NEWSLETTER Issue: 492 - January 2021
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i “NLMS_492” — 2020/12/21 — 10:40 — page 1 — #1 i i i NEWSLETTER Issue: 492 - January 2021 RUBEL’S MATHEMATICS FOUR PROBLEM AND DECADES INDEPENDENCE ON i i i i i “NLMS_492” — 2020/12/21 — 10:40 — page 2 — #2 i i i EDITOR-IN-CHIEF COPYRIGHT NOTICE Eleanor Lingham (Sheeld Hallam University) News items and notices in the Newsletter may [email protected] be freely used elsewhere unless otherwise stated, although attribution is requested when EDITORIAL BOARD reproducing whole articles. Contributions to the Newsletter are made under a non-exclusive June Barrow-Green (Open University) licence; please contact the author or David Chillingworth (University of Southampton) photographer for the rights to reproduce. Jessica Enright (University of Glasgow) The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the Jonathan Fraser (University of St Andrews) accuracy of information in the Newsletter. Views Jelena Grbic´ (University of Southampton) expressed do not necessarily represent the Cathy Hobbs (UWE) views or policy of the Editorial Team or London Christopher Hollings (Oxford) Mathematical Society. Robb McDonald (University College London) Adam Johansen (University of Warwick) Susan Oakes (London Mathematical Society) ISSN: 2516-3841 (Print) Andrew Wade (Durham University) ISSN: 2516-385X (Online) Mike Whittaker (University of Glasgow) DOI: 10.1112/NLMS Andrew Wilson (University of Glasgow) Early Career Content Editor: Jelena Grbic´ NEWSLETTER WEBSITE News Editor: Susan Oakes Reviews Editor: Christopher Hollings The Newsletter is freely available electronically at lms.ac.uk/publications/lms-newsletter. CORRESPONDENTS AND STAFF LMS/EMS Correspondent: David Chillingworth MEMBERSHIP Policy Digest: John Johnston Joining the LMS is a straightforward process. For Production: Katherine Wright membership details see lms.ac.uk/membership. Printing: Holbrooks Printers Ltd EDITORIAL OFFICE SUBMISSIONS London Mathematical Society De Morgan House The Newsletter welcomes submissions of 57–58 Russell Square feature content, including mathematical articles, London WC1B 4HS career related articles, and microtheses from [email protected] members and non-members. Submission guidelines and LaTeX templates can be found at Charity registration number: 252660 lms.ac.uk/publications/submit-to-the-lms-newsletter. Feature content should be submitted to the COVER IMAGE editor-in-chief at [email protected]. Anthony Hill: Parity Study No.2 First Version, 1970 News items should be sent to Arts Council Collection. © Anthony Hill Estate. [email protected]. All rights reserved, DACS 2020. See obituary on page 47. Notices of events should be prepared using the template at lms.ac.uk/publications/lms-newsletter Do you have an image of mathematical interest and sent to [email protected]. that may be included on the front cover of a future issue? Email [email protected] for For advertising rates and guidelines see details. lms.ac.uk/publications/advertise-in-the-lms-newsletter. i i i i i “NLMS_492” — 2020/12/21 — 10:40 — page 3 — #3 i i i CONTENTS NEWS The latest from the LMS and elsewhere 4 LMS BUSINESS Reports from the LMS 18 FEATURES Rubel’s Problem: from Hayman’s List to the Chabauty Method 24 Mathematics and Independence: from Euclid to Revolution 30 Mathematical Society in Hamburg 36 Four Decades On 38 EARLY CAREER Microthesis: Quasi-stationary Monte Carlo Methods 39 REVIEWS From the bookshelf 41 OBITUARIES In memoriam 46 EVENTS Latest announcements 49 CALENDAR All forthcoming events 51 i i i i i “NLMS_492” — 2020/12/21 — 10:40 — page 4 — #4 i i i 4 NEWS LMS NEWS LMS Council 2020–21 The AGM also saw the following members step down as Members-at-Large on Council: Professor Alexandre Borovik, Dr Tara Brendle, Professor David E. Evans, Mr Richard Pinch and Dr Mariya Ptashnyk. The results of the 2020 LMS Elections to Council The LMS is grateful for their contributions, details of and Nominating Committee were announced at the which can be found on page 7. LMS Annual General Meeting on 20 November 2020. Council membership for 2020–21 is as follows: LMS Nominating Committee President: Also at the AGM, Professor Chris Budd (University Professor Jon Keating FRS (University of Oxford) of Bath) and Professor Gwyneth Stallard (Open University) were elected to the Nominating Vice-Presidents: Committee for three-year terms of oce. Continuing Professor Iain Gordon (University of Edinburgh) members of the Nominating Committee are: Kenneth Professor Catherine Hobbs (University of the West Falconer (Chair), I. David Abrahams, Beatrice Pelloni, of England) Mary Rees and Elizabeth Winstanley. Council will also appoint a representative to the committee. Treasurer: Professor Simon Salamon (King’s College London) Incoming Ocers and Members General Secretary: of Council Professor Robb McDonald (University College London) Programme Secretary: Treasurer: Professor Chris Parker (University of Birmingham) Simon Salamon is Professor of Geometry at King’s College London, where he was Head Publications Secretary: of the Mathematics Department 2013–17. He Professor John Hunton (University of Durham) began his career in 1979 as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, as a CNR Education Secretary: fellow at the Scuola Normale in Pisa, and as a Dr Kevin Houston (University of Leeds) member of IAS Princeton. He was a Lecturer and Member-at-Large (Librarian): Reader at the University of Oxford 1984–2001, Dr Mark McCartney (Ulster University) a Reader at Imperial College in 2003/04 and Professore Ordinario at the Politecnico di Torino Members-at-Large of Council: 2000–2011. His research interests lie mainly in Professor Peter Ashwin (University of Exeter); differential geometry; specifically, Lie groups, Professor Anne-Christine Davis (Cambridge special holonomy, Einstein metrics, nilmanifolds, University); complex and quaternionic geometry, twistor *Professor Elaine Crooks (Swansea University); spaces, and applications to string theory and *Professor Andrew Dancer (University of Oxford); quantum information. Professor Salamon’s LMS *Dr Anthony Gardiner; service includes being a member of the Editorial Professor Minhyong Kim (University of Warwick); Board 1995–98 and Co-Managing Editor of the Professor Niall MacKay (University of York); Proceedings of the LMS 1998–2000. He was also *Professor Frank Neumann (University of Leicester); Co-Editor-in-Chief of EMS Surveys in Mathematical *Professor Brita Nucinkis (Royal Holloway, University Sciences 2014–17. of London); Professor Anne Taormina (University of Durham) General Secretary: (re-elected to Council); Robb McDonald is a Professor of Mathematics Dr Amanda Turner (Lancaster University). at University College London, which he joined as a Lecturer in 1994 and where he was Head *Members elected in 2019 who are continuing with of Department 2011–18. Gaining his PhD from the second year of their two-year term. the University of Western Australia in 1991, i i i i i “NLMS_492” — 2020/12/21 — 10:40 — page 5 — #5 i i i NEWS 5 Professor McDonald was previously a Royal Society Minhyong Kim is Christopher Zeeman Professor Endeavour Fellow at the University of Oxford of Algebra, Geometry, and Public Understanding 1991–93 and an Australian Research Council of Mathematics, University of Warwick and Research Fellow at Monash University 1993–94. Distinguished Professor, Korea Institute for His research interests are fluid mechanics, vortex Advanced Study. He gained his PhD at Yale dynamics and applied complex analysis, and University in 1990 and his previous appointments the application of mathematics to geoscience. have been at the Massachusetts Institute of Professor McDonald is a Fellow of the Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of Mathematics and its Applications. Arizona, Purdue University, University College London, Pohang University of Science and Members-at-Large: Technology and the University of Oxford. Professor Peter Ashwin is a Professor of Mathematics Kim’s research Interests are Arithmetic Geometry, at the University of Exeter, where he was Topology and Mathematical Physics. His LMS Head of Department 2010–14. He joined the service has been as a member of the Editorial London Mathematical Society in 1991, the year he Board of LMS publications (2013–14), Editorial Board received his PhD from the University of Warwick. of Mathematika (2008–17) and LMS representative Previous appointments have been in Postdoctoral on the ICMS Board (2014–19). Researcher roles at the University of Marburg (Germany) (1991–92), the University of Warwick Niall MacKay is Professor of Mathematics and Head (1992–95) and INLN Nice (France) (1995–96). He of Department in the Department of Mathematics was a Lecturer in Mathematics at the University at the University of York. He gained his PhD at the of Surrey 1996–2000. Professor Ashwin’s research University of Durham in 1992; previous appointments interests are in dynamical systems theory and have been as a JPS fellow, Kyoto University Research applications, including low dimensional systems, Institute for Mathematical Sceinces (1992–93), PPARC theory of attractors, bifurcation theory, coupled Research Fellow and fellow of Queens’ College, and nonautonomous systems, computational Cambridge (1993–95), Stokes Fellow, Pembroke College, modelling and applications, mostly in life and Cambridge (1995–98), and Lecturer, University of environmental sciences. Sheffield (1998-99). He joined the University of York in 2000, where he has been a Lecturer (2000), Senior Anne-Christine