available ory, Radon transforms and Fourier methods in con- from the main Thematic Programme web page given vexity, asymptotic theory of high dimensional con- above and from the PIMS online lecture archive, vex bodies, geometric functional inequalities, proba- http://www.pims.math.ca/video. bilistic methods in Convexity, and isoperimetric-type For the complete list of participants and lec- inequalities tures please see the Thematic Programme web page, The following lectures in the conference were http://www.pims.math.ca/aga. taped and are available from the web site The main directions of study were convex geo- http://www.pims.math.ca/video: 44 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

Keith Ball (U. College London): Convolution Inequalities Jochen Denzler (U. Tennessee): Fast Diffusion to self- in Convex Geometry similarity: complete spectrum, long-time asymptotics and Mohammad Ghomi (U. South Carolina): A Survey of numerology Some Recent Convexity Results and Problems in Classical Michel Ledoux (U. Toulouse): Measure Concentration, Differential Geometry Transportation Cost, and Functional Inequalities Peter Gruber (Technische U.): Optimal Quantization Robert McCann (U. Toronto): Nonlinear diffusion to self-

similarity: spreading versus shape via gradient flow ¡ Erwin Lutwak (Polytechnic U.): ¦ -curvature Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv): Are Randomizing Properties of Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv): Geometric inequalities of hy- any Two Convex Bodies Similar? perbolic type Gideon Schechtman (The Weizmann Institute): Non Lin- Assaf Naor (Microsoft Corporation): Entropy jumps in the ear Type and Pisier’s Inequality presence of a spectral gap Rolf Schneider (U. Freiburg): Mixture of Convex Bodies Roland Speicher (Queen’s): Free probability and free dif- fusion Van Vu (UC, San Diego): Concentration of non-Lipschitz Concentration Period on Measure functions and combinatorial applications Transportation and Geometric Qinglan Xia (Rice): Optimal paths related to transport Inequalities problems PIMS-UBC, July 8–12, 2002 Organizer: Robert McCann (U. Toronto). Conference on Phenomena of Large The second week of the Thematic Programme was Dimensions devoted to the Concentration Period on Measure PIMS-UBC, July 14–23, 2002 Transportation and Geometric Inequalities. The fo- Organizers: Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv), Michael cus was on transportation of measure methods and Krivilevich, Laszlo Lovasz (Microsoft Research) and their applications, including concentration of mea- Leonid Pastur (U. Paris VII). sure phenomenon, geometric functional inequalities (Brascamp-Lieb, Sobolev, entropy, Cramer-Crao and The main topics covered in the lectures were dif- the like), and probabilistic methods. This concen- ferent phenomena observed in complexity theory, tration period was organized with a slightly lighter asymptotic combinatorics, asymptotic convexity, sta- lecture schedule to allow ample time for extensive tistical physics and other theories of very high para- informal discussions between lectures. metric families (or large dimensional spaces).

The following lectures were taped: The following lectures were taped:

¤ £¦¥ Shiri Artstein (Tel Aviv): Entropy increases at every step Noga Alon (Tel Aviv U.): ( ¢¡£ )-graphs in Extremal Combinatorics Keith Ball (U. College London): Entropy growth for sums of IID random variables Imre Barany (U. College London): Sylvester’s Question, Convex Bodies, Limit Shape Franck Barthe (U. Marne-la-Valle): Optimal Measure Transportation* Franck Barthe (U. de Marne la Vallee): Transportation versus Rearrangement Gordon Blower (Lancaster): Almost sure weak con- ver- gence and concentration for the circular ensembles of Alexander Barvinok (U. Michigan): How to Compute a Dyson Norm? Christer Borell (Chalmers U.): On risk aversion and op- Noam Berger (UC, Berkeley): Phase Transition for the timal terminal wealth Biased Random Walk on Percolation Clusters Yann Brenier (CNRS): Density and current interpolation Christian Borgs (Microsoft Research): Phase Transition in the Random Partitioning Problem Jose A. Carrillo (U. de Granada): Asymptotic behaviour of fast diffusion equations Jean Bourgain (IAS): New Results on Green’s Functions and Spectra for Discrete Schroedinger Operators THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 45

Yann Brenier (CNRS): On Optimal Transportation The- Shmuel Safra (Tel Aviv U.): Probabilistically Checkable

ory Proofs (PCP) and Hardness of Approximation

¤ ¡¢¡

Mei-Chu Chang (UC, Riverside): Recent Results in Com- Gideon Schechtman (The Weizmann Institute): ,

£

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§¦ © ¡ binatorial Number Theory ¡¥¤ , well embed in , for any Jennifer Chayes (Microsoft Research): Graphical Models Miklos Simonovits (Hungarian Academy of Science): In- of the Internet and the Web troduction to the Szemeredi Regularity Lemma Marianna Csornyei (U. College London): Structure of Gordon Slade (UBC): The Percolation Phase Transition null sets and related problems of geometric measure the- on the n-cube ory Mikhail Sodin (Tel Aviv U.): Zeroes of Random Analytic Apostolos Giannopoulos (Crete): Random Sections and Functions Random Rotations of High Dimensional Convex Bodies Alexander Soshnikov (UC, Davis): On the Largest Eigen- Efim Gluskin (Tel Aviv U.): On the Sections of Product value of a Random Subgraph of the Hypercube Spaces and Related Topics Benjamin Sudakov (Princeton U.): On the Ramsey- and Jeong Han Kim (Microsoft Research): The Poisson Turan-type Problems Cloning Model for Random Graphs with Applications to Stanislaw Szarek (U. Paris VI): On Pseudorandom Ma- k-core Problems, Random 2-SAT, and Random Digraphs trices Gil Kalai (Hebrew U.): Results and Problems around Bor- Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann (U. Alberta): Families of suk’s Conjecture Random Sections of Convex Bodies Ravindran Kannan (Yale): Random Submatrices of a Van Vu (UC, San Diego): Divide and Conquer Martin- Given Matrix gales and Thin Waring Bases Yoshiharu Kohyakawa (U. San Paulo): The Regularity Avi Wigderson (IAS): Expander Graphs - where Combi- Lemma for Sparse Graphs natorics and Algebra Compete and Cooperate Michael Krivelevich (Tel Aviv U.): Algorithmic Applica- tions of Graph Eigenvalues and Related Parameters Focused Research Groups on Random Izabella Laba (UBC): Tiling Problems and Spectral Sets Methods and High Dimensional Systems Rafal Latala (Warsaw U.): Some Estimates of Norms of PIMS-UBC, July 24–August 5, 2002 Random Matrices (non iid case) Organizers: Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv) and Nicole Laszlo Lovasz (Microsoft Research): Discrete Analytic Functions and Global Information from Local Observation Tomczak-Jaegermann (U. Alberta). Colin McDiarmid (Oxford U.): Concentration and Ran- Participants took advantage of this period to discuss dom Permutations previous lectures in the programme and to work in new directions. Furthermore, Gideon Schechtmann Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv U.): Some phenomena of large (Weizmann Institute) and Alexander Litvak (U. Al- dimension in Convex Geometric Analysis berta) each organized an informal series of lectures Assaf Naor (Microsoft): Metric Ramsey-Type Phenomena during this period. Krzysztof Oleszkiewicz (Warsaw U.): On a Non- symmetric Version of the Khinchine-Kahane Inequality The following lectures were taped: Leonid Pastur (U. Pierre & Marie Curie): Some Large Keith Ball (U. College London): There are infinitely many Dimension Problems of Mathematical Physics irrational values of the zeta function at the odd integers Bruce Reed (McGill U.): Crayola and Dice: Graph Jean Bourgain (IAS): New Results on Green’s Functions Colouring via the Probabilistic Method and Spectra for Discrete Schroedinger Operators Andrzej Rucinski (Adam Mickiewicz U.): Ramsey Prop- Yehoram Gordon (Haifa): Applications of zonoids to erties of Random Structures Asymptotic Geometric Analysis Mark Rudelson (U. Missouri): Distances between Sec- Izabella Laba (UBC): The Kakeya conjecture (Parts 1, 2) tions of Convex Bodies Rolf Schneider (Freiburg): Stability of uniqueness results for convex bodies 46 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

Rolf Schneider (Freiburg): Minkowski’s existence theo- Alexander Soshnikov (UC, Davis): Determinantal Ran- rem and some applications dom Point Fields Alexander Soshnikov (Davis): Random Matrices: Gaus- Roland Speicher (Queen’s U., Kingston): Maximization sian Unitary Ensemble and Beyond (Parts 1–3) of free entropy Quanhua Xu (U. de Franche-Comte):´ On the maximality Conference on Non-commutative of subdiagonal algebras Phenomena and Random Matrices PIMS-UBC, August 6–9, 2002 Conference on Banach Spaces PIMS-UBC, August 12–15, 2002 Organizers: Gilles Pisier (U. Paris VI and Texas A & M) and Stanislaw Szarek (U. Paris VI and Case Organizers: Bill Johnson (Texas A & M) and Ted Western Reserve). Odell (U. Texas, Austin). Topics addressed in this conference related to the dis- The programme closed with the Conference on Ba- tribution of eigenvalues of random matrices, norms nach Spaces. Unfortunately, personal circumstances of such matrices, some aspects of free and quan- required Bill Johnson to cancel his participation at tum information theories, quantized functional anal- the last minute and his presence was greatly missed.

This conference focused on the asymptotic theory of ¡ ysis and operator spaces, and non-commutative spaces. Banach spaces and other applications of local the- ory to the geometry of infinite dimensional Banach The following lectures were taped: spaces. David Blecher (Houston): Noncommutative M-structure The following lectures were taped: and the interplay of algebra and norm for operator alge- George Androulakis (U. South Carolina): The method of bras minimal vectors Edward Effros (UCLA): Operator spaces as “quantized” Yoav Benyamini (Technion): An introduction to the uni- Banach spaces form classification of Banach spaces Alexander Gamburd (Stanford): Random Matrices and Vassiliki Farmaki (Athens U.): Baire-1 functions and Magic Squares spreading models Kenley Jung (Berkeley): Free Entropy Dimension and Tadek Figiel (Polish Academy of Sciences): Selecting un- Hyperfinite von Neumann algebras conditional basic sequences Marius Junge (Urbana): The central limit procedure for Mark Hoffman (U. Missouri): The Banach envelope of

noncommuting random variables and applications £

¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Paley-Wiener type spaces for Franz Lehner (Graz): A Good formula for noncommuta- Alexander Koldobsky (U. Missouri-Columbia): Fourier tive cumulants analytic tools in the study of sections and projections of Christian Le Merdy (Besanc¸on): Holomorphic func- convex bodies

tional calculus and square functions on non-commutative Tamara Kuchurenko (U. Missouri): Weak topologies and ¦ -spaces properties that are fulfilled almost everywhere Alexandru Nica (Waterloo): A2-point functions for multi- Joram Lindenstrauss (Hebrew U.): On Frechet differen- matrix models, and non-crossing partitions in an annulus tiability of Lipschitz functions, parts I and II Eric Ricard (Paris 6): Hilbertian Operator spaces with Narcisse Randrianantoanina (Miami U.): Weak type in-

few completely bounded maps equalities for non-commutative martingales

Haskell Rosenthal (Austin): Can non-commutative ¦ Thomas Schlumprecht (Texas A & M U.): How many

spaces be renormed to be stable? operators do there exist on a Banach space? ¢ Zhong Jin Ruan (Urbana): On Real Operator Spaces Lior Tzafriri (Hebrew U.): sets for some orthogonal

systems ¦ Mary Beth Ruskai (Lowell): The Role of Maximal Bounds in Quantum Information Theory Vaclav Zizler (U. Alberta): Sigma shrinking Markushe- vich bases and Corson compacts Theme 2002 (B): Selected Topics in Mathematical and Industrial Statistics

Programme Organizers: Statistical models became, in the late 20th cen- tury extremely complex and high dimensional. One goal is to identify opportunities and chal- Charmaine Dean (SFU) lenges for model development and criticism Peter Guttorp (U. Washington) and to begin to outline approaches to assess- Chris Field (Dalhousie) ment of complex models. This requires bring- ing together leading practitioners and philoso- R. H. Zamar (UBC) phers of scientific, Bayesian and frequentist Randy Sitter (SFU) modelling statistics with leading researchers in model assessment, validation and goodness- Agnes Herzberg (Queen’s) of-fit. Robust Statistics and Statistical Comput- ing deal with methods designed for process- Programme: ing large data sets of uneven quality, such as databases with outliers, gross errors or miss- International Conference on Robust ing data. One focus is on the efficient compu- Statistics (ICORS 2002) tation of robust estimates using very large data UBC, May 12–18, 2002 sets. Design and Analysis of Experiments are at the heart of the statistical sciences. Yet— 3rd MITACS Annual General Meeting: unlike the designs originating from agricul- Statistics for Large Scale Industrial Modelling tural problems developed by Sir Ronald Fisher UBC, Vancouver, May 23–25, 2002 in the 1920’s—many industrial problems are not well-explored in the statistical literature. Design and Analysis of Experiments To help North American industry compete Vancouver, July 14–18, 2002 globally, advanced statistical methods suitable for real applications need to be further devel- PIMS-MITACS Workshop on Filtering Theory oped. and Applications Edmonton and Jasper, July 25–30, 2002

47 48 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

International Conference on Robust David Brillinger (UC, Berkeley): John Tukey and ”Trou- Statistics (ICORS 2002), bled” Time Series Data UBC, May 12–18, 2002 Christophe Croux (U. Leuven): On the Bianco-Yohai Es- timator for High Breakdown Logistic Regression Conference Organisers: Luisa Fernholz (Temple Laurie Davies (U. Essen): Breakdown and Groups Univ.), Ursula Gather (Dortmund), Chris Field (Dal- Peter Filzmoser (Vienna Tech): Robust Factor Analysis housie) and R. H. Zamar (UBC). Xuming He (U. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign): Straight This conference was a forum for new developments Talks about Robust Methods and applications of robust statistics and statistical Karen Kafadar (U. Colorado): Statistical Analysis of Mi- computing. Experienced researchers and practition- croarray Data from Affymetrix Gene Chips ers, as well as younger researchers, came together to exchange knowledge and to build scientific contacts. Ricardo Maronna (U. Nacional de La Plata): Approaches to Robust Multivariate Estimation Based on Projections The conference touched upon many different as- pects of data analysis in a fashion which integrates Doug Martin (U. Washington and Insightful): Robust theoretical and applied statistics. One focus was the Statistics in Portfolio Optimization efficient computation of robust estimates using very Stephan Morgenthaler (Ecole´ Polytechnique Fed´ erale´ de large data sets. Lausanne): The Multihalver Raymond Ng (UBC): Robust Space Transformations for Distance-based Outliers David Rocke (UC, Davis): Multivariate Outlier Detection and Cluster Identification Elvezio Ronchetti (U. Geneva): Resistant Parametric and Nonparametric Modelling in Finance Peter Rousseeuw (U. Antwerp): Robustness Against Sep- aration and Outliers in Binary Regression Matias Salibian-Barrera (Carleton U.): Estimating the p- values of Robust Tests for the Linear Model Arnold J. Stromberg (U. Kentucky): Computational Is- The organisers of ICORS: Chris Field (Dalhousie), Luisa Fernholz sues in Robust Statistics (Temple) and Ruben Zamar (UBC). Missing from photo Ursula David Tyler (Rutgers U.): High Breakdown Point Multi- Gather (Dortmund). variate M-Estimation Nearly 100 researchers from 10 different coun- Jane-Ling Wang (UC, Davis): Semiparametric Random tries participated in ICORS 2002, which was hosted Effects Models for Longitudinal Data by PIMS and jointly sponsored by PIMS, MINERVA Doug Wiens (U. Alberta): Robust, Sequential Design Research Foundation (USA) and SBF 475 at Univer- Strategies sity of Dormunt (Germany). Victor Yohai (U. Buenos Aires): High Breakdown Point ICORS 2002 was then followed up by a weekend Robust Regression with Censored Data Workshop on Computational Robustness hosted by Julie Zhou (U. Victoria): Robustness Issues for Confi- PIMS and cosponsored by NSF. dence Intervals

The videos of the following lectures are available ¡¤£ from http://www.pims.math.ca/icors2002/. MITACS Annual General Meeting: Claudia Becker (U. Dortmund): Dimension Reduction Statistics for Large Scale Industrial and Nonparametric Regression: A Robust Combination Modelling, UBC, May 23–25, 2002 Tadeusz Bednarski (U. Zielona Gora): Robust Inference for the Cox Model Conference Organisers: Arvind Gupta (MI- TACS), Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS), Ken Davidson Graciela Boente (U. Buenos Aires): Robust Estimators in Partly Linear Models (Fields Institute) and Jacques Hurtubise (CRM). THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 49

The 3rd MITACS Anil Jain (Michigan State): Fingerprint Matching Annual General Meet- Gilbert Strang (MIT): Filtering and Signal Processing ing brought together over 350 students, re- Design and Analysis of Experiments, searchers and industrial representatives from Coast Plaza Suites Hotel, Vancouver, across Canada and the July 14–18, 2002 United States. The Organizers: Randy Sitter (SFU), Derek Bingham participants enjoyed (Michigan), Bruce Ankenman (Northwestern) and a range of activities Agnes Herzberg (Queen’s U.). that included lectures, Ron Graham (UC, San Diego) a poster and demo Many industrial problems are not well-explored in exhibition and competition, administrative meetings the statistical literature. To help North American in- and social gatherings. dustry compete globally, advanced statistical meth- The AGM Exhibition ods suitable for real applications need to be further commenced on Thursday developed. Statistical experimental designs, devel- morning, when students oped by Sir Ronald Fisher in the 1920’s, largely orig- and post-docs began inated from agricultural problems. Although the de- mounting over 70 posters sign of experiments for industrial and scientific prob- and demos. Eight posters lems may have the same basic concerns as design for earned prizes, which agricultural problems, there are many differences: (i) consisted of plaques industrial problems tend to require investigation of a and cash awards. Three much larger number of factors and usually involve companies generously a much smaller total number of runs (observations), sponsored the first place (ii) industrial results are more reproducible, (iii) in- prizes: Object Technol- dustrial experimenters are obliged to run their ex- ogy International, Inc.; perimental points in sequence and are thus able to Gilbert Strang (MIT) StemCell Technologies plan their followup experiments guided by previous Inc.; and Alcatel. results, unlike agriculture, in which all results are of- Indira Samarasek- ten harvested at one time, and (iii) models can be era (VP Research, very complicated in industrial and scientific exper- UBC) gave the opening imentation, sometimes requiring the need for non- address of the wel- linear models or for computer modelling and finite coming reception at element analysis. UBC’s Museum of The purpose of the PIMS Workshop on Design Anthropology. The and Analysis of Experiments (DAE 1) was to begin conference banquet had a series of workshops to provide support and encour- in attendance Arthur agement to junior researchers in the field of design Carty (President, NRC) and analysis of experiments, and to stimulate inter- and Philippe Tondeur est in topics of practical relevance to science and (Director, Division of industry. In the summer of 2000, researchers from Anil Jain (Michigan State) Mathematical Sciences, North America and abroad in the area of experimen- NSF). Both Carty and tal design, including a large group of young talented Tondeur gave talks that emphasized the importance new researchers, attended the First Midwest Confer- of mathematical research to society at large. ence for New Directions in Experimental Design in Columbus, Ohio organized by Angela Dean at Ohio State University, Kathryn Chaloner at the University The plenary speakers were: of Minnesota, Dibyen Majumdar at the University of Ron Graham (UC, San Diego): Guessing Secrets 50 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

Illinois Chicago and Dennis Lin at Penn State Uni- Invited Speakers: versity. This workshop had a focus on applications Sabyasachi Basu (Boeing) of design in industry and was well received. It was Scott Beattie (Eli Lilly) sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Ching-Shui Cheng (UC Berkeley) Ohio State University and Executive Jet Corp with Shaowei Cheng (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) a small award from Stat-Ease. A discussion group reached consensus that a series of similar workshops Abdel El-Shawaari (National Water Research Institute) should be held every 2 or 3 years at different loca- Valeri Fedorov (Smith Kline) tions in North America. DAE 1 is the first workshop Paul Green (Wharton School, Penn State) in this series in Canada. The bulk of its sponsor- Mike Hamada (Los Alamos National Labs) ship came from PIMS with an additional contribu- Joel Huber (Wharton School, Penn State) tion from Graduate Studies at SFU. David Hunter (Penn State) The next workshop in the series is being or- Stephen Jones (Boeing) ganized by Angela Dean, Kathryn Chaloner and Abba Krieger (Wharton School, Penn State) Dibyen Majumdar and will be held in Chicago Warren Kuhfeld (SAS Institute) in 2003 (New Directions in Experimental Design, Raymond Lam (GlaxoSmithKline) DAE2003, May 15-18, Chicago), with focus on med- Nhu Le (BC Cancer Agency) ical applications. There was a roundtable discussion Robert Mee (U. Tennessee-Knoxville) during the DAE 1 workshop in Vancouver to dis- cuss general future structure and to determine inter- Saumen Mandal (U. Manitoba) est among volunteers to host and organize the next Max Morris (Iowa State) in the series, following Chicago. This resulted in Bill Notz (Ohio State) a commitment from researchers at Los Alamos Na- Greg Piepel (Pacific Northwest Labs-Battelle) tional Laboratories to host DAE 3 in 2005 in Sante Giovanni Pistone (Politecnico di Torino) Fae, NM. Thus the PIMS support for this initial en- Shane Reese (Brigham Young) deavour appears to have achieved its goal. An infras- Louis-Paul Rivest (Laval U.) tructure and framework was established for a contin- Kirti Shah (U. Waterloo) uing such series at locations throughout North Amer- Bikas Sinha (U. Waterloo) ica to be held about every 2 years. John Stufken (Iowa State) The DAE 1 workshop itself was a huge success. Winson Taam (Boeing) The invited speakers, the invited poster presenters Boxin Tang (Memphis State) and the attendees represented precisely the cross- section of young junior researchers and experienced Randy Tobias (SAS Institute) world leaders in areas of both design and analysis Ben Torsney (University of Glasgow) of experiments that was hoped for. Visitors travelled Joe Voelkel (Rochester Institute of Technology) from various sites in Canada and the US, as well as Marcia Wang (U. Waterloo) from Belgium, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, C.F. Jeff Wu (U. Michigan) Italy, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Tai- Huaiqing Wu (Iowa State) wan; and represented both academia and industry. Don Ylvisaker (UCLA) The talks and posters included such wide-ranging Kenny Ye (SUNY-Stony Brook) topics as Computer Intensive Methods for Design Hongquan Xu (UCLA) Selection, Design of Experiments in Bioinformatics, Hongtu Zhu (U. Victoria) Drug Discovery and Marketing, Mathematical The- Lei Zhu (GlaxoSmithKline) ory of Design Construction and Bayesian Analysis of Jim Zidek (UBC) Designed Experiments, and represented leading re- search in these areas. THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 51

PIMS-MITACS Workshop on Filtering accomplishment in the conference and exchanged Theory and Applications their ideas with other participants. The conference Edmonton and Jasper, July 25–30, 2002 attracted students and postdoctoral researchers from universities across North America, which will Organisers: Robert Elliott (U. Calgary), Michael encourage future research activity in Canada. The Kouritzin (U. Alberta), Tom Kurtz (U. Wisconsin- conference benefited from industrial participants Madison) and Hongwei Long (U. Alberta). including AT&T, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, Filtering theory is an ac- who showed great interests in the conference and tive and current research indicated desire to have more interaction and collab- field attracting many prob- oration with scientists from academic institutions. abilists. In particular, there We believe that the conference helped to advance is increasing interest in ap- the scientific development of filtering theory and its plying filtering theory to applications as well as offer benefits to industry. real-world problems in ar- The meeting eas such as mathemati- was held at the Uni- cal finance, target detection versity of Alberta and tracking, communi- from July 25–27 and was concluded Gopi Kallianpur (U. North cation networks, pollution Carolina) tracking, weather predic- in Jasper, Alberta tion, traffic management, from July 28–30. and search and rescue. The main goal of the Con- The conference ference was to bring current problems and theory was cosponsored with the Univer- together, benefiting all researchers, especially those Nicole El Karoui (Ecole new to filtering theory. sity of Alberta Polytechnique) and the Applied The four keynote speakers were: Mathematics Institute of the University of Alberta. Nick Duffield (AT&T): talk series entitled Revealing the detail in network measurements The Invited Speakers included: Tyrone Duncan (University of Kansas): talk series enti- D. Blount (Arizona State) tled Fractional Brownian motion and applications A. Budhiraja (U. North Carolina) Gopi Kallianpur (U. North Carolina): talk series entitled H. Chan (U. Alberta) Lectures on nonlinear filtering theory P. Del Moral (Toulouse) Nicole El Karoui (Ecole Polytechnique): talk series en- R. Elliott (U. Alberta) titled Pricing and hedging financial products with partial W. Engler (Vision Smart) information D. Kenway (Vision Smart) They are outstanding ex- V. Krishnamurthy (U. Melbourne) perts in their fields. Their H. Long (U. Alberta) lectures focused on the M. Kouritzin (U. Alberta) most recent development M. Prefontaine (U. Alberta) of filtering theory and B. Remillard (HEC, Montreal) applications to commu- W. Sun (U. Alberta) nication network and A. Tsoi (U. Missouri, Columbia) mathematical finance. There were many estab- F. Viens (Purdue) P. Wiebe (U. Alberta) lished researchers from Tyrone Duncan (U. Kansas) five continents, who Xun Yu Zhou (Chinese U. Hong Kong) presented their recent and most exciting research Theme 2003 (A): Inverse Problems and Applications

Scientific Committee: Inverse problems are problems in which the goal is to find objects their material or biolog- Gunther Uhlmann (Chair, U. Washington) ical properties or information about their sur- Richard Froese (UBC) rounding environment which cannot be mea- Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS) sured directly or it is not desirable to do so. Michael Lamoureux (U. Calgary) These problems arise in many areas of appli- Gary Margrave (U. Calgary) cations including geophysics, medical imagin- Jim Morrow (U. Washington) ing, remote sensing and nondestructive evalu- ation of materials. Programme During the last twenty years or so there has been remarkable developments in the math- Pan-American Advanced Studies Institute (PASI) ematical theory of inverse problems. These on Partial Differential Equations, Inverse developments together with the enormous in- Problems and Nonlinear Analysis, crease in computing power and new powerful Centro de Modelamiento Matem´atico (CMM), numerical methods has made possible to make Universidad de Chile, January 6–19, 2003 significant progress on increasingly more re- BIRS workshop on Scattering and Inverse alistic and difficult inverse problems. The Scattering, purpose of the period of concentration is to Banff Conference Centre, Banff, March 22–27, bring together mathematicians and practition- 2003 ers to work on these problems on these prob- lem. During 2003 a series of workshops on Summer School in Seismic Wave Simulation and inverse problems will be held at different lo- Seismic Imaging cations emphasizing the wide range of appli- U. Calgary, July 14–18, 2003 cations. Gunther Uhlmann is the coordinator PIMS-MITACS Workshop on Inverse Problems of the PIMS thematic year. in Geophysics, PIMS at the U. Calgary, July 21–26, 2003 Workshop on Inverse Problems and Medical Imaging, UBC, August 4–8, 2003 Optimal Transportation and Nonlinear Dynamics UBC, August 11–15, 2003

52 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 53

Pan-American Advanced Studies has been a recent focus in this subject on what is now Institute (PASI) on PDEs, Inverse termed geometric scattering, which amounts to the Problems and Nonlinear Analysis, study of scattering on classes of noncompact com- Centro de Modelamiento Matematico,´ plete manifolds with regular structures at infinity. Some of the questions asked here concern the smooth Universidad de Chile, parametrization of the continuous spectrum by func- January 6–19, 2003 tions on some ideal boundary, the structure of the Organisers: Rafael Benguria (Pontificia U. scattering matrix as an operator on this ideal bound- ary, and the study of resonances, which are poles Cat´olica de Chile), Carlos Conca (U. de Chile), Nas- sif Ghoussoub (PIMS & UBC), Raul Man´asevich of the meromorphic continuation of the resolvent. There are many subtle connections between these ob- (co-chair, U. de Chile), Wei-Ming Ni (U. Min- nesota), Gunther Uhlmann (co-chair, U. Washing- jects and the geometry of the underlying manifold. ton) and Michael Vogelius (Rutgers U.). The PASI will consist of a series of intensive mini- Summer School in Seismic Wave courses during the first week followed the second Simulation and Seismic Imaging, week by a workshop focused on latest developments. U. Calgary, July 14–18, 2003 The minicourses will be given by L. Caffarelli, G. Ponce, F. Santosa, T. Toro and G. Uhlmann. Organisers: Gary Margrave (U. Calgary) and Len The PASI is sponsored by the US NSF, US Dept. Bos (U. Calgary). of Energy, PIMS, Conicyt and the CMM. PIMS The first part of this school will examine real seis- will be sponsoring the participation of Canadian stu- mic data and present several mathematical models dents in PASI. Nomination letters for interested and for the forward problem: the simulation of seismic qualified graduate students in Canadian universities waves. Essential mathematical techniques such as should be sent by their supervisors to the PIMS Cen- Green’s functions, Kirchhoff diffraction theory, and tral Office at UBC. The deadline is October 15, 2002. ray theory will be developed and examined. In the One of the main objectives of the PASI on PDE, second part, these concepts and tools will be applied IP and NA is to bring many of the recent develop- to develop the prototypical approaches to the seismic ments to advanced graduate students, post-docs and imaging problem. The Born and Kirchhoff approxi- other scientists in the Americas interested in these mations will be shown to lead to direct schemes for fields and their applications. Another important ob- the estimation of subsurface reflectivity that are the jective is to foster international cooperation through- basis for modern imaging techniques. The strengths out the Americas. and weaknesses of these techniques will be examined and a survey of more advanced, emerging methods BIRS Workshop on Scattering and will be presented. Emphasis will be placed upon un- Inverse Scattering, derstanding the assumptions and limitations of each Banff, March 22–27, 2003 technique. The successful student will obtain both an understanding of the basis and mechanics of the ma- Organisers: Richard Froese (Chair, UBC), Gun- jor imaging techniques and will appreciate the out- ther Uhlmann (U. Washington). standing problems at the forefront of research. The workshop will focus on recent developments in This course is for the mathematically skilled scattering and inverse scattering theory. In both these physical scientist who is enrolled in a degree pro- fields techniques of micro-local analysis, including gramme at a PIMS University. Students will be the use of eikonal equations and of complex geomet- assumed to have previous exposure to elementary rical optics solutions to Schroedinger and other equa- mathematical analysis (calculus, linear algebra, or- tions, has led to substantial progress in recent years. dinary and partial differential equations, and Fourier Scattering theory seeks an understanding of spec- analysis) as well as experience with basic physical tral phenomena for noncompact manifolds. There theory. 54 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES

PIMS-MITACS Workshop on Inverse Optimal Transportation and Nonlinear Problems in Geophysics, Dynamics, UBC, August 11–15, 2003 PIMS, U. Calgary, July 21–26, 2003 Organisers: L. Caffarelli (U. Texas, Austin), Organisers: Maarted de Hoop (Colorado School M. J. P. Cullen (European Centre for Medium of Mines), Gary Margrave (Chair, Calgary), Gunther Range Weather Forecasts), L. C. Evans (UC, Berke- Uhlmann (Washington) and William Symes (Rice). ley), M. Feldman (U. Wisconsin, Madison) and W. Gangbo (Georgia Tech). Seismic imaging creates images of the Earth’s up- per crust using seismic waves generated by artifi- The theme around which this conference revolves cial sources and recorded into extensive arrays of is a transportation problem having its roots in eco- sensors (geophones or hydrophones). The technol- nomics, statistics, and geometry. Given two prob- ogy is based on a complex and rapidly evolving, ability measures on a curved landscape, the prob- mathematical theory that employs advanced solu- lem is to determine the most efficient way to rear- tions to a wave equation as tools to solve approxi- range the mass of the first distribution to yield the mately the general seismic inverse problem. In the second. Efficiency is measured against a function

year 2000, nearly $4 billion was spent worldwide on ¢¡¤£¦¥¨§ ©  which specifies the cost per unit mass for § seismic imaging. The heterogeneity and anisotropy transporting material from £ to on the curved land- of the Earth’s upper crust require advanced math- scape. After half a century of mathematical neglect, ematics to generate wave-equation solutions suit- the past decade witnessed a revival of interest in opti- able for seismic imaging. The workshop will bring mal transportation, and watched as it blossomed into together mathematicians familiar with these tech- a fertile field of investigation as well as a vibrant tool niques and geophysicists familiar with the practical for exploring diverse applications within and beyond applications. mathematics. The transformation occurred partly be- cause longstanding issues could finally be resolved, but also because unexpected connections were dis- Workshop on Inverse Problems and covered which linked these questions to problems in Medical Imaging, physics, geometry, computer vision, partial differen- UBC, August 4–8, 2003 tial equations, earth science and economics. Incar- nations of this problem embed in current models for Organisers: John Schotland (Chair), Richard Al- surprisingly diverse phenomena. banese (Armstrong Research Lab, Brooks AFB), The research theme proposed for this meeting Tom Budinger (Biomedical Engineering, Berkeley), focuses on applications to models for atmospheric David Isaacson (Courant), Amir Gandjbakhche (Na- pressure fronts, the kinetic theory of gases, and geo- tional Institute of Health) and Gunther Uhlmann metric measure theory. This meeting is a natural fol- (U. Washington). low up of the one, previously organized by the same This workshop will concentrate on recent develop- research group, at the Fields Institute in Toronto, ments in medical imaging including the advances from August 20–25, 2001. That meeting gave an op- in engineering and image processing mathematics portunity to experts of the Monge-Kantorovich the- which have allowed for significant enhancement of ory to exchange knowledge, informations, and intro- widely used imaging techniques like X-ray tomog- duce other people from various background to the raphy, magnetic resonance imaging, single photon field. This second meeting is intended to help update emission tomography, positron emission tomogra- the community on advances in this rapidly develop- phy and ultrasound. Of particular interest is recent ing field, while at the same time focusing attention progress in “elasticity imaging” which uses advances on key subjects which could not be covered in detail in the mathematical study of wave propagation in at the August 2001 meeting. heterogeneous media for the evaluation of mechan- The aim is to bring together mathematicians ical properties of tissue inaccessible to touch by a working on transportation problems with a cross- physician. section of scientists working in application areas. THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 55

Among our goals are to present and discuss new ematical and application areas which did not receive mathematical results and to introduce new problems much emphasis in the first workshop, thus reaching a in application areas that are ready for rigorous math- somewhat different audience. It is also hoped to em- ematical treatment. By inviting representatives from phasize the training element, both by providing mini- several application areas, it is expected that there will courses to introduce scientists to new areas of math- be cross-fertilisation of ideas between different ap- ematics and new techniques, and by holding special plications, a fact that looks apparent from the August contributed paper and tutorial sessions aimed at be- 2001 workshop. It is hoped to highlight some math- ginning researchers. 56 THEMATIC PROGRAMMES III. CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES

The participants in the 2002 Frontier in Mathematical Physics Workshop on Brane Worlds and Supersymmetry.

The speakers at the Combinatorial Potlatch that took place at the University of Puget Sound on February 16, 2002: Jonathan Jedwab (SFU), Brett Stevens (Carleton) and Brian Alspach (Regina and SFU (Emeritus)).

Gunther Uhlmann and Nassif Ghoussoub. Gunther Uhlmann was a PIMS Distinguished Chair in November 2002 at UBC. PIMS Mini-Programmes

Mini-programmes are more focused events Robert Leigh (U. Illinois): D-branes on Orbifolds: The Standard Model than the thematic programmes and span a shorter period of time. They place the focus on Shiraz Minwalla (Harvard) having fewer formal lectures and more oppor- Rob Myers (McGill): Dielectric Branes tunities for active collaborative work between Soonkeon Nam (Kyung Hee U., Korea): Orientifolds, the participants, who typically stay for the du- Conifolds and Quantum Deformations ration of the programme. Mark Van Raamsdonk (Stanford) Simon Ross (U. Durham) Savdeep Sethi (U. Chicago) Frontiers in Mathematical Richard Szabo (Heriot-Watt U., Edinburgh): Gauge Sym- Physics on Workshop on metries in Noncommutative Yang-Mills Theory Arkady Tseytlin (Ohio State U.): Magnetic Backgrounds Particles, Fields and Strings, and Tachyons in Closed Strings PIMS-SFU, July 16–27, 2001

Organizers: K. S. Viswanathan, chair (Simon Frontiers in Mathematical Fraser University), Taejin Lee (Kangwon University, Physics on Workshop on Brane Korea), Yuri M. Makeenko (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen/ITEP, Moscow), John Ng (TRIUMF), Worlds and Supersymmetry, Alexander Rutherford (PIMS) and Gordon W. Se- UBC, July 22–August 2, 2002 menoff (University of British Columbia) The sixth workshop in the Frontiers in Mathemati- Organizers: John Ng (TRIUMF, Chair), Andreas cal Physics Series focused on the consequences of Karch (University of Washington), Taejin Lee recent breakthroughs in the rapidly developing areas (APCTP), Moshe Rozali (UBC), Alexander Ruther- of superstring theory and nonperturbative gauge field ford (PIMS) and Gordon Semenoff (UBC). theory. Held at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, UBC, this two-week workshop featured a variety of Invited Speakers: talks on topics ranging from fundamental questions in superstring theory and supersymmetry to the cos- Dongsu Bak (U. Seoul, Korea): Noncommutative Super- mological implications of brane world models and symmetric Tubes higher dimensional physics. Brane world models Bruce Campbell (U. Alberta) suggest that the observable universe is a domain wall Steve Giddings (UC): Strong Gravity at the TEV Scale (the word brane derives from membrane) in a higher Seungjoon Hyun (Seoul National U, Korea) dimensional universe. These models have been pro- posed as a possible solution to the hierarchy prob- Y. Kitazawa (KEK, Japan) lem, which asks why in the standard model of par- Per Kraus (Enrico Fermi Institute)

58 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 59 ticle physics the hierarchy of mass scales that is ob- testing the laws of gravity at the micron level. served in nature can occur. The standard model of particle physics is a com- Lectures were given by: plicated nonlinear dynamical system. In such sys- tems, predictions of dimensional numbers like par- Alessandro D’Adda (INFN, Torino): Gauge theories of ticle masses tend to be of the same size, the size the symmetric group in the large N limit of the largest input parameter. In nature, there is a Ignatios Antoniadis (CERN): Physics with large extra di- distribution of different masses, from massless parti- mension (2 lectures) cles like the photon and the very light particles like Cliff Burgess (McGill): Fixing runaway moduli

the electron or neutrino to the mass scale which de- Kiwoon Choi (KAIST): Radius-dependent gauge cou-

¢¡¤£ scribes gravitational interactions, a factor of pling renormalization in AdS5 heavier. Previous to these new ideas, the only so- Keith Dienes (Arizona): Shape versus volume: rethinking lution of this hierarchy problem was to invoke sym- the properties of large extra dimensions and Solving the metries. In fact, supersymmetry—a hypothetical and hierarchy problem without SUSY or extra dimensions: an as yet unobserved symmetry whose transformations alternative approach mix fermionic and bosonic particles—was needed. Bogdan Dobrescu (Yale): Universal extra dimension These new ideas about extra dimensions give a radi- cal new alternative solution of the hierarchy problem. Andreas Karch (Washington): Adding flavour to This solution is so compelling that it has been the ADS/CFT focus of intense theoretical particle physics research Emanuel Katz (Washington): Little Higgses over the past few years. Noboru Kawamoto (Hokkaido): Twisted superspace and The new ideas about extra dimensions have also Dirac-Kaehler fermions led to a revolution in our thinking about the role of Hyung Do Kim (KIAS): Deconstructing warped gauge gravity in particle physics. Gravity was previously theory and unification thought to be important to the interactions of ele- C.S. Lam (McGill): What can neutrino oscillation tells us mentary particles only at extremely short distance about the possible existence of an extra dimension? scales, 10–34 centimetres, or in processes involving extremely high energies, far beyond the reach of any Y.S. Myung (Inje University): Limitation of Cardy- Verlinde formula on the holographic description of brane conceivable experiments. In most of the extra dimen- cosmology sion scenarios, gravity becomes an important player in particle physics modelling. Erich Poppitz (Toronto): Instanton effects in 5d theories Some of the extra dimension scenarios use su- and deconstruction perstring theory to quantize gravity and predict that Konstantin Savvidis (Perimeter Institute): A new non- superstring excitations should be observable at much commutative field theory lower energies than was previously thought. The el- George Savvidy (National Research Center, Demokritos): ementary particles seen so far would be the lowest Conformal invariant string with extrinsic curvature action energy excitations of superstrings. The next excited Gordon Semenoff (UBC): Nonplanar corrections to PP- states would occur at energies not much higher than wave strings the masses of already observed particles. This has Mikhail Shifman (Minnesota): Cosmological constant the exciting consequence that these new ideas are problem in infinite volume extra dimensions: a possible testable by present and imminent experiments. For solution and Topological effects in our brane world from example, the existence of extra dimensions modi- extra dimensions fies the gravitational interaction at short distances. If Henry Tye (Cornell): Brane world cosmology: from su- objects are close together, gravity would no longer perstring to cosmic strings have the Newtonian inverse square dependence on Neal Weiner (Washington): Supersoft supersymmetry distance but would have a different power depend- breaking ing on the total number of dimensions of spacetime. There are now several new experiments dedicated to 60 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES

The programme was organized as that it al- NATO Advanced Research lowed the opportunity for extensive discussion be- tween the lectures. The lectures were videotaped Workshop: and are available in realvideo and MP3 format from New Techniques in Topological www.pims.math.ca/science/2002/fmp. This workshop was the sixth of the annual work- Quantum Field Theory, shops in the Frontiers in Mathematical Physics se- University of Calgary and Delta ries. It was cosponsored by PIMS, the Perimeter In- Lodge at Kananaskis, stitute for Theoretical Physics and the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics. August 23–27, 2001

Directors: John M. Bryden (U. Calgary and Upcoming Frontiers of Southern Illinois U.), F. Deloup (Universit´e Paul Mathematical Physics Sabatier) and Victor A. Vassiliev (Steklov Mathe- Summer School on String Theory, matical Institute, Independent U. Moscow). PIMS-UBC, July 14–25, 2003 Organizers: D. Rolfsen (UBC), V. Turaev (Uni- Organizing Committee: Taejin Lee versit´e Louis Pasteur, CNRS Strasbourg) and P. (APCTP), John Ng (TRIUMF), Moshe Rozali Zvengrowski (U. Calgary). (UBC), Alexander Rutherford (PIMS) and Gordon W. Semenoff (UBC). This workshop was held from August 23–24 at the University of Calgary and August 25–27 at the Delta The lecturers include: Lodge at Kananaskis. The objective of the meeting was to develop a V. Balasubramanian (Penn) common framework for ideas coming from many M. Berkooz (Weizmann) important areas of mathematical research related to R. Brandenberger (Brown) topological quantum field theory (tqft). In particular, M. Dine (UC Santa Cruz) the intent was to examine the interaction between al- D. Kutasov (Chicago) gebraic topology and Vassiliev Theory with Turaev’s V. Schomerus (Saclay) development of both topological quantum field the- ory and homotopy quantum field theory. It also dealt P. Yi (KIAS) with the study of the interaction between the repre- Frontiers of Mathematical Physics is part of sentation theory of braids and other related subjects the string theory CRG. with tqft.

The participants of the NATO workshop. CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 61

Plenary Speakers: I. Dynnikov (Moscow State U.): Finitely Presented Groups and Semigroups in Knot Theory D. Bar-Natan (Hebrew University) M. Heusener (Universite´ Blaise Pascal): Regenerating S. Bigelow (U. Melbourne): Homology and the Hecke al- Singular Hyperbolic Structures From Sol gebra S. Lando (Independent U. Moscow): Vassiliev Invariants J. Birman (Columbia): Knots and Contact Structures on Obtained from Graph Invariants the Three-Sphere R. Lawrence (Hebrew U.): Representation Theory of the M. Karoubi (U. Paris 7): Braiding of Differential Forms Braid Groups and Computation of Quantum Invariants and Homotopy Type J. Milgram (Stanford) G. Masbaum (U. Paris 7): Matrix-Tree Theorems and the

Alexander-Conway Polynomial S. Natanzon (Moscow State U. & Independent £

U. Moscow): Topological Classification of ¢¡ Actions on Surfaces Speakers: M. Polyak (Tel Aviv University) D. Auckly (Kansas State U.): Twisted Yang-Mills Theory J. Przytycki (George Washington U.): Symplectic Struc- M. Boileau (Universite´ Paul Sabatier): Uniformization of ture on Coloring of Tangles Small 3-Orbifolds D. Rolfsen (UBC): Orderable Three-Manifold Groups P. Bona (U. Bratislava): Nonlinear Quantum Systems as D. Sjerve (UBC): Automorphisms of Bilyea Surfaces Subsystems in Quantum Field Theory D. Thurston (Harvard): Wheels and Wheeling J. Bryden (U. Calgary & Southern Illinois U.): Quantum Homotopy theory II V. Tourtchine (Independent U. Moscow): On the Homol- ogy of the Spaces of Long Knots F. Cohen (U. Rochester): Braid Groups and Modular form L. Crane (Kansas State U.): Matheamtical Lessons from A. Tralle (U. Warmia and Mazuria): Quantum General relativity V. Turaev (U. Louis Pasteur): Quantum Homotopy I C. Cunningham (U. Calgary): Perverse Sheaves and L. Vainerman (Kiev State U.): Quantum Invariants of 3- Loop Groups Manifolds from Quantum Groupoids F. Deloup (Universite´ Paul Sabatier): How to Recognize a V. Vassiliev (Steklov Mathematical Institute & Indepen- Linking Summand dent U. Moscow): New Invariants of Spaces of Knots S. Duzhin (Steklov Mathematical Institute, St. Peters- V. Vershinin (Novosibirsk State U.): Homological Prop- burg): On Kleinian Weight systems erties of Virtual Braids Distinguished Chairs

Reshetikhin proved that PIMS has established a programme of Dis- a system of topological tinguished Chairs, which serves to host emi- invariants of 3-manifolds nent researchers in the mathematical sciences could be developed using for extended visits at the PIMS sites. The re- the representation theory searchers will have the opportunity to collab- of quantum groups. In orate with colleagues at the PIMS universities their work they exploited and to give a series of lectures on their work. a relationship between the representation theory Vladimir Turaev of quantum groups and PIMS Distinguished Chairs for solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation of statistical

mechanics. This allowed them to use the theory of

¡¤£¦¥ ¡¨§ © © ¢¡ 2001/02 representations of the quantum group ¡ to define invariants of 3-manifolds. They then went Vladimir Turaev (CNRS Strasbourg VI) on to give a rigorous construction of a topological Site: University of Calgary quantum field theory in dimension 3. July–August, 2001 Professor Turaev’s work has led to many ad- vances in mathematics and physics. In particular, an Gang Tian (MIT) understanding of the topological and geometric na- Site: University of British Columbia ture of quantum invariants is viewed by many to be August 2001 essential for the development of a quantum theory of Michael Shelly (Courant Institute) gravity. Site: Simon Fraser University PIMS hosted Gang November–December 2001 Tian as a PIMS Dis- tinguished Chair at Vladimir Turaev (Research Director, CNRS IV, UBC during the month Strasbourg) was the PIMS Distinguished Chair at the of August, 2001. University of Calgary for the months of July and Au- Professor Tian is the gust 2001 where he gave a series of 6 lectures on Simons Professor of Torsion Invariants of 3-manifolds. Mathematics at MIT. Turaev has made several seminal contributions to While at UBC, he gave quantum invariants of 3-manifolds and topological 4 lectures on Recent quantum field theory. His recent research has been Progress in Complex Gang Tian motivated by the development of topological quan- Geometry as part of the tum field theory by Edward Witten in 1988. Witten Geometric PDEs session of the PDE Thematic Pro- used the Feynman path integral in his construction, gramme and he also lectured at the Canada-China even though there is no rigorous mathematical justi- congress. fication for the path integral in this context. Follow- Gang Tian’s research covers such diverse areas as ing the publication of Witten’s work, Turaev and

62 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 63 differential geometry, algebraic geometry, geometric Site: University of British Columbia analysis and PDEs. He has made fundamental con- November 2002 tributions in each of these areas. In particular, he is well known for his work on the question of existence In September 2002, Donald Saari delivered a se- and obstructions for Kahler¨ -Einstein metrics on com- ries of five lectures at the University of Victoria as plex manifolds with positive first Chern class, for his a PIMS Distinguished Chair. Don is a Distinguished proof that the quantum cohomology ring is associa- Professor of Mathematics and Economics and Direc- tive (joint with Y. Ruan) and for his work on higher tor of the Center for Decision Analysis at the Univer-

dimensional gauge theory. sity of California, Irvine, and the former Arthur and ¡ £¢¥¤ Gang Tian received the Alan Waterman Gladys Pancoe Professor of Mathematics and Profes- Award from the NSF in 1994, the Oswald Veblen sor of Economics at Northwestern University. He is Prize in 1996 and was an Alfred P. Sloan Research recognized for his important contributions to the the- Fellow from 1991–93. ory of dynamical systems and to the social sciences. Michael Shelly is a In his research Don uses mathematical models to Professor of Mathemat- analyze a wide variety of social phenomena: poli- ics at the Courant In- tics, markets, and intra-organizational behaviour. He stitute of Mathematical made significant advances in celestial mechanics, Sciences at New York in which Saari’s conjecture—proposed in 1970 and University, where he is now a landmark in the field—is still unsolved. Don also Co-Director of the is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Applied Mathematical His UVic lectures Laboratory, an exper- were intended to a Mike Shelley imental laboratory in broad general audi- fluid dynamics and related areas. Besides being in- ence, showing how terested in fluid dynamics and free-boundary prob- interesting mathemat- lems, Dr. Shelley also works actively in the neuro- ics is generated by science of vision. He was the PIMS Distinguished questions coming from Chair at SFU, November–December 2001. He gave the social sciences. 5 lectures with entitled Computing Free Boundary Mathematical Problems in Moving Fluids, Computing with Surface Social Sciences, an Tension, and Discovering Singularities, Pattern For- Oxymoron? presented mation in Fluid Dynamics: Fluid Dynamics meets how basic questions Materials Science, Why do Flags Flap? and Bend- from the social sciences Donald Saari ing in the Wind: Elasticity and Drag Reduction. lead to new mathemat- ics or new uses of mathematics. The talk emphasized how hidden symmetries influence everyday decision PIMS Distinguished Chairs for making. 2002/03 Singularity Theory and Departmental Discus- sions dealt with simple models of basic decision the- Donald G. Saari (University of California, Irvine) ory, connecting it with singularity theory and with Site: University of Victoria some unresolved questions from the n-body problem September 2002 of celestial mechanics. Evolutionary Game Theory; Examples and Dy- Klaus Schmidt (University of Vienna and Director, namics explained why dynamical systems are be- Erwin Schrodinger¨ Institute) coming an important tool for handling the new area Site: University of Victoria of evolutionary game theory. The conclusions for November 2002 game theory can be surprising. The impact for dy- namical systems is that new structures are found. Gunther Uhlmann (University of Washington) 64 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES

Chaotic Dynamics of Economics refuted Adam boundary of the medium. These inverse problems Smith’s invisible hand theory through a careful math- arise in many important physical situations, rang- ematical examination, which showed that chaos is ing from geophysics to medical imaging to the non- more likely than stability in economics models. destructive evaluation of materials. The appropriate Dynamics, Symmetry, and the Social Sciences mathematical model of the physical situation is usu- concluded the lecture series by showing other uses ally given by a PDE (or a system of such PDEs) in- of dynamics and symmetry in understanding basic side the medium. The boundary measurements are concerns coming from the social sciences. One of then encoded in a certain boundary map, usually the issues discussed was Arrow’s theorem and a new called the Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DN) map. The in- way of interpreting it. verse boundary problem is to determine the coeffi- The lectures were widely attended by faculty, cients of the PDE inside the medium from knowl- PDFs, graduate and undergraduate students from the edge of the boundary map. In inverse scattering mathematics and the economics departments, visi- problems, in which the observations are made far tors from other universities, and several members of from the medium, the information is encoded in the the general public. Long and interesting discussion scattering amplitude. The inverse scattering problem followed after every talk. This has been a highly re- is to determine the medium properties from this in- warding experience for all those who attended. A formation. video recording of the lectures and a written version The first two lectures discussed the prototypi- of the notes are available on PIMS’s website. cal example of an inverse boundary problem, the During November 2002 inverse conductivity problem, also called electrical Klaus Schmidt, who is impedance tomography, whose mathematical formu- a Professor at the Math- lation is due to A. P. Calder´on. In this case the DN ematics Institute of the map is the voltage to current map; that is, the map University of Vienna, and assigns to a voltage potential on the boundary of a the Director of the Er- medium the corresponding induced current flux at win Schrodinger¨ Institute the boundary of the medium. The inverse problem is for Mathematical Physics, to recover the electrical conductivity of the medium gave series of five talks at from the DN map. Gunther Uhlmann discussed the the University of Victoria. role of complex geometrical optics solutions in solv-

The talks were about ing this inverse problem. ¨ Klaus Schmidt Algebraic -actions and The first part of the last lecture described a so-

covered the following top- lution of the inverse scattering problem at a fixed ¨ ics: -actions by automorphisms of compact energy in dimension three or larger by reducing the abelian groups: general theory, higher order mixing, problem to the study of the set of Cauchy data for the

homoclinic points and the symbolic representations Schrodinger¨ equation for a large ball. In the second ¨ of algebraic -actions, and rigidity properties. half it was discussed recent progress on an inverse Klaus Schmidt was the winner of the 1993 Ferran boundary problem arising in geophysics and rigidity Sunyer i Balaguer Prize. He was a founding editor of questions in Riemannian geometry. The problem is the journal Ergodic Theory and dynamical systems to determine a Riemannian metric on a compact Rie- and is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sci- mannian manifold with boundary by measuring the ences. lengths of geodesics (travel times) joining points of At the start of November 2002 Gunther the boundary. Uhlmann (University of Washington) gave three The lectures series by Vladimir Turaev, two-hour talks at UBC. The topics were inverse Gang Tian, Michael Shelley, Donald G. boundary and inverse scattering problems. Inverse Saari, Klaus Schmidt and Gunther Uhlmann boundary problems are a class of problems in which may be watched in real video format at one seeks to determine the internal properties of www.pims.math.ca/video/mini/. a medium by performing measurements along the CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 65

Distinguished Chairs for 2003

Andras´ Hajnal (Rutgers University) Site of Chair: U. Calgary

Bryan Grenfell (Univ. of Cambridge) Site of Chair: U. Alberta

Ashoke Sen (Harish-Chandra Research Institue) Site of Chair: UBC

Jeffrey Vaaler (University of Texas) Site of Chair: SFU and UBC Pacific Northwest Seminar Series

These are annual or biannual meetings that Michael Thaddeus (Columbia): Spaces of Higgs bundles as mirror partners bring together various regional groups of mathematicians in areas represented by strong Ravi Vakil (Stanford): Vanishing of cohomology classes on the moduli space of curves communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Some of the scientific goals of PIMS, e.g. October 20, 2002 at Western Washington U: promoting communication and interactions There were three speakers at this meeting: among mathematical scientists, are served Tom Graber (UC, Berkeley): Generalizations of Tsen’s by ad hoc organizations formed in Western Theorem Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Karen Smith (Michigan): A non-vanishing conjecture of The PNW meetings form the backbone of the Kawamata and the core of an ideal PIMS Collaborative Research Groups. Bill Fulton (Michigan):

Combinatorial Potlatches PNW Algebraic Geometry Seminar Combinatorial Potlatches have been held for many years at various locations around Puget Sound and Organizers: Jim Bryan (UBC), James Carrell southern British Columbia, and are an opportunity (UBC) and Sandor Kovacs (U. Washington). for combinatorialists in the region to gather infor- mally for a day of invited talks and conversation. October 13, 2001 at Western Washington U: This meeting in Bellingham featured the following February 16, 2002 at University of Puget Sound: three speakers. The organizer of this meeting was Nancy Neudauer (U. Puget Sound). The invited speakers were: Mark Haiman (UC Berkeley): The Hilbert scheme and Bridgeland-King-Reid correspondence for the diagonal Brian Alspach (U. Regina and SFU (Emeritus)): Group Actions and Hamilton Decompositions of Complete action of ¤ Graphs Brendan Hassett (Rice): Moduli spaces and the minimal model program Brett Stevens (Carleton University): On Universal Cycles of k-sets of an n-set Aaron Bertram (Utah): Reconstructing genus zero Gromov-Witten invariants Jonathan Jedwab (SFU): Combinatorial Design Theory and the IEEE 802.12 Transmission Code February 9, 2002 at Western Washington U: The following people spoke at the meeting: November 9, 2002 at University of Victoria: The organizers of this meeting were Frank Ruskey Jim Bryan (UBC): Gromov-Witten invariants of curves in (chair), Jing Huang, Gary MacGillivray and Calabi-Yau 3-folds and Topological Quantum Field Theory Wendy Myrvold (U. Victoria). The speakers were:

66 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 67

Andrzej Proskurowski (U. Oregon): Width parameters of well-received. This was reflected in the broad partic- graphs and discrete optimization problems ipation in the problem sessions following the talks. Branko Grunbaum (U. Washington): Polyhedra: Combi- Topics for talks included information theory, gauge natorial and Geometric theory, conformal field theory, and rational homo- Jozef Siran (Slovak University of Technology): Links be- topy theory. The following people spoke: tween graph theory, group theory, geometry, Riemann sur- John Baez (UC Riverside): Categorified gauge theory faces, and Galois theory Dan Christensen (Western Ontario): Quantized geometry via representation theory PNW Geometry Seminar Ralph Cohen (Stanford): Duality phenomena in loop spaces and conformal field theory The Pacific Northwest Geometry Seminar (PNGS) is Megan Kerr (Wellesley): A study of homogeneous Ein- a regional meeting for geometers of all kinds. It is stein metrics held at least twice during the academic year, rotating Laura Scull (UBC): Rational Equivariant Homotopy among UBC, Oregon State U., U. Oregon, Portland Deane Yang (Polytechnic University): Geometry, analy- State U., U. Utah and U. Washington. sis, and information theory

October 27–28, 2001 at University of Oregon: The organisers of this meeting were Boris Botvin- Western Canada Linear Algebra nik, Peter Gilkey, Jim Isenberg (University of Ore- Meeting (W-CLAM) gon) and Christine Escher (Oregon State Univer- sity). The speakers were: Organizing Committee: Shaun Fallat, Steve Kirk- Egidio Barrera-Yanez (Instituto de Matematicas, land (U. Regina), Hadi Kharaghani (U. Lethbridge), UNAM, Cuernavaca, Mexico): The eta invariant and the Peter Lancaster (U. Calgary), Dale Olesky, Pauline “twisted;; connective real K-theory van den Driessche (U. Victoria) and Michael Tsat- Ben Chow (UC San Diego): Hamilton’s injectivity radius someros (Washington State U.). estimate for the Ricci flow W-CLAM is a biannual sequence of meetings Claude LeBrun (SUNY Stony Brook): Curvature and on linear algebra and related fields; previous meet- smooth topology in dimension four ings have been held in Regina, Lethbridge and Gregor Weingart (U. Bonn and OSU): Spectral Se- Kananaskis. The objective is to foster research in lin- quences arising in Differential Geometry ear algebra and its applications. While the primary purpose of W-CLAM is to enable researchers (in- Kazuo Akutagawa (Shizuoka University & U. Oregon): Yamabe metrics on cylindrical manifolds cluding graduate students) from Western Canada to get together to present current work and to exchange ideas, the meeting is open to anyone. Joint Meeting of the PNW Geometry Seminar and the Cascade Topology Seminar, May 11–12, 2002 May 10–11, 2002 at University of Regina: This at U. Washington: Roughly 60 people attended meeting received financial support from the National this meeting, mostly from Washington, Oregon, and Programme Committee, the University of Regina British Columbia. Individually, the PNW Geome- Conference Fund, and the University of Regina Fac- try Seminar and the Cascade Topology Seminar are ulty of Science. WCLAM 2002 featured 18 talks by regular, regional meetings for geometers and topol- speakers from Canada, the United States and Ger- ogists, respectively. This joint meeting provided a many. The lectures covered a range of research areas good setting for the usual interactions within each associated with linear algebra, include matrix theory, group, but also interactions between the groups. The operator theory, graph theory, applied mathematics, meeting also received funding from the National Sci- numerical analysis and combinatorics. The list of ence Foundation. The talks were designed so as to speakers included two winners of the Hans Schnei- be accessible to the entire audience, and they were der prize, which is given out every three years by the 68 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES

International Linear Algegra Society for outstanding July 5, 2001 at PIMS-SFU: The meeting was en- contributions to research in linear algebra. titled “A Day of Number Theory at SFU.” The speak- In addition to the contributed talks, the meeting ers were: featured lectures from three invited speakers: Doug Bowman (U. Illinois): Zeta Values: From Leibniz to Jane Day (San Jose State) Today Ludwig Elsner (Universitat¨ Bielefeld) David Bradley (U. Maine): Research Update on Multiple Chris Godsil (Waterloo) Polylogarithms Nils Bruin (PIMS, SFU): Skolem-Mahler-Lech and

Chabauty-Coleman ©

PNW Number Theory Seminar £ ¦¨§ Edlyn Teske (U. Waterloo): Factoring ¡ with the Elliptic Curve Method January 13, 2001 at Western Washington Univer- sity: The speakers were: October 13, 2001 at Western Washington U: The Michael Spiess (U. Nottingham): Logarithmic differential

forms on p-adic symmetric spaces speakers are this meeting were: £

Imin Chen (SFU): On relations between induced repre- Glenn Stevens (Boston): The eigencurve and -adic ¦ -

¡£¢

£

¦ ¡ ¡¥¤

sentations for and applications to modular functions ¡ curves Will Galway (PIMS, SFU): The density of Pseudoprimes with Two Prime Factors January 27, 2001 at SFU Harbour Centre: The speakers were: November 17, 2001 at Western Washington U: Nils Bruin (PIMS, SFU, UBC): Generalised Fermat equa- The speakers are this meeting were:

tions £

Robert Pollack (U. Washington): -adic ¦ -functions of Adrian Iovita (U. Washington): Explicit description of the elliptic curves at supersingular primes local Galois representations attached to modular forms John Friedlander (U. Toronto): The subconvexity prob- Stephen Choi (SFU): A Problem of Cohn on Classifying

lem for Artin ¦ -functions Characters December 1, 2001 at Western Washington U: February 24, 2001 at University of Washington: The speakers are this meeting were:

The speakers were: £

£ Laurent Berger (Brandeis U.): -Adic Representations

Haruzo Hida (UCLA): Arithmetic of -adic Hecke ¦ - functions and Differential Equations Nike Vatsal (UBC): Elliptic curves over anticyclotomic Chris Smyth (U. Edinburgh): Variations on the theme of fields Hilbert’s Theorem 90 Adrian Iovita (U. Washington): A £ -adic Shimura type April 28, 2001 at Redmond, Washington: This construction for modular forms on quadratic imaginary was the 5th PNW Number Theory Seminar. It was fields organized by Matt Klassen (DigiPen Inst. Tech.), Kristen Lauter (Microsoft Research) and Peter February 23, 2002 at Western Washington U: Borwein (SFU). The speakers were: There were three talks at this meeting:

Ed Schaefer (Santa Clara Univ.): How to compute the £ - Matt Baker (Harvard): Canonical heights over abelian Selmer group of an elliptic curve for an odd prime £ varieties Audrey Terras (UC San Diego): Comparison of Selberg’s Imin Chen (SFU): Elliptic curves with non-split mod 11 Trace Formula with its Discrete Analogues representations Nike Vatsal (UBC): Ergodic theory and Heegner points Adrian Iovita (U. Washington): Families of exponential Trevor Wooley (U. Michigan): Slim exceptional sets in maps attached to p-adic families of modular forms Waring’s problem CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 69

April 20–21, 2002 at PIMS-SFU: The sixth an- John Fyfe (Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and nual PNW Number Theory Meeting had about 40 Analysis): Numerical methods in climate research participants primarily from Washington, Oregon, Al- Joerg Gablonsky (Boeing): Effective parallel optimiza- berta and BC. The invited speakers were: tion of expensive functions Kristin Lauter (Microsoft): Curves over Finite Fields and John Gilbert (MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and Applications to Cryptography UC, Santa Barbara): Graph algorithms in numerical linear algebra: past, present and future Greg Martin (UBC): Inequities in the Shanks-Renyi´ Prime Number Race Chen Greif (UBC): On the solution of indefinite linear systems Carl Pomerance (Bell Labs): Mersenne numbers Tom Hogan (Boeing): Fitting position, direction and cur-

Mark Sheingorn: Geometric Resonances in the Hall Ray

vature with a ¡ Quartic Spline of the Discrete Portion of the Markoff Spectrum Volker Mehrmann (Technical University Berlin): Numer- Fernando Rodriguez Villegas (Texas, Austin): Periods, ical methods for model reduction and the control of partial L-functions and hyperbolic manifolds differential equations Hugh Williams (U. Calgary): Computing Certain Invari- ants in Real Quadratic Number Fields West Coast Optimization Seminar November 2, 2002 at Western Washington U: The West Coast Optimization Meeting takes place The speakers at this meeting are: twice each year, and alternates between Vancouver Bisi Agboola (U. Santa Barbara): Galois structure, Galois and Seattle. In Vancouver, PIMS, CECM and the

representations and metrised line bundles math departments at UBC and SFU share the host-

¢ ¡ Will Galway (PIMS-SFU): The pseudoprimes below ¤ ing duties, with local contacts Jonathan M. Borwein Jim Mailhot (U. Washington): Selmer Groups of Elliptic and Philip D. Loewen. In Seattle, UW/Math and Curves with p-Isogenies UW/Applied Math contribute the organizational per- sonnel: R. T. Rockafellar and J. V. Burke do most of the work. The meetings involve an informal get- PNW Numerical Analysis together for social and technical discussions on Fri- Seminar day evening, followed by a series of talks on Satur- day. Speakers are drawn from the considerable body September 29, 2001 at Western Washington U: of optimization talent now gathered in the six PIMS The 15th annual PNWNAS. It was organized by partner sites and Washington State University; a fea- Tjalling Ypma (Western Washington U). The speak- tured guest from outside is also usually invited. ers were: May 4–5, 2001 at PIMS-SFU: The speakers were: Randy Bank (UC San Diego): Pre-conditioning Tim Chartier (U. Colorado, Boulder): Multigrid Heinz Bauschke (Okanagan U. College): The method of cyclic projections - the inconsistent case Lisa Stanley (Montana State U.): Sensitivity Computation James Burke (U. Washington): Approximating of subdif- Wei-Pai Tang (Boeing): Linear Algebra ferentials by random sampling of gradients Harold Trease (Batelle): Large-Scale Computation Warren Hare Lisa Korf (U. Washington): Duality Theorems in Stochas- September 28, 2002 at University of Victoria: tic Programming This meeting was organised by Dale Olesky (U. Vic- Mason Macklem (SFU): Current Models in Image Qual- toria). The speakers were: ity Evaluation Mike Foreman (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Victoria): R. T. Rockafellar (U. Washington): Variational Geometry Modelling tidal resonance and tidal power around Van- and Equilibrium couver Island Stephen Simons (UC, Santa Barbara): Hahn-Banach and minimax theorems

70 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES ¨

Herre Wiersma (SFU ): A function that is even on a Luis Vega (Universidad del Pais Vasco, Spain): Formation sphere and has no critical points in the ball of singularities for the vortex filament motion under LIA Jim Zhu (Western Michigan U.): Necessary conditions for constrained optimization problems in smooth Banach May 23–25, 2002 at Washington State University, spaces and applications Pullman: This meeting was held in honor of John R. Cannon’s 65th birthday. The invited speakers cov- May 3–4, 2002 at SFU: The spring session of ered a wide range of topics including inverse and the West Coast Optimization Meeting was well- ill-posed problems, free boundary problems, PDEs attended, with over thirty participants. There were arising in the life sciences, PDEs arising in financial seven 45-minute technical presentations and a short mathematics and numerical analysis of PDEs. theoretical talk, covering the full spectrum of the- It was organized by Robert Dillon, Alex Kha- ory, implementations, and applications of continu- palov, V.S. Manoranjan and Hong-Ming Yin ous optimization. The session concluded with a (Washington State University). small group discussion, led by Tamas Terlaky, of the The speakers were: Ralph Showalter (UT, prospects for stimulating and structuring a nation- Austin), Gary Lieberman (Iowa State), Thomas Sei- wide collaboration in optimization. Speakers: dman (U. Maryland, Baltimore), Zhilin Li (North Carolina State), Gunther Uhlmann (U. Washing- James V. Burke (UW): Gauss’s approach to the varia- tional analysis of functions of the roots of polynomials ton), Kumud S. Altmayer (U. Wisconsin, Whitewa- ter), Karthik Ramaseshan (U. Washington), Shuqing Asen Dontchev (Mathematical Reviews): The many faces Ma (U. Alberta), Eduardo Chappa (U. Washington), of the condition number theorem Jim Douglas (Purdue), Emmanuele DiBenedetto Oliver Dorn (UBC): A level set method for shape recon- (U. Vanderbilt), William Rundell (Texas A&M), struction in medical and geophysical imaging Yanping Lin (U. Alberta), Paul DuChateau (Col- Marian Fabian (Czech Academy of Sciences): Topologi- orado State), David Wollkind (Washington State), cal and Sequential Normal Compactness Hong-Ming Yin (Washington State), Robert Dillon Gabor Pataki (North Carolina): On the closedness of the (Washington State), Takashi Suzuki (Osaka), Jodi linear image of a closed convex cone Mead (Boise State), Emily Tian (Wright State), Long Tamas Terlaky (McMaster): Interior Point Methods: Dy- Lee (U. Washington), Sergei Avdonin (U. Alaska) namic Update and Self-Regularity and John Chadam (U. Pittsburgh).

Paul Tseng (UW): Signal denoising by maximum likeli- ¨

hood estimation with -penalty Jonathan Borwein (SFU): Differentiability of Monotone PNW Probability Seminar Functions on Separable Banach Space This seminar is organized by the probability groups at the UBC, U. Washington and Oregon State U. It PNW PDE Seminar usually attracts 25–30 participants and gives the var- ious groups a chance to interact with each other. As May 19, 2001 at University of Washington: This these are among the strongest probability groups in meeting was organized by Richard Froese (UBC), North America it has been easy to attract outstand- Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS and UBC) and Gunther ing scientists as speakers. This is also a good way Uhlmann (U. Washington). Speakers: for these groups to share many of the visiting scien- James Colliander (UC, Berkeley): Global well-posedness tists with the other sites. and long-time behavior of solutions of nonlinear disper- Scientific advisory committee: Martin Barlow sive equations (UBC), Richard Bass (UW), Chris Burdzy (UW), Ed Izabella Łaba (UBC): Recent work on the Kakeya conjec- Perkins (UBC) and Ed Waymire (OSU). ture Hart Smith (U. Washington): Global Existence for Quasi- October 20, 2001 at University of Washington: linear Wave Equations outside of Star-Shaped Domains The speakers were: CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 71

David C. Brydges (UBC): Branched Polymers and Di- Subhash Lele showed that many commonly used mensional Reduction methods base inference on non-identifiable parame- Jim Fill (Johns Hopkins & Microsoft Research): he Ran- ters and he discussed the scientific implications of domness Recycler: A new technique for perfect sampling those methods. Throughout the presentation, he re- Christopher Hoffman (U. Washington): Phase Transition lated the theoretical concepts to his projects on the in Dependent Percolation shapes of skulls of children with Down’s syndrome which motivated his theoretical work. Enrique Thomann (Oregon State U.): Stochastic Cas- Jenny Bryan’s work focuses on modelling gene cades applied to the Navier Stokes Equations expression data where it is informative to find sets of genes that exhibit interesting expression profiles October 19, 2002 at University of Washington: or groups of genes that appear to be functionally re- The speakers were: lated. In her talk, she discussed the research ques- Martin T. Barlow (UBC): Random walks on supercritical tions posed for such data and the challenges and op- percolation clusters portunities they present for statisticians. Scott Sheffield (Microsoft Research): Crystal facets and the amoeba April 12, 2002 at UBC: The Spring 2002 meet- Hao Wang (U. Oregon): A class of interacting superpro- ing included 44 participants, with good representa- cesses tion from various institutions and excellent partici- pation by graduate students. The main speaker was: Ying MacNab (Health Care and Epidemiology, UBC and Centre for Community Health and Health Evaluation Re- search, BC Research Institute for Children’s and Women’s Health): Statistical modeling issues in hospital perfor- mance comparison studies: the Neonatal Health Services in Canada Project

Martin T. Barlow (UBC), Scott Sheffield (Microsoft Research) and Hao Wang (U. Oregon), PNW Probability Seminar speakers. PNW Seminar on String Theory PNW Statistics Group March 17, 2001 at UBC: This meeting was orga- nized by Konstantin Zarembo (UBC), Gordon Se- This is a biannual meeting. menoff (UBC) and Sandy Rutherford (PIMS). The speakers were: March 16, 2001 at SFU: The speakers were: Washington Taylor (MIT): Tachyon condensation in open Merlise Clyde (Duke): Empirical Bayes Prior Distirbu- string field theory tions and Bayesian Model Averaging Kostas Skenderis (Princeton): Holographic renormaliza- Julia Wirch (SFU): Coherent Risk Measures and Stochas- tion tic Dominance Amanda Peet (U. Toronto): String theoretic mechanisms for spacetime singularity resolution November 16, 2001 at University of Victoria: Emil Martinec (U. Chicago): D-branes as noncommuta-

The fall 2001 meeting had the following speakers: tive solitons: an algebraic approach

¤ ¢¡ Hiroshi Ooguri (Caltech): Strings in and the

Subhash Lele (U. Alberta): The analysis of data that de- ¡

¦ ¤ £ £ ¤ picts the form of objects WZW model Jenny Bryan (UBC): Finding Informative Genes based on All these lectures were taped and are available Microarrays and Deletion Sets from www.pims.math.ca/video/meetings/. 72 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES

March 8–10, 2002, at PIMS-UBC: This seminar November 2–3, 2002 at UBC: The 29th meeting featured a series of talks on recent developments in of the Cascade Topology Seminar was organized by string theory. This weekend meeting provides an op- Kee Lam and Dale Rolfsen (UBC). Speakers: portunity for graduate students to interact with lead- David Gillman (UCLA): The best picture of Poincare’s ing researchers in the field. homology sphere The organisers were Kazayuki Furuuchi (PIMS & UBC), Moshe Rozali (UBC) and Gordon Se- Ian Hambleton (McMaster): Homotopy self-equivalences of 4-manifolds menoff (UBC), and the following people spoke: Vaughan Jones (UC Berkeley): Skein theory in knot the- Kazuyuki Furuuchi (PIMS & UBC): Non-commutative ory and beyond Space And Chan-Paton Algebra in Open String Field Al- gebra Dev Sinha (U. Oregon): New perspectives on self-linking Andreas Karch (UW): Adding Flavor to AdS/CFT Catherine Webster (UBC): Cryptography and the braid groups David Kutasov (Chicago): Localized Closed String Tachyons Sergey Yuzvinsky (U. Oregon): Topological robotics; topological complexity of projective spaces

Shin Nakamura (KEK): Extension of Boundary String

£¡ Field Theory on Disc and ¡ Worldsheet Geometries All these lectures were taped and can be watched Kazumi Okuyama (Chicago): Comments on Vacuum by going to www.pims.math.ca/video/meetings/.

String Field Theory

§£¢ Jan Plefka (AEI, Potsdam): Wilson Loops in ¦ Super Yang-Mills Theory Lisa Randall (Harvard): The Hierarchy Unification and the Entropy of de Sitter Space Eva Silverstein (Stanford): Nonperturbative Nonrenor- malization in a Non-supersymmetric Nonlocal String The- ory Matthias Staudacher (AEI, Potsdam): Index Puzzles in

SUSY Gauge Mechanics ¤

Leonard Susskind (Stanford): Quantum Gravity Space All these lectures were taped and are available from www.pims.math.ca/video/meetings/.

Cascade Topology

This is a twice-yearly seminar which rotates among the universities of the US Pacific Northwest, and western Canada. Its purpose is to gather topologists of the region, and present lectures on recent progress in the field, at an informal weekend meeting. The meetings are informal and friendly, and a special ef- fort is made to encourage participation by graduate students by providing theire housing cost. Clockwise from top left: David Gillman (UCLA), Ian Hamble- Joint Meeting of the PNW Geometry Seminar and ton (McMaster), Vaughan Jones (UC Berkeley), Sergey Yuzvin- sky (Oregon), Dev Sinha (Oregon) and Catherine Webster (UBC). the Cascade Topology Seminar, May 11–12, 2002 at U. Washington: See page 67. PIMS Lecture Series

2001/02 Series IAM-PIMS Joint Distinguished Lecture Philippe R. Spalart (Boeing), Detached-Eddy Simulation Series in Applied Mathematics (DES), October 1, 2001

David Gottlieb (Brown University), Spectral Methods for PIMS-MITACS Mathematical Finance Discontinuous Problems, October 29, 2001 Seminar Joel H. Ferziger (Stanford University), Numerical Simu-

PIMS-Shell Lunchbox Lecture Series lation of Turbulence, November 26, 2001 Russel Caflisch (UCLA), Modeling and Simulation for PIMS String Theory Seminar Epitaxial Growth, January 28, 2002

Adam Arkin (UC Berkeley), Signal Processing in Cel- PIMS Centre for Scientific Computing lular Regulatory Networks: Physical Models, Formal Ab- Seminar stractions and Applications, February 18, 2002

PIMS Centre for Mathematical Biology Eva Tardos (Cornell University), Approximation Algo- Seminar rithms and Games on Networks , March 11, 2002 These lectures were taped and may be watched by going to www.pims.math.ca/video/dist/.

IAM-PIMS Joint Distinguished Planned 2002/03 Series Gordon E. Swaters(University of Alberta): Dynamics of Colloquium Series Abyssal Ocean Currents, October 7, 2002 David Chandler (University of California): Transition This series of seminars is co-hosted by the Institute pathways in complex systems: throwing ropes over rough for Applied Mathematics at UBC and PIMS. mountain passes, in the dark, October 28, 2002 Ulf Dieckmann (The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg): Spatial complexity in ecol- ogy and evolution, December 2, 2002 Parviz Moin (Stanford University): Turbulence and its Organizer: Computation, January 13, 2003 Bernie Shizgal Leon Glass (McGill University): Dynamics of Genetic (Director of the Networks. January 27, 2003 IAM) Lloyd N. Trefethen (Oxford University): Fast accurate solution of stiff PDE, March 17, 2003 These lectures are being taped and will be made available at www.pims.math.ca/video/dist/.

73 74 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES

PIMS-MITACS Mathematical Rik Blok (Centre for Applied Ethics, UBC): Statistical properties of financial timeseries, May 28, 2002 Finance Seminars Joern Sass (PIMS and UBC): Portfolio Optimization un- der Partial Information: The Drift Process as Continuous In conjunction with research activities of MITACS, Time Markov Chain, July 11, 2002 PIMS hosts a series of talk on recent work in finan- Satish Reddy (Quadrus Financial Tech. Inc.): Introduc- cial mathematics. tion to Options and their Valuation, September 20, 2002 Costis Skiadas (Northwestern U.): Optimal Lifetime Consumption-Portfolio Strategies under Trading Cone Constraints and Recursive Preferences, October 4, 2002 Gabriel Mititica (student): Introduction to Collateralized Organizer: Ulrich Debt Obligations, October 10, 2002 Haussmann (Math, UBC) Gillian Clegg (UBC): Introduction to Mortage-Backed Se- curities, October 24, 2002 Alex Schied (Humboldt U. & UBC): Variational problems for capacities arising in risk theory, November 13, 2002 Jean-Marie Dufour (U. Montreal): Testing mean- variance efficiency in CAPM with possibly non-Gaussian Seminars for 2001/02 errors: an exact simulation-based approach, Novem- A. Lazrak (USC and U. d’Evry): Incomplete Information ber 28, 2002 with Recursive Preferences, January 11, 2001 Tan Wang (UBC): Model Misspecification and Under- Diversification, February 8, 2001 PIMS-Shell Lunchbox Lecture Simon McNair (UBC): Delta Hedging and Survival Prob- Series 2002 abilities in Markets with Frictions, March 1, 2001 Dilip Madan (University of Maryland): Levy Processes in PIMS is presenting a series of lectures at the Shell Financial Modeling, March 9, 2001 Centre in downtown Calgary. These lectures, given Alan King (IBM Research Division): A Contingent by experts from the PIMS Universities, focus on Claims Approach to Setting the Franchise Fee for Ca- mathematical techniques and applications relevant to pacity Constrained, Quantity-Flexible Supply Contracts, the oil and gas industry and demonstrate the utility March 22, 2001 and beauty of applied mathematics. The talks are Robert Jones (SFU): Valuing Revolving Lines of Credit aimed at a general audience. Attendance may qual- Under Jump-Diffusion Credit Quality, March 29, 2001 ify for APEGGA Professional Development Hours. A. Lazrak (U. d’Evry): Information Neutrality in Stochas- tic Differential Utility and Related Backward Stochastic Differential Equations, September 6, 2001 R. Tompkins (T. U. Vienna): September 27, 2001 J. Cvitanek (USC): Computation of Hedging Portfolios for Options with Discontinuous Payoffs, October 11, 2001 Organizer: Gary Margrave (U. Calgary) Joern Sass (UBC): Maximizing the asymptotic growth rate under fixed and proportional transaction costs, Oc- tober 25, 2001 Robert Tompkins (Technische Universitat¨ Wien): Pric- ing, no-arbitrage bounds and robust hedging of installment Michael Lamoureux (U. Calgary): Wavelets in Industry, options, December 10, 2001 February 12, 2002 Ulrike Reich (UBC): Hedging in an international per- Rita Aggarwala (U. Calgary): Designing better industrial spective, January 24, 2002 experiments, April 16, 2002 Bo-Young Chang (UBC): Introduction to Credit Deriva- Antonin Settari (U. Calgary): Mathematics of coupled tives, February 28, 2002 reservoir and geomechanical modeling, May 21, 2002 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 75

Ian Frigaard (UBC): Advances in understanding well- Robert Brandenberger (Brown): Review of approaches construction fluid mechanics: cementing flows and turbu- to string cosmology (ctd), July 9, 200 lence, June 13, 2002 M. Rozali (UBC): Strings on AdS3, October 22, 2001 Richard Churchill (Hunter College, CUNY): Fermat’s S. Bal (Math Science, India): Interaction of Fuzzy Spheres, Last Theorem, August 6, 2002 October 26, 2001 Len Bos (U. Calgary): Fitting Surfaces to Data, Septem- M. Rozali (UBC): Strings on AdS3, October 29, 2001 ber 23, 2002 Kristen Schleich (UBC): Exotic differentiable structures Christian Jacob (U. Calgary): Design by Evolution The in quantum gravity, January 4, 2002 Art and Science of Genetic Computer Programming, Oc- tober 22, 2002 Aki Hashimoto (IAS): Observables of String Field The- ory, January 18, 2002 Tony Ware (U. Calgary): Changing your point of view: modern Fourier analysis and other techniques for seeing Ben Sussman (UBC): Kalb-Ramond Solitons in Bosonic data in a new light, November 18, 2002 String Theory, January 25, 2002 Edward S. Krebes (U. Calgary): Seismic Waves in a Lay- Kazuyuki Furuuchi (UBC): Non-Commutative Space ered Earth, December 12, 2002 and D-Branes in Open String Algebra, February 1, 2002 Jeremy Michelson (Rutgers): Non-Commutative Field Theory from String Theory, February 8, 2002 PIMS String Theory Seminar for Kirk Buckley (UBC): Superconducting strings in high 2001/02 density QCD, November 8, 2002 Hong Liu (Rutgers): Strings in Time-Dependent Orb- This is a series of lectures on String theory held ap- ifolds, November 22, 2002 proximately once per week at PIMS-UBC. Organizer: K. Zarembo (PIMS PDF, UBC) PIMS-MITACS Centre for Gordon Semenoff (UBC): Strings in external electro- magnetic fields, January 22, 2001 Scientific Computing Seminar for Konstantin Zaremb (UBC): String theory: a link between 2001/02 gravity and gauge fields, January 26, 2001 Gordon Semenoff (UBC): Matrix strings in a B-field, February 5, 2001 Sumati Surya (UBC): Phase transitions for flat AdS black holes, February 26, 2001 Moshe Rozali (Rutgers): Thermodynamics of Nongravita- Organizer: Bob Russell tional String Theories, March 5, 2001 (CSC Director) Konstantin Zarembo (UBC): Testing AdS/CFT corre- spondence with Wilson loops,March 12, 2001

Jorgen Rasmussen (U. Lethbridge): Superconformal al-

¤ ¡ gebras on the boundary of , March 19, 2001 Sachindeo Vaidya (UC Davis): Perturbative dynamics on Stephen Whitaker (UC Davis): Coupled Transport Dur- fuzzy surfaces, May 1, 2001 ing Drying in Porous Media, January 5, 2001 Sumati Surya (UBC): Discussion of “Fluxbranes in Tom Manteuffel (U. Colorado): arge First-order Systems String Theory” by M. Gutperle and A. Strominge, May 14, Least-squares Functionals for Linear Elasticity, January 2001 12, 2001 Emil Akhmedov (UBC): On Unification of D-Brane Cou- Radu Bradean (SFU): Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous plings to RR Fields, May 28, 2001 Fuel Cell Electrodes, January 19, 2001 Robert Brandenberger (Brown): Review of approaches Ray Zahar (SFU): A Uniform Analysis of Difference Sys- to string cosmology, June 18, 2001 tems,February 2, 2001 Robert Brandenberger (Brown): Review of approaches Wolfgang Heidrich (UBC): Towards Realistic Materials to string cosmology (ctd), June 25, 2001 and Lighting in Interactive Applications, February 9, 2001 76 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES

John Bowman (Alberta): A Statistical Description of Two K.K. Tung (U. Washington): Turbulent Energy Spectrum

¡ ¡ ¡ and Three-Dimensional Turbulence, February 16, 2001 in the Atmosphere for Scales of Motion from ¡ to Lia Bronsard (McMaster): Phase Boundaries in Kilometer, January 4, 2002 Ginzburg-Landau Models of Materials Science, February Thomas Hillen (U. Alberta): Pattern Formation in 19, 2001 Chemotaxis Systems, January 11, 2002 Bernard Deconick (U. Washington): The computation of Edward J. Kansa (Lawrence Livermore National Lab): quasi-periodic solutions of integrable partial differential Meshless, Radial Basis Function Collocation Methods for equations, March 2, 2001 PDEs, January 18, 2002 Richard Bartels (U. Waterloo): Constructing multireso- Ian Frigaard (UBC): Super-Stable Parallel Flows of Mul- lutions from subdivisions, February 1, 2002 tiple Visco-Plastic Fluids, March 9, 2001 Peter Berg (SFU): Microscopic Parameters and Macro- Bjorn Sandstede (Ohio State): Stability and bifurcations scopic Features of Traffic Flow, February 15, 2002 of spiral waves, March 16, 2001 Professor Vladimir Dorodnitsyn (Russian Academy of Chris Jones (Brown): Do Invariant Manifolds Hold Wa- Sciences): Lie Group Symmetries of Difference Equations: ter?, March 23, 2001 how to construct the invariant difference models, March 7, Bengt Fornberg (U. Colorado): Radial Basis Functions - 2002 A future way to solve PDEs to spectral accuracy on irreg- Philip Sharp (U. Auckland): Numerical challenges in ular multidimensional domains?, March 30, 2001 long N-body simulations of the Solar System, March 15, Jane Wang (Cornell): April 6, 2001 2002 Emily Stone (Utah State) and Abe Askari (Boeing): Non- Dale Durran (U. Washington): Wave Propagation in linear Models of Dynamics in Drilling, May 4, 2001 Quadratic-Finite-Element Approximations to Hyperbolic Equations, April 5, 2002 Yannis Kevrekidi (Princeton): Enabling Microscopic Simulators To Perform System-Level Analysis, May 18, Dr. Koorosh Nikfetrat (BCIT): Three Dimensional Vis- 2001 cous Incompressible Flow Simulations Using Helpholz Ve- locity Decomposition, April 12, 2002

Nicolas Robidoux (SFU): Numerical solution of the Pois-

¡ £¢¥¤¡¦¥§ ¤ ¤

¤ Rajan Dassan and Brad Bondy (Genus Capital Manage-

§©¨ son equation — © with discontinuous diffu-

¤ ment): Investment Problems: Mathematics and Computa- sion tensor and source term ¨ , September 7, 2001 tion, April 19, 2002 Florin Diacu (U. Victoria): On the dynamics of Lang- Alex Kurganov (Tulane): Smoothness Indicator for Adap- muir’s Problem, September 21, 2001 tive Algorithms, May 17, 2002 Adrian Lewis (SFU): Optimization Problems Involving Chris Budd (U. Bath): Can an adaptive method live with Pseudospectra, September 28, 2001 a symplectic method and still be friends?, May 17, 2002 Claudio Fernandez (Catholic U. Chile): Lifetime in Lubomir Bakule (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Re- Quantum Mechanics, October 5, 2001 public): Decentralized Control of Large Scale Systems, Uri Ascher (UBC): Multilevel Techniques for Large Scale May 23, 2002 Distributed Parameter Estimation in 3D, October 12, 2001 Christopher P. Silva (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Xiaofeng Ren (Utah State): Analysis of Block Copolymer Republic): Chaos, Fractals, and Wavelets in Communica- Morphology, October 19, 2001 tions & Signal Processing, June 7, 2002 JF Williams (U. Bath): Exactly self-similar blow-up in Carson C. Chow (U. Pittsburgh): Collective dynamics of higher order semilinear parabolic equations, August 2, coupled neurons, November 2, 2001 2002 Ricardo Carretero (PIMS PDF): Breathers in Bose- Ioanis Nikolaidis (U. Alberta): On the use of transmis- Einstein condensate lattices: from multi-soliton interac- sion power control for energy-efficiency MANET services, tions to homoclinic tangles, November 9, 2001 August 22, 2002 Diana Allen (SFU): Applications of Numerial Modelling Satish Reddy (Quadrus Financial Tech. Inc.): Introduc- to Groundwater Flow, November 16, 2001 tion to Options and their Valuation, September 6, 2002 Oliver Dorn (UBC): A level set method for shape recon- S. J. Paddison (Los Alamos National Lab): Multi-scale struction in 3D Electromagnetic Induction Tomography, Modeling of Proton Conduction in the Electrolyte of a November 23, 2001 PEM Fuel Cell, September 13, 2002 Gene H. Golub (Stanford): Solution of Non-Symmetric, Andrey Pavlov (SFU): Homeownership as a Constraint Real Positive Linear Systems, November 30, 2001 on Asset Allocation, September 20, 2002 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES 77

Dr. Jose-Leonel Torres (U. Michoacan): Biological PIMS Centre for Mathematical Power Laws and Darwin’s Principle, September 25, 2002 Biology Seminar Dr. Michael Ward (UBC): The Stability and Dynam- ics of Localized Patterns for a Reaction-Diffusion System, September 27, 2002

Chen Greif (UBC): On the solution of indefinite linear Organizer: Mark Lewis systems, October 4, 2002 (University of Alberta)

Eirikur Palsson (UBC): Exploring the interpaly of cell- adhesion and chemotaxis on cell sorting using a 3-D model, October 11, 2002 Kerry Landman (U. Melbourne): Can you still read the fine print? Water transport in eye lenses and “How does Walter Craig (McMaster): Traveling water waves, Octo- ber 21, 2002 your stomach feel? Development of the nervous system in the gut”, October 1, 2001 Hal Smith (Arizona State U.): November 1, 2001 Brad McNeny (SFU): A stepwise procedure for detect- ing recombination breakpoints with application to HIV-1 Sebastian Schreiber (Western Washington U.): Allee ef- molecular sequences from an individual, October 25, 2002 fects, chaotic transients, and extinction in simple popula- tion models, November 19, 2001 Richard O. Moore (SFU): Importance sampling applied Kevin Painter (Heriot-Watt U.): November 26, 2001 to simulations in optical communications, November 1, Brian Denis (U. Idaho): January 28, 2002 2002 Leah Edelstein-Keshet (UBC): April 8, 2002 Alex Mogilner (UC Davis): How nematode sperm crawl, Bastiaan J. Braams (Courant): The computational com- September 9, 2002 plexity of the Hartree-Fock approximation in quantum Rebecca Tyson (Okanagan University College): How ne- chemistry, November 29, 2002 matode sperm crawl, November 4, 2002 78 CORE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMMES IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

At the Second Canada-China Congress, August 20–23, 2001, in Vancouver, Dr. Tom Brzustowski, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is shown with the Canadian and Chinese delegations. Extra-Thematic Scientific Workshops

Designs, RRPs where every resolution class is made Its unique structure allows PIMS to move of of blocks of a fixed size and CURDs where ev- quickly to produce and promote the latest ad- ery resolution class is isomorphic as a spanning sub- vances in the mathematical sciences and in- graph of the complete graph. Resolvable packings volve PIMS’ scientists in them. Rather than and partial resolutions have been shown to be power- centering all its scientific activities around a fully applicable to synchronous uni-polar multi-user few topics for an entire academic year, thus communication systems. These exciting recent de- tying up resources and limiting participation, velopments prompted this mini workshop. PIMS also runs shorter, more intensive pro- grammes to emphasize rapidly developing ar- eas. The flexibility of this structure im- Speakers: proves communication between PIMS’ mem- bers and the larger scientific community, re- Charles Colbourn (U. Vermont): Doubly resolvable sulting in better trained personnel and estab- Steiner triple systems lishing vigourous dialogue between the math- Mark Chateaunef (U. Waterloo): Resolving to avoid par- ematical sciences and the other disciplines. allelisms This section describes the extra-thematic sci- Izabella Adamczak (Michigan Technical University): On entific activities of the institute. Each work- the hole-size bound for incomplete block designs shop has its own organizing committee and Myra Cohen (U. Auckland, NZ): Cluttered Orderings for they are mostly held in the various PIMS sites. the Complete Graph The selection and funding decisions are made Peter Danzinger (Ryerson Polytechnic University): by the Scientific Review Panel. Class-Uniformly Resolvable Designs Peter Dukes (Caltech): New Lower Bounds on the Maxi- mum Number of Mutually Orthogonal Steiner Triple Sys- Design Theory: Resolvability and tems Parallelisms, Eric Mendelsohn (U. Toronto): Resolvability and Config- PIMS-SFU, May 16–18, 2001 urations Rolf Rees (Memorial University): Direct product con- Organisers: Brett Stevens & Luis Goddyn (SFU) structions for resolvable group divisible designs Parallel classes and resolvability are two powerful Don Kreher (Michigan Technical University): On PBIBD substructures in Combinatorial Design theory. Full Designs Based on Triangular Schemes and partial parallel classes are necessary for Wilson’s Alan Ling (Michigan Technical University) Fundamental construction. Recent generalizations of traditional resolvability are an exciting new area of John Stardom (SFU) study and application. There have been two recent Alex Rosa (McMaster): Upper Chromatic Index and Spe- generalizations of resolvability to Pairwise Balanced cialized Block Colourings of Steiner Triple Systems

80 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 81

¢¡¤£ Canadian Conference on General Speakers: Relativity and Relativistic Astrophysics, William Langford (U. Guelph): Normal Form Analysis of University of Alberta, May 24–26, 2001 Nayfeh’s Abnormal Resonance Jerry Marsden (Caltech): Dynamical systems, celestial Organisers: C. P. Burgess (McGill), J. Gegenberg mechanics and space mission design (New Brunswick), D. Hobill (Calgary), H. P. Kunzle¨ James Montaldi (INLN (Nice, Fr) & UMIST (UK)): Per- (Alberta) and R. G. McLenaghan (Waterloo). sistence of Relative Equilibria This was the ninth in a series of meetings, held every Ernesto Perez (U. Pemambuco): Central Configurations two years, designed to bring together researchers in for Charged Problems gravitation, relativity, astrophysics, and related fields Hildeberto Cabral (Universidade Federal de Pemam- and to enhance the interaction between the Cana- buco): Periodic solutions of perturbations of the Kepler dian and wider international research communities problem in these areas. There were three mornings of plenary Carmen Chicone (U. Missouri): What are the calssical talks, two afternoons of contributed talks in parallel equations of motion with radiation reaction taken into ac- sessions and poster presentations. count? The conference was held in conjunction with Daniel Offin (Queens University): Stability of periodic so- Black Holes III, in Kananaskis, Alberta, in the Cana- lutions and the variational principle dian Rocky Mountains, May 20–22. Christina Stoica (U. Victoria): Classical Scattering and Block Regularization Invited Speakers: John Baez (UC, Riverside): New developments in canoni- Mathematical Biology cal quantum gravity Dick Bond (CITA): Cosmic Parameters from the CMB Organizer: Pauline van den Driessche (Victoria) Viqar Hussain (U. New Brunswick): Dualities and Wil- son loops Speakers: Amanda W Peet (U. Toronto): Recent developments in Leah Keshet (UBC): Modelling cell and chemical inter- string theory and applications to black holes actions in Alzheimer’s Disease Eric Poisson (U. Guelph): Gravitational radiation reac- Michael Li (U. Alberta): Mathematical Analysis of the tion in strong fields Global Dynamics of a Model for HTLV-1 Infection and Kristin Schleich (UBC): Topological censorship ATL Progression Saul Teukolsky (Cornell): Numerical simulations of black Mark Lewis (U. Utah): How predation can slow, stop or holes reverse a prey invasion Kip S Thorne (Caltech): Gravitational waves: A status Mark Kot (U. Washington): Do Invading Organisms do report the Wave? Virginia Trimble (UC, Irvine): Looking into the potential Hal Smith (Arizona State University): Colonization re- wells: Observations of compact objects sistance in the gut and microbial surface colonization of S-T Yau (Harvard): Existence of black holes bio-reactors Gail Wolkowicz (McMaster University): Mathematical CAIMS Annual Meeting, Modeling of Self Cycling Fermentation University of Victoria, June 7–9, 2001 Mary Lou Zeeman (U. Texas, San Antonio): Modeling the Human Menstrual Cycle PIMS sponsored two additional sessions at the 2001 William Langford (U. Guelph): Normal Form Analysis of Annual Meeting of the Canadian Applied and Indus- Nayfeh’s Abnormal Resonance trial Mathematics Society. Sally Blower (UCLA): Live attenuated HIV vaccines: pre- dicting the trade-off between efficacy & safetyn Applied Dynamical Systems Shigui Ruan (Dalhousie University): Codimension Two Organizer: Florin Diacu (U. Victoria) Bifurcations in Ecological and Epidemiological Models 82 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

Designs, Codes, Cryptography and istrants. Communication and a collaborative atmo- Graph Theory, University of Lethbridge, sphere were fostered by a session on open problems, July 9–14, 2001 as well as much informal discussion during the times available for social activities during the week. Organisers: Wolf Holzmann, Hadi Kharaghani The workshop was an enjoyable, informative and and Jim Liu (University of Lethbridge). invigorating experience for participants, who left This was the second workshop on Designs, Codes, with their understanding of designs, codes, cryptog- Cryptography and Graph Theory at the University raphy and graph theory having been both broadened of Lethbridge. Instructional lectures were held each and enriched. morning, with afternoon talks on individual papers. Brian Alspach (U. Regina) gave a series of Additional Invited Speakers: 3 instructional lectures on vertex-transitive graphs. M. Buratti (Universita` di Perugia, Italy): Selected Topics Charles Colbourn (Arizona State) gave a series of on Sharply-Vertex-Transitive Designs 3 instructional lectures on applications of combi- R. Craigen (U. Manitoba): Complementary Pairs of Se- natorial designs. Chris Rodger (Auburn Univer- quences sity) gave a series of 3 instructional lectures on cod- G. Hahn (U. Montreal): Absorbing Sets in Coloured Tour- ing theory. Doug Stinson (U. Waterloo) gave a se- naments ries of 3 instructional lectures on the Discrete Loga- S. Hedayat (U. Illinois, Chicago): Adding More Runs to rithm Problem as applied to cryptography. Vladimir Saturated D-Optimal Resolution III Designs Tonchev (Michigan Technical University) gave an Y. Ionin (Central Michigan): Decomposable Symmetric instructional lecture on combinatorial designs as ap- Designs plied to digital communication. All of the in- G. B. Khosrovshahi (IPM and Tehran U., Iran): Some Re-

structional lectures were well-balanced, entertaining sults on the Existence of Large Sets of -Designs and informative, pitched at a level appropriate to T. Kloks (Royal Holloway, U. London): Fixed Parameter non-experts with some discrete mathematical back- Complexity ground, yet describing some of the cutting edge of D. Kreher (Michigan Technological U.): A Hole-Size research in these fields. Workshop organisers were Bound for Incomplete t-Wise Balanced Designs

extremely fortunate in attracting mathematicians of A. Ling (Michigan Technological U.): The Existence of

¡

¢¢¡¤£¥¡ ¤ such eminence in their fields who are also talented Kirkman Squares — Doubly Resolvable ¡ -BIBDs expositors of their work. K. Murty (U. Toronto): The Number of Words in Certain Non-linear Codes

R. Rees (Memorial): On Holes in -Wise Balanced De- signs C. Rodger (Auburn U.): A Very Basic Intoduction to Er- ror Correcting Codes, The Graph Theoretical Approach to Convolutional Codes, and Encoding on Compact Discs R. Safavi-Naini (U. Wollongong, Australia): Error and Deletion Correcting c-Secure Codes P. Shiue (U. Nevada, Las Vegas): On the Number of Prim- itive Polynomials over Finite Fields D. Stinson (U. Waterloo): The Discrete Logarithm Prob- The Designs, Codes, Cryptography and Graph Theory group. lem: Theory and Cryptographic Applications There were 44 registered participants in the V. Tonchev (Michigan Technical U.): Perfect Codes and workshop, from 8 countries around the world: Balanced Generalized Weighing Matrices, and Combina- Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, torial Designs and Digital Communication Australia, Italy, Spain, Korea and Iran. Participants R. Wei (Lakehead U.): On Cover-Free Families included employees of SaskTel and the Department H. Williams (U. Manitoba): Applications of a Numerical of National Defense, in addition to the academic reg- Sieving Device IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 83

International Conference on SCIentific Aspects of Symmetry on the occasion of Computation and Differential Equations, the 60th birthday of Robert Moody, Coast Plaza Hotel, Vancouver, Banff, AB, August 26–29, 2001 July 29–August 3, 2001 Organisers: Michael Baake (Universitat¨ Greif- Organisers: U. Ascher (chair, UBC), G. Bock swald) and Arturo Pianzola (U. Alberta) (Heidelberg), K. Burrage (Brisbane), A. Iserles (Cambridge), L. Petzold (Santa Barbara) and R. Rus- sell (SFU) Speakers: James Arthur (U. Toronto), Geor- This meeting was concerned with scientific com- gia Benkart (U. Wisconsin), Stephen Berman puting involving the numerical solution of differ- (U. Saskatchewan), H.S.M. (Donald) Coxeter ential equations. Numerical techniques in applica- (U. Toronto), Terry Gannon (U. Alberta), Vic- tions were emphasized. These included optimiza- tor Kac (MIT), Jeffrey Lagarias (AT&T Labs- tion and optimal control, chemical and mechanical Research), Ian Macdonald (Oxford), Kumar engineering, stochastic differential equations, level- Murty (U. Toronto), Jiri Patera (CRM), Ian Put- set methods, molecular dynamics, computer graph- nam (U. Victoria), Peter Slodowy (Universitat ics, robotics. Hamburg), Louis Solomon (U. Wisconsin), Boris The meeting is part of the SCICADE series, the Solomyak (U. Washington), Efim Zelmanov (Yale) last of which was held in Fraser Island (Australia), and Andrei Zelevinsky (Northeastern). August 9–13, 1999. The next meeting is planned for June 30–July 4, 2003, in Trondheim, Norway.

Plenary Speakers: Lorenz Biegler (Carnegie Mellon): Dynamic Chemical Process Optimization Kevin Burrage (U. Queensland): An overview of numeri- cal methods for stochastic ordinary differential equations Stephen Campbell (North Carolina State): Optimization and Differential Equations Luca Dieci (Georgia Tech): Some computational problems in dynamical systems Leslie Greengard (Courant Institute): Integral equations and computational engineering Maria's Group (all mathematical children and grandchildren of Maria). Top (l–r): A. Pianzola, R. Moody (U. Alberta), Thomas Hou (Caltech): Numerical Solutions to Free M. Wonenberger (Spain), S. Berman (U. Saskatchewan), K. Liu Boundary Problems (UBC), Y. Gao (York). Bottom (l–r): N. Strungaru, J.-Y. Lee, S. Sullivan (U. Alberta). Christian Lubich (Universitaet Tuebingen): Fast convo- lution for non-reflecting boundary conditions Reinout Quispel (La Trobe University, Melbourne): Geo- metric Integration of ODEs Around Group Rings Seminar, Sebastian Reich (Imperial College, London): Conserva- Jasper, Alberta, February 18–21, 2002 tive Methods for Wave and Fluid Dynamics Organisers: Gerald Cliff, Mazi Shirvani and Al Gustaf Soderlind (Center for Mathematical Sciences, Weiss (U. Alberta). Lund University): Digital Filters in Adaptive Time- Stepping The conference was attended by 48 participants Demetri Terzopoulos (Universities of New York and from North America (Canada, US), South Amer- Toronto): Differential Equations in Vision, Graphics and ica (Brazil), and Europe (Ireland, Italy, Poland, The Design Netherlands, Belgium, Germany) and Asia (Japan). 84 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

The speakers were: Yuri Bakhturin (Memo- Speakers and titles are listed below: rial and Moscow State), Antonio Giambruno Jeffrey Adler (U. Akron): Supercuspidal character germs (Palermo), Jairo Goncalves (Sao Paulo), Narain for classical groups Gupta (Manitoba), Martin Hertweck (Stuttgart), Anne-Marie Aubert (CNRS ENS): Sheaves on adic Ted Hurley (Galway), Eric Jespers (Brussels), spaces for p-adic group representation theory Alexander Lichtman (Wisconsin-Parkside), Zbig- Stephen Debacker (Harvard): Quixotic quests niew Marciniak (Warsaw), Gabrielle Nebe (Ulm), Donald Passman (Wisconsin-Madison), David Ri- Laurent Fargues (Institut de mathematiques´ de Jussieu): An introduction to Rapoport Zink spaces and their l-adic ley (Western), Peter Roquette (Heidelberg) and cohomology Fernando Szechtman (Waterloo). David Goldberg (Purdue): The norm map and conse- A volume of proceedings will appear in the series quences Resenhas do IME published by the U. of Sao Paulo. Jeffrey Hakim (American University): Supercuspidal Representations Attached to Symmetric Spaces Thomas Hales (Pittsburgh): Motives and Representations of Reductive p-adic Groups Chris Jantzen (East Carolina): Degenerate principal se- ries for even-orthogonal groups

Henry Kim (Toronto): Application of Langlands’ functo-

¡ ¡

¡ ¤ ¢£¢ ¡ ¤ ¦ ¤ ¢ ¤ rial lift of to Julee Kim (IAS, Princeton): Dual blobs and Plancherel formula Peter Schneider (Universitat¨ Munster):¨ The algebraic the- ory of tempered representations Participants of the Around Group Rings Seminar in Jasper. Matthias Strauch (Universitat¨ Munster):¨ Representations on vanishing cycles, trace formulas and boundaries Jiu-Kang Yu (Maryland): Integral schemes for Moy- Representations of Reductive p-adic Prasad filtrations Groups, Other participants appearing in the photograph Banff, Alberta, February 21–23, 2002 are Peter Campbell (Alberta), Jason Levy (Ottawa) and Loren Spice (Chicago). Organisers: Clifton Cunningham (U. Calgary) and Fiona Murnaghan (U. Toronto) In February 2002 the Banff Centre hosted a small, focused, and very successful research workshop on Representations of Reductive p-adic Groups, bring- ing mathematicians from Canada, France, Germany and the US to the future site of the Banff Interna- tional Research Station. The workshop was organized around three math- ematical themes reflecting recent progress in the field: The construction of types for admissible rep- resentations of reductive p-adic groups and applica- tions to character theory; applications of rigid ana- lytic geometry to p-adic group representation theory; The participants of the Representations of Reductive p-adic results on L-packets. Groups workshop.

IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 85 £ ¢¡ Canadian Conference on Nonlinear The Center for Dynamical Systems and Nonlinear Solid Mechanics, Studies (CDSNS) at Georgia Institute of Technology, SFU, June 19–23, 2002 USA, the Instituto de Investgaciones en Matemti- cas Aplicadas y en Sistemas (IIMAS) at Universidad Organisers: Elena M. Croitoro (Co-Chair, Uni- Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico, versity of Victoria), Cecil Graham (Co-Chair, the Instituto de Matem´atica Pura e Aplicada (IMPA), SFU), R. Choksi (SFU), M. Epstein (U. Calgary), Brazil, and Fundayacucho, Venezuela, with an ini- M. S. Gadala (UBC), J. B. Haddow (U. Victoria), tial objective of fostering close collaborations and T. B. Moodie (U. Alberta), N. Rajapakse (UBC), exchanges among researchers in this scientific field P. Schiavone (U. Alberta) and D. J. Steigmann (UC, among the four countries. Berkeley). The series was developed as a forum for the Canadian Conferences on Nonlinear Solid Mechan- dissemination of scientific accomplishments in the ics (CanCNSM) provide an international forum for Americas and for the creation of new opportuni- communicating recent and projected advances in var- ties for collaboration in dynamical systems. It has ious areas of Nonlinear Solid Mechanics and Ma- grown into one of the major international opportuni- terials, to assemble researchers working on com- ties in this area. The first four conferences were held mon themes from complementary perspectives, and in Taxco, Mexico (1994), Aguas de Lindoa, Brazil to provide an opportunity for direct information ex- (1996), Atlanta, USA (1998) and M´erida, Venezuela change among delegates from academia, research (2000). laboratories, and industry. The framework of Can- Americas V had 120 participants from 9 Amer- CNSM Conferences is truly multidisciplinary. icas countries (Canada, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Peru) The plenary speakers were: as well as from Asia and Europe. The conference was dedicated to Professor Shui-Nee Chow (Geor- E. N. Dvorkin (Centre for Industrial Research, Buenos gia Tech and University of Singapore) on his sixtieth Aires): Finite Element Models in the Steel Industry: Mod- eling of Production Processes birthday. Shui-Nee along with a handful of others such as Jack Hale (USA), Gilberto Flores (Mexico) R. Fosdick (University of Minnesota): Steady, Structured and Hildebrando Rodriguez (Brazil) have been ac- Shock Waves: Thermoelastic Materials tive for many years in the development of scientific P. Podio-Guidugli (University of Rome Tor Vergata): exchanges in the Americas especially at the graduate Concepts and Problems in Dynamic Micromagnetics level. A. P. S. Selvadurai (McGill University): Second-Order The plenary lectures were delivered by: Jorge Elasticity for Axisymmetric Torsion: A Spheroidal Coordi- Sotomayor (Brazil), Jack Hale (USA), Hilde- nate Formulation brando Rodrigues (Brazil),Mark Lewis (Canada), J. R. Willis (University of Cambridge): Some Recent De- Jianhong Wu (Canada), Ra´ul Manasevich (Chile), velopments in the Analysis of Composite Materials George Sell (USA), Alfonso Castro (Colombia, USA), Antonmaria Minzoni (Mexico), Jorge Cos- Americas V Conference, sio (Colombia), Tomas Gedeon (USA), Robert Edmonton, July 7–12, 2002 Gardner (USA), Kening Lu (USA), John Mallet- Paret (USA), Peter Polacik (USA), Yingfei Yi Organisers: Michael Li (Co-Chair, Alberta), Ken- (USA) and Hugo Leiva (Venezuela). ing Lu (Brigham Young), Konstantin Mischaikow An innovation at this conference was the PIMS (Georgia Tech.), James Muldowney (Co-Chair, Al- Posters at Americas V which was a web-based poster berta) and Jianhong Wu (York). session. A prize of $1000 for the best graduate The Americas Conference in Differential Equations student poster was shared by Germ´an Jesus Lozada and Nonlinear Dynamics is a biennial series that was Cruz (from Peru, studying for his PhD at Univer- established in 1994 as a joint initiative of four ma- sidade de Sao˜ Paulo, Brazil) and Horacio G´omez- jor research centres in South and North America: Acevedo (from Mexico, studying for his PhD at U of 86 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

A, Canada). The Selection Jury for the graduate stu- search issues. http://db.cs.ualberta.ca/candb/ dent posters was Ra´ul Manasevich (Chile), Gilberto

Flores (Mexico) and Jianhong Wu (Canada). KDD’02,

¥¢¡

The ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Conference, Edmonton, July 23–26, 2003 The largest international conference in Knowledge Discovery and Datamining, see www.acm.org/sigs/sigkdd/kdd2002/.

CG’02, ¡¤£ International Conference on Computers and Games, U. Alberta, July 25–27, 2002

Shui-Nee Chow with some of his former PhD students at the A major international forum for researchers and de- Americas V Conference. velopers interested in all aspects of artificial intelli- gence in computer game-playing. For more informa- Co-Sponsored Computer Science tion see www.cs.ualberta.ca/ cg2002. Conferences,

AAAI/IAAI’02,

¥¢¡ Edmonton, July–August 2002 ¡

National Conference on Artificial

¤£ ¥¢¡ Over a three-week period in July–August 2002, Intelligence, ¡ Innovative Applications of AI PIMS, the University of Alberta together with the Conference, Edmonton, July 28–August 1, 2002 City of Edmonton had the honour of hosting the fol- The pre-eminent conference in Artifi- lowing eight prominent international conferences. cial Intelligence, for more information Each of these conferences represents a field with see www.aaai.org/Conferences/National/2002 sophisticated mathematics and fascinating intellec- /aaai02.html. tual challenges. In addition, each is addressing use- ful, important real-world problems.

UAI’02,

¥¢¡ ¡

IDEAS’02, Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial International Database Engineering and Intelligence, U. Alberta, August 1–4, 2002 Applications Symposium, The primary international forum for presenting new Edmonton, July 17–19, 2002 results on the use of principled methods for reason- An international forum for discussion of the ing under uncertainty within intelligent systems. For problems of engineering database systems involv- further information see www.cs.ucla.edu/ uai02/. ing not only database technology but the re- lated areas of information retrieval, multime- SARA’02, dia, human machine interface and communi- Symposium on Abstraction, Reformulation and cation. More information can be found on Approximation, Kananaskis, August 2–4, 2002 http://database.cs.ualberta.ca/ideas02. The fifth Symposium on Abstraction, Reformu- lation and Approximation (SARA) was held at

CanDB’02, ¡¤£ Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Kananaskis Village, Annual Canadian Database Workshop, Alberta (Canada), August 2-4, 2002. SARA’s aim Edmonton, July 22, 2002 is to provide a forum for intensive interaction among A biannual workshop grouping Canadian academics researchers in all areas of AI with an interest in the in databases to discuss their current research and re- different aspects of AR&A techniques. IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 87

SARA’02 was the most successful of the five theory and diffraction. Experts from these different meetings held so far. Fifty-one researchers attended fields were brought together to share their knowl- from countries around the globe and twenty of the edge. attendees were Ph.D. students. There were three in- vited technical talks, 14 technical presentations se- The speakers and titles were: lected on a peer-review basis, and 14 presentations of Claire Anantharaman-Delaroche (Universite´ “late breaking results” in a lively poster session. The d’Orleans):´ Amenable groupoids. Examples and appli- proceedings of the meeting are published under the cations title Abstraction, Reformulation and Approximation Michael Baake (Universitat¨ Greifswald): Mathematical as volume 2371 in Springer’s LNAI series (Lecture diffraction theory and model sets Notes in Artificial Intelligence). Many details about Marcy Barge (Montana State University): The topology the meeting, including some of the presentations of one-dimensional tiling spaces made, are available through the conference’s web page: http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/ holte/SARA2002/ Laurent Bartholdi (UC, Berkeley): Tilings and Groupoids Acting on Rooted Trees SARA-02 is an affiliate of the American Associ- ation for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), and as such Bob Burton (Oregon State): A dynamical approach to received free advertising through AAAI and a very constructing sequences in the unit cube which are well dis- persed generous grant for supporting student attendance. NASA’s Ames Research Center provided financial Thierry Fack (Universite´ de Lyons I): Introduction to support for two of the invited speakers. The Univer- cyclic cohomology sity of Alberta provided a conference grant. PIMS Franz Gahler¨ (ITAP, Universitat¨ Stuttgart): Modelling handled the pre-registration of all attendees. Aperiodic Solids: Concepts and Properties of Tilings The next SARA will be run by Jean-Daniel and their Physical Interpretation and Cohomology of Quasiperiodic Tilings Zucker of the Universite Paris VI (Pierre & Marie Curie) in Paris, France. For more information, con- Jean-Marc Gambaudo (Universite´ de Bourgogne, Di- tact [email protected]. jon): Delone sets, tilings and solenoids: from finite trans- lation type to finite isometry type See www.cs.ualberta.ca/ holte/SARA2002. Thierry Giordano (U. Ottawa): Affable equivalence rela-

ISMB’02, tions and orbit structure of Cantor minimal systems

¥¢¡ ¡ ¡ International Conference on Intelligent Chaim Goodman-Strauss (U. Arkansas): Triangle Systems for Molecular Biology, Tilings and Regular Productions Edmonton, August 3–7, 2002 John Hunton (U. Leicester): New Models and Methods for Tiling Spaces The largest international conference in bioinformat- Jerry Kaminker (I.U.P.U.I.): Index theory on foliated

ics and computational biology. For more information spaces and applications. £¢ see www.cs.ualberta.ca/ ismb02/. ¢ Alex Kumjian (U. Nevada, Reno): Actions of associ- ated to higher rank graphs Aperiodic Order, Dynamical Systems, Jeong-Yup Lee (U. Alberta): Consequences of Pure Point Operator Algebras and Topology, Diffraction Spectra for Discrete Point Sets U. Victoria, August 4–8, 2002 Daniel Lenz (TU-Chemnitz): Uniform ergodic theorems on Delone dynamical systems and applications

Organisers: Jean Bellissard (Toulouse), Johannes N. Christopher Phillips (U. Oregon): The structure of the

¢¥¤ Kellendonk (Cardiff), Ian Putnam (Victoria). ¢ -algebras of free minimal actions of on the Cantor The workshop was devoted to recent developments set in the area of aperiodic tilings and quasi-crystals. Charles Radin (U. Texas, Austin): Aperiodicity: lessons In particular, the participants discussed contributions from various generalizations

from diverse fields such as operator algebras, topol- Lorenzo Sadun (U. Texas): When size matters: the effect §¦©¨ ogy, K-theory and foliated spaces, as well as ergodic of geometry on ¡ tiling dynamics 88 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

Klaus Schmidt (U. Vienna): Flanking Transmission—Typical performance, and con- cepts for modelling Claude Schochet (Wayne State): Life After -theory Robert Williams (U. Texas, Austin): Tiling spaces as Modelling Airborne Sound Tranmission Through Walls Cantor set fiber bundles and Floors Floor and Wall Assemblies—Using Regression to Predict TL Physics Conference in Honour of Predicting Flanking Transmission in Wood Framed Con- K. S. Viswanathan’s Contribution to struction Theoretical Physics, Sound Transmission Through Concrete Block Wall Systems PIMS-SFU, September 19–20, 2002 Organisers: A. DeBenedictis (Langara), P. Mat- Co-Sponsored Computer Science lock (SFU), W. Mueck (Naples), R. Parthasarathy Activities, (Chennia, India), R. Rashkov (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Vancouver, November 16–23, 2002 Y. Yang (SFU) Local Organizer: Arvind Gupta (MITACS) Four premier events in theoretical computer sci- The speakers at this conference were: ence were held at the Delta Pinnacle hotel in Vancou- R. Rashkov (Sofia University, Bulgaria): On the ver. In total more than 500 participants came from static/time-dependent tachyon states in vacuum string field around the world took part in one or more activities. theory and their relevance to cosmology R. Parthasarathy (Institute of Mathematical Science, In- Workshop on Algorithms and Models for the dia): Abelianisation of Wilson Loops of Non-Abelian Web-Graph, Gauge Theory November 16, 2002 P. Matlock (SFU): Butterfly Tachyons Organisers: Bela Bollobas (Memphis and Cam- A. Das (SFU) bridge), Andrei Broder (IBM T. J. Watson, Chair), D. Horvat (U. Zagreb, Croatia): Hypernuclear Potentials Guido Caldarelli (U. di Roma), Fan Chung Graham and Axial Vector and Vector Meson Degrees of Freedom (UC San Diego), Alan Frieze (CMU), Lee Giles Y. Yang (SFU) (Penn State), Jon Kleinberg (Cornell), Ravi Kumar T. Lee (Kangwon National University, Korea): String (IBM Almaden), Michael Mitzenmacher (Harvard), Field Theory and Tachyon Condensation Christos Papadimitriou (UC Berkeley), Prabhakar G. Semenoff (UBC): Aspects of AdS/CFT Raghavan (Verity Inc), Andrew Tomkins (IBM Al- maden) and Eli Upfal (Brown). Mathematical Prediction of Sound The 1st Workshop on Algorithms and Models for the Transmission Through Composite Web-Graph (WAW) took place was very successful. There were 9 contributed talks, 3 invited talks, and a Lightweight Walls Seminar, panel, and the final tally was 76 participants, proba- ATCO Noise Management, Calgary, bly half of which were students. November 7, 2002 The invited speakers were: Organisers: Daryl Caswell (University of Cal- gary), Liming Dai (U. Regina), Dave Nichols and F. Chung, L. Lu and V. Vu (UC, San Diego): Eigenvalues of random power law graphs Salem Hertil (ATCO Noise Management). R. Stata (UC, Santa Cruz): Building Web-scale Web This seminar was conducted by David Quirt and Al- graphs from real data fred Warnock (Acoustics, Institute of Research in M. Mitzenmacher (Harvard): A brief history of generative Construction, NRC). models for power law and lognormal distribution The seminar consisted of six presentations: The event was co-sponsored by MITACS, PIMS, Airborne Sound Transmission Through Walls and Floors IBM, and Overture. IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 89

Foundations of Computer Science Tutorial, ticipants with substantial representation from Asian November 16, 2002 countries. There were 54 papers presented from 164 submissions. This tutorial attracted 200 participants. The three speakers that were chosen to present tutorials on top- ical issues were: The three plenary speakers were: Oded Goldreich (Weizmann Institute of Science): Zero- Knowledge Luc Devroye (McGill): Random Tries Eva Tardos (Cornell): Approximation Algorithms Janos´ Pach (Courant Institute): Monotone drawings of Salil Vadhan (Harvard): Randomness Extractors planar graphs Nicholas Pippenger (UBC): Expected Acceptance Counts IEEE Foundations of Computer Science for Finite Automata with Almost Uniform Input (FOCS) Conference, The sponsors of ISAAC were MITACS, PIMS, November 16–19, 2002 SFU, HP, QCI, and Bajai. Programme Committee: Dorit Aharonov (He- brew U), Maria Luisa Bonet (UPC, Barcelona), Bernard Chazelle (Chair, Princeton & NEC Re- Alberta Conference on Industrial search), Edith Cohen (AT&T Labs), Lance Fortnow Organization, (NEC Research), Anna Gal (UT Austin), Venkate- U. Calgary, November 29–30, 2002 san Guruswami (UC Berkeley & U Washington), Pi- otr Indyk (MIT), Ravi Kannan (Yale), Claire Kenyon Organisers: Aidan Hollis (U. Calgary) and An- (U Paris-Sud), Yuval Rabani (Technion), Tal Ra- drew Eckert (U. Alberta). bin (IBM Research), Omer Reingold (AT&T Labs), Ronitt Rubinfeld (NEC Research), David B. Shmoys Competition policy is the means through which na- (Cornell), Dan Spielman (MIT) and Emo Welzl tional governments control the behaviour of firms to (ETH, Zurich).¨ ensure that consumers receive a low price and yet in- vestors receive a fair return on their investment. This The 43rd Annual Symposium on Foundations of workshop explored several different aspects of com- Computer Science (FOCS 2002) had close to 350 petition policy by drawing on examples from spe- participants, much higher than the usual 200-250 at cific industries (such as gasoline and automobiles) past FOCS conferences. More than 250 papers were in which there is systematic useful data, and by the- submitted out of which 74 were selected for presen- oretical modelling applied to explore problems such tation. The highlight was a traditional Chinese ban- as competition in the patent system and competition quet at the Imperial Chinese Restaurant. in industries with upgrades. The IEEE Computer Society Technical Commit- tee on Mathematical Foundations of Computing, MI- TACS, SFU, PIMS, Microsoft Hewlett-Packard and The speakers at this conference were: QCI were all sponsors of the event. John Boyce (U. Calgary): Novelty ad Usefulness in International Syjmposium on Symbolic Patents and Algebraic Computation (ISAAC), Jeffrey Church (U. Calgary): Competitive Upgrades November 20–23, 2002 Andrew Eckert (U. Alberta): Retail Gasoline Price Cy- Organizers: Binay Bhattacharya (SFU), Prosen- cles and Cross-Sectional Price Dispersion jit Bose (Carleton), Arvind Gupta (SFU) and Tiko Robin Lindsey (U. Alberta): Predatory Pricing in Differ- Kameda (SFU). entiated Products Retail Markets The 13th Annual International Symposium on Algo- Moez Kilani (Universite du Centre a Sousse, Tunisia): rithms and Computation (ISAAC) attracted 120 par- Price and product line competition in automobile markets 90 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

A Glimpse at 2003

Special Functions in the Digital Age, Simon Fraser University, January 23–24, 2003

Graph Theory of Brian Alspach, Simon Fraser University,

May 25–29, 2003 ¡¤£ Geoffrey J. Butler Memorial Conference, University of Alberta June 17-21, 2003

Banach Algebras and their Applications, University of Alberta July 27–August 9, 2003

Workshop on Optimal Transportation and Nonlinear Dynamics, University of British Columbia, August 11–15, 2003

PIMS Sessions at the CMS Winter 2003 Meeting, Simon Fraser University, December 6–8, 2003 National Programme Committee

In 1999 the three Canadian Institutes in the Mathe- istering the programme in that year. In 2001–02 the matical Sciences, CRM, Fields and PIMS, initiated Committee approved the following slate of scientific a new programme for the support of joint activities activities: in the mathematical sciences. This programme is administered by a National Programme Committee, which makes recommendations to the Directors of Activities 2001/02: the three institutes. The mandate includes: Novel Approaches to Hard Discrete Optimization

Allocating funds provided by the three institutes University of Waterloo, April 26–28, 2001 to support conferences and workshops in the Contact: Henry Wolkowicz (U. Waterloo) mathematical sciences across Canada. These are Canadian Annual Symposium on Operator primarily activities that fall outside of the main Algebras, purview of the three institutes, or that would ben- MSRI, Berkeley, California, April 26–May 2, 2001 efit from joint institute funding. Contact: George Elliott (U. Toronto) Allocating funds for the support of activities that are held at the meetings of the three Canadian Black Hole, III Conference mathematical science societies: Canadian Math- Kananaskis, Alberta May 19–23, 2001 ematical Society (CMS), Canadian Applied and Organizer: A. Frolov (U. Alberta) Industrial Mathematical Society (CAMS), Statis- tical Society of Canada (SSC). Groups, Rings Lie and Hopf Algebras Assist the National Societies in supporting gradu- St. John’s, Newfoundland, May 8–June 1, 2001 ate students to attend these scientific meetings and Contact: Yuri Bahturin (AARMS/Memorial) coordinating annually the organization of three Institute Sessions to be held at the meetings of the PIMS Sessions at the CMS Summer 2001 Meeting Canadian Mathematical Society. University of Saskatchewan, June 2–4, 2001 Coordinating international programmes and other Contact: Keith Taylor (U. Saskatchewan) ventures where it is advantageous for the three In- Summer Meeting 2001 CAIMS stitutes to act as a whole. University of Victoria, June 7-9, 2001 The six member committee consists of the Organizer: Reinhard Illner (U. Victoria) Deputy Director and one member of the scientific ad- Joint meeting of SSC, IMS and WNAR, visory panel at each institute. SFU, June 10–14, 2001 A call for proposals is made annually with sub- Contact: Mary Lesperance (U. Victoria) mitted proposals considered semi-annually (Septem- ber 15 and March 15). Primary administrative re- International Workshop on Dynamical Systems & sponsibility for the programme rotates between the their Applications in Biology three Institutes on an annual basis. Submissions are Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, August 2–6, 2001 made to the Deputy Director of the institute admin- Contact: Shigui Ruan (AARMS/Dalhousie)

92 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

¥¢¡ ¡ Canadian Conference on Computational Formal Power Series and Algebraic Geometry Combinatorics 2002 University of Waterloo, August 13–15, 2001 University of Melbourne, July 8–12, 2002 Contact: Therese Biedl (U. Waterloo) Organizer: Nantel Bergeron (York U.)

Second Gilles Fournier Memorial Conference Nonlinear Dynamical Systems with Applications University of Sherbrooke, August 13–15, 2001 Memorial U. Newfoundland, July 15–18, 2002 Contact: Tomasz Kaczynski (U. Sherbrooke) Organizers: H. Brunner and X. Zhao (Memorial U.)

Second Workshop on the Conley Index and AARMS Summer School Related Topics Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Sherbrooke, August 15–18, 2001 July 22–August 16, 2002

Contact: Tomasz Kaczynski (U. Sherbrooke) Organizer: Hermann Brunner (Memorial U.)

¥¢¡ £ Aspects of Symmetry on the occasion of the ¡ Annual Canadian Conference on 60th birthday of Robert Moody Computational Geometry (CCCG02) Banff, Alberta, August 26–29, 2001 University of Lethbridge, August 12-14, 2002 Contact: Arturo Pianzola (U. Alberta) Contact: Stephen Wismath (U. Lethbridge)

Modelling and Scientific Computation International Workshop on Polynomial Identities Fredericton, New Brunswick, Sept. 29–30, 2001 in Algebra Contact: Viqar Husain (AARMS/UNB) Memorial University of Newfoundland, CMS Winter 2001 Meeting August 29–September 3, 2002 York University, December 8–10, 2001 Organizer: Hermann Brunner (Memorial U.) Contact: Tom Salisbury (York U.) APICS 2002 Special Session on Ring Theory Western Canada Linear Algebra Meeting Mount Allison University, October 18–20, 2002 University of Regina, May 10–11, 2002 Organizers: M. Beattie (Mount Allison U.), Contact: Steve Kirkland (U. Regina) M. M. Parmenter (Memorial U.) and R. J. Wood (Dalhousie U.). PIMS Sessions at the SSC Annual Meeting Hamilton, Ontario, May 26–29, 2002 Numerical Analysis, Scientific Computing

Contact: and Computational Applied Mathematics

¥ ¡ St. Francis Xavier University, October 20–21, 2002 Americas Conference on Differential Organizer: Hermann Brunner (Memorial U.) Equations and Nonlinear Dynamics University of Alberta, July 07–12, 2002 CMS Winter Meetings Contacts: Michael Li and James Muldowney (U. Al- Ottawa, December 8–10, 2002 berta) Organizer: Graham Wright (CMS) International Initiatives

Second Pacific Rim Conference Genghua Fan (Academia Sinica, China): Integer Flows on Mathematics, and Circuit Covers Alberto Grunbaum (UC Berkeley): Diffuse Tomography: Taipei, Taiwan, January 4–8, 2001 An Nonlinear Inverse Problem in Medical Imaging Song-Sun Lin (Chiao Tung U., Taiwan): Celluar neural Organizing Committee: Shui-Nee Chow (Na- Networks: Pattern and Waves tional U. Singapore), Craig Evans (UC, Berkeley), Leon Simon (Stanford): Singularities of Minimal Surfaces Fon-Che Liu (Academia Sinica, Taiwan), Masayasu and Harmonic Maps Mimura (Hiroshima U.), Robert Miura (PIMS), Ian Stephen Smale (City U, Hong Kong): On the Mathemat- Sloan (U. New South Wales) and Roderick S.C. ics of Learning Theory Wong (Liu Bie Ju Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Gilbert Strang (MIT): Structured Matrices and Good Kowloon). Bases Approximately 150 mathematicians from Australia, Yingfei Yi (Georgia Tech): A Quasi-Periodic Poincar-’s Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Theorem Korea, New Zealand, the Philipines, Singapore, Xuding Zhu (Sun Yat-Sen U., Taiwan): Circular Chro- Switzerland, Tajikstan, the United States, and matic Number and Circular Flow Number of Graphs Uzbekistan attended the Second Pacific Rim Con- The two plenary speakers from Canada were in ference on Mathematics on January 4–8, 2001 the Mathematical Physics Session, along with Iz- at Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan. The six abella Łaba (UBC), Robert McCann (Toronto), and main themes of the Conference were Combinatorics, Gordon Semenoff (UBC), who were invited speak- Computational Mathematics, Dynamical Systems, ers. Brian Alspach (Regina) and Rong-Qing Jia (Al- Integrable Systems, Mathematical Physics, and Non- berta) were invited speakers in the Combinatorics linear Partial Differential Equations. and Computational Mathematics Sessions, respec- There were 12 one-hour plenary talks, approx- tively. The Canadian Representative on the Orga- imately forty 45 minute invited talks, and 55 con- nizing Committee was Robert Miura (UBC). PIMS tributed papers. The plenary talks were excellent provided support for the Canadian participants in the with each speaker giving a general background for conference. the audience and then presenting more details later A committee meeting was held after the Confer- in the talk. ence Reception to discuss the site of the Third Pacific Rim Conference on Mathematics and was attended Plenary Speakers: by representatives from Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. Ian Affleck (UBC): Applications of Boundary Conformal It was proposed that the next Conference be held in Field Theory to Condensed Matter Physics Vancouver in the summer of 2004 under the spon- Craig Evans (UC Berkeley): Homogenization and Hamil- sorship of PIMS. This was accepted enthusiastically tonian Dynamics and unanimously by the committee, as well as by the Joel Feldman (UBC): Asymmetric Fermi Surfaces for participants after it was announced at the Conference Magnetic Schrodinger Operators Banquet.

93 94 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

Second Canada-China ¢ Barry McBride (Vice-President Academic, UBC) Mathematics Congress, ¢ Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS Director and National Math. Coordinator for 3x3 Canada-China Initiative)

UBC, August 20–23, 2001 ¢ Arvind Gupta (MITACS program leader)

¢ Ken Davidson (Director, Fields Institute)

This initiative builds on the success of the first ¢ Jacques Hurtubise (Director, CRM) Congress held at Tsinghua University, Beijing, in August 1999, and is aimed at developing further the

collaborative research effort between the two coun- Plenary Speakers:

¡ ¥

tries. It is sponsored by the ¥ Canada-China ini- ¢ tiative, Centre de Recherches Math´ematiques, Fields Robert Moody (U. Alberta), The World of Aperiodic Order

Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, Pacific In- ¢ stitute for the Mathematical Sciences and MITACS Catherine Sulem (Toronto): The Nonlinear Schroding¨ er equation: Self-focusing and Wave Col- Network of Centres of Excellence. lapse

¢ Zhiming Ma (Academic Sinica), Some New Re- sults/Directions in Probability Theory

¢ Mark Lewis (U. Alberta): Realistic models for biolog- ical invasion

¢ Jie Xiao (Tsinghua), Hall Algebras and Quantum Groups

¢ Yiming Long (Director, School of Mathematical Sci- ences, Nankai U.), Iteration theory of Maslov-type index with applications to nonlinear Hamiltonian systems

¢ Xiaoman Chen (Fudan), On the Structure, K-theory of From left: Robert Moody, Arvind Gupta, Tom Brzustowski, Nassif Ghoussoub, Mark Lewis, Jacques Hurtubise and Hugh Roe Algebras Morris at the Canada-China banquet at UBC. ¢ Weiyue Ding (Director of the Institute of Mathematics, Peking U.), On the Schrodinger Flow Organizing Committee: ¢ Gordon Slade (UBC): Scaling limits and super- Brownian motion

Nassif Ghoussoub (National Math. Coordinator for 3x3 ¢ Ian Putnam (Victoria): Operator algebras and hyper- Canada-China Initiative), Dale Rolfsen (PIMS UBC-Site bolic dynamical systems

Director), JingYi Chen (UBC), Xiao Jiang Tan (Peking ¢ Gang Tian (MIT): Kahler-Einstein metrics and geo- University), Lizhong Peng (Peking University), Dayong metric stability

Cai (Tsing Hua University), XingWei Zhou (Nankai Uni- ¢ versity), JiaXing Hong (Fudan University). Henri Darmon (McGill): Periods of modular forms and rational points on elliptic curves Officers of the Chinese Delegation

¢ Zhi Xing Hou (President of Nankai University, Direc- Session Speakers tor, Math Centre of Chinese Education Ministry) I. Algebra and Number Theory:

¢ Wang Jie (Vice director, Chinese NSF) ¢ ¢ Zhiming Ma (President, Math Society of China) Qingchun Tian (Peking): Iwasawa Theory for p-adic

¢ Representation

L.Z. Peng (Secretary, Math Society of China) ¢

¢ Xingui Fang (Tsinghua): On 1-arc Regular Graphs K.C. Chang (Director, Mathematical Centre of Chinese

Education Ministry) ¢ Weisheng Qiu (Peking): Completely Settling of the

£

¡

£ § Multiplier Conjecture for the case of ¢

¢ Yonghui Wang (Capital Normal): Some Results on An-

Officers of the Canadian Delegation alytic Number Theory ¢ ¢ Tom Brzustowski (President of NSERC) Jim Carrell (UBC): Cohomology and vector fields IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 95

¢ Kai Behrend (UBC): Equivariant vector fields and the gauging of integrable XXX models

cohomology of stable map spaces ¢ John Harnad (CRM, Concordia): Duality in Random ¢ Terry Gannon (Alberta): The algebraic combinatorics Matrices and Biorthogonal Polynomials of rational conformal field theory,

¢ Zinovy Reichstein (UBC): Trace forms of Galois field III. Probability and Statistics:

extension in the presence of roots of unity ¢ Guanglu Gong (Tsinghua): The annealing of an itera- ¢ Jim Bryan (UBC): Curves in Calabi-Yau 3-folds and tive system

integrality in Gromov-Witten theory ¢ Yongjin Wang (Nankai): A probabilistic analysis to a ¢ Tony Geramita (Queens): Tensor Rank, Secant Vari- class of non-linear differential equations on unbounded eties of Segre Varieties and Schemes of Fat Points in domains and application to superprocesses

Multiprojective Spaces ¢ Tianping Chen (Fudan): Independent, Principal and

¢ Henri Darmon (McGill): Periods of modular forms Minor Component Analysis ¢

and rational points on elliptic curves ¢

¤¤£

Runchu Zhang (Nankai): Optimal Blocking of ¤

¢

£ ¤£ and ¤ Fractional Factorial Designs

II. Mathematical Physics and PDE: ¢ Martin Barlow (UBC): Geometry and escape times for ¢ Yunbo Zeng (Tsinghua): Integral-type Darboux trans- random walks on graphs

formations for soliton hierarchy with self-consistent ¢ Ed Perkins (UBC): Degenerate stochastic differential

sources equations and super-Markov chains ¢ Peidong Liu (Peking): Entropy and Iyapunov Expo- ¢ Jonathan Taylor (McGill): Geometry of smooth Gaus-

nents for Stationary Random Maps sian fields on manifolds ¢ Chengming Bai (Nankai): The Happer’s Puzzle Degen- ¢ Remco Van der Hofstad (Microsoft, Delft U of Tech):

eracies and Yangian Weak interaction limits for one-dimensional polymers ¢ Songmu Zheng (Fudan): Maximal attractor for some ¢ Peter Hooper (Alberta): Statistical recognition meth-

non-linear PDEs ods for protein secondary structure ¢ Jiayu Li (Fudan): Geometric Analysis ¢ Harry Joe (UBC): Continuous time stochastic pro- ¢ Li Ma (Tsinghua): Some new results about mean field cesses with given univariate marginals equations ¢ Shuxiang Huang (Shang Dong): Global Solutions and IV. Wavelets and their Applications:

Asymptotic Behaviour for Reaction-diffusion Equations ¢

¢ Xingwei Zhou (Nankai): Some results on Wavelet Dmitry Jakobson (McGill): Some new and old results frames

on eigenfunctions ¢

¢ Lizhong Peng (Peking): Orthogonal Wavelets on the Jia Quan Liu (Peking): Solutions for Quasilinear El- Heisenberg Group

liptic Equations ¢

¢ Heping Liu (Peking): The Joint Spectral Multipliers on Shoulin Zhou (Peking): On a Singular Equation

Heidelberg Groups ¢

Shenghong Li (Zhejiang): Second Boundary Problem ¢ Ding-Xuan Zhou (Hongkong City): Estimating the Ap- for Parabolic Equations with Gradient Obstacle

proximation Error in Learning Theory ¢

Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS and UBC): On De Giorgi’s ¢ Hoi Ling Cheung (Hongkong City): Supports and conjecture in higher dimensions

Local Linear Independence of Multivariate Refinable ¢

S. Gustafson (Courant): The Dynamics of Vortices Functions ¢ Peter Greiner (Toronto): Subelliptic PDEs and Subrie- ¢ Serge Dubuc (Montreal): Convergence in Distribution

mannian Geometry of Hermite Subdivision Schemes ¢ Gordon Semenoff (UBC): Boundary states for back- ¢ Bin Han (Alberta): Symmetry Properties of Multivari-

ground independent string field theory ate Refinable Functions ¢ Izabella Łaba (UBC): Spectral Measure ¢ Rong-Qing Jia (Alberta): Convergence Rates of Cas- ¢ Jiquang Bao (PIMS): Local Estimates for Special La- cade Algorithms

gragian Equations in Dimension Three ¢ Jean-Marc Lina (Montreal) ¢

Changfeng Gui (UBC) ¢ Remi Vaillancourt (Ottawa): Microlocal Analysis with

¡ ¡

¢

¤ ¤¢¡ ¤ Peter Orland (CUNY, visiting UBC) ¤ Tight Multiwavelet Frames 96 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

V. Computational, Industrial & Applied VI. Geometry/Topology:

Analysis: ¢ Rick Jardine (Western Ontario): Stacks and Homotopy

¢ Theory

Houde Han (Tsinghua): The Numerical solutions of ¢ Heat Equation on Unbounded Domains Maung Min-Oo (McMaster): K–area and scalar cur-

¢ vature

Dayong Cai (Tsinghua): Multi-solution of Power Sys- ¢ tem and its Fast Algorithm Denis Sjerve (UBC): On Automorphisms of Belyi Sur-

¢ faces

Ping Zhou (St. Francis Xavier): Explicit Construction ¢ of Multivariate Pade´ Approximants and Some Applica- Youcheng Zhou (Zhejiang): On Moeckel-like boundary

tions of the local Siegel disk

¢ ¢ ¢ Jianwei Hu (Nankai): Finite Element-Finite Volume Hui Kou (Sichuan): –admitting dcpos and the Type Method for Nonlinear Convection-Diffusion Prob- largest tcc subcategories of domains: two topological

lems and its Applications problems in Domain theory ¢ ¢ Yongji Tan (Fudan): On some Inverse Problems Jacques Hurtubise (CRM/McGill): Representation

¢ with Weighted Frames and Framed Parabolic Bundles

Zhongmin Wu (Fudan): Quasi interpolation for solv- ¢ ing ordinary differential equations Qing Ding (Fudan): The Schodinger flow and its appli-

¢ cation in integrable systems

Yangfeng Su (Fudan): Some problems on GTH algo- ¢ rithm for Stochastic matrices Eckhard Meinrencken (Toronto): The Duflo homo-

¢ morphism for subalgebras

Xunjing Li (Fudan): On Optimal Control Theory for ¢ Infinite Dimensional Systems Xiaojiang Tan (Peking): On Petri Map for Rank 2 Vec-

¢ tor Bundles

Shufang Xu (Peking): Numerical Analysis of the Maxi-

¨

¢

¢

Shaoqiang Deng (Nankai): Dipolarizations in Lie Al-

¢ £ §£ mal Solution of the matrix equation

¢ gebras and Homogeous ParaKaehler Manifolds

Wenxun Xing (Tsinghua): Computational Applied ¢ Analysis Jianhua Zheng (Tsinghua U.): An application of hy-

¢ perbolic metric on complex dynamics

Yanren Hou (Xi’An Jiaotong): Full Discrete Postpro- ¢ cessing Procedure to the Galerkin Approximation Based Kunio Murasugi (Toronto): On double torus knots on AIMD ¢ K.C. Chang (Peking): An Evaluation of Minimal Sur-

¢ Zheng Jian Hua (Tsinghua): Hyperbolic metric and its faces application in complex dynamics ¢ McKenzie Wang (McMaster): A Variational Approach

¢ Huaxiong Huang (York): Industrial Analysis for Homogeneous Einstein Metrics ¢ ¢ M. Fortin (Laval): Computational Analysis Jinkun Lin (Nankai): Some new families of filtration

¢ six in the stable homotopy spheres Hermann Brunner (Memorial U. Newfoundland):

¢ Jianhong Wu (York): Neural Networks for Clustering Large Data Sets in High Dimensions VII. Operator Algebra:

¢ Brian Seymour (UBC): Self-similar flows of immisci- ¢ ble fluids Shuang Zhang (Cincinnati): Purely infinite simple C*- algebras generated by an isometry and a bilateral shift ¢ Rex Westbrook (U. Calgary): Sag Bending ¢ Mahmood Khoshkam (U. Saskatchewan): On finite- ¢ Hang Gao (Northeast Normal U.)

ness of the lattice of intermediate subfactors ¢

Anthony Peirce (UBC): Analysis of a novel precondi- ¢ Allan Donsig (Nebraska): Algebraic Isomorphisms of tioner for solving lower rank extracted systems derived Limit Algebras from convolution integral equations ¢ Kenneth Davidson (Waterloo): Perron–Frobenius The- ¢ Brian Wetton (UBC): Industrial and Computational orem for Completely Positive Maps Analysis ¢ Thierry Giordano (Ottawa) ¢ Michael Ward (UBC): Applied Analysis ¢ Guanggui Ding (Nankai): Some Recent Advances and ¢ Uri Ascher (UBC): Multilevel computational tech- the Open Problems on Perturbations and Extensions of niques for inverse electromagnetic problems in 3D

Isometric operators ¢

Steven Ruuth (SFU): Strong Stability Preserving ¢ Man Duen Choi (Toronto): The Norm Estimate for the (TVD) High Order Time Discretization Methods Sum of Two Matrices

IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 97 ¢

¢ Massoud Amini (U. Saskatchewan): Locally Compact Jacques Belair, (Montreal):´ Delays and dynamics in ¢

Pro- -algebras neural networks ¢ ¢ James Mingo (Queen’s): Spectral Measures of the Al- Meirong Zhang (Tsinghua): The rotation number most Mathieu Operator approach to eigenvalues of the one-dimensional £ -

¢ Andu Nica (Waterloo): Levels of operator-valued R- Laplacian transforms in free probability ¢ Wagne Nagata (UBC): Reaction-diffusion models of

¢ Chris Phillips (U. Oregon): Ordered K-theory for growing plant tips: bifurcations on hemispheres

crossed products of the Cantor set by free minimal ac- ¢ Weigu Li (Peking): Planar Analysis Vector Fields with ¤

tions of Generalized Rational First Integrals ¢ ¢ Sam Walters (UNBC): The structure of the Fourier Michael Li (Alberta): Poincare´ s Stabiltiy Conditions

transform on the rotation algebra for Orbital Stability of Almost Periodic Solutions ¢ ¢ Qing Lin (U. Victoria and Ericsson): Some thoughts Christiane Rousseau (Montreal):´ Finite cyclicity of from my recent work with Chris Phillips graphics of planar vector fields and Hilberts 16th prob- lem for quadratic vector fields VIII. Mathematical Finance: ¢ Florin Diacu (Victoria): On the dynamics of the classi-

cal atom ¢ Abel Cadenillas (Alberta): Executive Stock Options ¢ Oleg Bogoyavlenskij (Queen’s): Lie algebraic invari- with Effort Disutiliy and Choice of Volatility ant meaning of the non-degeneracy conditions in the ¢ Duo Wang (Peking): Bifurcation of the ABS model of Kolmogorov - Arnold - Moser (KAM) theory

fundamentals versus trend chasers with positive share ¢ Victor LeBlanc (Ottawa): Forced symmetry breaking

supply for spiral waves ¢ John Walsh (UBC) ¢ Yun Tang (Tsinghua): Singularities of quasi-linear ¢ Junyi Guo (Nankai): Compound models and their ruin DAE in the setting of real algebraic geometry probabilities for risk processes with correlated aggre- gate claims

¢ Ali Lari-Lavassani (Calgary)

¢ Uli Haussmann (UBC): A Stochastic Equilibrium Upcoming International Events: Economy with Optimal Capacity Expansion Pan American Advanced Studies IX. ODE and Dynamical systems: Institute on Inverse Problems and

¢ Weinian Zhang (Sichuan U.): Bifurcations of a Polyno- Nonlinear Analysis,

mial Differential System of Degree ¢ in a Biochemical Santiago, Chile, January 6–19, 2003 Reaction

¢ 3rd Pacific Rim Conference on Leon Glass (McGill): Dynamics in High Dimensional Models of Genetic Networks Mathematics,

¢ William Langford (Guelph): Synchronized Chaos for Vancouver, Canada, 2004 Authentication and Communication 98 IV. GENERAL SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

V. INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME £

Participants of the ¢¡ annual PIMS Industrial Problem Solving Workshop beside the PIMS facility at UBC.

PIMS/MITACS Industrial Partners Advanis ICBC Prestige Telecommunications Amber Computer Systems Imperial Oil Progas APPEGA In Silico Quatronix Media Ballard Power Systems Inc. Insightful Searle Barrodale Computing Itres Research Ltd. Shaw Cable Bayer Inc. Kinetek Pharmaceuticals Inc. Siemens Research BC Cancer Research Center Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Simons International Copr. BC Hydro Systems BioTools Math Resources Inc. SmithKline BeeCham Pharma Canadian Cable Labs MathSoft Sperry-Sun Canadian Marconi MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. Soundlogic Charles Howards & Associates McMillan-McGee StemCell Technologies Inc. Chemex Labs MDSI StemSoft Software Inc. Computer Modeling Group Menex Technologies Stentor Corel Corporation Merak Stern Stewart & Co. Crystar Research Inc. Michelin Sun Microsystems Diagnostic Engineering Inc. NALCO Canada Inc. Syncrude Dynapro NORTEL Networks Telecom Research Labs Eastman Kodak Novacor Telus Enbridge Pacific Forestry Centre TransAlta FinancialCAD Corporation PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. Firebird Semiconductors Petro Canada Veritas DGC Galdos Systems Progas VisionSmart Hughes Aircraft Powerex Vortek Industries Ltd. Husky Oil Powertech Labs Inc. Waterloo Maple Inc. IBM T. J. Watson Research Center Precision Biochemicals Worker’s Compensation Board

Industrial Problem Solving Programme

¢¡ £ The format of the Industrial Problem Solv- PIMS Industrial Problem Solving ing Workshops is mainly based on the Oxford Workshop (IPSW 5) Study Group Model, in which problems of rel- University of Washington, June 18–22, 2001 evant and current interest to the participating companies are posed to the workshop partic- Organizers: ipants by experts from industry. The partic- Randy LeVeque (U. Washington) ipating graduate students and academics will Chris Bose (U. Victoria) spend five days working on the problems and Huaxiong Huang (York U.) the results will be published in the workshop’s Marc Paulhus (U. Calgary) proceedings. The advantages for participating Keith Promislow (SFU) students and academics are: Ian Frigaard (UBC)

The challenge of applying one’s skills to Industrial Participants: new and relevant problems directly ap- Microsoft Research plicable to industry. Firebird Semiconductors Communications Security Establishment The opportunity for continued collab- Alberta Energy Company oration with the workshop’s academic IBM

and industrial participants. Algorithmics

¢¡ £ Help PIMS and mathematics in general, ¡ by showing businesses and governments PIMS Industrial Problem Solving the tangible benefits of supporting the Workshop (IPSW 6) mathematical sciences. University of British Columbia, May 27–31, 2002 Organizers: Jack Macki (U. Alberta) Chris Bose (U. Victoria) Randy LeVeque (U. Washington) Huaxiong Huang (York U.) Marc Paulhus (U. Calgary) Manfred Trummer (SFU) Ian Frigaard (UBC) Industrial Participants: Capital Health McMillan-McGee Corp Precix Advanced Cutting Technologies RBC Financial Group Semiconductor Insights Shell Canada Talisman Energy

100 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 101

PIMS Industrial Problem Solving attracted to the problem presented by Bill Micklethwiate of Firebird Semicondutors, arising from growing large Workshop (IPSW 5), single crystals of Indium Antimonide (InSb) from a melt. University of Washington, These crystals, about the size of a wine bottle, may develop imperfections due to thermal stresses as they cool. This June 18–22, 2001 problem contained something for everyone in continuum mechanics – fluid dynamics coupled with convective, dif- Organizers: Randy LeVeque (U. Washington), fusive, and radiative heat transfer, Stefan problems for the Chris Bose (U. Victoria), Huaxiong Huang (York moving phase boundary, and temperature-dependent stress U.), Marc Paulhus (U. Calgary), Keith Promislow analysis within the solid phase. This group split into sev- (SFU) and Ian Frigaard (UBC). eral subgroups to tackle various aspects of the problem by both analytical and numerical approaches. Some new Last year’s Industrial Problem Solving Workshop insights were gained into the expected shape of the mov- (IPSW) was held at the University of Washington in ing boundary and the relative importance of different heat- Seattle. About 100 people registered for the event, transfer mechanisms. including the 58 graduate students who had taken part in the graduate modelling camp the week before. Network Search Theory: Allan Douglas from the Faculty from a number of universities around the Communications Security Establishment brought a world were also involved. Participants split up into problem relating to computer security on the large com- six groups to attack the industrial problems brought puter networks, such as the internet. Mobile software ob- to the workshop, spanning a broad range of appli- jects that move around between computers are becoming more common and the problem concerns the ability of the cations and mathematical techniques. Most of the “good guys” to track down malicious software of this form. industrial participants were able to stay all week this This led to an extensive literature search on problems of year, and were actively involved in working with the graph searching and random walks. The group discovered groups. A brief description of the problems and some a vast and richly developed literature that was directly ap- of the progress made is given below. More complete plicable to the problem at hand. They then expanded on problem descriptions may be obtained from the web- that literature and established some new results based on site, www.pims.math.ca/industrial/2001/ipsw. the particulars of the problem.

Workshop Problems: Decline Analysis: Ron Forth presented a problem from the Alberta Energy Company on decline analysis, at- Disk Layout Problem: Representing local Seattle in- tempting to extrapolate trends in production rate data from dustry, John DeTreville brought a problem from Mi- oil and gas wells to forecast future production. The cur- crosoft on optimizing the layout of files on a disk, given rent practice is for a petroleum engineer to perform the ex- an expected order in which the files will be accessed. trapolation using visual curve fitting biased heavily by per- The group learned a great deal about the complex details sonal experience. The data is typically very noisy and has involved in hard drive technologies. They also quickly the additional feature that physical parameters in operation established that the problem was equivalent to the in- during the period of data collection are randomly chang- tractable Travelling Salesman Problem. After building ing (changes to pumping schedules, shutdowns, produc- some one- and two-dimension disk models, they applied tion enhancement, etc) so no one model can be expected various heuristic techniques to try to find the optimal solu- to fit the entire time series. The workshop group concen- tion for some sample data that Microsoft provided. It was trated on three aspects of the problem. First, the partition- concluded that the heuristic methods appear to provide bet- ing of the time series into intervals over which one physical ter solutions more quickly using the 2-D model than with model may be applied. Moving average and wavelet tech- the 1-D model, suggesting that the more realistic 2-D (or niques were investigated; both seemed sufficient to per- the even more realistic 3-D model not studied) should be form the partition, provided reasonable thresholding values used when disk performance is critical. Current hardware were used. Second, a curve fitting over each subinterval limitations make the 1-D model the industry standard. was performed. This was fairly straightforward as physical considerations lead to a parametric family of model curves Model For InSb Czochralski Growth: Many of the and a simple, weighted, least-squares fit within that fam- participants who specialize in continuous modelling were ily appears to suffice. Finally a weighting of the various 102 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME extrapolations obtained in the previous step determines the PIMS Industrial Problem Solving final decline curve estimate. A heuristic weighting scheme was proposed and tested with reasonable results on a re- Workshop (IPSW 6), stricted data set. The possibility that this last step would University of British Columbia, lend itself to a neural-net approach was discussed. May 27–31, 2002

Organizers: Jack Macki (U. Alberta), Chris Bose Web Hosting Service Agreements: Alan King of IBM (U. Victoria), Randy LeVeque (U. Washington), brought a problem on properly pricing web-hosting service Huaxiong Huang (York U.), Marc Paulhus (U. Cal- agreements. A web-hosting service provider may have a gary), Manfred Trummer (SFU) and Ian Frigaard large number of clients with different needs, and a finite (UBC). amount of computer resources to distribute amongst those customers in order to satisfy certain Quality-of-Service About 100 people registered for this year’s Indus- (QoS) agreements. However, the web-hosting service can also dynamically reallocate its resources based on the ob- trial Problem Solving Workshop (IPSW), includ- served needs of its clients at any given time. The team ing the 60 graduate students who had taken part in tackled this extremely complex problem and built a very the graduate modeling camp the week before. Fac- realistic model taking into account a wide range of com- ulty from as far away as South Africa, Finland and plexities such as requests of different size with different China were also involved. Participants split up into priorities, time-lag in the hardware re-distribution, as well six groups to attack the industrial problems brought as penalties for failing to meet the QoS agreements. to the workshop, spanning a broad range of appli- cations and mathematical techniques. Most of the industrial participants were able to stay all week this year, and were actively involved in working with the A Problem in Financial Mathematics: The final prob- groups. A brief description of the problems and some lem came from Algorithmics, a financial mathematics of the progress made is given below. More complete firm. Alex Kreinin presented a problem on measuring the problem descriptions may be found on the web- credit risk of a given portfolio, based on the credit ratings site, www.pims.math.ca/industrial/2002/ipsw/, of the obligors. Standard Monte-Carlo techniques do not and proceedings papers are now being written by work very well since the interesting events (default by the each group. obligors) are very rare and hence require a large number of simulations. Algorithmics came to the workshop with a very well thought out model and everyone was pleas- Workshop Problems: antly surprised that the group discovered an analytical so- lution based on using the Lindberg-Feller Theorem (ba- Mathematically Surface Matching of Maps of the Hu- sically the Central Limit Theorem in this context) to ap- man Torso: Edmond Lou represented Capital Health proximate the credit risk of all counterparties in a single of Edmonton and brought a problem involving automating (credit driver) scenario. This resulted in approximating the process of analysis data from a 3D laser scanner that is the risk across scenarios by a mixture of Gaussians, the used to diagnose patients with scoliosis. The current pro- latter being one of the current methods for treating distri- cess, although good, relies on many manual user steps to butions with long tails. The group then proceeded to test complete the analysis. The team was able to show how this fast, approximate solution against much more time- some standard (and some not so standard) image process- ing techniques could be used to fully automate the data consuming full Monte Carlo simulations for one time step. analysis process. Further, Capital Health was interested They found reasonable agreement and expect much bet- in knowing if it was necessary to use the physical marker ter results for longer time horizons since the CLT is better points that they currently place on the patient’s back be- suited when the number of independent random variables fore the scanning process. The team was convinced, after increases. This was viewed as a significant development in looking at a large amount of sample data, that the infor- the important area of credit risk, and we look forward to mation given by the marker points could not be retrieved seeing it developed further. mathematically from the data, and hence are necessary. INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 103

Combined Inversion of Seismic and Magnetotelluric The workshop participants were given the inverse problem for Gas Exploration in the Canadian Foothills: Kai of find the actual resistivity, given the response curve of Meunzer from Shell Canada came to the workshop with the current, (or indeed any other measurable data). Fail- an inverse problem: Given seismic and magnetotelluric ing this, was it possible to localize where in the domain data, can we determine geological properties of the Cana- any changes in resistivity occurred? Because of the size of dian foothill? After some discussion on the background the group (7 faculty and 9 graduate students), various as- materials of both seismic and magnetotelluric methodolo- pects of the problem were investigated. To understand the gies, the team realized that the best approach was to con- forward problem a sequence of one and two-dimensional struct a simple one-dimensional 3-layer model to test a models were constructed to determine (i) the time evolu- hybrid seismic-magnetotelluric approach by minimizing tion of the temperature field when cold water is injected the weighted least square errors of both seismic and mag- and (ii) the sensitivity of the model to small localized netotelluric data. Even though the team worked on this changes in the resistivity. These preliminary investigations project was the smallest, each participant brought consid- illustrated that an internal transition layer is generated dur- erable expertise from various areas. With the help of Doug ing the propagation of the shock of injecting cold water, Oldenburg, (an expert in geophysical inverse problems), which persists in the steady state. Furthermore, the mea- Yongji Tan, (an expert in inverse problems), and with the sured voltage between the electrodes is much more sensi- help of two graduate students, it was found that the hybrid tive than the outflow fluid temperature to localized resistiv- method works better than either seismic or magnetotelluric ity changes. Using these forward models as justification, approaches. This was only true if appropriate weight func- the temperature field was neglected for the inverse prob- tions were chosen. Kai Meunzer was very satisfied with lem and an attempt was made to implement the generalized the progress made during the workshop and some follow- sensitivity theorem in a square domain with a localized re- up work after the workshop has provided further insight sistance anomaly at its centre. By combining the computed into the problem. voltage field in the domain without the anomaly with a se- ries of voltage measurements obtained with the anomaly in How to create the composite image of an integrated cir- place, a picture of where the anomaly was located was built cuit: Edward Keyes of Semiconductor Insights was up. Work continues on the problem specifically in extend- interested in an algorithm to automatically stitch a large ing the analysis of the inverse problem to a simple layered number of images of an integrated circuit together in or- medium. Investigations to increase the resolution of the in- der to reconstruct the image of the entire circuit itself. verse problem using an analytic Green’s function and finite This problem attracted a large number of participants who difference rather than finite element methods are ongoing. quickly broke into teams to test the many different ap- Bruce McGee was quite pleased with the progress made on proaches that were suggested. The most straightforward the problem and anticipates a predictive model that can be approach, based on least-squares was implemented and used onsite. In Bruce’s words, “It’s all good!” tested during the week and was found to be a significant improvement over the current method. Other approaches, Price Pseudo-Variance, Pseudo-Covariance, Pseudo- based on graph theory, simulated annealing and linear pro- Volatility, and Pseudo Correlation Swaps—In Analyt- gramming also showed a great deal of promise. It is clear ical Close Forms: Ritchie He of the RBC Financial that once the smoke clears the company will have an al- Group presented a challenge to compute the closed form gorithm that is a significant improvement over the current solutions to some very complex “pseudo” statistics. The techniques. team for this problem consisted almost entirely of gradu- ate students, most of whom were new to financial mathe- Resistance Monitoring: Appearing in his second IPSW, matics. Nevertheless, the result was achieved and we look Bruce McGee of MacMillan-McGee presented the fol- forward to seeing the full solution presented in the report. lowing scenario. One method of recovering soil contami- nants is to electrically heat the soil with various electrodes Seismic inverse problem in anisotropic, inhomogeneous inserted into wells in the ground. By injecting water into media: In the areas of petroleum exploration and reser- certain electrode locations and pumping fluids out of the remaining locations, the contaminants are slowly removed. voir engineering, geoscientists use concepts from seismol- If the contaminants are actually removed, as is intended, ogy to image the subsurface and determine essential rock- this process should change the resistivity of the soil as physics properties. Experimental conditions are typically it progresses. For this reason, departures from the char- in the form of a seismic survey whereby measurements acteristic evolution of resistivity are of particular interest. are made of a seismic wave traveling between source and 104 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME receiver. Talisman Energy presented an inverse seismic some further, yet not overly restrictive, assumptions, the ray problem that sought to incorporate recent technolog- team went on to formulate a new system of four non-linear ical advances in the determination of elastic moduli. In equations. Initial follow up work suggests the new formu- particular, with the development of three-component geo- lation is reasonably stable under experimental conditions. phones it is now possible to measure particle displacement associated with a seismic wavefront at depth. Such an ex- periment, whereby sources are located at the surface and A Glimpse at 2003

geophones are place within the earth, is called a VSP, (ver-

£ tical seismic profile). It was hoped that pairing particle ¡ PIMS Industrial Problem Solving displacement (i.e., polarization angle) with recorded trav- Workshop, eltime would lead to an in situ inversion for elastic modulii requiring only a single source/receiver pair. Using con- University of Calgary, cepts of asymptotic ray theory and continuum mechanics May 24–30, 2003 the team was able to formulate a system of eight non-linear equations that could be solved for the elastic modulii that Workshop on Facility Location were sought. Unfortunately, with the introduction of ex- Problems, perimental errors, the system proved highly unstable and SFU, June, 2003 had to be abandoned. However, with the introduction of Industrial and Scientific Training

Activities ¢¡¤£ Basic Components of Programme: PIMS Graduate Industrial Math Modeling Camp University of Victoria, June 11–15, 2001 The PIMS Graduate Industrial Mathemat- Coordinator: Chris Bose (U. Victoria)

ics Modeling Camp: Graduate students from ¥¦¡¤£ Canadian universities come to learn various PIMS Graduate Industrial Math Modeling Camp aspects of high-level techniques for solving in- SFU, May 18–23, 2002 dustrial mathematics problems. The camp pre- Coordinator: Marc Paulhus (U. Calgary)

pares them for the PIMS Industrial Problem §©¨ PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer School Solving Workshop: PIMS at the University of Alberta, May 27–June 8, 2001 The PIMS Summer School in Industrial Organizers: B. R. Sutherland (U. Alberta) and Fluid Dynamics: The participants attend a T. B. Moodie (U. Alberta)

comprehensive series of graduate-level lec- ¡¤£ tures and are also given hands-on experience PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer School performing and analyzing experiments in the PIMS at U. Alberta, July 28–August 9, 2002 Environmental and Industrial Fluid Dynamics Organizer: B. R. Sutherland (U. Alberta) Laboratory, as well as running numerical sim- IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate Math ulations using research-level codes. Modelling Workshop The IAM-CSC-PIMS School in Industrial PIMS-UBC & PIMS-SFU, February 17–18, 2001 Mathematics for Senior Undergraduates Organizers: R. Russell (SFU) & B. Shizgal (IAM) shows students how the mathematics they are learning can be useful. Faculty mentors lec- IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate Math ture on various industrial problems to all the Modelling Workshop participants. Subsequently, the students have PIMS-UBC & PIMS-SFU, February 16–17, 2002 the option of choosing one or more problems Organizers: R. Russell (SFU) & B. Shizgal (IAM) to work on during the three-day workshop. The PIMS-MITACS-COE Undergraduate Statistical Genetics and Computational Molecular Biology Workshop Industrial Case Study Workshop giving stu- U. Washington, December 16–18, 2001 dents in their senior year the opportunity to Organizer: Elizabeth Thompson (UWashington)

compete in a 3-day industrial case study com- ¡ petition.  PIMS Mathematics of Biological Systems Summer The Industrial Workshops and Mini- Workshop courses with topics of interest to both University of Alberta, May 11–19, 2002 industry and academia serve to disseminate Organizer: Mark Lewis (U. Alberta) newly developed mathematical tools that can be of use in industry. The workshops are more PIMS-MITACS-COE Undergraduate Industrial Case interactive than the mini-courses. Study Workshop COE at UBC, May 25–27, 2002 Organizers: M. Puterman (Commerce and Business Ad- min, UBC) and Stephen Jones (COE, UBC)

105 106 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME

Modelling Camp (GIMMC). The students followed Month of Industrial Math at PIMS: up with a second week of industrial mathematics at A wealth of opportunities for the IPSW in Seattle, June 18–22. A record 58 stu- Canadian & US graduate students dents attended the Camp, led by 8 academic men- tors on a selection of industrial problems. This year’s The month of June 2001 witnessed a succes- hardworking mentors were: sion of scientific events in industrial mathe- matics at PIMS. More than 300 researchers, Sergei Bespamyatnikh (UBC) graduate students and senior undergraduates John Chadam (U. Pittsburgh) came from 25 Universities in Canada and the US to learn, research, interact, network and Ian Frigaard (UBC) solve industrial problems at several interre- Lisa Korf (U. Washington) lated events. The timetable was configured so Hedley Morris (San Jose State) that visiting students could participate in more than one of the worskhops. Tim Myers (U. Capetown) The program started by the PIMS-MITACS- Miro Powojowski (Algorithmics Corp.) Ballard Inc. Workshop on Computational Dy- Moshe Rosenfeld (U. Washington) namic Fuel Cells at Simon Fraser University held on June 4–8. This was organized in con- The problems ex- junction with the PIMS Center for Scientific amined over the course Computing. of the programme were: This was followed on June 9-10, by a PIMS- NSF-MITACS Workshop on Inverse Problems Problems in Portfo- and Imaging at the PIMS facility at the Uni- lio Analysis

versity of British Columbia. This was orga- Locating Watch- nized in conjunction with the PIMS Center towers in Terrains

for Inverse Imaging and Applications. (PDF)

£¢ ¤ Between June 11–15, the PIMS Gradu- ate Industrial Mathematics Modelling Camp Modelling a metal was held at the University of Victoria. This spray forming pro- year, 20 US graduate students were admitted cess Sergei Bespamyatnikh (UBC)

to the program in addition to the customary Web-hosting Service

40 Canadian participants. As usual, it was Agreements ¢¥¤

followed by the ¡ PIMS Industrial Problem

Solving Workshop held this year at University Defect analysis using Depth from Defocus meth- of Washington in Seattle June 18–22. ods Modeling Ice Accretion

Risk Neutral Probability Measure

¡¤£

PIMS Graduate Industrial Math Optimal Control of Streetlight Networks Modeling Camp, University of Victoria, June 11–15, 2001 As with previous camps, students from all re- gions of Canada were eligible to attend. This year Organizers: Chris Bose (U. Victoria), Randy LeV- the programme was expanded to include 60 invited eque (U. Washington), Huaxiong Huang (York Uni- participants, up from the usual cap of 40. Further, versity), Mark Paulhus (U. Calgary), Keith Promis- in recognition of our newest PIMS institution, Uni- low (SFU) and Ian Frigaard (UBC). versity of Washington, a special effort was made From June 11–15, the University of Victoria hosted to attract students from US universities. In all, we the fourth annual PIMS Graduate Industrial Math had more than 130 applicants to the Camp, and we INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 107 accepted participants representing 25 North Ameri- Alexander Melnikov (University of Alberta) can Universities. Thirty-nine participants were from came with some problems in financial mathematics. Canada and the remaining 19 were from the United His problem attracted the largest number of students States. Many favourable comments were collected who were interested in learning about hedging and from our mentors attesting to the excellent academic option in both complete and incomplete market set- preparedness and to the enthusiasm of the students. tings.

Petra Berenbrink (SFU) brought her students ¢¡¤£ PIMS Graduate Industrial Math right to the very edge of research in the complex area of routing in ad-hoc networks. The students came Modeling Camp, up with many new approaches and some counter- Simon Fraser University, examples to this very difficult problem. May 18–23, 2002 Brian Wetton (UBC) challenged the students with a very complex problem in modelling a protein Organizers: Jack Macki (U. Alberta), Chris Bose membrane of a fuel cell. His students did an excel- (U. Victoria), Randy LeVeque (U. Washington), lent job of solving some very difficult mathematics. Huaxiong Huang (York U.), Marc Paulhus (U. Cal- This year the students had a unique opportunity gary), Manfred Trummer (SFU) and Ian Frigaard to present the results of the week’s work in the form (UBC). of a poster at the MITACS-AGM.

At the 5th Annual Graduate Industrial Math ¡¤£ Modelling Camp (GIMMC) camp 60 graduate stu- dents from all over Canada, the US and even some PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer from as far as Europe cut their teeth on some prob- School, PIMS-U. Alberta, lems in Industrial Mathematics presented by presti- May 27–June 8, 2001 gious academic mentors. Brett Stevens (Carleton University) presented a Organizers: B. R. Sutherland (U. Alberta) and T. B. Moodie (U. Alberta) problem in software testing. The idea was to apply combinatorics and statistical design to devise the best Eighteen graduate students from all over the world possible set of tests for a piece of abstract software. attended a comprehensive series of lectures, and The students worked very hard devising combinato- were given hands-on experience performing and an- rial coverings of the space of possible input parame- alyzing experiments in the Environmental and Indus- ters. trial Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, as well as running Tim Myers (University of Cape Town) presented numerical simulations using research-level codes. a problem on heating an airplane wing in order to Topics included fluid dynamics fundamentals, in- evaporate water before it freezes. His students made dustrial and environmental flows, geophysical fluid great progress in modelling and solving this chal- dynamics, turbulence modelling and computational lenging thin film problem. fluid dynamics. Subjects were all taught at a gradu- Chris Budd (University of Bath) presented a ate level. problem where you use a prod to test for the fresh- This year’s summer school was particularly re- ness of fish. His students were challenged into build- warding for the students since it was held in con- ing a mathematical model the fish prods response and junction with a PIMS Thematic Programme on Wave attempting to infer what information on the freshness Phenomena and Fluid Dynamics. Special invited of the fish could be retrieved from the data. speakers were T. G. Shepherd (Univ. of Toronto) who Yongji Tan (Fudan University, Shanghai) pre- spoke on The Fluid Dynamics of the Middle Atmo- sented a problem applicable to the oil and gas indus- sphere and H. J. S. Fernando (Arizona State) who try. The students were asked to investigate the results spoke on Turbulence and Mixing in Stably Stratified of a well log tool that measures the resistivity in the Fluid Layers. surrounding structure. The students learned a great The Core Lecturers for the courses were John deal about finite element methods. C. Bowman (U. Alberta), Turbulence Modelling; 108 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME

Andrew B. G. Bush (U. Alberta), Climate Mod- institutions in the world capable of running a school elling; Peter Minev (U. Alberta), Computational which simultaneously exposes participants to theory, Fluid Dynamics; T. Bryant Moodie (U. Alberta), numerical and experimental methods. Wave Theory; Bruce R. Sutherland (U. Alberta), The summer school was fully attended by eigh- Stratified Flows and Gordon E. Swaters (U. Al- teen participants from Canada, England, Germany berta), Physical Oceanography. and the United States. Core lectures were given

by John Bowman (Turbulence Modelling), Andrew ¡¤£ PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer Bush (Climate Modelling), Peter Minev (Computa- tional Fluid Dynamics), Bryant Moodie (Wave The- School, PIMS-U. Alberta ory), Bruce Sutherland (Stratified Flows) and Paul July 28–August 9, 2002 Myers (Physical Oceanography). Organizers: B. R. Sutherland (U. Alberta) and The four invited lecturers were: T. Bryant Moodie (U. Alberta) John Allen (U. Oregon): Coastal Oceanography A knowledge of the dynamics of fluids is the starting John Bush (MIT): Geophysical Plumes point to understanding such diverse fields of study as aerodynamics, weather forecasting, ventilation, Jean-Luc Guermond (LIMSI, U. Paris, Orsay): Large Eddy Simulations lubrication and turbulence. Fluid flows can be de- scribed by mathematical equations but these cannot Peter Rhines (U. Washington): Overturning Circulations be solved except in special circumstances. Instead in the Oceans and Atmospheres and Montainous Flows in scientists solve the equations numerically or use the Rotating Fluids: Vorticity Dynamics, Form Drag and In- duced Circulation results of laboratory experiments to guide their intu- ition in finding solutions. Please see http://fdss.math.ualberta.ca. In its dedication to the training of highly quali- fied personnel, each year the PIMS sponsors a fluid dynamics summer school at the University of Al- berta. The two week long event is attended by grad- uate students and senior undergraduates from around the world. Each morning the participants attend lec- tures on a broad range of topics including waves and turbulence, convection, physical oceanography and climate modelling. The afternoons are spent gain- ing hands-on experience running numerical simula- tions and performing laboratory experiments which are designed to complement the lectures and which are adapted from the lecturers’ current research. At the end of the school the students give presentations 2002 Fluid Dynamics Summer School participants. based on the results of their work. There are two other annual fluid dynamics sum- IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate mer schools in the world, one at the University of Cambridge, England and the other at Woods Math Modelling Workshop, Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA, USA. The PIMS-UBC and PIMS-SFU, PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer School is unique in February 17–18, 2001 its emphasis on computational fluid dynamics and Organizers: Bernie Schizgal (UBC) and Bob Rus- computer-aided laboratory measurements. Indeed, sell (SFU) with its modern computational resources and its con- centration of expertise in experimental and numeri- The annual SFU-UBC-PIMS Senior Undergradu- cal fluid dynamics, the U. Alberta is one of the few ate Math Modelling Workshop was held on Febru- ary 17 and 18, with Saturday’s portion organized INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 109 by UBC’s Institute for Applied Mathematics and chose one of the problems to work on each day. The Sunday’s by SFU’s Centre for Scientific Comput- mentors presented lectures in which the tools for the ing. The students came from across Canada — Aca- modelling and analysis of the problem were devel- dia, University of Western Ontario, University of Al- oped. The mentors then helped groups of approxi- berta, University of Calgary, University of British mately 8 students to develop the models and to an- Columbia, Memorial University of Newfoundland, swer the questions posed. The workshop culminated McGill University, University of Toronto, York Uni- with a brief presentation by each of the groups work- versity, and SFU. ing on the chosen problems. On Saturday, the students were given the choice The mathematical tools used in the workshop of working on one of three projects: Nonlinear Heat are accessible to 3rd and 4th year undergraduates in Conduction in the Microwave Heating of Ceramics mathematics, applied mathematics, physics and ap- with Michael Ward (Math, UBC), An Analytical and plied science. The workshop is an opportunity to Numerical Study of Solitary Waves (Solitons) with meet students from across Canada. Bernie Shizgal (Chemistry, UBC and Director of the The Student Committee of the Canadian Mathe- Institute for Applied Mathematics) or Modelling the matical Society sponsored Saturday’s reception, the Flight Path of a Softball with Douw Steyn (Earth and Department of Mathematics at SFU sponsored Sun- Ocean Science, UBC). day’s dinner. On Sunday, the students were given the choice of The problems discussed included: participating in one of two projects: Liquid Mobility Setting Stable Cement Plugs in Oil Wells, Mentor: Ian in Fuel Cells run by Keith Promislow (Math, SFU) Frigaard (UBC) with help from Ron Haynes (Math Ph. D. student at Characterization of Internet Traffic and its Impact on Net- SFU) or Visualizing A Snowstorm run by Dave Mu- work Performance, Mentor: Ljiljana Trajkovic (SFU) raki (Math, SFU) and Torsten Moeller (Computing Science, SFU). Finding the tumor, Mentor: Anthony Peirce (UBC) Both days of the workshop were highly Scientific Visualization of Large Data Sets, Mentors: successful, with the mentors being rewarded David Muraki and Torsten Moller¨ (SFU) by an enthusiastic and lively response from For further details, please see the webpage the students. For more information, see www.pims.math.ca/industrial/2002/summw. pims.math.ca/industrial/2001/suimw.

IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate Math Modelling Workshop, PIMS-UBC and PIMS-SFU, February 16–17, 2002 Organizers: Bernie Schizgal (UBC) and Bob Rus- Participants in the IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate 2002 sell (SFU) The PIMS along with the Institute of Applied Math- Statistical Genetics and Computational ematics (IAM) at the University of British Columbia Molecular Biology, and the Centre for Scientific Computing (CSC) at Si- mon Fraser University sponsored an undergraduate University of Washington, workshop on problems in applied mathematics for December 16–18, 2001 senior undergraduate students. Organizer: Elizabeth Thompson (U. Washington). The workshop ran for two days with the first day at UBC and the second day at SFU. This successful three-day workshop was aimed at Faculty mentors outlined each of the applied students from the mathematical, computational, and problems to all the participants. The students then statistical sciences who may be considering gradu- ate study and research in these areas of mathematical 110 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME

and computational biology. It was organised by the duce undergraduate mathematics students to math- programmes in Statistical Genetics and Computa- ematical modeling and analysis applied to real bi- tional Molecular Biology at the University of Wash- ological systems. Instructors were Gerda de Vries, ington. Thomas Hillen, Mark Lewis, and Michael Li, all PIMS awarded a total of 13 travel scholarships to from the University of Alberta. There was further students from SFU, UBC and U. Calgary. assistance provided by volunteer graduate students, The following people spoke at the workshop: postdoc fellows, and staff (Robert Bechtel, Andrew Beltaos, Gustavo Carrero, Christina Cobbold, Tomas David Baker (UW): Protein Structure Prediction de Camino-Beck, Lisa Haraba, Annemarie Pielaat, Jenny Bryan (UBC): Finding Informative Subsets of Shirley Mitchell). Genes We received appli- Joe Felsenstein (UW): Trees of genes within and between cations from almost 40 species: molecular biology meets population biology students from all over Jinko Graham (SFU): Testing and Estimation of Recom- North America. In the bination Breakpoints in a Set of Aligned Sequences end, 26 students came Phil Green (UW): Analyzing Genome Sequences to the workshop from 14 different Universi- Kathleen Kerr (UW): Gene Expression Microarrays: The participants. ties across Canada and Classical Statistics and Modern Genomics the United States, many on their own funding. More Charles Kooperberg (FHCRC): Sequence analysis using than half of the attendees were women. logic regression The workshop was 8 days in length and was a Leonid Kruglyak (FHCRC): combination of classroom instruction, computer lab John Mittler (Microbiology, UW): Population genetics instruction and exercises, guided group project work, and dynamics of HIV-1 infection and project presentations. Stephanie Monks (Biostatistics, UW): Studying the Ge- The extremely positive feedback that was re- netics of Gene Expression ceived, in combination with the large number of ap- plicants and participants, has led us to pursue the Maynard Olson (Genome Center, UW): Resequencing Segments of the Human Genome: Experimental and Sta- workshop as an annual event. We strongly believe tistical Considerations the exchange of ideas and knowledge that occurred between students will be carried back to their home Ram Samudrala (Microbiology, UW): Modelling genome structure and function universities and that the program will grow in popu- larity over the years to come. Elizabeth Thompson (Statistics, UW): Inferring Gene Locations from Genetic Data on Pedigrees Martin Tompa (Computer Science and Engineering, PIMS-MITACS-COE Undergraduate UW): Discovering Regulatory Motifs in DNA Sequences Industrial Case Study Workshop, Ellen Wijsman (Division of Medical Genetics, School of Centre for Operations Excellence, UBC,

Medicine, UW): Gene finding in human populations May 25–27, 2002 ¡ ¢¡ Organizers: Martin Puterman and Stephen Jones PIMS Mathematics of Biological (UBC) Systems Summer Workshop Sixteen undergraduate students in commerce, en- University of Alberta, May 11–19, 2002 gineering, business, physics, mathematics, statis- Organizers: Mark Lewis (U. Alberta) tics, and computer science were invited from across Canada to meet industry executives and renowned From May 11–19, 2002, the Centre for Mathematical academics, and to explore graduate study opportuni- Biology (CMB) offered the 1st annual PIMS Mathe- ties, and to work in teams to solve challenging busi- matical Biology Summer Workshop entitled Mathe- ness problems. matics of Biological Systems. Our aim was to intro- INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 111

The focus of the workshop was a real-world case study competition, culminating with teams present- A Glimpse at 2003 ing their findings to industry executives and aca- demics on May 27. Universities represented in the workshop were IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior UBC, SFU, U. Alberta, U. Calgary, McGill and Undergraduate Math Modelling Mount Allison. Workshop judges Glen Darou (COE Workshop, Director, Industry), Carol Leacy (Vice President, UBC and SFU, Systems and Process Integration, Mark Anthony), February 15–16, 2003

Bernard Lamond (Professor and Director, Depart-

¡ £ ment of Operations and Systems, Universit Laval) ¡ PIMS Graduate Industrial Math. and Maurice Queyranne, (COE Director, Academic) were presented with outstanding presentations from Modelling Camp, the workshop teams. All participants were awarded BIRS, May 17–22, 2003

with certificates and COE sweatshirts for their excel-

¢¡ £ lent work over the weekend. Team four, composed of PIMS-MITACS-COE Derrick Chung (McGill), Amir Motamedi (McGill), Undergraduate Industrial Case Igor Naverniouk (UBC), and Philip Seo (UBC), was Study Workshop, honored with the prize for “Best Overall Case Anal- UBC, May 2003

ysis and Presentation”. £ This workshop was designed to: ¢¡ PIMS Mathematics of Biological Introduce students to current research initiatives Systems Summer Workshop, and industrial problems in the operations research U. Alberta, May 2003 sector. Provide a unique opportunity for students to work in teams to solve challenging problems with mathematical and business content. Allow industry executives the opportunity to be- come acquainted with students and evaluate them for potential future employment. Inform students of the exciting opportunities for graduate studies in applied math and operations research. For more information see the web page www.pims.math.ca/industrial/2001/uicsw. MITACS: A Network of Centers of Excellence in the Mathematical Sciences

Mathematics of Information Technology and Com- ¢¡¤£ plex Systems (MITACS) is one of the three Networks MITACS Annual General Meeting: of Centers of Excellence (NCE) created in 1998. Statistics for Large Scale Industrial The MITACS NCE is a joint venture of the three Modelling, UBC, May 23–25, 2002 Canadian mathematical sciences institutes: the Cen- This meeting was part of the PIMS Thematic tre de Recherches Math´ematiques, the Fields Insti- Programme on Selected Topics in Mathe- tute in Mathematical Sciences and the Pacific Insti- matical and Industrial Statistics. tute for the Mathematical Sciences. MITACS har- nesses mathematical power for the benefit of the See the chapter on Thematic Programmes. Canadian economy. The network brings together more than 150 researchers at 22 Canadian universi- ties with more than 70 Canadian industrial, medical, and financial organizations. The network comprises MITACS Projects at PIMS 23 projects addressing problems in five sectors of the Canadian economy, including two new projects There are 31 ongoing MITACS projects across funded in 2000. the country in five themes: Biomedical Research, The creation of the MITACS network provides Commercial Research, Information Technology Re- an exceptional opportunity for the mathematical sci- search, Manufacturing Research, and Trading and ences community to develop a large scale systematic Finance Research. Here are the currently 14 projects programme for research, HQP training and the devel- coordinated by PIMS: opment of partnerships with key business, industrial and health care sectors across the country. Biomedical Research

Biomedical Models of Cellular and Physiological Systems in Health and Disease

Leader: Dr. L. Keshet (Math, UBC) Arvind Gupta, MITACS Programme Members: Dr. G. de Vries (Math, UA), Dr. D. Fine- Leader good (Kinesiology, SFU), Dr. R. Miura (Math, UBC), Dr. J. Piret (Biotech Lab, Chemical Eng, Bioresource Eng, UBC), Dr. E.Puil (Pharmacology, UBC) Dr. D. Schwarz (Research Director, Dept of Surgery, UBC), Dr. C. Shaw (Opthalmology, UBC), Dr. Y. Xian Li (Math, UBC) Dr. M. Mackey (Math, McGill) INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 113

Industrial Affiliates: Bayer Inc., InSilico Biosciences, The Mathematics of Resource Allocation and Kinetek Pharmaceuticals, Precision Biochemicals, Stem- Scheduling Cell Technologies, SmithKline Beecham, BC Cancer Re- search Center. Leader: L. Hafer (CS, SFU) Members: B. Alspach (Math & Stats, SFU), J. M. Bour- jolly (Concordia), W. Cunningham (C & O, U. Water- Mathematical Modelling in Pharmaceutical loo), L. Goddyn (Math & Stats, SFU), A. Gupta (CS, Development SFU), P. Hell (CS and Math & Stats, SFU), R. Krish- namurti (CS, SFU), W. Pulleyblank (Director, Math. Sci- Leader: Dr. J. A. Tuszynski (Physics, U. Alberta) ences, T.J.Watson Labs, IBM), M. Queyranne (Manag. Sci, UBC) Members: Dr. G. de Vries (Math, U. Alberta), Dr. G. A Dumont (Elec. & Computer Engg., Industrial Affiliates: Amber Systems, HA Simons, IBM, UBC), Dr. M. Klobukowski (Chemistry, U. Alberta), Prestige Telecommunications Dr. B. MacLeod (Anaesthesia, Pharmacology & Ther- apeutics, UBC), Dr. J. Muldowney (Math, U. Al- Probabilistic Mathematical Models for Complex berta), Dr. K. Rubenson (CHET, Education, UBC), Industrial Systems Dr. J. Samuel (Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sc., U. Al- berta), Dr. Y. Tam (Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sc., Leader: M. Puterman (Commerce, UBC) U. Alberta), Dr. D. Wiens (Stats Centre, U. Alberta), Members: D. Atkins (Commerce, UBC), J. Bookbinder Dr. D. Bevan, Dr. D. Quastel, Dr. C. Ries, Dr. M. Sutter, (Waterloo), H. Chen (Commerce, UBC), M. Gendreau Dr. M. Walker, Dr. J. Wright (Universite´ de Montreal),´ S. Jones (Commerce, UBC), Industrial Affiliates: Drs. Y.K. Tam and D. Ridgway B. Lamond (Universite´ Laval), T. McCormick (Commerce, (Kinetana), Dr. R.R. Koganty (Biomira, Inc.), Mr. Willaim UBC), J. McGill (Queen’s U.), M. Queyranne (Commerce, Gough (Universal Dynamics Technologies), Dr. Michael UBC). J. Ellison (Institute for Biomolecular Design), Dr. John Industrial Affiliates: TELUS, Canadian Airlines Interna- Samson (MACI and Physics, U. Alberta), Dr. W. de tional, Workers Compensation Board of BC. Brouwer (Starlab, Belgium)

Other Affliates: Canadian-European Research Initiative Searching Networks on Nanostructure (Belgium), Drs. P.L. Christiansen and E. Mosekilde (Inst. of Math. Modeling, Danish Techni- Leader: Dr. Brian Alspach (U. Regina) cal University), Dr. Y. Engelborghs (Biomolecular Dynam- Members: Gena Hahn (Montreal), Denis Hanson ics, K. U. Leuven), Dr. M. Kimmel (Stats, Rice Univer- (Regina), Richard Nowakowski (Dalhousie) sity), Jim Laukes (Psychology, U. Arizona), Dr. E. Unger (Molecular Biotechnology, Jena, Germany) Information Technology Research

Commercial Research Mathematical Methods for Modeling, Verification and Testing in Information Technology Facility Location Optimization Leader: Dr. Bruce Kapron (CS, U. Victoria) Leaders: Dr. Binay Bhattacharya (CS, SFU) and Members: M. Cheng (CS, U. Victoria), J. Delgrande Dr. David Kirkpatrick (CS, UBC). (CS, SFU), M. Greenstreet (CS, UBC), A. Hu (CS, UBC), Members: P. Bose (CS, Carleton U.), J. Han (CS, P. Panangaden (CS, McGill) SFU), P. Hansen (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commer- Industrial Affiliates: Nortel Networks ciales/GERAD), J. M. Keil (CS, U. Saskatchewan), R. Ng (CS, UBC), T. Shermer (CS, SFU), J. Snoeyink (CS, UBC), G. Toussaint (CS, McGill U.) Prediction in Interacting Systems (PINTS)

Industrial Affiliates: Webdispatchers. Leader: Dr. Mike Kouritzin (Math, U. Alberta) 114 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME

Members: D. Blount (Math, Arizona State University), Members: R. Bradean (PDF, Math, SFU) L. Bridge J. Bowman (Math, U. Alberta), P. Del Moral (Universite (Graduate student, Math, UBC) R. Choksi (Math & Stats, Paul Sabatier, France), D. Dawson (Fields), E. Gombay SFU), R. Haynes (Graduate student, Math, SFU) H. (Math, U. Alberta), A. Heunis (Engineering, Waterloo), Huang (Math, York U.), N. Kouzniak (PDF, Math, UBC) T. Kurtz (Math, Wisconsin-Madison), J. Macki (Math, M. C. Kropinski (Math & Stats, SFU), D. Liang (PDF, U. Alberta), L.Miclo (Universite Paul Sabatier, France), Math, York) M. Liang (Graduate student, Math, UBC) B. Remillard (Ecole´ des Hautes Etudes´ Commerciales), A. Novruzi (PDF, Math, UBC) A. Peirce (Math, UBC), J. Xiong (Math, U. Alberta) K. Promislow (Math & Stats, SFU), B. Russell (Math & Industrial Affiliates: Acoustic Positioning Research Inc., Stats, SFU), S. Ruuth (Math, SFU) B. Seymour (Math, Lockheed Martin Canada, Lockheed Martin Naval Elec- UBC), J. Stockie (PDF, Math, SFU) M. Ward (Math, tronics & Surveillance Systems, VisionSmart UBC), R. Westbrook (Math & Stats, U. Calgary) Industrial Affiliates: Ballard Power Systems, Powertech Quantum Computing Labs, Vortek Industries Leader: Dr. Richard Cleve (UBC) Members: M. Mosca (C&O, Waterloo), J. Watrous (CS, Pseudo-differential Operator Theory in Seismic Calgary), C. Crapeau (CS, McGill), R. Flamme (Physics, Imaging Waterloo), D. Lidar (Chemistry, Toronto) A. Tapp (CS, McGill), W. Unruh (Physics, UBC) Leaders: Dr. Michael Lamoureux and Dr. Gary Margrave (University of Calgary) Symbolic Analysis Members: R. Aggarwala (Math, U. Calgary), W. Al- legretto (Math, U. Alberta), J. Bancroft (Geophysics, Leader: Dr. Peter Borwein (Math & Stats, SFU) U. Calgary), P. Binding (Math, U. Calgary), K. Bude Members: F. Bergeron (Math, Universite´ de Quebec´ a` (Math, Washington), A. Calvert (Earth Sciences, SFU), Montreal),´ J. Borwein (Math & Stats, SFU), R. Corless P. Lancaster (Math, U. Calgary), L. Lines (Geophysics, (Math, UWO), S. Devitt (Waterloo Maple Inc), D. Jef- U. Calgary) , E. Nyland (Physics, U. Alberta), M. Sac- frey (Math, UWO), L. Jorgenson (Math & Stats, SFU), chi (Physics, U. Alberta), M. Slawinski (Mechanical Eng, M. Lamoureux (Math & Stats, U. Calgary), M. Monagan U. Calgary), J. Sniatycki (Math, U. Calgary), G. Uhlmann (Math & Stats, SFU), J. Stafford (Math, UWO), S. Watt (Math, Washington), D. R. Westbrook (Math, U. Calgary) (Math, UWO) Industrial Affiliates: Chevron Petroleum Technology Industrial Affiliates: Math Resources, Sun Microsys- Company, Veritas DGC Inc, Consortium for Research in tems, Waterloo Maple Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology

Towards Interactive Data Mining Leader: Dr. Raymond Ng (UBC) Trading and Finance Research Members: L. Lakshmanan (CS, UBC) A. Wagner (CS, UBC) R. Zamar (Stats, UBC) R. Miller (CS, Toronto) Modeling, Trading and Risk in the Market J. Rosenthal (Stats, Toronto) K. Sevcik (CS, Toronto) Leader: U. Haussmann (Math, UBC) Manufacturing Research Members: M. Barlow (Math, UBC), J. Friedman (Math, UBC), A. Lari-Lavassani (Math, U. Calgary), A. Peirce Mathematical Modeling and Scientific (Math, UBC), J. Walsh (Math, UBC) Computation Industrial Affiliates: Financial CAD, Powerex Corpora- Leader: B. Wetton (Math, UBC), tion, Transalta INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME 115

PIMS affiliated MITACS

Postdoctoral Fellows 2002 A Glimpse at 2003

¡ £ 1. Janez Ales, Simon Fraser University MITACS Annual General 2. Peter Berg, Simon Fraser University Meeting, 3. Edgardo Cheb-Terrab, Simon Fraser University 4. Ronald Ferguson, Simon Fraser University Ottawa, May 8–11, 2003 5. Daya Gaur, Simon Fraser University 6. Alexander Kononov, Simon Fraser University 7. Stefan Langerman, Simon Fraser University 8. Snezana Mitrovic-Minic, Simon Fraser University 9. Andrew Solomon, Simon Fraser University 10. Bettina Speckmann, Simon Fraser University 11. Brett Stevens, Simon Fraser University 12. Rong Ding, University of British Columbia 13. Marek Labecki, University of British Columbia 14. Stan Maree, University of British Columbia 15. Joern Sass, University of British Columbia 16. Rong Zhu, University of British Columbia 17. Hugh Geiger, University of Calgary 18. Peter Gibson, University of Calgary 19. Julien Arina, University of Victoria 116 INDUSTRIAL PROGRAMME VI. MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Students at Sir James Douglas enjoy Math Mania in 2001.

Students discuss math with Akbar Rhemtulla (University of Alberta) during the 2001 PIMS Graduate Information Week.

The participants of the Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Math Camp for High School students outside East Academic Annex at SFU. Initiatives for K–12 Students

PIMS is continues to provide fun and innovative ed- The Set Game, a binomial probability experiment us- ucation activities for elementary and high school stu- ing pennies, and exciting geometrical models from dents. These include mathematics competitions and straws and paper. Other demonstrations involve math fairs. chess games, parallel algorithms of network sorts, and recursive methods in mathematical puzzles. These events attract around 300 students and parents Activities for Elementary each evening. The Math Mania events in 2001/02 were: Schools February 28, 2001: Sir James Douglas Elemen- The following four activities took place for elemen- tary School, Victoria

tary schools students in 2001/02. October 2, 2001: Sooke Elementary School, Vic- toria

Math Mania January 30, 2002: Oaklands Elementary School, Victoria

Math Mania is part of PIMS “Alternative Math Ed- ucation” programme where Faculty and Staff from May 28, 2002: Lampson Street Elementary the PIMS Universities present “fun” methods for School, Victoria teaching math and computer science to children (and October 9, 2002: Happy Valley Elementary adults!) using games and art. It takes place at ele- School, Victoria mentary schools in Victoria BC. Typically included in the presentations are soap bubble demonstrations, The enthusias- constellations as 2D networks, geometry and paper, tic volunteers who participated in these events included James Andersen, Peter Ander- son, Kathy Beveridge, Charlie Burton, Jeff Campbell, Kelly Choo, Mike Crowle , Florin Diacu, Malgorzata Dubiel, Rod Edwards, Irina Gavrilova, Mike Fellows, Denton and Merilyn Hewgill, Elies Making bubbles with Dr. Denny Hoepner, Reinhard Hewgill. Illner, David Leeming, Shaun Pack, Jan and Paul Photo courtesy of Victoria Times Colonist. Nienaber, Elena Prieto, Geoff Schmidt, Pauline van Pauline van den Driessche (PIMS-UVic) holds the attention of den Driessche and Julie Zhou. some Cordova Bay Elementary students.

118 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME 119

Mathematics Unplugged Elementary Math Nights This annual event is a Student Mathematics Con- Elementary Math Nights are held at schools in the ference which takes place at Westwood Elementary Calgary area. Volunteers from Mount Royal College School, a school of approximately 250 students in and the University of Calgary assisted the teachers Coquitlam BC. All the students attend a full day to guide participants through a variety of activities. math conference, including workshops chosen by Activities such as map colouring, games on graphs, themselves following a keynote address. Workshops dominating sets of graphs, Fibonacci numbers, bi- are presented by all levels of instructors, includ- nary numbers, patterns in Pascal’s triangle, the trav- ing university professors, school district personnel, elling salesman problem, and finite state automita school staff, parents and Science World staff. may be included. The main goal of this event is to lay an enjoyable The success of these evenings can be directly at- and fun foundation for further mathematical aware- tributed to the enthusiam and skill of the volunteers: ness and engagement, which can last a lifetime. The Rob Petzold, Jean Springer, Laura Marik, Peter Zi- other goals of the conference are to: zler, Scott Carlson, and Sharon Friesen. The Elementary Math Nights took place on: utilize expertise from the community

February 13, 2001: Science Alberta School, Cal-

show students that Mathematics occurs in all as- gary pects of everyday life, and in other subject areas February 22, 2001: Sunnyside Community show students that Mathematics is more than what School, Calgary

they can find in school textbooks May 15, 2001: Westmount Elementary School,

give students lots of hands-on experience by keep- Strathmore ing the number of students in workshops small (20 or less) MathClick Workshops Six sessions of Mathematics Unplugged have In the summer of 2001, PIMS organized and hosted been held to date. PIMS has supported this event two MathClick Workshops for children at PIMS- since it began. UBC. On August 28 and August 31, 2001, thirty- Mathematics Unplugged VI took place on April two grade 5–7 students attended these full-day math- 26, 2001. The event is styled just like an adult con- ematics immersion experiential events. MathClick ference with a keynote speaker followed by work- workshops are not only for the mathematically tal- shops for the students to attend during the day. The ented; in fact, the main intention is to awaken chil- keynote speaker has a difficult job to do as he/she dren’s latent talent and interest by showing them that needs to be able to hold the attention of students from mathematics can be also playful and intriguing. Stu- K–G5 for at least 30 minutes and make it fun and in- dents in these workshops engaged in a genuine math- teresting. This year every student went home with a ematical inquiry in a very encouraging environment tangram set, and a copy of the Tangram story. that promoted a feeling of surprise and ample oppor- Klaus Hoechsmann, PIMS Education Coordina- tunity for success. tor, helped plan the conference and visited the school Klaus Hoechsmann (PIMS Education Facilitator) on the day. The conference was a success with the and one of the workshop instructors co-authored the students who participated in it. One student replied mathematical content for the workshop programme. when told it was time to go out to recess, “Oh, do we The workshops were taught by Edel Vo and Natasa have to go out to recess, Math Unplugged is so much Sirotic from Collingwood School and assisted by more fun!” Wendy Dorn from the Burnaby School District and Janet Martin, a graduate student at the UBC Faculty for Education. 120 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Judy Dalling, the parent of MathClick participant Activities with High School Eleanora, attests that this single-day workshop can be truly transformational and can dazzle a child to Students the extent of completely reconditioning her or him for success in mathematics. She wrote, “Last Au- The PIMS education panel organizes a number of gust I enrolled my 10 year-old daughter Eleanora in events aimed at high school students. Here we de- the one day MathClick workshop. Her record at el- scribe one such event. The two sections that follow ementary school was poor in all areas. In Grade 5 this one, Mathematics Competitions and PIMS Math math, socials and science she had a C average, and Fair Programme, highlight many other PIMS activi- getting her to complete assignments was impossible. ties for high school students. After taking the MathClick workshops her attitude completely changed. She realized that she was capa- ble of much greater things. She has not missed one Junior High Math Nights day of school this year, and she has replaced the C’s These biannual events are organised by Dr. Peter on her report card with A’s. When asked, Eleanora Zizler of Mount Royal College, Calgary. From credits these changes to your encouragement in the January–March, 2002 on six consecutive Mondays, workshop. Thanks you for helping her realize her students, parents and teachers at Mount Royal Col- potential. What a difference a day can make!” lege are provided with the opportunity to engage in mathematical exploration. The event took place again in October 2002, this time on six consecutive Tuesdays. The emphasis of these evenings was to dispel the myths that mathematics is a set of facts innate to certain individuals and that mathematics is not an experimental discipline. Discussions took place under the following titles: Facts About Five: This evening was a potpourri of topics about the number five, including 5 by 5 magic squares, Pentagonal numbers, Tessalation of the plane using various polygons including pen- tagons, compass and straightedge constructions, and Participants in one of the 2001 MathClick Workshops. Ramsey theory. PIMS has continued these highly successful Map Colouring: This evening the question of how workshop in 2002, with workshops taking place on many colours are needed to colour a planar map was August 27 and 30. This year all the students went asked and also applications to some scheduling prob- home with certificates of participation. lems were investigated. Sorting out Sorting: Sorting algorithms, their benefits, and their drawbacks were discussed. The Secret of NIM: This evening, analysing NIM and similar games with a view towards developing winning strategies was the topic. Nothing But 0’s and 1’s: This evening an explo- ration of number systems with different bases was on the agenda. MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME 121

Mathematics Competitions Ronald Haynes: An Algorithm to Compute the Roots of Polynomials? Traditionally, mathematics skill and interest can be Mahdad Khatirinejad Fard: Inequalities uncovered in students by exposure to challenging The session leaders also gave daily problems to mathematical exams and contests. PIMS sponsors the participants. The best solutions were rewarded Alberta and BC participation in a number of such na- with prizes. tional and international competitions. The camp was supported by grants from the Canadian Mathematical Society, the Imperial Oil CMS Regional Math Camps Charitable Foundation, PIMS and the SFU Depart- ment of Mathematics. To identify and nurture future members of the Canadian team for the International Mathematical 2002 Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Math Camp, Olympiad, the CMS, Esso and PIMS sponsor this SFU, July 2–5, 2002 yearly event to which students in grades 8–10, as well as exceptional elementary grade students, are The second Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Math Camp invited based on merit. Topics in Combinatorics, for High School students took place July 2–5, 2002, Number Theory, Algebra and Geometry will be cov- at the SFU-PIMS Site in the East Academic Annex. ered at the difficulty level of the Olympiad. This Twenty-five students from schools across the is part of a long-range goal of the CMS to develop Lower Mainland were selected to participate in the mathematical talent in Canadian students to compete camp, out of almost 50 nominations sent by their on the world stage. teachers. For four days, they participated in excit- ing and challenging activities organized by the SFU 2001 Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Math Camp, faculty and graduate students. Two guest speakers SFU, June 25–29, 2001 were invited as well: Lily Yen (Capilano College) and Branko Curgus (Western Washington Univer- This camp was organised by Malgorzata Dubiel and sity). Petr Lisonek (SFU) and was designed for students from grades 10–11. Participation in the Camp was 2002 Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Math Camp, by invitation only, based on recommendations from U. Alberta, August 14–20, 2002 teachers, and results of various mathematics compe- titions. The annual Alberta Math Camp alternates between The activities consisted of talks and problem ses- the U. Alberta and U. Calgary. This is the second sions given by the SFU Mathematics and Statistics time that it was held at the U. Alberta. The event is faculty and graduate students, a Campus tour, and a sponsored by ESSO and CMS, with additional sup- visit to the SFU Engineering labs. Twenty-four stu- port from the Faculty of Science at the U. Alberta, dents from 16 schools participated in the camp. PIMS, the Edmonton Public School Board, and the The following sessions were offered: Mathematical Council of the Alberta Teachers Asso- ciation. The camp organizers were Ted Lewis and Len Berggren: Lessons from the History of Mathematics Andy Liu. Jonathan Borwein: Exploring Math on the Internet The camp is intended for students from grades Peter Borwein: Much Ado about Pi 7–10. Twenty-four campers from Alberta and two Imin Chen: Cryptography campers from outside the province stayed in the Lis- Luis Goddyn: The Lonely Runner and Other Problems ter Hall Residence Complex for its duration. There Mary Catherine Kropinski: Swimming in Syrup were also three day students from Edmonton who at- Petr Lisonek: Mathematics with Maple tended. Carl Schwarz: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish The morning programme consisted of a three- Petr Lisonek: Putnam Competition Problems hour workshop centered on a lecture. Andy Liu gave a lecture on Coding, Hans Brungs spoke about 122 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

The History of Mathematics, Edit Gombay talked PIMS Elementary Grades about Probability, Sudarshan Sehgal gave a lecture on Number Theory, Dragos Hrimiuc spoke about Mathematics Contest Diophantine Equations, and Volker Runde gave a The annual PIMS Elementary Grades Math Con- lecture on The Banach-Tarski Paradox. test (ELMACON) is open to students in Grades 5– The afternoon programme was a mixture of aca- 7. It provides an opportunity for them to experi- demic and extracurricular activities. On Sunday, the ence mathematics as an exciting sport. The contest students wrote a three-hour contest. On Monday, is modelled after the successful MathCounts compe- the camp visited the Odyssium, the former Edmon- titions. However, there are some important differ- ton Space Science Centre. The students were di- ences, because it is aimed at younger students, many vided into groups for a team contest on Tuesday. On of whom will likely “graduate” to MathCounts once Wednesday, the camp visited a cornfield maze just they get to high school. There they will learn to work outside Edmonton. Prof. Andy liu offered an exhibi- collaboratively in the Team Round, which has here tion of part of his puzzle collection on Thursday. On been replaced by a Problem Solving Round. The lat- Friday, the well-known magician, Jon Charles, gave ter not only relieves the competitive pressure for a a special performance at the camp. while, but also affords an opportunity for learning The evenings were largely spent in the residence some mathematics in a state of heightened aware- for social activities. The students were supervised by ness and motivation. The other rounds are designated Mr. Gilbert Lee and Mrs. Joyce Pon, the mother of Sprint, Target, and Countdown, each with their own one of the campers. On Wednesday, after the corn- special characteristics. field maze, the camp visited West Edmonton Mall. Both the 2001 and 2002 events were organized On Thursday, the students had an eat-in consisting by PIMS under the guidance of Dr. Cary Chien of mainly of pizzas. On Friday, a banquet was held at David Thompson Secondary School, in collabora- the China Palace Seafood Restaurant. tion with the BCAMT and volunteers from Lower Mainland schools of all levels. About 50 on-site volunteers from the UBC Science Ambassadors Pro- Alberta High School Mathematics gram, various schools throughout BC as well as some Competition parents helped the organising committee stage the events. The Alberta High School Mathematics Competition The format of the contest followed the formula is an annual two part competition taking place in of previous years. Students competed in three di- November and February of each school year. There visions in the sprint, target and countdown rounds. are book prizes for the first part, and cash prizes and The sprint and target rounds consisted of two sets scholarships for the second part. of written questions which were evaluated imme- PIMS provides funding to ensure participation diately while contestants enjoyed refreshments and for students across the province. The PIMS Awards listened to a lively presentation of problem-solving Dinner for the 2000–2001 season was on April strategies. The top 10 from the first two rounds went 11, 2001. on to the Countdown round where the students “du- The 2001–2002 season marked the 46th year of elled” starting with the 9th and 10th. The winner of the Alberta High School Mathematics Competition. that contest then went on to “duel” with the 8th place In this two part competition, part I, with 1093 partic- holder. So the person who ranked 10th had the po- ipants, occurred on November 20, 2001, and part II, tential of winning the contest by beating the 9 people with the top 69 competitors from part I, took place on ahead of him/her one by one. The duelling consisted February 6, 2002. The major prize winners attended of answering math questions against the clock and the 2002 PIMS awards dinner, which was held in sounding a buzzer. Eventually an overall winner was Calgary. The awards dinner will be held in Edmon- found. ton next year. The top ten finishers in each grade received a commemorative t-shirt and medal, together with a MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME 123 stylish binder donated by the BC Association of Chang (Simon Fraser), 10. Yanga Zhu (Eric Lang- Mathematics Teachers. The top three also received ton). a trophy, and an electronic calculator donated by Sharp. Grade 6:

1. Alar- ¡¤£ ELMACON, UBC, May 26, 2001 ica Tang (Kitchener), Last year, 223 students participated in the third EL- 2. Jimmy He MACON, with 73, 80 and 70 students in grades 5, 6 (Pinewood), and 7 respectively. It was a substantial increase from 3. Daniel the previous year. Park (Kway- While the markers where ranking the kids hquitlum in preparation for the countdown round Cary Middle), Chien gave a talk on strategies and common 4. Bryan mistakes. A video tape of his talk and other 2002 Grade 6 winners (l–r): Daniel Park, Huang parts of the contest will soon be available at Jimmy He, Alarica Tang. (Osler), www.pims.math.ca/elmacon/. 5. Yuan Liang (Pitt River Middle), 6. Silviu Toderita, The top 10 winners of ELMACON 2001 were: 7. Sherwin Kwan (Seaforth), 8. Jonathan Zhang (Oppenheimer), 9. Hank Duan (Maple Creek Grade 5: 1. Jimmy He, 2. Sherwin Kwan, 3. Aram Middle), 10. Simon T. H. Tseng (Chantrell Creek). Ebtekar, 4. David Lam, 5. Bryan Huang, 6. Simon T.H. Tseng, 7. Christin Chan, 8. Sara Hyunjung Kim, Grade 7: 1. James Chen (John T Errington), 9. Alan Tung, 10. Tiffany Le Gentil. 2. Arthur da Silva (St. Paul’s), 3. Anthony Chuang (Maple Lane), 4. Sebastian Crema (Bound- Grade 6: 1. Steven Karp, 2. Arthur Yip, 3. Arthur ary Community), 5. Jerome Li (Kwayhqitlum Mid- da Silva, 4. Jason Ng, 5. Connor Joseph Wagner, dle), 6. Steven Karp (Kitchener), 7. Jeffrey Hsiung 6. Serena Ip, 7. David Di, 8. Rickey Tam, 9. Nestor (Emily Carr), 8. Kevin Xiao (Confederation Park), Choi, 10. Sviatoslav Moldavanov. 9. Mulin Yang (University Hill), 10. Javin Chen (Thunderbird). Grade 7: 1. Sam Wang, 2. William Wanki Kim, 3. Diane Wu, 4. Steven Hermann, 5. Yoshiaki Sono, 6. Howard Yan, 7. Carter (Wan Jae) Lee, 8. Fanhao

Meng, 9. Jeffrey Nguyen, 10. Isaac Tang.

¥ ¡ £ ELMACON, UBC, May 25, 2002 The fourth annual ELMACON had a total of 229 competitors. There were 67, 80 and 82 children in grades 5, 6 and 7 respectively. The top 10 winners Left photo: 2002 Grade 5 winners (l–r) Jeffrey Choi, Aram for 2002 were: Ebtekar, Juno Jung. Right photo: 2002 Grade 7 winners (l–r) An- thony Chuang, Arthur da Silva, James Chen. Grade 5: 1. Juno Jung (Nelson), 2. Aram Ebtekar (Glen), 3. Jeffrey Choi (John T Errington), 4. Karen Bennie Ho (Oppenheimer), 5. Nikita Zouev (Lynn Valley), 6. Jeffrey Yeh (Vancouver Monte- sorri), 7. Sophie Ji-Soo Kwalk (Canyon Heights), 8. Veronika Dikoun (Maywood Community), 9. Phil 124 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

PIMS Math Fair Nevertheless it happens now and again—and, hey, you never know! Programme Applications: There is an inexhaustible supply of Math Fairs are particularly suitable for students problems of all shapes and sizes in science, in tech- in Grades 7–12 who are looking for longer term nology, and even in the arts. Many of them are close projects to get a feel for the adventure of a self- to home. The challenge here is to tease out the in- directed exploration. teresting ones (say, the geometry of rose petals) and PIMS supports math fairs as part of the Greater not get bogged down in mere routine (like counting Vancouver Regional Fair and the Calgary Youth Sci- them) or too engrossed in extraneous activities (like ence Fair, as well as running its own Forever Annual smelling them). Mathematics Exhibition in Vancouver and numerous math fairs in Alberta. Exposition: Again and again it happens that some- body gives an old hat a brand-new twist—and most The Concept of a Math Fair of the time, a new insight comes with it. There are hundreds of ready made proofs of the Pythagorean Unlike, say, sports or music, mathematics does not Theorem, but some people are still rolling their own. offer many extracurricular activities in school, ex- The area of the regular dodecagon inside a unit circle cept for various kinds of contests, which—for all (3 square units) had been known for many centuries their admirable motivating qualities—stress just one before recent beautiful proofs were found. side of mathematics: the quick grasp. And yet, most mathematical work could be more aptly likened to Whichever flag it sails under, a project should al- a marathon than to a sprint. The steadfast persever- ways aim at engaging the visitors’ minds, not only ing quest, so vital to the subject, is minimally repre- their eyes. In this connection, a low-tech, homespun sented in the school environment. implementation is sometimes more successful than The use of science fairs as a vehicle for popu- a glitzy computerized one—which might impress larising and teaching mathematics might eventually without enlightening, unless special care is taken. prove to be a way of filling this void. It is still in its infancy—the wheel has not yet been invented. Math- ematics is traditionally not a showy subject. When BC Science Fair Foundation we get a problem to work on, we retreat into a corner like a squirrel with a nut and come back into the light At the Greater Vancouver Regional Fair (GVRSF) PIMS supplies judges, mathematical expertise, and of day only when we have cracked it. Sure enough, we need some time for quiet concentration. But must prizes. PIMS initiated the inclusion of a Mathe- matical Sciences exhibit category within the exist- it be unrelieved solitary confinement? There ought ing Science Fairs, which are organized and admin- be a better way—and preparing projects for public display might help push us in the right direction. istered by the Science Fair Foundation of British Columbia. PIMS is committed to informing and in- The projects usually fall under one of the fol- volving mathematics teachers, giving presentations lowing three headings, although many will present a mixture of two or even all three of them. and workshops to groups of students, helping and providing assistance to students that have undertaken mathematics projects, judging the projects, and sup- Original Research: There are lots and lots of open plying the monetary awards. problems in mathematics. However, most of them Projects are judged as gold, silver or bronze lie on the outskirts which can only be reached by air. based on a point system. Since the field is so old, most of the rocks near the The 2001 GVRSF took place at UBC, April centre have been turned over more than once, so find- 5–7. It held 26 projects within the Mathemati- ing something really new there is a very lucky break. cal/Computer Sciences exhibit category. Within this MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME 125 category, there were 2 computer science projects of Burnaby South Secondary School and Rochelle while the others were all mathematical. Leung of York House School (pictured). In terms of the grade-level distribution, there PIMS presented the following awards. were 10 junior (grades 7, 8), 10 intermediate (grades First: Rochelle Leung (York House): Decrypting 9, 10), and 6 senior (grades 11, 12) projects. Projects the math behind cryptography and its ciphers came from the following schools: University-Hill Second: Gabrielle Arden (Burnaby South Sec- Secondary, Point Grey Mini School, Britannia Sec- ondary): Forecasting weather with neural networks, ondary School, York House, Collingwood School, Frank Sun and Winnie Ho (Windermere Sec- Sir William Osler Elementary School, Windermere ondary): Matrices and cryptology, Harvey Zhang Secondary, and Vancouver Technical. (Burnaby North Secondary): Inscribed triangles in circles and ellipses Third: Pearly Trinh and Elaine Lee (Winder- mere Secondary): RSA algorithm cryptology, Galina Meleger and Kathryn Cheng (York House): The golden number The first prize winner received $200, the second prize winners $100 each, and the third prize winners $50 each. Considering there were only ten projects entered in the Computational and Mathematical Sciences category, it is noteworthy that the GVRSF judges selected two of these projects as part of the top ten projects at the entire science fair. Gabrielle Arden with her project, Forecasting Weather with PIMS contributed $2500 travel money to send the Neural Networks. two winners to Saskatoon. Although participation did not increase (there At the Canada-Wide Science Fair, Gabrielle Ar- were 26 math projects last year as well) we have den won a Gold Medal and a $2000 scholarship to witnessed a significant increase in the quality of the University of Western Ontario in the Intermedi- projects. Two of the projects made it into the ate Computational and Mathematical Sciences cate- Canada Wide Science Fair in Kingston, Ontario,and gory, and Rochelle Leung won a Bronze Medal and a won multiple awards even at this very top level. $1000 scholarship to the University of Western On- These projects were, Trees: A Math Lesson from tario in the same category. Nature by Christine Pop from Sir William Osler Elementary and Calculating Equilateral Triangles within an Equilateral Triangular Grid by Mahmoud Bazargan from U-Hill Secondary. The special award judges for PIMS were David Boyd, Klaus Hoechsmann, Leah Keshet, and Sandy Rutherford. The 2002 Math Fair project took place this year amidst the teachers’ job action. Despite this obstacle, ten projects were entered in the Computational and Mathematical Sciences category at the 2002 Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair (GVRSF) and of these, two were selected to attend the Canada-Wide Rochelle Leung with her project, Decrypting the Math Behind Science Fair held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Cryptography and its Ciphers. May 2002. These students were Gabrielle Arden 126 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Calgary Youth Science Fair other atomic characteristics, and atomic phenomena can be accurately predicted and explained by a In 2001 and 2002 PIMS provided a prize at the Cal- mathematical model of the atom.” She concluded gary Youth Science Fair. The prize consisted of $100 that the Quantum theory is the best known model and a plaque awarded for Secondary project making (so far) that is extremely accurate in predicting and major use of mathematics in the project. explaining the atomic universe. On April 7, 2001 the winner was Jonathan Sick, Forever Annual Mathematics a grade 9 student as Queen Elizabeth Exhibition (FAME) Junior High School. Students in the Greater Victoria School District took The project was part in the fourth annual FAME, the Forever An- Sunspot Morphology nual Mathematics Exhibition, at S.J. Willis School and Magnetic Shear, on April 21, 2001. Last year, there were over eighty which explored how entries at three levels: Elementary (up to grade 7), solar flare activity Junior (grades 8–9) and Senior (grades 10–12). The could be predicted event was organized by Wendy Swonnell, Betty Do- based on observa- herty, Betty McAskill and Tanis Carlow and was tions of sunspots, sponsored in part by PIMS. which are dark, The exhibits presented at FAME are judged for Michael Lamoureux (PIMS magnetically- active creativity, skill, dramatic value and mathematical Deputy Director) presenting storms on the Sun. the plaque to the 2001 winner, thought. For the first time this year, every entrant Jonathan Sick. Jonathan went on to was given an award—the categories being Distinc- win the Intermediate tion, First Class and Runner Up. A School trophy is level at the National Youth Science Fair. presented at each level based on the best aggregate At this year’s score of the top three projects. With more schools Calgary Youth Sci- participating in FAME each year, this annual event ence Fair, which will continue to attract outstanding mathematical ex- took place on April hibits from students in a wide range of grades. 10–13, 2002, the The fifth Annual FAME took place at S.J. Willis PIMS award went Educational Centre on April 10, 2002. A total of to Katanya Kuntz, 120 students participated in the events, with 20 el- a grade 11 home ementary entries, 13 junior entries and 20 senior schooler from Al- entries. Twelve students won Distinction Awards berta Distance (score 90+/100). The winning schools (in terms of Learning. Her scores for the top 3) were Fairburn (elementary) and project was called Lansdowne (junior and senior). Quantum Physics Some of the topics chosen this year were: Opti- and Spectroscopy. cal illusions, Tower of Hanoi, The average sleeper, The objective of the Katanya Kunts & Gary Margrave Numbers that make you go hmm, History of math project was to learn (PIMS Site Director, U. Calgary) in South America, Codes and ciphers, and Catapults more about Quantum in front of her project. and What is the fourth dimension? Physics and to test Fame is sponsored by PIMS, BCAMT, Greater mathematical models of the atom (the Bohr theory Victoria Teacher Association and School District and the Quantum theory) for their accuracy in #61. The event was organized by mathematics teach- predicting and explaining the atomic universe. Her ers Betty Doherty of Lansdowne and Wendy Swon- Unified Hypothesis was “Spectroscopic signatures, nell of Lambrick Park. MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME 127

Elementary Math Fairs in Alberta is the first time that the math fair took place on cam- pus instead of at individual schools. Moving the fair The yearly Math Fairs in elementary schools in the here was prompted by both the popularity of the fairs Edmonton area are gaining in popularity. Initiated and associated logistical problems of taking a Math upon requests by schools, and supported mainly by 160 class to a school away from the campus. Hold- PIMS and the Edmonton Public School Board, the ing it here solved some problems but raised several Math Fairs were held in previous years at Our Lady others. Renee Polziehn from the university outreach of Victories and Parkallen Elementary Schools. Last centre provided many useful suggestions. year, Clara Tyner and Terrace Heights Elementary Schools were involved. The Edmonton Math Fairs are unique in that PIMS/U. Alberta Math Fair, November 5, 2002 all students in the school participate. This event is Just under seven hundred elementary and junior about problem solving, not winning and losing. The high students from twenty-five schools visited the schools themselves play a major role in the planning PIMS/U. Alberta Math Fair on Tuesday November 5, and thus the format can vary from school to school. 2002. This all day event was was sponsored by PIMS In some Math Fairs, Education students from the and presented by the Math 160 students of Venera University of Alberta were available to help, primar- Hrimiuc and Ted Lewis, and was held in Dinwoodie ily by providing a “model” for a Math Fair that stu- Lounge in the Student Union Building. At the same dents can emulate in planning their own event. The time, Andy Liu ran a problem solving session for the extensive involvement of students in planning, stag- children (which he dubbed the “math unfair”). The ing and participating in the Math Fair may be one of students spent about 2–2.5 hours at the event, split- the secrets of its success. ting their time between the math fair and the problem Prior to the Math Fair, students choose or are solving session. given problems to work on. They work in small groups to solve the problem and subsequently create That’s a Good Problem!, Math Fairs in Calgary a tabletop display. On the day of the Math Fair, spec- tators are invited to tackle the problem, with hints That’s a Good Problem! is a collaborative project and guidance provided by students in charge. The of PIMS, the Galileo Educational Network (GENA), displays are not poster sessions. Rather, the students and Mount Royal College in Calgary. It is based on are actively involved in the presentations. the highly successful math fairs organised by Ted Lewis (PIMS Education Coordinator, University of PIMS/U. Alberta Math Fair, March 21, 2002 Alberta). Teams of teachers from several Calgary- area schools were invited to a half-day workshop. How often do you find grade school students happy The focus of the workshop was on teaching math- to spend two and a half hours doing mathematics? ematics through explorations and investigations by This is what happened for about 450 students from working through a number of mathematical explo- elementary and junior-high schools in the Edmon- rations, suggestions for introducing explorations to ton area on Thursday, March 21, at the PIMS/U. Al- other teachers, organising and promoting a school berta Math Fair. There were actually two parts to the math fair. activities—the fair itself, which was presented by the The teachers returned to their schools armed with students of the Math 160 class, and a problem solv- Ted Lewis’ excellent booklet on how to run a math ing session conducted by Andy Liu. fair. Sharon Friesen of GENA and Indy Lagu (PIMS The math fair was non-competitive, and pre- Education Coordinator, Calgary) made visits to the sented mathematical puzzles for the visitors to try. schools to work with the teachers and students before The puzzles were very diverse, from river-crossing the math fairs. problems to the towers of Hanoi. After the math fairs, the teachers were invited The math fair is part of the curriculum for Math for another half-day workshop to talk about prob- 160 and has significantly revitalized the course. This lem solving, what worked and what did not with their 128 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

fairs, and future steps. Many of the teachers admit- ted that they were worried about how successful their A Glimpse at 2003 math fair would be, but none were disappointed, and all thought of the math fair as an unqualified suc- cess. The many parents who attended the math fairs Math Mania Night, were also quite impressed. In all, seven schools par- George Jay Elementary School, ticipated, and all expressed an interest in repeating a Victoria, January 28, 2003 math fair. The math fairs took place as follows: Alberta High School Mathematics

Competition: February 28, 2002: Pineridge Elementary School Part II of the 2002–2003 Season,

February 5, 2003, March 19, 2002: Strathmore High School

Part I of the 2003–2004 Season,

April 19, 2002: C. Ian McLaren School, Black November, 2003 Diamond May 16, 2002: Glendale Elementary School PIMS Elementary Grades Math May 22, 2002: Nellie McClung Elementary Contest, School UBC, May 24, 2003 June 6, 2002: Red Deer Lake Elementary School ESSO–CMS–PIMS Math Camp for High School Students, Half-day workshops were also held with teachers SFU, June 23–27, 2003 about the math fairs. More information about the math fairs (in- Summer Institute in Mathematics for cluding lots of photographs) can be found at www.galileo.org/math/sumtalk/index.html. High School Students, Dr. Friesen and Dr. Lagu are planning to involve University of Washington, 10 or 12 new schools in the project next year. July 22–August 2, 2003 Initiatives with K–12 Teachers

With new mathematics curricula being developed Brett Stevens (PIMS/IBM PDF, SFU): Mathematics across Western Canada, PIMS scientists have found and Literature: Cross Fertilization considerable demand for teacher training and retrain- ing. Teachers are also interested in exchanging ideas John Mighton (NSERC PDF, Fields Institute): with academics. Breaking the Cycle of Ignorance

Brett Stevens explored the mathematics in the PIMS Conferences on works of Samuel Beckett, especially in his play Quad, inspired by the ideas of movement and free- Changing the Culture dom from Dante’s Divine Trilogy; about Euler’s work on Latin Squares and it’s impact on the works Organized by M. Dubiel (SFU), P. Hagen (Westwood of George Perec and other French writers connected Elementary), K. Heinrich (SFU), B. McAskill (BC to the group Oulipo; and about his own work on Gray Ministry of Education), E. Perkins (UBC), these con- Codes, inspired by the play Quad. ferences are intended to forge closer ties between the mathematics community, mathematics teachers and John Mighton is the founder and coordinator the industry. Erasing barriers between these commu- of JUMP, Junior Undiscovered Mathematical Prodi- nities and looking for common ground is an essen- gies, an educational no-cost outreach programme tial step in any attempts at changing the mathematics for students who are doing badly in mathematics in culture. school. This programme has been very successful and is rapidly gaining momentum in Toronto. John talked about his experiences with JUMP and how to Changing the Culture IV, make math accessible for kids whom the standard SFU Harbour Center, May 11, 2001 methods have not reached. John is also a Governor General’s award-winning playwright. Robert LeP- The Fourth Annual Changing the Culture Confer- age’s latest film, Possible Worlds, was adapted from ence, brought together mathematicians, mathematics one of his plays, and he was a math consultant and educators and school teachers from all levels to work actor in Good Will Hunting. He is also a professional together towards narrowing the gap between mathe- mathematician at the Fields Institute. This talk was maticians and teachers of mathematics. open to the general public. The theme was: Writing, Speaking and Think- Each participant was able to attend two of the fol- ing Mathematics. The conference participants— lowing workshops: over 90 people from elementary and high schools, colleges and universities—explored connections be- tween numeracy and literacy, mathematics and lan- 1. JUMP: Junior Undiscovered Mathematical Prodi- gies program. Leader: John Mighton guage, mathematics and literature, and how we can use language to teach mathematics. 2. Contextualizing Mathematics. Leaders: Brett There were two plenary talks: Stevens and Karen Meagher

129 130 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

3. Connecting Early Numeracy and Literacy. Lead- PIMS Technology Workshops ers: Cynthia Nicol and Heather Kelleher For further information, see the webpage Math Enrichment Activities in the UK: www.pims.math.ca/education/2001/ctc. Both ple- A talk by Chris Budd, nary lectures are available via streaming video from SFU Burnaby Campus, August 8, 2001 this webpage. Chris Budd is a professor of mathematics at the Uni- versity of Bath and the Royal Institution, UK. The Changing the Culture V, Royal Institution has been strongly involved in the SFU Harbour Center, April 26, 2002 popularization of mathematics and sciences in the The Fifth Annual Changing the Culture conference UK by organizing public talks, contests and other took place April 26, 2002 at the SFU Harbour Cen- activities. Chris himself, apart from being a distin- tre campus. The conference was attended by 78 guished researcher in applied mathematics, has been participants: Teachers from all levels, from elemen- involved in many outreach events, including math tary through university; student teachers and gradu- camps, the UK Year 2000 poster campaign and what ate students in mathematics and math education. he calls the “Mathematics Magic Show”, which he The theme of this year’s conference was Rigour says was inspired by our Math in the Malls. He re- and Intuition in Mathematics. Two plenary speak- cently received a large grant in support of the en- ers: Ed Barbeau, a mathematician from the Univer- richment activities. Chris Budd is also a coauthor sity of Toronto, and Brent Davis, a Canada Research (with C.J.Sangwin) of a book, “Mathematics Ga- Chair in Education at the University of Alberta in lore!” recently published by the Oxford University Edmonton, presented their views on understanding Press, containing material for workshops designed mathematics and the respective roles of intuition and to generate enthusiasm for mathematics in students logic in the process of achieving it. from the age 11 through to high school age. His talk A lively panel discussion, chaired by Klaus was about his work with high school students and Hoechsman (PIMS), addressed the topic in the after- about how his workshops for students are organized. noon. Lin Hammill (Kwantlen University College), Christine Stewart (SFU), G¨unter Tor¨ ner (German Mathematical Society, DMV) and Kirsten Urdahl- Teacher Association Meetings Serr (School District 42, Maple Ridge), presented their views on the subject. Annual meetings of teacher associations provide an The participants were offered a choice of 3 work- important venue for connections between PIMS re- shops to enrich their experiences: searchers and school teachers. PIMS participated in the big 2001 and 2002 October meetings of Sue Haberger (Centennial Secondary School): The the British Columbia Association of Mathematics Moment of Proof, which described methods and Teachers (BCAMT). PIMS had a display table there tricks she has developed and successfully used over which was organised by Janet Martin in 2001, and by the years to make students appreciate the need for Janet Martin and Wendy Nielsen in 2002. rigour. Natasa Sirotic (Collingwood School): “Proofs” of Fallacies, or how to spot problems in seemingly flaw- less reasoning. A Glimpse at 2003 David Lidstone (Langara College): Intuition in Problem Solving, which invited participants to test Changing the Culture VI, their mathematical intuition in a series of challeng- SFU Harbour Centre, May 2, 2003 ing problems. Initiatives for Undergraduate Students

PIMS Graduate Weekends the Associate Dean of Science, Robert Woodrow, discussed additional funding opportunities from the This annual PIMS programme is unique in West- Government of Alberta that make graduate study in ern Canada, providing a forum in which talented the province particularly rewarding. undergraduates can preview and select the special- After further informative sessions and meetings ity which best suits their interests and ability. The with faculty members on Thursday morning, the stu- payoff is many-faceted: Groups and laboratories are dents went by bus to Edmonton that afternoon. Dick populated with better-matched students, students get Peter, Dean of Science, and Peter Steffler, Associate the programmes they really want, and the strength Dean of Graduate Studies, along with faculty and of Western Canada’s mathematical sciences is pro- graduate students from the departments of Comput- moted. ing Science and Mathematical Sciences, welcomed them to the University of Alberta campus at a ban- PIMS Graduate Information Week, quet at the Faculty Club. Bryant Moodie, PIMS Uni- Universities of Alberta and Calgary, versity of Alberta Site Director, gave a brief account of PIMS and its particular relevance to graduate stud- January 9–12, 2001 ies in the mathematical sciences. The PIMS Graduate Student Information Week was Friday morning activities were kicked off with a a great success. Twenty-four top fourth year under- presentation by Bob Moody (U. Alberta) on “Grad- grads in mathematics, statistics, and computer sci- uate Studies in Mathematical Sciences: 2001”. Jim ence from universities all across Canada arrived in Hoover (U. Alberta) talked about “The relationship Calgary on the Tuesday afternoon. between theoretical computer science and ‘standard’ After a welcoming student/faculty mixer that mathematics”. Presentations on graduate studies evening, students were treated on Wednesday to a at PIMS universities were given by Denis Sjerve full programme of presentations about graduate stud- (UBC), Randy Sitter (SFU), Lorna Stewart (U. Al- ies at the U. Calgary, including talks by research berta) and Jim Muldowney (U. Alberta). groups in discrete math, analysis, industrial and After a lunch with local CS and MathSci faculty collaborative mathematics, math finance, computer graphics, quantum computing, and several others. The Dean of Graduate Studies, James Frideres, outlined some of the many attractions of studying at Calgary, while the PIMS Deputy Director, Michael Lamoureux, described the advantages of joining the PIMS team of western universities. The depart- ment’s Director of Graduate Programs, John Collins, detailed the scholarship possibilities and amenities of each of the programmes. Gary MacGillivray gave a presentation on programmes at the University of Victoria. At a western-style dinner that evening, Visiting students attend a talk at the University of Alberta.

131 132 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

and grad students, the visitors had a full afternoon ing Science, Mathematics and CECM, and Statistics. of small group meetings, interviews and tours sched- Presentations were made by Manfred Trum- uled to address their individual interests. Over 100 mer (PIMS Site Director, SFU), Jonathan Driver meetings with local researchers and representatives (Dean of Graduate Studies, SFU), Dave Muraki (Ap- of the other PIMS sites were arranged by PIMS staff. plied Math), Imin Chen (Pure Math), Jon Borwein A farewell party and supper was held at the Varscona (CECM), Carl Schwarz (Statistics & Actuarial Sci- Hotel on Whyte Avenue. ences) and Torsten Moller¨ (Computer Science). Financial support for the seminar was provided The students were given tours of labs in Com- by PIMS and each of the two host universities. puting Science, Statistics and the Centre for Experi- mental and Constructive Mathematics, with plenty of PIMS Graduate Information Weekend, time for informal contact between the students and potential programme advisors or supervisors. SFU and UBC, January 12–13, 2002 On the weekend of January 12–13, PIMS together IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate Math with SFU and UBC, hosted the Sixth Annual Gradu- Modelling Workshop, PIMS-UBC & PIMS-SFU, ate Information Weekend. February 17–18, 2001 Twenty-eight potential graduate students with Organizers: R. Russell (SFU) and B. Shizgal (IAM). exceptional undergraduate records were invited from (See Industrial & Scientific Training Programme chapter.) across Canada for a weekend in Vancouver, in order to be introduced to graduate programmes at UBC, SFU, U. Victoria, U. Alberta, and U. Calgary. IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate Math Modelling Workshop, PIMS-UBC & PIMS-SFU, The result was two long but fruitful days of con- tact and information for the students, and unequalled February 16–17, 2002 opportunities for various groups in the Mathematical Organizers: R. Russell (SFU) and B. Shizgal (IAM). Sciences to present their programmes. (See Industrial & Scientific Training Programme chapter.) The programme at UBC started with introduc- tions by George Bluman, the head of the Mathemat- Statistical Genetics and Computational ics Department at UBC, and Dale Rolfsen, the UBC Molecular Biology Workshop, University of site director for PIMS. Ed Perkins gave an address Washington, December 16–18, 2001 relating his experiences as a graduate student. The remainder of the day was filled with pre- Organizer: Elizabeth Thompson (U. Washington) sentations from various research groups at UBC: (See Industrial & Scientific Training Programme chapter.)

Alan Wagner for Computer Science, Bertrand Clarke

£¦¥ ¡ for Statistics, Jim Bryan representing algebraic ge- PIMS Mathematics of Biological Systems ometry, David Brydges representing mathematical Summer Workshop physics, Ian Frigaard representing applied mathe- University of Alberta, May 11–19, 2002 matics, Izabella Laba representing analysis, Greg Organizer: Mark Lewis (U. Alberta) Martin representing number theory, and Laura Scull (See Industrial & Scientific Training Programme chapter.) representing topology. During the afternoon there were campus tours and a chance for students and fac- PIMS-MITACS-COE Undergraduate Industrial ulty to meet one-on-one. Case Study Workshop, On the social side there was a Saturday afternoon Centre for Operations Excellence at UBC, lunch at Hillel House on the UBC campus and in the May 25–27, 2002 evening there was a reception at the Graduate Stu- dent Centre, hosted by the graduate students in the Organizers: M. Puterman (Commerce and Business Ad- UBC math department. min, UBC) and Stephen Jones (COE, UBC). At SFU the following groups were represented. (See Industrial & Scientific Training Programme chapter.) Applied and Computational Mathematics, Comput- MATHEMATICS EDUCATION PROGRAMME 133

A Glimpse at 2003 ¡¤£ PIMS Graduate Information Weekend, U. Alberta and U. Calgary, January 7–11, 2003

IAM-CSC-PIMS Senior Undergraduate Math Modelling Workshop,

UBC and SFU, February 15–16, 2003 £ ¢¡ PIMS-MITACS-COE Undergraduate Industrial Case Study Workshop,

UBC, May 2003 £ ¢¡ PIMS Mathematics of Biological Systems Summer Workshop U. Alberta, May 2003

Initiatives for Graduate Students

¥¢¡ Graduate Industrial Math £ PIMS Graduate Industrial Math Modelling Modelling Camps Camp, University of Victoria, Each spring PIMS sponsors a five-day workshop for June 11–15, 2001 graduate students on industrial mathematical mod- Organizer: Chris Bose (U. Victoria) elling. The goal of the Graduate Industrial Math (See chapter on Industrial Training Programme.)

Modelling Camp (GIMMC) is to provide experi-

¥¢¡ ence in the use of mathematical modelling as a prob- PIMS Graduate Industrial Math Modelling lem solving tool for graduate students in mathemat- Camp, ics, applied mathematics, statistics, and computer Simon Fraser University, science. May 18–23, 2002 GIMMC is one of two components of the an- Organizer: Mark Paulhus (U. Calgary) nual PIMS Industrial Forum. The other component is the Industrial Problem Solving Workshop. At this (See chapter on Industrial Training Programme.)

workshop, industrial and academic mathematicians ¢¡¤£ work together to solve particular problems posed by PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer School industrial sponsors. Graduate students who are ac- PIMS at the University of Alberta, cepted to the Mathematical Modelling Camp are also May 27–June 8, 2001 invited to this Workshop. Organizers: B. R. Sutherland (U. Alberta) and Students work together in teams, under the su- T. Bryant Moodie (U. Alberta) pervision of invited mentors. Each mentor poses a (See chapter on Industrial Training Programme.)

problem arising from an industrial or engineering ap-

¥¢¡ plication and guides his or her team of graduate stu- £ PIMS Summer School in Fluid Dynamics, dents through a modelling phase to a resolution. At PIMS at the University of Alberta, the end of the workshop, reports are presented and July 28–August 9, 2002 a written summary of conclusions is made available for distribution. Organizers: B. R. Sutherland (U. Alberta) and Outstanding graduate students at both the Mas- T. Bryant Moodie (U. Alberta) ters and PhD levels in the fields of mathematics, ap- (See chapter on Industrial Training Programme.) plied mathematics, statistics, and computer science, or related disciplines, are invited to apply.

A Glimpse at 2003

¢¡ £ ¡ PIMS Graduate Industrial Math. Modelling Camp, BIRS, May 17–22, 2003

134 VII. COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

The 2001 PIMS Calendar which featured the Mathematics is Everywhere posters.

The fifth issue of Pi in the Sky magazine. The cover was specially created by Czech artist Gabriela Novakova according to an original idea by George Peschke, and the meaning of the scene is explained in the article “Oops!!! Just what happened to Prof. Zmodtwo?”

The December poster in the 2001 Women and Mathematics campaign featuring Maria Gaetana Agnes. 136 COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Women & Mathematics the subject is firmly established already at the ele- mentary school level. The attitude that mathematics Coordinators: Krisztina V´as´arhelyi and Heather is a career obstacle continues to influence education Jenkins (PIMS). choices. Girls are especially susceptible to rejecting a course of study which favours mathematical con- tent. The “smart girl” stigma among teenagers can be a powerful deterrent. The Women and Mathematics campaign presented an alternative, much more positive, im- age of mathematics in the lives of women. Mathe- matics can involve lifelong dedicated research, it can PIMS Calendar for 2002 which features the Women and Mathe- be an enjoyable matics posters. pursuit and it can Building on the momentum of the Mathematics is represent a valuable Everywhere poster campaign, PIMS continued the tool in a variety project in 2001 with a new theme and format. Klaus of endevours. The Florence Nightingale from July. Hoechsmann’s innovative poster series has demon- last point is aptly strated that given the right approach, it is possible to illustrated by the rouse interest in the “terminally unpopular”. case of Florence Nightingale. She is a prominent With the intention figure and role model, widely acknowledged for of introducing the pub- her achievements in the fields of nursing and public lic, and in particular health. Yet her perhaps less well known contri- young people, to the butions to statistics have been pivotal to her other idea that mathematics accomplishements. is a career asset, a The target audience for this project included stu- colourful palette of dents in elementary and secondary schools as well as biographies will be the general public of any age or gender. However, presented monthly. The by focusing on women we want to draw attention to poster series Women the problem of low female participation in the math- and Mathematics ematical sciences. showcased portraits The contest itself promoted internet-based bio- of twelve women who graphical research in addition to problem-solving. A have made contribu- set of quiz questions will be posted on the contest Olga Taussky-Todd from April. tions to the broad field website. One of the questions was be a mathemat- of the mathematical sciences. ics problem, highlighting the field of involvement of Mathematics is expanding rapidly beyond its tra- the featured individual. Answers to the remaining bi- ditional domains. With the growth of information ographical questions can be found by searching the technologies in all fields, the demand for mathe- web. This approach encourages contestants to read matically trained individuals in the work force will and learn about women in mathematical pursuits. continue to rise. Ironically, mathematics still suf- Posters have been distributed to schools in BC and fers from a bad reputation. Fear and loathing of Alberta to encourage initiatives for class projects. COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 137

The posters have also appeared in public libraries as well as in universities across North America and in- ternationally.

Ada Lovelace, namesake of the computer language Ada from March.

The May poster designed by Jeni Rae Duschak.

Her life might have been the subject of a storybook: Sophie Germain dressed up as a man to be admit- ted to the Ecole´ Polytechnique where her mathemat- ical genius was discovered, and she was the secret saviour of Gauss, whose life was threatened during Grace Hopper developed the computer language COBOL and featured on the June poster. Napoleon’s invasion. In May, PIMS was treated to a special poster-presentation of Sophie Germain. Jeni Rae Duschak, a young American artist who stud- ied mathematics and liberal arts, generously donated her time to produce a beautiful poster for the contest. Jeni Rae has a website about Sophie’s life which in- cludes a biography that she tells as a story illustrated with her drawings. Our discovery of her site led to an enjoyable collaboration which resulted in the special poster.

Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist Maria Goeppert-Mayer in August.

The February poster featuring Hypatia of Emmy Noether one of the great mathematical Alexandria, last of the Alexandrian scholars. minds of this century featured in September. 138 COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Wieslaw Krawcewicz (U. Alberta). John Bowman, also from U. Alberta, is the Associate Editor. The rest of the editorial Board consists of Peter Borwein (SFU), Florin Diacu (U. Victoria), Klaus Hoechs- mann (UBC), Michael Lamoureux (U. Calgary) and Ted Lewis (U. Alberta). The purpose of Pi in the Sky is to promote mathe- matics, establish direct contact with teachers and stu- dents, increase the involvement of high school stu- dents in mathematical activities, and promote careers October’s poster featuring Sofia Kovalevskaya. in the mathematical sciences. This journal, aimed at an average student, has the following objectives:

to promote meaningful and exciting mathematics;

to inform students and teachers about mathemati- cal sciences;

to increase participation of students in math re- lated activities;

to encourage girls to get involved in mathematical sciences; Observational astronomer Caroline Herschel featured in November. to establish a dialog between students, teachers and academics;

to promote new and/or innovative teaching meth- ods;

to change any negative stereotype image of math. The first issue of Pi in the Sky includes the articles The Perfect Education Emilie de Breteuil who featured in System for an January 2002. Affluent Society by Andy Liu, Solving Problems Pi in the Sky can be Fun by Ambikeshwar Pi in the Sky is a mathematical magazine targeted at Sharma, and How the Junior and Senior High School students and ed- do I love thee? ucators, Pi in the sky is produced by mathematicians Let me count the at the University of Alberta, for distribution across ways! by Laurent the BC, Alberta and Washington State. This popular The first issue of Pi in the Sky. W. Marcoux. The semi-annual publication promotes all aspects of the cover features students from the Nellie McClung mathematical sciences. The first 5 issues are avail- Girls’ Junior High Program at Oliver School in able online through the PIMS website. The Editors Edmonton. in Chief are Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS Director) and COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 139

In the second the Pi in the issue of Pi in Sky magazine. the Sky Akbur This issue also Rhemtulla writes includes the game about Counting Tic-Tetris-Toe with Base Two by Andy Liu, a and the Game of biography of Karl Num, and Byron Weierstraß by Schmuland about Volker Rundle, the Collector’s insight into Life Problem. Readers and Travel in

learn about in 4D by Tomasz

The Number Kaczynski, an and the Earth’s explanation of The second issue of Pi in the Sky. Circumference Shark Attacks The fourth issue of Pi in the Sky. by Wieslaw and the Poisson Krawcewicz. The cover shows a fragment of a paint- Approximation by Bryron Schmuland, and The Rose ing by prominent Russian mathematician Anatoly and the Nautilus: A Geometric Mystery Story by T. Fomenko which was inspired by mathematical Klaus Hoechsmann. There is also the usual wealth ideas. of math jokes and challenges. The June 2001 The fifth issue of the Pi in the Sky came out and third issue in September 2002. The Math & Astronomy sec- of Pi in the Sky tion features Solar Eclipses: Geometry, Frequency, includes We’ve Cycles by Hermann Koenig. Read a biography Got Your Number of female mathematician Emmy Noether by Volker by Ted Lewis, Runde. From Rabbits to Roses: A Geometric Mys- Have You Used tery Story by Klaus Hoechsmann is the continua- Illegal Drugs tion of the mystery series The Rose and the Nautilus. Lately? or How Other article include Student’s Workshop: Polyhedra to Ask Sensitive with Six Vertices by Richie Ng, Mathematics of the Questions by Past by Garry Kasparov, and Decoding Dates from Carl Schwarz, Ancient Horoscopes by Wieslaw Krawcewicz. An- and Construct- other article is about Gibbon, Malthus, and the An- ing Fractals cients. in Geometer’s The third issue of Pi in the Sky. SketchPad by Michael Lamoureux. These articles explain how The PIMS Math Fair Booklet visa card companies, for example, determine whether or not you have entered a valid number, PIMS published the math fair booklet by Ted Lewis the ideas behind randomized response surveys, and (PIMS Education Coordinator, U. Alberta) in the how to build fractals using Geometer’s SketchPad Spring. This is a major new resource for teachers software. and others interested in math fairs for schools. It is The fourth issue of the Pi in the Sky features stu- based on the experience of the author and his col- dents from Tempo School in Edmonton on the cover. leagues over the past few years. It is a rich source These students were visited by five University of Al- of guidelines to organizing math fairs, and to finding berta mathematicians in October 2001. The students suitable problems puzzles and challenges. were shown how mathematics can be fun and inter- The booklet is available for free download in pdf esting at the same time. They also learned all about format suitable for laser printing. Hard copies may 140 COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

be purchased from PIMS University of Alberta for a son for our second difference, that the math fair be nominal fee (US$10.00 for shipping and handling in officially non-competitive, is so that all students are North America, US$15.00 elsewhere). encouraged to participate and benefit. If some stu- dents feel they have little chance of winning they From the Introduction: the math fair may decline to join in or not put in a full effort. Even if a math fair is officially non-competitive, booklet by Ted Lewis informal competition does occur. The participants Everybody knows what a science fair is. Students quickly recognize who among them are good prob- find projects to work on, they prepare posters and lem solvers, who can explain things well, whose pre- demonstrations, the public is invited to come and see sentations have the best artwork, and which displays what they have done, and a panel of judges awards attract the most visitors. But this sort of competition prizes for projects that are deemed to be the best. is friendly and constructive, and frequently leads to A math fair is similar, but two important differ- co-operative efforts among the participants. The fo- ences set our concept apart. Although mathematics cus on problem solving and the lack of formal awards is extremely diverse, our math fairs concentrate on are the key parts to our concept of a math fair for chil- just one aspect of the subject, namely problem solv- dren, but otherwise there are many opportunities to ing, and our fairs are officially non-competitive, so creatively adapt the concept to a particular situation. there are no awards or prizes. We have chosen to fo- We hope you will find this booklet useful in organiz- cus on problem solving for several reasons. It is one ing your own math fair and are looking forward to activity that is common to most of mathematics, it hearing from you about your experiences. is frequently an explicit part of the mathematics cur- riculum and it encourages skills in students that can be applied in all areas of their lives. The PIMS Newsletter/Magazine The problems in this booklet are ones Scientific Articles that have appeared in that young students the PIMS Newsletter

can solve and truly Volume 4.2: A Brief Survey of Braid Groups by understand with a Bert Wiest (PIMS PDF)

reasonable amount of Volume 4.3: Constructing Fractals in Geometer’s work. They will not SketchPadTM by Michael Lamoureux (PIMS need a broad educa- Deputy Director and Site Director U. Calgary)

tional background,

but the problems are Volume 5.1: Strings and D-branes by not simple and most K. Zarembo (PIMS-PDF) will have to think Volume 5.1: The Mathematics of Voting by Florin

before solving them. Diacu (PIMS Site Director, U. Victoria)

The same is true about the people who visit the Volume 5.1: The Amazing Number by Peter math fair even though they may be adults or students Borwein (SFU)

from higher grades. When the paricipants present Volume 5.2: The Fascinating Predator-Prey their problems, they will discover that the visitors Equation and Development of HIV/AID in need help to work through the solutions, and the Canada by B. D. Aggarwala (U. Calgary)

presenters will gain the satisfaction and confidence Volume 6.1: Computing Free Boundary Problems that comes from helping more talented or older in Moving Fluids by Michael Shelley (Courant)

persons. Volume 6.2: Is Economic Theory True? by Ivar The interaction between the participants and the Ekeland (U. Paris-Dauphine) viewers at a problem-based math fair can have a pro- found effect on the poise, confidence, communica- tion skills and patience of the participants. The rea- COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 141 142 COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 143

PIMS Offers Lectures via Opening Ceremonies of the 1999 Canada-China Mathematics Congress, Tsinghua University, Streaming Video over the Internet Beijing, August 23–28, 1999 PIMS now has over 2002 lectures available On August 23–28, 1999, Tom Brzustowski (Pres- over the internet using on-demand streaming ident of NSERC) led a delegation of more than video and audio. The lectures are available at 60 Canadian mathematical scientists to Beijing who www.pims.math.ca/video. There are both videos of took part in a high-level Canadian-Chinese Mathe- the lectures in Realvideo format and high resolution matics Congress. JPEG images of the speaker’s slides, when possible. MP3 files are also available for listening to for many PIMS Opening Meeting, University of Victoria, of the lectures. The library is divided into five main October 4, 1996 sections: The following talks are available: Ceremonies and Meetings

Seminar Series and Distinguished Lectures David Brillinger (UC, Berkeley): Studying the Thematic Programmes, Conferences and Workshops tracks of Elephant Seals

Minicourses Katherine Heinrich (SFU): PIMS and Mathe- Educational Activities matics Communication

Richard Karp (U. Washington): Combinatorial Ceremonies and Meetings Optimization as a Tool for Molecular Biology

PIMS Awards Ceremony 2001, Vancouver, BC, Donald Saari (Northwestern): The Chaotic Com- December 1, 2001 plexity of Economics and the Social Sciences The ceremony where the three PIMS prizes for research, education and industrial outreach were Seminar Series and Distinguished awarded. Lectures IAM-PIMS 2002–03 Joint Distinguished Announcement Ceremony for BIRS, The Banff Colloquia, UBC Centre, Alberta and The NSF, Washington, DC, September 24, 2001 All the talks from this se- ries will be taped. The talks This ceremony includes speeches by: Rita Col- by Gordon E. Swaters well (Director, NSF), Tom Brzustowski (President, (U. Alberta), David Chan- NSERC), Robert Church (Chair of Board, Alberta dler (UC, Berkeley) and Science and Research Agency), Philippe Tondeur Ulf Dieckmann (Interna- (Director of Division for the Mathematical Sciences, tional Institute for Applied NSF), Hon. Cindy Ady (MLA for Calgary Shaw), Systems Analysis, Laxen- Mary Hofstetter (President and CEO of The Banff burg) are available at the Centre) and Raul E. Chavera (US Consul General time of publication. in Calgary). David Chandler MITACS (UC, Berkeley) Opening Ceremonies and Banquet of the 2001 Annual General Meeting, Canada-China Mathematics Congress, UBC, UBC, May 23–25, 2002 August 20, 2001 The talks by Gilbert Strang (MIT), Ron Graham This initiative built on the success of the first (UC, San Diego) and Anil K. Jain (Michigan State Canada-China 3x3 Congress held at Tsinghua Uni- U.) are available. versity in August 1999. 144 COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

IAM-PIMS 2001–02 Joint Distinguished Tudor Ratiu (Ecole´ Polytechnique F´ed´erale de Colloquia, UBC Lausanne): Variational Principles, Groups and Hydrodynamics, U. Victoria, January 12, 2001 The six talks from this series were given by: Robert Devaney (Boston University): The Man- Eva Tardos (Cornell Uni- delbrot Set, the Farey Tree, and the Fibonacci Se- versity), Adam Arkin quence, U. Victoria, October 20, 2000

(UC, Berkeley), Russel

Caflisch (UCLA), Joel H. Beno Eckmann (ETH Zurich):¨ Idempotents in Ferziger (Stanford Uni- Group Algebras, Traces, and Geometry of Groups, versity), David Gottlieb U. Calgary, September 21, 2000

(Brown University) and Eva Tardos (Cornell) Beno Eckmann (ETH Zurich):¨ Projections, Philippe R. Spalart (Boe- Group Algebras, and Geometry of Groups, UBC,

ing Corporation). September 14, 2000

IAM-PIMS 2000–01 Joint Distinguished Beno Eckmann (ETH Zurich):¨ The Euler Char- Colloquia, UBC acteristic - Some Variations and Ramifications, UBC, September 13, 2000

Talks by Bengt Fornberg (U. Colorado), Gunther

Uhlmann (U. Washington), David Baillie (SFU) Sir Christopher Zeeman: Geometric Unfoldings and Linda Petzold (UC, Santa Barbara) may be of a Difference Equation, U. Victoria, March 21, viewed. 2000

Israel Gohberg (Tel Aviv University): Infinite PIMS-MITACS Seminars on Computational Systems of Linear Equations, U. Calgary, Septem- Statistics and Data Mining, UBC, 2001–01 ber 30, 1999

John Rice (UC, Berkeley) and R. Douglas Martin Richard Karp (U. Washington): The Design of (University of Washington) from the series can be Molecular Bar Codes: A Combinatorial Problem watched. from Molecular Biology, SFU, May 13, 1999

Mitchell Luskin (U. Minnesota): Modelling, Distinguished Lectures analysis and computation of crystalline mi- Talks by the following people may be viewed: crostructures, UBC, September 10, 1998

Avi Wigderson (Hebrew University): A Compu-

Vaughan Jones (UC, Berkeley): Skein theory in tational View of Randomness, UBC, April 6, 1998 knot theory and beyond, UBC, November 4, 2002

Ivar Ekeland (Universit´e Paris-Dauphine): Sys- tems of Nonlinear PDEs arising in economic the- ory, UBC, March 22, 2002

David Gillman (UCLA): Odd embeddings on lens spaces, UBC, May 31, 2001

Douglas Arnold (Director, IMA, Minnesota): Colliding Black Holes and Gravity Waves: A new Computational Challenge, UBC, May 16, 2001

David Eisenbud (Director, MSRI): Chow Forms Ivar Ekeland (Universit´e Paris-Dauphine) and Vaughan Jones and Resultants - old and new, UBC, April 12, (UC, Berkeley) who both gave talks as a PIMS Distinguished Lec- 2001 turers in 2002. COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES 145

Thematic Programmes, Conferences and Minicourses Workshops Minicourses at the Thematic Programme on Thematic Programme on Asymptotic Geometric Nonlinear PDEs, PIMS-UBC, July–August, 2001 Analysis, PIMS at UBC, July 1–August 15, 2002 Minicourses given by Gang Tian (MIT), Richard 110 lectures are available. Schoen (Stanford), Eric Ser´e´(Universit´e Paris IX), Yann Brenier (Universit´e Paris VI), Maria Este- International Conference on Robust Statistics, ban (Paris-Dauphine), Fang Hua Lin (Courant), UBC, May 13–17, 2002 Changfeng Gui (UBC), Wei-Ming Ni (U. Min- nesota), Michael Struwe (ETH Zurich), Henri 23 lectures are available. Berestycki (Universit´e Paris VI) and Panagiotis Souganidis (U. Texas, Austin). are available. Pacific Northwest String Theory Seminar, PIMS at UBC, March 8–10, 2002 Minicourses by PIMS Distinguished Chairs 10 lectures are available.

Thematic Programme on Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations, PIMS at UBC, Gunther Uhlmann (U. Washington) July–August, 2001 38 lectures are available.

Pacific Northwest String Theory Seminar, PIMS Gunther Uhlmann (U. Washington): PIMS Dis- at UBC, March 17, 2001 tinguished Chair, UBC, November, 2002. 3 lec- 5 lectures are available. tures are available on The Dirichlet to Neumann Map and Inverse Problems.

Conference on Biophysics and Biochemistry of Klaus Schmidt (University of Vienna and Motor Proteins, Banff, AB, August Schrdinger¨ Institute): PIMS Distinguished Chair,

27–September 1, 2000 U. Victoria, November, 2002. 5 lectures are avail- ¨ able on Algebraic -actions. 2 lectures are available. Donald G. Saari (UC, Irvine): PIMS Distin- Thematic Programme on Graph Theory and guished Chair, U. Victoria, September, 2002. 5 Combinatorial Optimization, PIMS at lectures are available with titles: Mathematical U. Victoria and SFU, June–July, 2000 Social Sciences, an oxymoron?, Singularity theory and departmental discussions, Evolutionary game 9 lectures are available. theory; examples and dynamics, Chaotic dynam- ics of economics and Economic and Dynamics.

Thematic Programme on Mathematical Biology, Michael Shelley (Courant Institute): PIMS Dis- PIMS at UBC, June–August, 1999 tinguished Chair, SFU, November–December, A lecture by Sir Andrew Huxley (Trinity College, 2001. 5 lectures are available with titles: Com- Cambridge) is available. puting Free Boundary Problems in Moving Fluids, Computing with Surface Tension, and Discover- ing Singularities, Pattern Formation in Fluid Dy- Cascade Topology Seminar, PIMS at UBC, namics: Fluid Dynamics meets Materials Science, November 2–3, 2002 Why do Flags Flap? and Bending in the Wind: 6 lectures are available. Elasticity and Drag Reduction. 146 COMMUNICATION OF THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Vladimir Turaev (National Center of Scientific Educational Activities Research, France): PIMS Distinguished Chair, PIMS Changing the Culture 2002, SFU at U. Calgary, July–August, 2001. 5 lectures are Harbour Centre, April 26, 2002 available with titles: Torsion of chain com- plexes, Mehler’s Formula and the Renormaliza- Talks by Ed Bareau (U. Toronto) and Brent Davis tion Group, Euler structures and refined torsions, (Faculty of Education, U. Alberta) were taped. The torsion function of 3-manifolds and Properties of the torsion function.

David Brydges (University of Virginia): PIMS Distinguished Chair, UBC, September–October, Ed Bareau (U. Toronto) 2000. 4 lectures are available on Self-Interacting Walk and Functional Integration.

Yuri Matiyasevich (Steklov Institute of Mathe- PIMS Changing the Culture 2002, SFU at matics): PIMS Distinguished Chair, U. Calgary, Harbour Centre, May 11, 2001 March 9, 2000. A lecture is available on How to draw a tree correctly. John Mighton (Fields Institute) and Brett Stevens (PIMS, SFU) spoke at this conference and their talks are on the web page. Yuri Matiyasevich (Steklov Institute of Mathe- matics): PIMS Distinguished Chair, U. Calgary, February, 2000. 5 lectures are available on On PIMS Changing the Culture 2002, SFU at Hilbert’s Tenth Problem—What can we do with Harbour Centre, April 28, 2000 Diaphantine Equations? A talk by H.S.M Coxeter (U. Toronto) is on-line. VIII. PIMS PRIZES: 2001

Ken Foxcroft (TD Securities), Research Prize Winner Kai Behrend (UBC), and Ron Graham (San Diego).

Dick Peter (Dean of Science, U. Alberta) and Education Prize Winner Wieslaw Krawcewicz (U. Alberta). The Education Prize was awarded jointly to Klaus Hoechsmann (UBC) and Wieslaw Krawcewicz.

Ken Foxcroft (TD Securities), Michael Boorman (Dean of Science, U. Calgary), Industrial Prize Winner Martin Puterman (UBC) and Arvind Gupta (MITACS). Martin Puterman shared the prize with Michael Kouritzin (U. Alberta). 148 PIMS PRIZES 2001

Three PIMS Prizes for research, education and in- Wieslaw Krawcewicz is the creator and moving dustrial outreach were awarded at the PIMS Banquet force behind the highly successful new magazine “Pi held at SFU’s Harbour Centre Campus on December in the Sky”, which was launched two years ago un- 1, 2001. der PIMS sponsorship. This magazine, devoted to The PIMS Research Prize is selected by improving awareness of mathematics among high the Institute’s Scientific Review panel which con- school students, has been distributed free of charge sisted of: David Boyd, Gordon Slade, Nick Pip- to all high schools in Alberta and British Columbia, penger (UBC), Alistair Lachlan (SFU), Bob Moody as well as selected sites throughout North America. (U. Alberta), Ian Putnam (UVic), Ron Graham It has an attractive format, lots of jokes and car- (San Diego), Bernie Matkowski (Chicago), David toons, as well as articles written on mathematical Brillinger (Berkeley) and Gang Tian (MIT). topics, often with an angle of relevance to teenage The 2001 PIMS Research prize has been awarded life. For example, the first issue had its lead article to Kai Behrend. Dr. Behrend studied mathematics at entitled A Date with Math and had five enthusiastic the University of Hamburg graduating in 1983. Af- schoolgirls on the cover. The magazine is also avail- ter a masters degree at the University of Oregon and able online. a Diploma at the University of Bonn, he received his As one of his colleagues commented, “At the be- Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley in ginning I was skeptical. I did not believe that such 1991, under Arthur Ogus. His thesis was on the “Lef- a project could be finalized. Wieslaw was extremely schetz Trace Formula for the Frobenius Morphism of active in convincing and encouraging people, includ- an Algebraic Stack”. He was a Moore Instructor at ing myself, to participate. He did all kinds of work MIT from 1991–1994 after which he joined UBC. from editing and writing articles to making cartoons and math jokes. He had long discussions with high Yuri Manin writes: “Partly in collaboration with school students, undergraduates, teachers and other Barbara Fantechi, Kai produced the first ever alge- people involved in education. Wieslaw’s enthusiasm braic geometric construction of the Kontsevich vir- is contagious.” tual fundamental class and general Gromov-Witten invariants for arbitrary smooth projective algebraic The director of curriculum and programmes in manifolds.” the Edmonton public school system remarked, “Our high school mathematics department heads all look Dr. Behrend’s construction has provided a key forward to the magazine and frequently utilize its step in the understanding of Gromov-Witten invari- contents to enrich the math programme for their stu- ants and made possible some of the deepest work so dents. This publication has certainly helped to in- far in enumerative algebraic geometry. crease interest in mathematics. The contributions of He is also regarded as one of the world’s top Dr Krawcewicz to the students in Edmonton Public experts in the burgeoning area of algebraic stacks. Schools have been and continue to be significant in Fields medallist Maxim Kontsievitch writes: “The helping to raise the bar in mathematics education. work of Kai Behrend is of the highest level and is He is a most deserving candidate for the PIMS Edu- absolutely fundamental in algebraic geometry”. cation award.” Kai Behrend has also received the 2001 Coxeter- One of Wieslaw’s colleagues noted that “the James prize of the Canadian Mathematical Society. University of Alberta (and I expect other PIMS uni- The PIMS Education Prize for 2001 is awarded versities as well) is seeing the positive effect of jointly to two very dedicated individuals: Wies- Dr. Krawcewicz’s efforts. Since the introduction law Krawcewicz, Professor at the University of Al- of the magazine, enrolment in the first-year Hon- berta and Klaus Hoechsmann, Professor Emeritus ours Calculus classes at UA has approximately dou- at UBC. The PIMS Education prize committee, con- bled; enrolment in our second year class has actu- sisting of the six Site Directors, was unanimous in ally tripled. The magazine has made many students choosing these two from a field of seven nominees, aware that mathematics can be interesting.” who were all very deserving individuals in their own Sharing this year’s prize is another person who right. has worked far beyond the call of duty in math PIMS PRIZES 2001 149 education and increasing public awareness and ap- The most innovative and ambitious of Hoechs- preciation of mathematics, Professor Klaus Hoechs- mann’s contributions, perhaps, is the full-length play mann. Even before PIMS existed, he has been de- “Hypatia’s Street Theatre.” This is a dramatization voted to the cause of mathematics education. At based on the life of an early woman mathematician UBC he developed, and was the first teacher of, and philosopher in Alexandria, and is unique in that the course “Mathematics by Inquiry” (Math 336), it actually teaches mathematical concepts within the which has become the centrepiece of the new Certifi- play. It was performed in December 2000 to a full cate Programme for Mathematics Teachers, cospon- house in the Frederic Wood theatre on the UBC cam- sored by the Mathematics department and the Cur- pus. Klaus not only wrote the script (with the as- riculum Studies department of the Education Faculty. sistance of professional playwright Ted Galay), but It is a course designed to provide hands-on mathe- worked with the professional actors and stage crew matical experience to educators. One of his former throughout the rehearsals. He also paid for the pro- students—now teaching mathematics at a BC high duction, devoting all of his (modest) stipend as a school—remarked ”Using the principles he teaches, PIMS employee to the cause. Because of this, the mathematics, like singing, is for everyone—not only nominators argued that there was really no conflict the three tenors.” Klaus inspires teachers to love and in awarding the PIMS Education prize to one of our understand mathematics. own employees. Indeed the prize is richly deserved for all the effort Klaus has devoted over the years to Upon becoming Chair of the PIMS Education mathematical education and public awareness. Committee, Klaus truly went into high gear, putting This year the committee of Dr. Arvind Gupta tremendous enthusiasm into PIMS’ educational and (Chair, MITACS), Dr. Shahid Hussein (Telus), outreach programmes. He co-organized the innova- Mr. Randy Savoie (Ballard Powersystems), Mr. Jack tive Changing the Culture conferences, a BC forum Fujino (Stantec), Dr. Bryant Moodie (University of for elementary, high school, and postsecondary math Alberta), and Dr. Chris Bose (University of Victoria), educators. Klaus was instrumental in creating the received seven nominations for the PIMS Industrial PIMS Elementary School Mathematics Contest (EL- Prize. They were impressed by the significant con- MACON) in partnership with the BC Association of tributions made by all the candidates. It is clear that Mathematics Teachers. He has spent countless hours industrial-university research programmes are thriv- with BCAMT people and individual teachers, made ing across the country. presentations at schools and conferences, and com- The committee felt that two nominations stood pletely revamped PIMS’ activities in K-12 education. out from the others. After considerable debate, they Many contributions to “Pi in the Sky” were authored chose to recommend that Michael Kouritzin (Uni- by Klaus. versity of Alberta) Martin Puterman (University of To celebrate the year 2000, the International British Columbia) share this year’s industrial prize. Mathematics Year, Klaus designed and executed the hugely successful “Mathematics is Everywhere” poster campaign. Each month of the year a new poster would appear on buses in the lower mainland, with an attractive graphic and a mathematical prob- lem, offering a $100 prize for its solution, along with a web address for further information. The enthu- siastic response of the public was beyond anyone’s expectations. These posters also became the basis for the first PIMS calendar, which is now becoming a collector’s item. A sequel to this poster campaign, celebrating Women in Mathematics, was developed by staff in the PIMS office, with Klaus’ encourage- Ken Foxcroft (TD Securities), Industrial Prize Winner Michael Kouritzin (U. Alberta), Michael Boorman (Dean of Science, ment. U. Calgary), and Arvind Gupta (MITACS). 150 PIMS PRIZES 2001

The committee was very impressed that so early versity of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. in his career, Dr. Kouritzin has established a strong During his years at NSF Dr Philippe Tondeur has and well-known industrial research programme. He become an articulate voice for the role of the Math- founded the PINTS Centre (Predictions in Interact- ematical Sciences in the U.S. Science and Engineer- ing Systems), which is supported by MITACS and ing enterprise. It is worth noting that even after the PIMS. The centre focuses on novel filtering theory to tragic events of September 11th the NSF has received track various types of objects from lost ships to pol- an 8.4% increase for Fiscal Year 2002. Closer to lution. His industrial partners unanimously agreed home, the birth of BIRS will always be connected to that Michael’s research is having a significant impact the leadership of Philippe Tondeur at the NSF. There on their own business plans. is no doubt that the world mathematical community It is difficult to imagine anyone who has put more owes much to the clarity of vision and to the far- time and energy into establishing close university- sightedness of Philippe Tondeur in the development industry collaborations than Dr. Puterman. Dr. Put- of BIRS. erman has a long and distinguished research ca- reer, most recently winning the Lancaster Prize. He was also an early advocate of industry-university re- search as pivotal to operations research. This led to the creation of the Centre for Operations Excel- lence (COE) at UBC. COE receives support from MITACS, PIMS, and a significant number of part- ner companies. Dr. Puterman’s vision of giving stu- dents high-level research training in an industrial- university setting is a model that is a testament to what can be accomplished through vision and hard work. The keynote address at the ceremony was given by Philippe Tondeur, Director of the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation and Professor of Mathematics at the Uni- Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS) and Philippe Tondeur (NSF). Appendix: Financial Report

The PIMS fiscal year runs from April 1, 2001 to buy-out for these individuals. The universities also March 31, 2002. In this section we outline the PIMS make considerable in-kind contributions through of- budget for this fiscal year. PIMS has supported its fice space at the five campuses and computer labs. activities on base funding from: SFU: SFU made an annual cash contribution of

The six participating PIMS institutions (Simon $75,000. In-kind support in the form of a

Fraser University, University of Alberta, Uni- square feet research facility is estimated versity of British Columbia, University of Cal- at $150,000 per annum. gary, University of Victoria, University of Wash- ington) and the affiliated Institutions (University UA: The University of Alberta made an annual cash of Lethbridge and University of Northern British contribution of $70,000. In-kind support of of- Columbia). fices totals $60,000. The Government of Canada through the Natural UBC: The University of British Columbia made an

Sciences and Engineering Research Council. annual cash contribution of $115,000. In-kind

¡ The Government of Alberta through the Alberta support in the form of a square feet re- Ministry of Innovation and Science. search facility is estimated at $150,000 per an-

The Government of British Columbia through the num. As well, the university maintains PIMS ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise financial accounts at an estimated in-kind an- (formerly Science and Information Technology nual cost of $30,000. Agency). UC: The University of Calgary made an annual cash PIMS also received substantial contributions contribution of $61,000. In-kind support of of- from 57 industrial partners (to March 31, 2002) for fices totals $60,000. its industrial programmes and for the PIMS-affiliated UVic: The University of Victoria makes an annual MITACS industrial collaborative research projects. cash contribution of $60,000. In-kind support of offices totals $60,000. Income for 2001–02 UW: The University of Washington made an an- nual cash contribution of $74,446 ($50,000 Each founding university makes an annual cash con- US) and an in-kind contribution of $25,000 in tribution equivalent to one full time faculty position administrative support. at the respective university. Also, scientific person- nel are released under the PIMS research fellowship ULeth: The University of Lethbridge, as an affiliate programme to provide scientific leadership to the in- university of PIMS, makes annual cash contri- stitute. PIMS is only required to make up the course butions of $5,000.

151 152 Appendix: Financial Report

UNBC: The University of Northern British MITACS contributions are for the administrative Columbia, as an affiliate university of PIMS, and infrastructural support of the PIMS-affiliated makes annual cash contributions of $5,000. projects, for networking activities as well as for theme meetings and related scientific workshops.

Income

PIMS Total Income: April 1, 2001-March 31, 2002

Sou rce Carry-forward Income 01/02 Operating Fu nds In-Kind Su pport NSER C $76,505 $630,000 $706,505 BC (CSE/ISTA) $22,142 $197,500 $219,642 BC (NCE) $0 $100,000 $100,000 Alberta (ASR A) $583 $200,000 $200,583 Universities ($24,077) $0 ($24,077) SFU $75,000 $75,000 $150,000 UAlberta $70,000 $70,000 $60,000 UBC $115,000 $115,000 $180,000 UCalgary $61,000 $61,000 $60,000 UVictoria $60,000 $60,000 $60,000 ULethbridge $5,000 $5,000 UNBC $5,000 $5,000 UWashington* $0 $0 $25,000 MITACS $29,928 $157,000 $186,928 O ther** $68,295 $198,047 $266,342 Total $173,376 $1,873,547 $2,046,923 $535,000 * The University of Washington contribu tion of $74446 CAD for FY2001 and FY2002 was received in FY2001 and reported in the 2000-01 P IMS Annu al R eport. ** Does not inclu de indu strial contribu tions to P IMS activities or P IMS/MITACS projects.

Total Operating Fu nds $2,046,923 R eserve Fu nd $75,000 Indu strial Fu nds R eceived (PIMS/MITACS) $781,448 Total Fu nds At-Hand $2,903,371 Total In-Kind Su pport $535,000

Industrial funding

PIMS receives substantial industrial funding in sup- dustrial funds provided by various companies to the port of its programmes: The PIMS prizes, various 12 MITACS collaborative projects associated with industrial workshops, PIMS seminar series and in- PIMS. (See list below) dustrial postdoctoral fellows. It also manages the in-

Page 1 Appendix: Financial Report 153 Industrial

PIMS/MITACS Industrial Funds

Project C ompany Before M arch/01 April/01-M arch/02 T otal to M arch/02 Project 1 IB M $30,000 $0 $30,000 MDSI $25,000 $0 $25,000 StemSoft $34,500 $0 $34,500 Project 2 Qu atronix $15,000 $0 $15,000 Sou nd Logic $25,000 $0 $25,000 Webdispatchers.com $20,000 $5,000 $25,000 Project 3 Waterloo Maple $8 5,000 $54,750 $139 ,750 Workfire Development C orp. $20,000 $0 $20,000 Project 4 FinancialC AD $64,000 $24,750 $8 8 ,750 Powerex $52,000 $10,000 $62,000 T ransAlta $42,000 $0 $42,000 Project 5 C R E WE S $10,000 $0 $10,000 Imperial O il $0 $15,000 $15,000 C &C Systems Limited $0 $10,000 $10,000 Project 6 N O R T E L $120,000 $0 $120,000 Project 7 Kinetek $15,000 $0 $15,000 SmithKline B eecham $10,000 $150,000 $160,000 In Silico $77,556 $0 $77,556 StemC ell $5,000 $0 $5,000 B ayer $10,000 $0 $10,000 Project 8 VisionSmart $7,473 $0 $7,473 Lockheed Martin $48 ,665 $50,124 $9 8 ,78 9 Acou stic Positioning R esearch $8 ,000 $12,000 $20,000 Project 9 C anadian Airlines $8 7,000 $0 $8 7,000 B C T el $43,500 $0 $43,500 T elu s $43,500 $0 $43,500 Workers' C ompensation B oard $8 7,000 $47,750 $134,750 Vancou ver International Airport $0 $53,8 75 $53,8 75 Project 10 Powertech $20,000 $0 $20,000 B allard Power System Inc. $18 6,000 $18 0,000 $366,000 Project 11 O rganon C anada $20,000 $0 $20,000 Starlab $8 ,141 $0 $8 ,141 Kinetana $8 ,000 $27,400 $35,400 N ational Institu te of Health $5,9 41 $0 $5,9 41 C ybercell $0 $20,000 $20,000 Project 12 Monsanto C ompany $2,9 20 $0 $2,9 20 Merak $2,000 $0 $2,000 C harles Howard & Associates $1,000 $0 $1,000 Project 13 Imperial O il $2,000 $2,000 $4,000 McMillan-McGee $2,000 $0 $2,000 Michelin $2,8 8 9 $0 $2,8 8 9 Stern Stewart & C o. $2,8 8 9 $0 $2,8 8 9 Project 14 Firebird Semicondu ctors $0 $2,000 $2,000 Algorithmics $0 $2,000 $2,000 IB M $0 $1,9 74 $1,9 74 Microsoft $0 $3,011 $3,011 Dept. of N ational Defence (C SE ) $0 $2,000 $2,000 AE C O il & Gas $0 $2,000 $2,000 Project 15 Insightfu l $0 $23,8 14 $23,8 14 Project 16 Firebird Semicondu ctors $0 $23,000 $23,000 Project 17 T oronto Dominion $10,000 $10,000 $20,000 Project 18 MathSoft $21,708 $0 $21,708 Project 19 Vortek $10,000 $0 $10,000 Project 20 Schlu mberger (E tu des & Produ ctions) $24,000 $24,000 $48 ,000 Project 21 Schlu mberger (C ambridge) $10,000 $10,000 $20,000 Project 22 N O R T E L/StatC ar $12,604 $0 $12,604 Project 23 Galdos Systems $0 $15,000 $15,000 T otal $1,337,286 $781,448 $2,118,734

Page 1 154 Appendix: Financial Report

Other Contributions

In the table below, we have outlined only the operat- doctoral fellows ($15K-20K each) have essen- ing budget of PIMS. However, this tells only a part tially been matched (on a 1 to 1 basis) by the of the story since it does not describe the contribu- corresponding industrial partners. tions to PIMS scientists and events that did not flow through the PIMS central accounts. Here is a brief Additional support for Scientific PDFs: The description of such indirect contributions. PIMS contributions to the 16 PIMS postdoc- toral fellows ($18,000 each) have been at least University Infrastructure: PIMS has offices at all matched (minimum $18,000 contribution) by five campuses. Computational facilities and research grants from their supervisors and by some administration is also provided. The stipends for teaching from their associated de- PIMS central office at UBC uses a 4,800 sq.ft partments. research facility that accommodates up to 40 Conference support: Most conferences have also researchers at a time, as well as a scientific been supported by registration fees and have computing Lab and a reading room for about sometimes been co-sponsored by other orga- 20 researchers. Similarly, SFU has provided nizations. PIMS 4,000 sq.ft. of office space that allows up to 20 scientists to be accommodated. Corporate support: This has materialized through contributions towards official receptions and BC/NCE Infrastructure Support: This amounts banquets connected to the scientific events. to over $180,000 in infrastructure support for the PIMS and MITACS research facilities at Industrial support: The Problem Solving Work- the University of British Columbia and Si- shop, the Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Math mon Fraser University. These funds are made Camps, the Workshop on Designs, Codes, available through offices of the Vice-president Cryptography and Graph Theory (among oth- Research at UBC and SFU to match and sup- ers) have also been partially supported by di- port the federally funded NCE activities. rect and indirect contributions from the indus- trial participants. Additional support for Industrial PDFs: Much of the industrial support mentioned in the table Education support: Most educational events have above goes to the PIMS-affiliated MITACS been also co-sponsored by schools, provincial industrial collaborative projects. In addition, ministries of education and professional soci- the PIMS contributions to the industrial post- eties. Appendix: Financial Report 155 Expe nse

Summary of Expenditures - PIMS 2001/02

Expense C ategory Bu dgeted Actu als O ver/Under Site O ffices $177,310 $169 ,655 $7,655 Scientific Personnel $120,000 $120,409 ($409 ) C entral O ffice $28 9 ,000 $268 ,537 $20,463 Special E vents $9 0,000 $9 6,149 ($6,149 ) Indu strial O u treach* $373,700 $307,228 $66,472 E du cation Program m es $148 ,025 $121,9 8 8 $26,037 Scientific Activities $630,372 $58 2,046 $48 ,326 PIM S Postdoctoral Fellow s** $28 8 ,000 $28 1,9 65 $6,035 T otal Expenses $2,116,407 $1,947,977 $168,430 * Figu res inclu de neither indu strial fu nds nor M ITAC S projects ** Figu res inclu de neither indu strial P D Fs nor matching fu nds

Sou rce O perating Fu nds Bu dgeted Actu als C arry-forward N SE R C $706,505 $713,100 $630,9 67 $75,538 B C (C SE /IST A) $219 ,642 $19 2,000 $205,68 4 $13,9 58 B C (N C E ) $100,000 $100,000 $74,78 6 $25,214 Alberta (ASR A) $200,58 3 $18 8 ,000 $18 8 ,000 $12,58 3 U niversities $366,9 23 $444,060 $423,59 3 ($56,670) M IT AC S $18 6,9 28 $205,700 $18 0,065 $6,8 63 O ther $266,342 $273,547 $244,702 $21,640 T otal Expenses $2,046,923 $2,116,407 $1,947,797 $99,126

Page 1 156 Appendix: Financial Report

Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences is sponsored by:

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada http://www.pims.math.ca The Alberta Ministry of Innovation and Science The British Columbia Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise Simon Fraser University University of Alberta Edited by H. Jenkins. University of British Columbia University of Calgary Photos kindly provided by University of Victoria Waite Air Photos Inc. (front) University of Washington and R. Moody (back). University of Lethbridge University of Northern British Columbia