NSERC Reallocation Results, PIMS: A

Vol. 6 Issue 2 Fall 2002

Chinese President Jiang Zemin Confers the (Canadian) Fields Medals in Beijing President Jiang Zemin kept his promise and his personal commitment to mathematical research by showing up at the Fields award ceremony to confer the medals to France’s Roland Lafforgue (IHES) and Russia’s Vladimir Voevodsky (IAS). The impressive ICM2002 opening ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in front of more than 6000 Chinese and foreign mathematicians. This event undoubtedly signals the beginning of the final phase in China’s steady march towards being a world’s mathematical superpower. We had unfortunately failed in our efforts to get senior Canadian offi- Fields Medal winner Vladimir Voevodsky, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, IMU chairman Jacob Palis and Fields Medal winner cials to present the Fields medals at the ICM2002 opening ceremony in Roland Lafforgue at the ceremony in Beijing. Beijing. Many thanks to the dozens of colleagues who wrote in support of this initiative. see letter to Prime Minister on page 20 NSERC Reallocation Results, PIMS: A model Inside this Issue for the research institute of the 21st century NSERC Reallocation Results 1–2 NSERC’s reallocations results are out and the international leadership shown by the Ca- Interview with Dick Peter 3 PIMS and the Canadian mathematical commu- nadian mathematical community adding: BIRS Report 4, 20 nity have every reason to be proud of the ac- “Here, PIMS seems to be in the driver’s seat BIRS 2003 Programme 4–5 complishments of the last 5 years. with incredible results for the world’s math- 2002 Thematic Programme 6–7 The site visit report had much to say about ematical community”. Another referee con- PIMS Scientific Programmes 8–12 the institute’s contributions: “PIMS activities curred: “Although [PIMS] is the youngest of New PIMS PDFs 10 have broken through discipline and geographi- the three, I believe that its reputation is rap- 2003 Thematic Programme 13 cal boundaries”. They echoed the referees idly on the rise, so I find the incremental fund- comments: “PIMS has become in a very short ing which is requested in the PIMS proposal to Collaborative Research Groups 14–15 time a model for the research institute of the be compelling. I believe that the leadership of PIMS Opportunities 16 twenty first century” and “PIMS has moved PIMS is energetic and creative, and PIMS is New Videos 17 from an “idea” to a leading international in- perhaps the most ambitious of the three Cana- Is Economic Theory True? 18–19 stitute”. One anonymous referee wrote about dian Institutes”. continued on page 2 Philippe Tondeur’s Term Ends 20 Letter to Prime Minister 20 NSERC Funding for PIMS up 60% MITACS News 21 “PIMS is emerging as the most exciting/dynamic research institute of the three math institutes in PIMS Industrial Programmes 22–26 Canada. The vision driving this institute has, in 5 years, resulted in national (MITACS) and PIMS Education Programmes 27–31 international (BIRS, Pacific Northwest Partnership, The Pacific Rim Initiative) initiatives which New Math Fair Booklet 27 have done the most to raise the profile of Canadian mathematical research nationally and inter- Women and Mathematics Winners 31 nationally. The specific proposals, individually and collectively, build upon a bold vision for the institute. The innovative programs (Math and Multimedia, summer schools in emerging areas, webcasting) and the outreach programs (BIRS, Pacific Rim, Prairie and Atlantic Canada) stand out particularly. The leveraged funding is extremely good for a mathematics institute. I whole- Is Economic Theory True? heartedly endorse the full reallocation request for this dynamic center.” Article by Ivar Ekeland on page 18 That was one of the many compelling testimonials by a number of international referees. The reallocations committee awarded PIMS a 60% increase in its NSERC grant.

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NSERC Re-allocation Results: PIMS: Un institut sans frontières disciplinaires PIMS: A model for the research institute of the 21st century ni geographiques. N. Ghoussoub continued from page 1

which noted that ªinitiatives that are built Supporting Atlantic Canada and the around a leader have been a recognized model completion of the National Network for for success in mathematics and other disci- Collaboration in the Mathematical Sciences (NNCMS) plines. The institutes are also using this model quite extensivelyº. The directors of CRM, Fields and PIMS have All are encouraged to take a look at the just finished a tour of universities in Atlantic NSERC webpage so as to be aware of the new Canada, for the purpose of trying to complete opportunities created by this result. Congratu- the National Network for Re- lations to all involved, espe- search in the Mathematical Sci- cially to Richard Kane and PIMS activities have broken ences (A first attempt at an Robert V. Moody who led through discipline and geo- NSERC’s RPP research net- this year’s exercise for math- graphical boundaries work had failed in 1997!). The Nassif Ghoussoub, PIMS Director ematics with exemplary judg- Site visit committee 3 institutes funding for AARMS ment, skill, and patience. (Atlantic Association for Re- NSERC equalizes its funding for CRM, search in the Mathematical Sciences) has been FIELDS and PIMS Referees’ unanimity on the Banff Interna- tional Research Station matched by the Memorial University of New- The site visit committee also stated that ªPIMS foundland in St. John’s, the University of Nova has been successful at multiplying the oppor- BIRS has been referred to—in almost all refer- Scotia at Dalhousie and the University of New tunities provided by NSERC funds. However, it ees’ reports—a major coup for the Canadian Brunswick at Fredericton. In addition, is also particularly underfunded compared to community. The annual budget of BIRS is about MITACS has committed substantial funds for the other two institutes.º NSERC’s realloca- $2M ($500K from each of NSF, ASRA, and seed projects subject to appropriate matching tions committee agreed by awarding PIMS a NSERC’s MFA program; $100K from from the provincial governments and local in- 60% increase in its budget. Each one of the 3 MITACS and $400K from PIMS). In addition dustries. The $600K/year package should pro- Institutes (PIMS, Fields and CRM) will re- $1.1M have finally been secured to renovate vide a great boost to Atlantic Canada research ceive a grant of approximately $1 million/year and upgrade the facilities ($300K from the in the mathematical sciences. Here Hermann for the period 2003–07. In addition, a joint pro- PIMS universities and $800K from the Alberta Brunner is to be heartily congratulated for his posal of the 3 institutes with the Statistics Grant government). We have an outstanding efforts and leadership. Selection Committee (GSC 14) for a 4-year programme scheduled for 2003 and we have a “National Programme on Complex Data Struc- call for proposals for the 2004 programme. The National Programme Committee to be restructured tures” has also been funded at the rate of $172K/ Many thanks to Robert V. Moody for the in- year. credible amount of work and energy he is in- The National Programme Committee of the 3 vesting to help set up this great continental re- institutes will be restructured soon so that it NSERC increases its funding for the Math. Grant Selection Committees source. can effectively deal with the developing picture across the country. Every active Canadian The MITACS network up for renewal The synergies between the math community researcher should/will have access to the and the institutes have again played a major The MITACS Network of Centres of Excel- infrastructural resources and to the research role, even as the institutes carry on with their lence developed by the 3 institutes has been a opportunities, new and old. outreach efforts to other disciplines. Indeed, great boost to the applied and indus- Mathematics is one of only six submissions trial mathematical science community (out of 19 GSCs) that ended up with a budget in Canada. It has continued to thrive increase: A major change from the dynamic of under the capable hands and entre- the first NSERC re-allocation exercise in 1994. preneurial spirit of Arvind Gupta. The The reallocations committee first recognized $14.4M grant (given for the period the importance of increased funding to new 1999/03) is up for renewal next year. applicants by returning $805K/year to the GSC We invite the math. science research 336/337. In addition, the committee allocated community to join the institutes in $270K/year to promote structured initiatives vigourously preparing for a success- by recognized leaders. Indeed, this innovative ful renewal of MITACS. Celebrating PIMS success at NSERC's re-allocation exercise. approach was well received by the Committee 2 Vol. 6, Issue 2 Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

An interview with Dick Peter, exiting Dean of Science, UA by Heather Jenkins, PIMS Communications Officer

Dr. Richard E. Peter recently finished a 10- and Nassif intrigued me. Nassif and the other Management at the Alberta Research Council year term as Dean of Science at the University mathematical scientists on the Board had little on August 1, 2002. This is an opportunity to of Alberta. He is also a distinguished Profes- to no administrative experience. I had lots of lead the development of a program and research sor in the Department of Biological Sciences. administrative experience so they thought I was team that provides government, industry and He has been a member and deputy Chair of the brilliant, which goes to show you can fool some communities practical information and advice PIMS Board of Directors since PIMS was of the people some of the time! Many of the about natural resource management, and new founded in 1996. private sector members of the Board were lead- technologies and approaches for sustainable ers in their own right, and they had a vision of development. This is applied interdisciplinary Dean Peter, you have been a part of PIMS helping to build something great. It was a plea- science. Funding has to be brought in from since the beginning. Can you tell us something about the early days? sure to work with them as well. government and industry or the research team will not exist. So, while the goals are noble, In your opinion, what sort of impact has The vision of PIMS - to have mathematical and society, governments and industry will PIMS had on U of A? and statistical scientists working together on benefit if we are successful, there are lots of research themes, working together on industry Tremendous! PIMS has given our mathemati- challenges to make this a success. problems, and working together on math edu- cal and statistical scientists the opportunity to Other interests? While my job at ARC is cation - was something needed. I saw the com- work more with others in research, to work full time, I still have my research lab at the munity as being quite fractured and ineffec- more with industry, and to do more in math University of Alberta going full pace with an tive, and missing the boat on many opportuni- education - all of which would have otherwise outstanding PhD student and two PDFs. ties. PIMS looked like a great opporunity to not been available. It has given the Depart- Three other PDFs went off to jobs during the get things going. It turned out to be true! ment the opportunity to be a leader. summer. On the personal side, my wife and I are taking a sommelier course and enjoying it As Dean of Science at U of A you have made While you served as Dean you have re- the Mathematical Sciences a priority. Why mained active with your research. Give us very much. The challenge now is to build (i.e., did you chose to do this? an outline of your main interests. fill) a wine cellar in our new home, which we moved into in July. Our new home comes with The mathematical sciences are the foundation My research is on the brain regulation of food no shovelling or mowing - just shut the door for all areas of the sciences. We needed strong intake, growth and reproduction in fish. We and travel when the opportunity presents. mathematical sciences research and teaching to work on the brain hormones that regulate these be a strong Faculty of Science. Building a functions. In the last few years I have switched Thank you Dean Peter. strong Mathematical and Statistical Sciences most of the research in my lab to food in- Department was one of my many priorities. I take regulation, a new area in research for am pleased with the success of our recruitment fish. We work from the molecular biology of new faculty. Now the challenge for the to behavior levelsÐa challenge! It's fun Department is to have a view of itself as being to be in a new field. The best is that I have a leader, and taking actions to do so. had the privilege of having outstanding PDFs, graduate students and undergradu- You have been a very active member of the PIMS Board of Directors. How would you ates to work with in my lab. characterise your contribution to PIMS? How do you think BIRS will benefit the Being a member of the Board was a priviledge province of Alberta? and an honor. Tremendous! The world spot light will be PIMS was new. I was caught up in the on PIMS as being the leader in BIRS. vision for PIMS. Nassif Ghoussoub kept ex- Through BIRS the opportunity presents it- panding the vision, which made the Board in- self for Alberta universities to become bet- teresting and challenging. Just when you ter known and to develop leadership in re- thought one thing was sorted out and under search. way, Nassif would come up with another great initiative. The vision was great! Being a mem- Now that you are retiring from your position as Dean, what are your plans for ber of the Board gave me the opportunity to the near future? Please tell us about work towards the vision of PIMS and to help some of your other interests. the vision become a reality. Dick Peter, University of Alberta I must also add that the people on the Board I started as Vice President, Integrated Resource

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The Banff International Research Station Focused Research Groups (FRG), Research in Teams (RIT) and by Robert Moody, BIRS Scientific Director Summer Schools (SS) 2003 Programme Although it is still 6 months to the opening cess, as well as guidelines and online forms. of BIRS, lots of things are happening on the The whole idea of BIRS is to take the adminis- Apr 26–May 10 Topological Orbit Equiva- lence for Dynamical Systems (RIT) long, sometimes arduous, ramp-up process. trative burden off organizers to let them con- T. Giordano (Ottawa), C. Skau (Norwegian The most significant developments since our centrate on the science. If you have any incli- Science & Technology), I. Putnam (Victoria) last Newsletter are that all the funding is now nation to organize something at BIRS, take a Apr 26–May 10 Field Theory and in place, including the critical funding from the look and see how easy it is. The deadline for Cohomology of Groups (RIT) J. Minac Alberta Science and Research Authority workshop submissions is October 15, 2002. (Western Ontario), A. Adem (Wisconsin- Madison), D. Karagueuzian (Binghamton) (ASRA) for the necessary renovations at the We also strongly suggest that you think of May 10–24 Regularity for Hypergraphs Banff Centre and that these renovations are October 15 as the deadline for the other BIRS (FRG) Organizers: P. Haxell (Waterloo), now underway. BIRS will be physically lo- programmes too (research in teams, focused V. Rodl (Emory), J. Skokan (Illinois Urbana- cated in two adjacent buildings at the Banff research groups, summer schools, etc.). The Champaign), L. Thoma (Rhode Island) Centre: the Max Bell building will have two Scientific Steering Committee of BIRS will May 17–22 Graduate Modelling Camp (SS) Organizers: R. Kuske (PIMS), F. Santosa (IMA) lecture rooms and several smaller meeting and make its first round of decisions on these May 24–Jun 07 Topology and Analysis: discussion rooms, and Corbett Hall, which will programmes soon after this date, and competi- Complementary Approaches to the Baum- be entirely taken over by BIRS, will house the tion for space for the prime summer months Connes and Novikov Conjectures (SS) living quarters for all BIRS visitors. Both in- will most surely be taken in this first round. Organizers: N. Higson (Penn State), volve extensive renovations (total cost exceed- This brings us to another substantial devel- J. Kaminker (Indiana-Purdue), S. Weinberger (Chicago) ing $1M). After well over a year and half of opment. In February Jessica Douglas joined Jun 07–21 Quantum Algorithms and dealing with BIRS as a virtual entity, it is fi- the PIMS (UBC) staff as the Scientific Coor- Complexity Theory (FRG) Organizer: nally beginning to take a physical form. dinator of BIRS. Jessica is the contact person R. Cleve (Calgary) It is a bit startling to realize that even before for all BIRS scientific programmes. Jessica Jun 21–27 Summer School in Differential BIRS opens its doors for business in March has also been working hard to make the BIRS Geometry (SS) Organizer: R. Bryant (UC Berkeley) 2003, the entire workshop programme for both website as useful as possible for organizers, Jun 28–Jul 10 2003 Summer IMO Training 2003 and 2004 will be in place. But given the participants, applicants of proposals, referees, Camp (SS) Organizer: W. Sands (Calgary) time for adjudication and the need to give or- and members of the scientific selection com- Jul 12–26 Problems in Discrete Probability ganizers and participants a clear year of ad- mittees. You will notice substantial differences (FRG) Organizers: R. Pemantle (Ohio State), Y. vance notice, the 2004 competition has to be in (and I hope improvements) to the appearance Peres (UC Berkeley), P. Winkler (Bell Labs) the fall of 2002. That means now. of the BIRS website. Underneath this there are Jul 26–Aug 16 Representation Theory of The Call for Proposals for 2004 is already many more developments, which allow every- Linearly Compact Lie Superalgebras and the Standard Model (RIT) V. Kac (MIT), out! one to interact with BIRS painlessly online. A. Rudakov (NTNU) Please check out the PIMS website. There Jessica and Heather Jenkins (PIMS Commu- Aug 02–16 Variance of Quasi-coherent is a considerable amount of information on the nications Officer) also created the beautiful Torsion Cousin Complexes (RIT) J. Lipman various BIRS programmes and the review pro- poster for the 2003 Workshop programme of (Purdue), S. Nayak (Harish-Chandra Research Inst.), P. Sastry (Toronto) BIRS. The credit for set- Aug 16–30 Invariant Manifolds for ting up the webpage and for Stochastic Partial Differential Equations many of the details of pro- (RIT) T. Caraballo (Universidad de Sevilla), gramming the data-base J. Duan (Illinois Tech), K. Lu (Brigham goes to the very able Kelly Young), B. Schmalfuss (Merseburg) Choo (PIMS Website Man- Aug 16–Sep 06 Local Uniformization and Resolution of Singularities (RIT) ager) at the University of S.D. Cutkosky (Missouri-Columbia), Victoria. Sandy Ruther- F.-V. Kuhlmann (Saskatchewan) ford (PIMS Scientific Ex- Sep 06–20 Arithmetic of Fundamental ecutive Officer) and Groups (RIT) D. Harbater (Pennsylvania), F. Pop (Bonn) Shervin Teymouri (PIMS Sep 20–Oct 02 Mathematical Models for Computer Systems Man- Plant Dispersal (FRG) Organizers: M. Lewis ager) are setting up the com- (Alberta), J. Bullock (NERC Centre for puter system at BIRS. Ecology and Hydrology) Heather, Jessica, Shervin and Sandy, working behind the scenes for BIRS. Missing from photo Kelly Choo. Oct 02–04 West Coast Operator Algebra continued on page 20 (2-day workshop) Organizer: B. 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BIRS Ð 2003 Programme for 5-day Workshops

Mar 15–20 Recent Developments in Superstring Theory Organizers: Jim Aug 16–21 Current Trends in Arithmetic Geometry and Bryan, Moshe Rozali, Gordon W. Semenoff, Mark Van Raamsdonk (UBC), Number Theory Organizers: Imin Chen (SFU), Brian Conrad, Steve Giddings (UC, Santa Barbara), Mikhail Kapranov, Amanda W. Peet Chris Skinner (Michigan), Eyal Goren (McGill), Adrian Iovita (Toronto), Andreas Karch (Washington), K. Viswanathan (SFU) (Washington), Nike Vatsal (UBC) Mar 22–27 Scattering and Inverse Scattering Organizers: Richard Froese Aug 23–28 Computational Techniques for Moving Interfaces (UBC), Gunther Uhlmann (Washington) Organizers: Randy LeVeque (Washington), Robert D. Russell, Mar 29–Apr 03 Commutative Algebra and Geometry Organizers: Mark Steven Ruuth (SFU) Green (IPAM), Jürgen Herzog (Gesamthochschule-Essen), Bernd Sturmfels Aug 30–Sep 04 A Scientific Creative Writing Workshop at (UC, Berkeley) BIRS Organizers: Marjorie Senechal (Smith College), Chandler Apr 05–10 BIRS Workshop on Noncommutative Geometry Organizers: Davis (Toronto) Alain Connes (IHES), Joachim Cuntz (Muenster), George Elliott (Toronto), Aug 30–Sep 04 Locally Finite Lie Algebras Organizers: Yuri Masoud Khalkhali (Western Ontario), Boris Tsygan (Penn State) Bahturin (Memorial Newfoundland), Georgia Benkart (Wiscon- Apr 12–17 Quantum Mechanics on the Large Scale Organizers: sin-Madison), Ivan Penkov (UC-Riverside), Helmut Strade P.C.E. Stamp, G.A. Sawatzky (UBC) A.J. Leggett (Illinois, Urbana), T. (Hamburg), Alexander Zalesskii (Northern Anglia) Havel (MIT), S. Popescu (HH Wills Lab), R. Gill (Utrecht) Sep 06–11 Regularization in Statistics Organizers: Ivan Mizera Apr 19–24 Computational Fuel Cell Dynamics—II Organizers: John (Alberta), Roger Koenker (Illinois) Kenna (Ballard), Trung Van Nguyen (Kansas), Keith Promislow (SFU), Sep 13–18 Topology in and around Dimension Three Organiz- Brian Wetton (UBC) ers: Steve Boyer (Quebec), Martin Scharlemann (UC Santa Apr 26–May 01 The Many Aspects of Mahler’s Measure Organizers: Barbara), Abigail Thompson (UC Davis) David Boyd (UBC), Doug Lind (Washington), Fernando Rodriguez Villegas Sep 20–25 Structural and Probabilistic Approaches to Graph (Texas, Austin), Christopher Deninger (Muenster) Colouring Organizers: Professor Bruce Reed (McGill), Paul May 03–08 Recent Advances in Algebraic and Enumerative Combinato- Seymour (Princeton) rics Organizers: Sara Billey (MIT), Ian Goulden, David Jackson (Waterloo), Sep 27–Oct 02 Stochastic Partial Differential Equations Curtis Greene (Haverford College), Richard Stanley (MIT) Organizers: Martin Barlow, Edwin Perkins (UBC), Krzysztof May 10–15 Statistical Mechanics of Polymer Models Organizers: Burdzy (Washington), Robert Dalang (Ecole Polytechnique Christine E. Soteros (Saskatchewan), De Witt Sumners (Florida State), Fédérale) Stuart G Whittington (Toronto) Oct 04–09 Quadratic forms, Algebraic Groups, and Galois May 24–29 Constraint Programming, Belief Revision, and Combinato- Cohomology Organizers: R. Elman, A.S. Merkurjev (UCLA), rial Optimization Organizers: Randy Goebel (Alberta) J. Minac (Western Ontario), C. Riehm (McMaster) May 31–Jun 05 Symmetry and Bifurcation in Biology Organizers: Martin Oct 11–16 BANFF Credit Risk Conference 2003 Organizers: Golubitsky (Houston), William F. Langford (Guelph), Ian Stewart Tom Astebro (Waterloo), Peter Beling (Virginia), David Hand (Warwick) (Imperial College), Robert Oliver (Fair Isaac Companies), Lyn Thomas (Southampton) Jun 07–12 Applicable Harmonic Analysis Organizers: Rong-Qing Jia (Alberta), Sherman D. Riemenschneider (West Virginia), M. Victor Oct 18–23 MITACS Special Industrial Forum Wickerhauser (Washington) Oct 25–30 Current Trends in Representation Theory of Finite Jun 14–19 Integration on Arc Spaces, Elliptic Genus and Chiral de Groups Organizers: Jonathan L. Alperin (Chicago), Michel Broue Rham Complex Organizers: Mikhail Kapranov (Toronto), Anatoly (Paris VII), Gerald Cliff (Alberta) Libgober (Illinois at Chicago), François Loeser (ENS), Nov 01–06 PIMS HOT TOPICS Jun 21–26 Point Processes—Theory and Applications Organizers: Peter Nov 08–13 MSRI HOT TOPICS Guttorp (Washington), Bruce Smith (Dalhousie) Nov 15–20 The Interaction of Finite Type and Gromov-Witten Jun 28–Jul 03 Joint Dynamics Organizers: Douglas Lind, Boris Solomyak Invariants Organizers: Jim Bryan (UBC), David Auckly (Kansas (Washington), Daniel Rudolph (Maryland), Klaus Schmidt (Vienna) State) Jul 05–10 Mathematical Biology: From Molecules to Ecosystems; The Nov 22–27 Theory and Numerics of Matrix Eigenvalue Legacy of Lee Segel Organizers: Leah Keshet (UBC), Simon A. Levin Problems Organizers: J. W. Demmel (UC Berkeley), (Princeton), Mark Lewis (Alberta) N. J. Higham (Manchester), P. Lancaster (Calgary) Jul 12–17 Perspectives in Differential Geometry Organizers: Richard Nov 29–Dec 04 Nonlinear Dynamics of Thin Films and Fluid Schoen (Stanford), Gang Tian (MIT), Jingyi Chen (UBC) Interfaces Organizers: A. L. Bertozzi, R. P. Behringer, Jul 19–24 Differential Invariants and Invariant Differential Equations T. P. Witelski (Duke), R. Almgren, M. C. Pugh (Toronto), Organizers: Niky Kamran (McGill), Peter J. Olver (Minnesota) M. Shearer (NC State) Jul 26–31 Analysis and Geometric Measure Theory Organizers: Ana Dec 06–11 Calabi-Yau Varieties and Mirror Symmetry Granados (UBC), Hervé Pajot (U. Cergy-Pontoise), Tatiana Toro (Washington) Organizers: Victor Batyrev (Tübingen), Shinobu Hosono (Tokyo), James D. Lewis (Alberta), Bong H. Lian (Brandeis), S.-T. Yau Aug 02–07 Monge-Ampere Type Equations and Applications Organizers: (Harvard), Noriko Yui (Queen’s), Don Zagier (Max-Planck) Alice Chang, Paul Yang (Princeton), Pengfei Guan (McMaster) Dec 13–18 p-adic Variation of Motives Organizers: Kevin Aug 09–16 Localization Behavior in Reaction-Diffusion Systems and Buzzard (Imperial College), Robert Coleman (UC Berkeley), Applications to the Natural Sciences Organizers: A. Bernoff (Harvey Matthew Emerton (Northwestern), Eyal Goren (McGill) Mudd College), P. Fife (Utah), T. Hillen (Alberta), M. J. Ward (UBC), J. Wei (Chinese U.) Dec 13–18 Coordinate Methods in Nonselfadjoint Operator Algebras Organizers: Allan Donsig (Nebraska), Michael Aug 09–16 Defects and their Dynamics Organizers: Peter W. Bates Lamoureux (Calgary) (Brigham Young), Lia Bronsard (McMaster), Changfeng Gui (Connecticut)

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Contributed by Sandy Rutherford, PIMS

This past summer, PIMS-UBC hosted a 7-week Lovasz (Microsoft) and Miklos Simonovits • Lectures in Probability Theory were given Thematic Programme on Asymptotic Geomet- (Hungarian Academy of Sciences). by Rafal Latala (Warsaw University), Michel ric Analysis. The scientific committee was co- • Keith Ball (University College London), Ledoux (Université de Toulouse), and chaired by Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv) and Nicole Apostolos Giannopoulos (University of Crete), Krzysztof Oleszkiewicz (Warsaw University). Tomczak-Jaegermann (University of Yehoram Gordon (Technion), Hermann Koenig Alberta). The other members of the committee (Universität Kiel), Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv • Edward Effros (UCLA), Marius Junge (Uni- were Nassif Ghousoub (PIMS and UBC), University), Gideon Schechtman (Weizmann versity of Illinois), Alexandru Nica (Univer- Robert McCann (University of Toronto) and Institute), and Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann sity of Waterloo), Zhong-Jin Ruan (University Gideon Schechtman (Weizmann Institute). (University of Alberta) lectured on Asymp- of Illinois), and Roland Speicher (Queen’s Asymptotic geometric analysis is concerned totic Geometric Analysis. University) represented Non-commutative with the geometric and linear properties of fi- Phenomena. nite-dimensional convex bodies, especially • Classical Convexity was represented, for with the asymptotics of various quantitative example, by lectures given by Erwin Lutwak • Lectures on Infinite Dimensional Banach parameters as the dimension of the underlying (Polytechnic University), Rolf Schneider (Uni- Spaces were given by Tadeusz Figiel (Polish space tends to infinity. This field is multi-dis- versity of Freiburg), and Peter Gruber (Uni- Academy of Sciences), Joram Lindenstrauss ciplinary in nature, typically combining geo- versity of Technology, Vienna). (Hebrew University), Aleksander Pelczynski metric, analytic, probabilistic and combinato- (Polish Academy of Sciences), Haskell rial methods. • In the direction of Analysis, Jean Bourgain Rosenthal (University of Texas), and Thomas This Thematic Programme brought together (IAS), Alexander Koldobsky (University of Schlumprecht (Texas A&M University). over 220 senior experts, young researchers, Missouri-Columbia), Izabella Laba (UBC), postdocs and advanced Ph.D. students from Mikhail Sodin (Tel Aviv University) spoke. This list is only an excerpt from the very mathematics and computer science. Repre- rich programme of talks. For the complete list sented among the programme of speakers were • Complexity Theory was represented by the of participants and lectures see the Asymptotic laureates of many different honours and prizes, talks of Ravi Kannan (Yale), Shmuel Safra (Tel Geometric Analysis Thematic Programme such as the Fields Medal, Aviv University), and Avi webpage www.pims.math.ca/aga. Nevanlinna Prize, Wolf Wigderson (Institute for Close to 100 of the lectures in the Prize, Salem Prize, Advanced Study). programme were taped and are available in both Ostrowski Prize, and many streaming realvideo and MP3 formats. This others. The flavor of the • Talks on Statistical Phys- provided an online resource to conference par- workshop may be felt from ics and Random Matrices ticipants, allowing them to review previous lec- the following examples of were given by Christian tures throughout the programme. To provide a speakers and directions (in Borgs (Microsoft), resource to the mathematics community at large, broad categories and listed Ravindran Kannan (Yale we have now made entire collection of taped in every group alphabeti- University), Leonid Pastur lectures available from the main Thematic cally). Many more talks in (Université Paris VII), Programme webpage given above and from the every direction were, in fact, Alexander Soshnikov (Uni- PIMS online lecture archive, http:// given. versity of California, www.pims.math.ca/video. Davis), and Stanislaw The main directions of study were convex • In the field of Asymptotic Szarek (Université Paris VI geometric analysis (asymptotic theory of con- Combinatorics (which in- and Case Western Re- vex bodies and normed spaces), some prob- cluded also lectures relating serve). lems of discrete mathematics (one may call it Fields medalist Jean Bourgain, IAS. to graph and information asymptotic combinatorics) including problems theory), lectures were given by Noga Alon (Tel • Franck Barthe (Université de Marne-la-Vallée, of complexity theory, and some problems of Aviv University), Imre Barany (University CNRS), Yann Brenier (CNRS), Jose A. Carrillo statistical physics. A number of lectures were College London), Jennifer Chayes (Microsoft), (Universidad de Granada), and Robert also given on closely-connected subjects in Gil Kalai (Hebrew University), Michael McCann (University of Toronto) gave lectures probability and nonlinear PDEs arising in con- Krivelevich (Tel Aviv University), Laszlo on the Transportation of Measure. vex analysis and geometric inequalities.

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equalities Conference on Non-commutative Phenom- (Brascamp-Lieb, ena and Random Matrices, Sobolev, entropy, The Conference on Non-commutative Phenom- Cramer-Crao and ena and Random Matrices, August 6–9, was the like), and organized by Gilles Pisier (U. Paris VI and probabilistic Texas A & M) and Stanislaw Szarek (U. Paris methods. This VI and Case Western Reserve). Topics ad- concentration pe- dressed in this conference related to the distri- riod was orga- bution of eigenvalues of random matrices, nized with a norms of such matrices, some aspects of free slightly lighter and quantum information theories, quantized AGA participants enjoying a reception at PIMS. lecture schedule functional analysis and operator spaces, and The Programme was divided into six sec- to allow ample time for extensive informal dis- non-commutative Lp spaces. tions: a Conference on Convexity and Asymp- cussions between lectures. Conference on Banach Spaces totic Theory of Normed Spaces, a Concentra- Conference on Phenomena of Large Di- tion Period on Measure Transportation and mensions The programme closed with the Conference on Geometric Inequalities, a Conference on Phe- Banach Spaces, which was organized by Bill The Conference on Phenomena of Large Di- nomena of Large Dimensions, a Focused Re- Johnson (Texas A & M) and Ted Odell mensions ran from July 15–23. It was orga- search Groups Session on Random Methods (U. Texas, Austin). Unfortunately, personal cir- nized by Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv), Michael and High Dimensional Systems, a Conference cumstances required Bill Johnson to cancel his Krivelevich (Tel Aviv), Laszlo Lovasz on Non-commutative Phenomena and Random participation at the last minute and his pres- (Microsoft Research) and Leonid Pastur (U. Matrices, and a Conference on Banach Spaces. ence was greatly missed. This conference fo- Paris VII). The main topics covered in the The programme was strongly connected the- cused on the asymptotic theory of Banach lectures were different phenomena observed matically with many of the lectures illustrating spaces and other applications of local theory to in complexity theory, asymptotic combinato- the cross-over between these fields. Most of the geometry of infinite dimensional Banach rics, asymptotic convexity, statistical physics the participants took advantage of this by at- spaces. and other theories of very high parametric fami- tending a number of the sessions in the lies (or large dimensional spaces). programme. PIMS is grateful for the additional support provided to this Programme by the CRC grant Conference on Convexity and Asymptotic Focused Research Groups on Random Theory of Normed Spaces Methods of Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann, by the NSF conference grants of Erwin Lutwak and Ted The period from July 24 to August 5 was de- The programme opened with the Conference Odell, and by Microsoft. Furthermore, we voted to the Focused Research Groups on Ran- on Convexity and Asymptotic Theory of thank all of the organizers, speakers and par- dom Methods and High Dimensional Systems. Normed Spaces, organized by Erwin Lutwak ticipants for making this Programme such a Participants took advantage of this period to (Polytechnic University) and Alain Pajor success with their enthusiasm and dedication. (Marne-La-Vallée). Lasting one week (July discuss previous lectures in the programme and 1–5) this conference featured lectures on clas- to work in new sical convexity theory, Radon transforms and directions. Fur- Fourier methods in convexity, asymptotic thermore, theory of high dimensional convex bodies, geo- Gideon metric functional inequalities, probabilistic Schechtmann methods in convexity, and isoperimetric-type (Weizmann Insti- inequalities tute) and Alexander Litvak Concentration Period on Measure Trans- (University of portation and Geometric Inequalities Alberta) each or- The second week of the Thematic Programme ganized an infor- was devoted to the Concentration Period on mal series of lec- Measure Transportation and Geometric In- tures during this equalities, which was organized by Robert period. McCann (University of Toronto). The focus was on transportation of measure methods and The Asyptotic Geometric Analysis Thematic Programme organising committee: their applications, including concentration of Vitali Milman (Tel Aviv), Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann (University of Alberta) and Gideon Schechtman (Weizmann Institute). Missing from photo Nassif measure phenomena, geometric functional in- Ghousoub (PIMS and UBC) and Robert McCann (University of Toronto). Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Fall 2002 7 ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

Around Group Rings Seminar, Jasper, Alberta, February 18–21, 2002

Contributed by G. Cliff, University of Alberta

The conference was attended by 48 participants from North America (Canada, United States), South America (Brazil), and Europe (Ireland, Italy, Poland, The Netherlands, Bel- gium, Germany) and Asia (Japan). The speakers were Passman (Wisconsin-Madison), Goncalves (Sao Paulo), Bakhturin (Memorial and Moscow State) on the first day, Lichtman (Wisconsin-Parkside), Giambruno (Palermo), Marciniak (Warsaw), Hertweck (Stuttgart) on the second day, Nebe (Ulm), Riley (Western), Szechtman (Waterloo), Jespers (Brussels), and Gupta (Manitoba) on the third day, and Roquette (Heidelberg) and Hurley (Galway) on the last day. There was a problem session on Monday afternoon, where many open problems in Kneeling (L-R): Y. Yoshi, G. Cliff, T. Hurley, F. Szechtman, J. Goncalves, Y. Bahturin. the subject were mentioned and discussed by the partici- Standing (L-R): A. Herman, E. Osmanagic, P. Campbell, F. Levin, A. Doom, pants. unknown, N. Strungaru, T. Yokonuma, Y. Li, A. Weiss, C. Polcino, K. Hoechsmann, M. Hertwick, P. Roquette, A. Valenti, E. Jespers, A. Lichtman, S. Sehgal, A. Giambruno, A volume of proceedings will appear in the series M. Parmenter, M. Shirvani, N. Gupta, D. Passman, Z. Marciniak, M. Dokuchaev, L. Resenhas do IME published by the University of Sao Paulo. Creedon, W. Kimmerle Representations of Reductive p-adic Groups Banff, Alberta, February 21–23, 2002

Contributed by Clifton Cunningham, University of Calgary and Fiona Murnaghan, University of Toronto

In February 2002 the Banff Centre hosted a small, focused, and very successful research workshop on Representations of Reductive p-adic Groups, bringing mathematicians from Canada, France, Germany and the US to the future site of the Banff International Research Station. The workshop was organized around three mathematical themes reflecting recent progress in the field: The construction of types for admissible representations of reductive p-adic groups and applications to character theory; applications of rigid analytic geometry to p-adic group representation theory; results on L-packets. Organized by Clifton Cunningham (University of Calgary) and Fiona Murnaghan (University of Toronto), the workshop included thirteen talks over the 21–23 February and a number of participants arrived early or stayed late in order to have more time with colleagues and the mountains. Speakers and titles are listed below. Jeffrey Adler (University of Akron), Supercuspidal character germs for classical groups Anne-Marie Aubert (CNRS ENS), Sheaves on adic spaces for p-adic group representation theory Stephen Debacker (Harvard), Quixotic quests Laurent Fargues (Institut de mathématiques de Jussieu), An introduction to Rapoport Zink spaces and their l-adic cohomology David Goldberg (Purdue), The norm map and consequences 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 series for even-orthogonal groups Henry Kim (Toronto), Application of Langlands' functorial lift of SO(2n+1) to GL(2n) Julee Kim (IAS, Princeton), Dual blobs and Plancherel formula Peter Schneider (Universität Münster), The algebraic theory of tempered representations Matthias Strauch (Universität Münster), Representations on vanishing cycles, trace formulas and boundaries Jiu-Kang Yu (Maryland), Integral schemes for Moy-Prasad filtrations Other participants appearing in the photograph are Peter Campbell (Alberta), Jason Levy (Ottawa) and Loren Spice (Chicago).

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1st PIMS Mathematics of Biological Systems Summer Workshop University of Alberta, May 11–19, 2002

Contributed by Mark Lewis, University of Alberta

From May 11–19, 2002, the Centre for Mathematical Biology (CMB) offered the 1st annual PIMS Mathematical Biology Summer Workshop entitled “Mathematics of Biological Systems”. Our aim was to introduce undergraduate mathematics students to mathematical modeling and analysis applied to real biological systems. Instruc- tors were Gerda de Vries, Thomas Hillen, Mark Lewis, and Michael Li, all from the University of Alberta. There The participants. was further assistance provided by volunteer graduate students, postdoc fellows, and staff (Robert Bechtel, Andrew Beltaos, Gustavo Carrero, Christina Cobbold, Tomas de Camino-Beck, Lisa Haraba, Annemarie Pielaat, Shirley Mitchell). We received applications from almost 40 students from all over North America. In the end, 26 students came to the workshop from 14 different Universities across Canada and the United States, many on their own funding. More than half of the attendees were women. The workshop was 8 days in length and was a combination of classroom instruction, computer lab instruction and exercises, guided group project work, and project presentations. The extremely positive feedback that was received, in combination with the large number of applicants and participants, has led us to pursue the workshop as an annual event. We strongly believe the exchange of ideas and knowledge that occurred between students will be carried back to their home universities and that the program will grow in popularity over the years to come. Photographs and presentations from the workshop can be found at: www.math.ualberta.ca/~mathbio/events.html.

International Conference on Robust Statistics PIMS-UBC, May 12-18, 2002

Contributed by Ruben Zamar, Statistics, UBC

Nearly 100 researchers from 10 different coun- Laurie Davies (Essen), Breakdown and Outliers in Binary Regression tries came to UBC last May to participate in Groups Matias Salibian-Barrera (Carleton), Estimat- the International Conference on Robust Statis- Peter Filzmoser (Vienna U. of Technology), ing the p-values of Robust Tests for the Linear tics (ICORS 2002) hosted by PIMS and jointly Robust Factor Analysis Model sponsored by PIMS, MINERVA Research Xuming He (Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Arnold J. Stromberg (Kentucky), Computa- Foundation (USA) and SBF 475 at University Straight Talks about Robust Methods tional Issues in Robust Statistics of Dortmund (Germany). Participants gath- Karen Kafadar (Colorado), Statistical Analy- David Tyler (Rutgers), High Breakdown Point ered at PIMS to present and discuss recent re- sis of Microarray Data from Affymetrix Gene Multivariate M-Estimation search on robustness and computational statis- Chips Jane-Ling Wang (UC, Davis), tics. ICORS 2002 was then followed up by a Ricardo Maronna (U. Nacional de la Plata), Semiparametric Random Effects Models for weekend Workshop on Computational Ro- Approaches to Robust Multivariate Estimation Longitudinal Data bustness hosted by PIMS and co-sponsored Based on Projections Doug Wiens (U of A), Robust, Sequential De- by NSF. Videos and slides of the following Doug Martin (U. Washington and Insightful), sign Strategies lectures are availabe from the website Robust Statistics in Portfolio Optimization Victor Yohai (Buenos Aires), High Breakdown www.pims.math.ca/icors2002/: Stephan Morgenthaler (École Polytechnique Point Robust Regression with Censored Data Claudia Becker (Dortmund), Dimension Re- Fédérale de Lausanne), The Multihalver Julie Zhou (UVic), Robustness Issues for Con- duction and Nonparametric Regression: A Raymond Ng (UBC), Robust Space Trans- fidence Intervals Robust Combination formations for Distance-based Tadeusz Bednarski (Zielona Gora), Robust Outliers Inference for the Cox Model David Rocke (UC, Davis), Multi- Graciela Boente (Buenos Aires), Robust Esti- variate Outlier Detection and Clus- mators in Partly Linear Models ter Identification David Brillinger (UC, Berkeley), John Tukey Elvezio Ronchetti (Geneva), Re- and ªTroubledº Time Series Data sistant Parametric and Nonpara- Christophe Croux (Leuven), On the Bianco- metric Modelling in Finance Yohai Estimator for High Breakdown Logistic Peter Rousseeuw (Antwerp), Ro- Regression bustness Against Separation and ICORS participants during their excursion to Capilano. Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Fall 2002 9 ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

Americas V Conference for many years in the development of scientific exchanges in the Americas especially at the Edmonton, July 7–12, 2002 graduate level. The plenary lectures were delivered by Jorge Contributed by Jim Muldowney, University of Alberta Sotomayor (Brazil), Jack Hale (USA), Hildebrando Rodrigues (Brazil), Mark Lewis The Americas Conference in Differential Equa- tunities (Canada), Jianhong Wu (Canada), Raúl tions and Nonlinear Dynamics is a biennial for col- Shui-Nee Chow with some of his former Manasevich (Chile), George Sell (USA), series that was established in 1994 as a joint ini- laboration PhD students at Americas V. Alfonso Castro (Colombia, USA), Antonmaria tiative of four major research centres in South in dynamical systems. It has grown into one of Minzoni (Mexico), Jorge Cossio (Colombia), and North America: The Center for Dynamical the major international opportunities in this area. Tomas Gedeon (USA), Robert Gardner (USA), Systems and Nonlinear Studies (CDSNS) at The first four conferences were held in Taxco, Kening Lu (USA), John Mallet-Paret (USA), Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, the Mexico (1994), Aguas de Lindoa, Brazil (1996), Peter Polacik (USA), Yingfei Yi (USA) & Hugo Instituto de Investgaciones en Matemticas Atlanta, USA (1998) and Mérida, Venezuela Leiva (Venezuela). Aplicadas y en Sistemas (IIMAS) at Universidad (2000). An innovation at this conference was the Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Americas V had 120 participants from 9 PIMS Posters at Americas V which was a web- Mexico, the Instituto de Matemática Pura e Americas countries (Canada, USA, Mexico, Bra- based poster session. A prize of $1000 for the Aplicada (IMPA), Brazil, and Fundayacucho, zil, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and best graduate student poster was shared by Venezuela, with an initial objective of fostering Peru) as well as from Asia and Europe. The Germán Jesus Lozada Cruz (from Peru, study- close collaborations and exchanges among re- conference was dedicated to Professor Shui-Nee ing for his PhD at Universidade de São Paulo, searchers in this scientific field among the four Chow (Georgia Tech and University of Brazil) and Horacio Gómez-Acevedo (from countries. Singapore) on his sixtieth birthday. Shui-Nee Mexico, studying for his PhD at U of A, Canada). The series was developed as a forum for the along with a handful of others such as Jack Hale The Selection Jury for the graduate student post- dissemination of scientific accomplishments in (USA), Gilberto Flores (Mexico) and ers was Raúl Manasevich (Chile), Gilberto Flores the Americas and for the creation of new oppor- Hildebrando Rodriguez (Brazil) have been active (Mexico) and Jianhong Wu (Canada).

PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows for 2002/03

The following PIMS postdoctoral fellows were theory. Supervised by Jonathan Borwein, Pe- From PIMS’ Mailbag: selected for the year 2002/03. The review panel ter Borwein, Imin Chen, Stephen Choi and Petr was Michael Lamoureux, (Chair, Math, UC), Lisonek (SFU). Subject: Thank you for the David Brydges (Math, UBC), Leah Keshet • Russell Luke: Applied math (image process- two years support! (Math, UBC), Richard Lockhart (Stats, SFU), ing). Supervised by Jon Borwein (SFU). Bryant Moodie (Math, UA) & Frank Ruskey • Grace Chiu: Statistics (applications to the Dear Prof. Nassif Ghoussoub, (Comp Sci, UVic). life sciences). Supervised by Richard Lockhart • Inhyeop Yi: Dynamical systems and opera- and Rick Routledge (SFU). Thank you and PIMS for giving me the tor algebras. Supervised by Ian Putnam • Riste Skrekovski: Computer science (graph chance to work at PIMS. It is a great expe- (UVic). theory). Supervised by Pavol Hell (SFU). rience to be a PIMS postdoc. You and all the • Vladislav Panferov: PDEs (kinetic theory). • Wen Chen: Signal & image processing. Super- people at PIMS are very kind and helpful, Supervised by Reinhard Illner (UVic). vised by Bin Han and Rong-Qing Jia (U of A). providing a very nice working environment • Kazuyuki Furuuchi: Theoretical physics • Roman Vershynin: Geometric functional for academic research. During the past two (string theory). Supervised by Gordon analysis. Supervised by Nicole Tomczak- years, I have enjoyed my life in Vancouver Semenoff (UBC). Jaegermann (U of A). and I worked happily and enthusiastically • Zhenya Yan: Applied math (soliton theory • Christina Cobbold: Mathematical biology. with my professors. More importantly, as a and nonlinear integral systems). Supervised Supervised by Mark Lewis (U of A). new immigrant, my whole life and academic by George Bluman (UBC). • Chuong Tran: Applied math (fluid dynam- experience in Canda started from PIMS. • Xavier Granier: Computer science (computer ics). Supervised by John Bowman (U of A). Wherever I stay in the future, I will miss graphics). Supervised by Wolfgang Heidrich • Peter Hoyer: Algorithmics, data structures, PIMS and Vancouver for the rest of my life. (UBC). complexity theory and quantum computing. I hope PIMS will be stronger and stron- • Ehud Schreiber: Theoretical physics (quan- Supervised by Richard Cleve (U of C). ger in the future. tum field and string theories). Supervised by • Tatjana Stykel: Applied math (numerical lin- Best regards, Moshe Rozali, Mark Van Raamsdonk (UBC). ear algebra, control theory). Supervised by Yuqing Wang • William Galway: Computational number Peter Lancaster (U of C).

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PIMS-APCTP-PI Frontiers in Mathematical Physics: Workshop on “Brane Worlds and Supersymmetry” University of British Columbia, July 22– August 2, 2002

Contributed by Sandy Rutherford, PIMS Held at the Department of Physics and As- Some of the extra dimension sce- tronomy, UBC, this two-week workshop fea- narios use superstring theory to quan- tured a variety of talks on topics ranging from tize gravity and predict that fundamental questions in superstring theory superstring excitations should be observable lation tells us about the possible existence of and supersymmetry to the cosmological impli- at much lower energies than was previously an extra dimension? cations of brane world models and higher di- thought. The elementary particles seen so far Y.S. Myung (Inje University), Limitation of mensional physics. Brane world models sug- would be the lowest energy excitations of Cardy-Verlinde formula on the holographic gest that the observable universe is a domain superstrings. The next excited states would description of brane cosmology wall (the word brane derives from membrane) occur at energies not much higher than the Erich Poppitz (Toronto), Instanton effects in in a higher dimensional universe. These mod- masses of already observed particles. This has 5d theories and deconstruction els have been proposed as a possible solution the exciting consequence that these new ideas Konstantin Savvidis (Perimeter Institute), A to the hierarchy problem, which asks why in are testable by present and imminent experi- new non-commutative field theory the standard model of particle physics the hier- ments. For example, the existence of extra di- George Savvidy (National Research Center, archy of mass scales that is observed in nature mensions modifies the gravitational interaction Demokritos), Conformal invariant string with can occur. at short distances. If objects are close together, extrinsic curvature action The standard model of particle physics is a gravity would no longer have the Newtonian Gordon Semenoff (UBC), Nonplanar correc- complicated nonlinear dynamical system. In inverse square dependence on distance but tions to PP-wave strings such systems, predictions of dimensional num- would have a different power depending on Mikhail Shifman (Minnesota), Cosmological bers like particle masses tend to be of the same the total number of dimensions of spacetime. constant problem in infinite volume extra di- size, the size of the largest input parameter. In There are now several new experiments dedi- mensions: a possible solution and Topological nature, there is a distribution of different cated to testing the laws of gravity at the mi- effects in our brane world from extra dimen- masses, from massless particles like the pho- cron level. sions ton and the very light particles like the electron Lectures were given by: Henry Tye (Cornell), Brane world cosmology: or neutrino to the mass scale which describes Alessandro D’Adda (INFN, Torino), Gauge from superstring to cosmic strings gravitational interactions, a factor of 1020 theories of the symmetric group in the large N Neal Weiner (Washington), Supersoft heavier. Previous to these new ideas, the only limit supersymmetry breaking solution of this hierarchy problem was to in- Ignatios Antoniadis (CERN), Physics with The programme was organized as that it al- voke symmetries. In fact, supersymmetry Ð a large extra dimension (2 lectures) lowed the opportunity for extensive discussion hypothetical and as yet unobserved symmetry Cliff Burgess (McGill), Fixing runaway between the lectures. The lectures were video- whose transformations mix fermionic and moduli taped and are available in realvideo and MP3 bosonic particles Ð was needed. These new Kiwoon Choi (KAIST), Radius-dependent format from www.pims.math.ca/science/ ideas about extra dimensions give a radical new gauge coupling renormalization in AdS5 2002/fmp. alternative solution of the hierarchy problem. Keith Dienes (Arizona), Shape versus volume: This workshop was the sixth of the annual This solution is so compelling that it has been rethinking the properties of large extra dimen- workshops in the Frontiers in Mathematical the focus of intense theoretical particle physics sions and Solving the hierarchy problem with- Physics series. It was co-sponsored by PIMS, research over the past few years. out SUSY or extra dimensions: an alternative the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics The new ideas about extra dimensions have approach and the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical also led to a revolution in our thinking about Bogdan Dobrescu (Yale), Universal extra Physics. The organizing committee was chaired the role of gravity in particle physics. Gravity dimension by John Ng (TRIUMF). Other members of was previously thought to be important to the Andreas Karch (Washington), Adding flavour the organizing committee were Andreas Karch interactions of elementary particles only at ex- to ADS/CFT (University of Washington), Taejin Lee tremely short distance scales, 10-34 centime- Emanuel Katz (Washington), Little Higgses (APCTP), Moshe Rozali (UBC), Alexander ters, or in processes involving extremely high Noboru Kawamoto (Hokkaido), Twisted Rutherford (PIMS) and Gor- energies, far beyond the reach of any conceiv- superspace and Dirac-Kaehler fermions don Semenoff (UBC). able experiments. In most of the extra dimen- Hyung Do Kim (KIAS), Deconstructing sion scenarios, gravity becomes an important warped gauge theory and unification player in particle physics modeling. C.S. Lam (McGill), What can neutrino oscil-

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Recent Pacific Northwest (PNW) Seminars

PNW String Seminar, PIMS at UBC, lumbia. The invited speakers were: Kristin in linear algebra. In addition to the contributed March 08–10, 2002 Lauter (Microsoft), Greg Martin (UBC), talks, the meeting featured lectures from three Contributed by Sandy Rutherford, PIMS Carl Pomerance (Bell Labs), Mark invited speakers: Jane Day (San Jose State), Sheingorn, Fernando Rodriguez Villegas Ludwig Elsner (Universität Bielefeld) and The second annual PNW String Theory Semi- (Texas, Austin) and Hugh Williams (U of C). Chris Godsil (Waterloo). nar featured a series of talks on recent developments in string theory. It was organized by Spring Session of the West Coast Optimi- Joint Meeting of the PNW Geometry Kazayuki Furuuchi (PIMS & UBC), Moshe zation Meeting, SFU, May 3–4, 2002 Seminar and the Cascade Topology Seminar, UWashington, May 11–12, 2002 Rozali (UBC) and Gordon Semenoff (UBC). Contributed by Philip Loewen, UBC This weekend meeting provides an opportu- Contributed by John Palmieri, UW nity for graduate students to interact with lead- The West Coast Optimization Meeting ing researchers in the field. The talks were (WCOM) occurs twice each year, with one Roughly 60 people attended this meeting, given by: Kazuyuki Furuuchi (PIMS & meeting in Greater Vancouver and one in Se- mostly from Washington, Oregon, and British UBC), Andreas Karch (UW), David Kutasov attle. The spring session was well-attended, Columbia. Individually, the PNW Geometry (Chicago), Shin Nakamura (KEK), Kazumi with over thirty participants. There were seven Seminar and the Cascade Topology Seminar Okuyama (Chicago), Jan Plefka (AEI, 45-minute technical presentations and a short are regular, regional meetings for geometers Potsdam), Lisa Randall (Harvard), Eva theoretical talk, covering the full spectrum of and topologists, respectively. This joint meet- Silverstein (Stanford), Matthias Staudacher theory, implementations, and applications of ing provided a good setting for the usual inter- (AEI, Potsdam) and Leonard Susskind continuous optimization. The following people actions within each group, but also interactions (Stanford). spoke at the meeting: James V. Burke (UW), between the groups. The meeting also received Asen Dontchev (Mathematical Reviews), funding from the National Science Foundation. 2002 Spring Meeting of the PNW Statisti- Oliver Dorn (UBC), Marian Fabian (Czech The talks were designed so as to be accessible cal Group, UBC, April 12, 2002 Academy of Sciences), Gabor Pataki (North to the entire audience, and they were well-received. This was reflected in the broad partici- Contributed by Jenny Bryan, UBC Carolina), Tamas Terlaky (McMaster), Paul Tseng (UW) and Jonathan Borwein (SFU). pation in the problem sessions following the talks. Topics for talks included information This biannual meeting is organized by the stat- The session concluded with a small group dis- theory, gauge theory, conformal field theory, isticians at several institutions and universities cussion, led by Tamas Terlaky, of the pros- and rational homotopy theory. Speakers: John in the Pacific northwestern U.S. and western pects for stimulating and structuring a nation- Baez (UC Riverside), Dan Christensen provinces of Canada. The Spring 2002 meet- wide collaboration in optimization. (Western Ontario), Ralph Cohen (Stanford), ing was held at St. John’s College at UBC and Megan Kerr (Wellesley), Laura Scull (UBC) included 44 participants, with good represen- Western Canada Linear Algebra Meeting, and Deane Yang (Polytechnic University). tation from various institutions and excellent University of Regina, May 10–11, 2002 participation by graduate students. The main Contributed by Steve Kirkland, U. of Regina speaker was: Ying MacNab (Health Care and 3rd PNW PDE Meeting, Washington State University, Pullman, May 23–25, 2002 Epidemiology, UBC and Centre for Commu- This meeting was the sixth in the ongoing se- nity Health and Health Evaluation Research, ries of WCLAMs, which have been held Contributed by Gunther Uhlmann, UW BC Research Institute for Children’s and roughly every two years since 1993. The meet- Women’s Health), Statistical modeling issues ing received financial support from the National This meeting was held in honor of John R. in hospital performance comparison studies: Programme Committee, the University of Cannon’s 65th birthday. The conference was the Neonatal Health Services in Canada Regina Conference Fund, and the University organized by Robert Dillon, Alex Khapalov, Project. of Regina Faculty of Science. WCLAM 2002 V.S. Manoranjan and Hong-Ming Yin, from featured 18 talks by speakers from Canada, the Washington State University. The invited Sixth Annual Pacific North West Number United States and Germany. The lectures cov- speakers covered a wide range of topics in par- Theory Conference, PIMS-SFU, April 20– ered a range of research areas associated with tial differential equations including inverse and 21, 2002 linear algebra, include matrix theory, operator ill-posed problems, free boundary problems, Contributed by Peter Borwein, SFU theory, graph theory, applied mathematics, nu- PDE’s arising in the life sciences, PDE’s aris- merical analysis and combinatorics. The list ing in financial mathematics and numerical The sixth annual PNW Number Theory Meet- of speakers included two winners of the Hans analysis of PDE’s. ing had about 40 participants primarily from Schneider prize, which is given out every three Washington, Oregon, Alberta and British Co- years by the International Linear Algegra Soci- For more information about PNW Seminars ety for outstanding contributions to research please see www.pims.math.ca/science/pnw. 12 Vol. 6, Issue 2 Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

PIMS 2003 Thematic Programme on Inverse Problems & Applications Inverse problems are problems in which the goal is fields and their applications. Another important ob- bring together mathematicians familiar with these to find objects their material or biological properties jective is to foster international cooperation through- techniques and geophysicists familiar with the prac- or information about their surrounding environment out the Americas. tical applications. which cannot be measured directly or it is not desir- BIRS Workshop on Scattering and PIMS-MITACS-IMA Workshop on able to do so. These problems arise in many areas Inverse Scattering Industrial Applications of Inverse of applications including geophysics, medical imag- Banff, March 22–27, 2003 Problems ining, remote sensing and non-destructive evalua- Organisers: Richard Froese (Chair, UBC), PIMS-UBC, July 27–August 1, 2003 tion of materials. Gunther Uhlmann (U. Washington) Organisers: Fadil Santosa (Chair, U. Minne- During the last twenty years or so there has The workshop will focus on recent develop- sota), David Dobson (Texas A & M), Gary been remarkable developments in the mathematical ments in scattering and inverse scattering Margrave (U. Calgary) and Gunther Uhlmann theory of inverse problems. These developments theory. In both these fields techniques of (U. Washington). together with the enormous increase in computing microlocal analysis, including the use of eikonal power and new powerful numerical methods has The goal of the workshop is to stimulate the cre- equations and of complex geometrical optics made possible to make significant progress on in- ation of interdisciplinary teams, consisting of math- solutions to Schroedinger and other equations, creasingly more realistic and difficult inverse prob- ematicians, engineers and scientists, that would con- has led to substantial progress in recent years. lems. The purpose of the period of concentration is tinue working on inverse problems posed by in- Scattering theory seeks an understanding to bring together mathematicians and practitioners dustry scientists at the workshop. The teams will of spectral phenomena for noncompact mani- to work on these problems on these problem. Dur- comprise of a mix of senior and junior mathemati- folds. There has been a recent focus in this ing 2003 a series of workshops on inverse prob- cians that are broadly trained in mathematics and are subject on what is now termed geometric scat- lems will be held at different locations emphasizing interested in collaborating with industry on real- tering, which amounts to the study of scatter- the wide range of applications. Gunther Uhlmann world inverse problems. ing on classes of noncompact complete mani- is the coordinator of the PIMS thematic year. This workshop will concentrate on industrial folds with regular structures at infinity. Some applications of inverse problems. The goal is to Pan-American Advanced Studies of the questions asked here concern the smooth determine defects, corrosion, cracks, very small in- Institute (PASI) on PDEs, Inverse parametrization of the continuous spectrum by homogeneities, cavities or inclusions by noninvasive Problems and Non-Linear Analysis functions on some ideal boundary, the struc- measurements. The object under study is probed Centro de Modelamiento Matemático, ture of the scattering matrix as an operator on Universidad de Chile, Jan 6–19, 2003 using X-rays or electromagnetic and elastic waves this ideal boundary, and the study of resonances, and the mathematical methods are based on the study Organisers: Rafael Benguria (Pontificia which are poles of the meromorphic continua- of inverse boundary and scattering problems. Universidad Católica de Chile), Carlos Conca tion of the resolvent. There are many subtle (Universidad de Chile), Nassif Ghoussoub (PIMS connections between these objects and the ge- Workshop on Inverse Problems and & UBC), Raul Manásevich (co-chair, Universidad ometry of the underlying manifold. Medical Imaging de Chile), Wei-Ming Ni (U. Minnesota), Gunther U. Washington, Seattle, August 4–8, 2003 Uhlmann (co-chair, U. Washington) and Michael PIMS-MITACS Workshop on Inverse Organisers: John Schotland (chair), Richard Problems in Geophysics Vogelius (Rutgers U.). Albanese (Armstrong Research Lab, Brooks PIMS, U. Calgary, July 21–26, 2003 The PASI will consist of a series of intensive mini- AFB), Tom Budinger (Biomedical Engineering, Organisers: Maarted de Hoop (Colorado School courses during the first week followed the second Berkeley), David Isaacson (Courant), Amir of Mines), Gary Margrave (Chair, U. Calgary), week by a workshop focused on latest develop- Gandjbakhche (National Institute of Health) and Gunther Uhlmann (U. Washington) and William ments. The mini-courses will be given by Gunther Uhlmann (U. Washington). Symes (Rice U.). L. Caffarelli, G. Ponce, F. Santosa, T. Toro and This workshop will concentrate on recent develop- G. Uhlmann. Seismic imaging creates images of the Earth’s up- ments in medical imaging including the advances in The PASI is sponsored by the US NSF, US per crust using seismic waves generated by artifi- engineering and image processing mathematics Dept. of Energy, PIMS, Conicyt and the CMM. cial sources and recorded into extensive arrays of which have allowed for significant enhancement of PIMS will be sponsoring the participation of sensors (geophones or hydrophones). The tech- widely used imaging techniques like X-ray tomog- Canadian students in PASI. Nomination letters for nology is based on a complex and rapidly evolving, raphy, magnetic resonance imaging, single photon interested and qualified graduate students in Cana- mathematical theory that employs advanced solu- emission tomography, positron emission tomogra- dian universities should be sent by their supervi- tions to a wave equation as tools to solve approxi- phy, ultrasound etc. Of particular interest is recent sors to the PIMS Central Office at UBC. The dead- mately the general seismic inverse problem. In the progress in “elasticity imaging” which uses ad- line is October 15, 2002. year 2000, nearly $4 billion was spent worldwide vances in the mathematical study of wave propaga- One of the main objectives of the PASI on PDE, on seismic imaging. The heterogeneity and anisot- tion in heterogeneous media for the evaluation of IP and NA is to bring many of the recent develop- ropy of the Earth’s upper crust require advanced mechanical properties of tissue inaccessible to touch ments to advanced graduate students, postdocs and mathematics to generate wave-equation solutions by a physician. other scientists in the Americas interested in these suitable for seismic imaging. The workshop will Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Fall 2002 13 ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ PIMS Collaborative Research Groups by Nassif Ghoussoub, PIMS Director

As part of its second phase of development, will create new research opportunities for these · Pacific Northwest mini-conference series PIMS is embarking on a plan that will create young scientists, including exchanges, joint · 5-day workshops at BIRS and support collaborative multi-university supervision, and summer schools. · Focussed workshops at host universities teams of mathematical scientists. These Col- The CRGs directly address the problems of · Intensive two week graduate courses laborative Research Groups (CRGs) will pool retention and recruitment of faculty. They are · Distinguished chairs & long term visitors talent across universities to form world-class a venue for new faculty to get plugged into a · Graduate students exchanges research groups that will generate and sustain larger community, they give young faculty an · Graduate & senior undergrad schools the scientific programme of PIMS in the years effective network to build their research pro- · Industrial training camps to come. gram, and they enhance the attractiveness of · International collaborations The research programs of these groups will the universities. · Teaching relief & sabbatical supplements. be supported through a new PIMS program PIMS has identified 32 potential CRGs With this support, a CRG can plan to gather that supports concentrated activities in 5-10 re- within its community, spanning five broad ar- a significant portion of the world's experts in search areas each year. This programme, run eas of research to which PIMS is committed: its focus topic for periods of intense collabora- on a competitive basis, will support multi-site Fundamental Mathematics, Applied and com- tion. The fruits of such intensity can be ex- activities of selected CRGs over a 1-2 year putational Mathematics, Mathematical Biology pected to persist for many years and to be ex- period of concentration. and Medicine, Statistical Sciences and Theo- ponentially greater than the results of more retical Computer Science. While some are al- normal activity levels. What is a PIMS CRG? ready well established and structured, in most In due course, all 32 of the PIMS CRGs cases they are just forming. Each CRG, which recognized so far would be given the benefit of consists of 10-15 Canadian and US research- a period of concentration. This approach should The CRGs typically consist of researchers with ers, are to be jointly coordinated by at least 3 dramatically increase the effectiveness of the a common research interest and with a com- senior researchers representing various PIMS' PIMS research program by making its facili- mon desire to collaboratively develop some Sites. ties and its opportunities available to all CRGs aspects of their research programs. Groups may on a periodic basis. already be organizing joint seminars and workshops, making joint PDF appointments, or de- Periods of Concentrated activities veloping joint graduate training programs. for the CRGs Expected Impact of the Periods of However, with the resources and organizational Concentration structure of PIMS they will be able to do con- The Periods of Concentration are designed to siderably more. promote and support longer term, multi-event, A targeted and coordinated, yet inclusive grass- The CRGs act as a vehicle for networking multi-site coordinated activities of competitively roots approach of this form will present a new between universities. They effectively integrate selected CRGs, in tandem with their national and innovative way for the institute to drive the mathematical sciences community at the and international collaborators and visitors. and stimulate research and will result in a sig- various PIMS universities into the scientific Every year, the PIMS Scientific Review Panel nificant impact on the research excellence of infrastructure of PIMS. They will build on al- will select on a competitive basis, up to 5 areas its activities. The program's extended time ready existing joint efforts and links between of research from those proposed by existing or scale, its multi-event nature and its cross-uni- the researchers of Western Canada and the US developing CRGs. The selected areas will be versity character together distinguish it from Pacific Northwest thereby opening up a new the focus of much of the institute's program any other institute program. Its implementa- era of scientific collaborations between the two over a 1±2 year period of concentrated activi- tion will allow PIMS to achieve several of its countries. They will also will assume scien- ties that will be delivered through the selected goals. It will: tific leadership at the Banff Station and some CRGs. Thus, at any given time, as many as 10 · Provide new ways of having its scien- will have the potential to lead industrial projects CRGs may be leading the PIMS scientific entific programs driven by its member scientists: through the MITACS network. terprise. Proposals can vary greatly according The program will help elicit proposals for the- The CRGs will create critical mass that will to the needs of the particular group and may matic summers, miniprograms, BIRS events, substantially enhance training programs at all combine a number of existing PIMS activities. and distinguished scholars as part of the appli- levels. The pooling of PIMS support with other During its period of concentration, a CRG can cation process. These programs will have strong sources and the joint planning of resource allo- expect to receive priority for: local interest and will encourage grass-roots cation will allow the CRGs to support a large · Thematic programs and mini-programs generation and longterm planning of activities number of PDFs and graduate students and · PIMS postdoctoral fellowships with a much more inclusive and flexible for-

14 Vol. 6, Issue 2 Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ mat than standard thematic programs. Upcoming Areas of M. Klassen (DigiPen Inst of Tech); K. Lauter · Foster multi-site interactions and collabo- (Microsoft); and J. Lewis (UA). rations: The program will continue to build the Concentration: 2003±06 inter-site collaborative nature of the PIMS com- Mathematical Ecology: 2003±05 munity and will alleviate the problems of inter- String Theory: 2003±05 connection inherent in large geographical sepa- This concentration period will incubate signifi- The concentration of researchers in string theory rations between the PIMS sites. It creates a cant new original research, foster local interac- and closely related fields in the PIMS and Perim- context through which researchers can collec- tions, provide leadership to the new researchers, eter Institute communities has reached a critical tively profit from the opportunities created by and strengthen the international profile of math- size and has the potential to be a major player in PIMS, the Banff station and the MITACS net- ematical ecology & evolution in our universities. the international research community. work. Members of the CRG: M. Boyce, T. Hillen, Members of the CRG: B. Campbell, V. Frolov, · Create new research opportunities and S. Lele, M. Lewis , M. Li, J. Roland, J. So (UA); D. Page, T. Gannon (UA); G. Semenoff, enhance training: The periods of concentration E. McCauley (UC); F. Brauer, M. Doebeli, M. Rozali, M. Van Raamsdonk, K. Schleich, will allow for the planning of a series of ad- N. Heckman, L. Keshet, J. Zidek (UBC); D. Witt, M. Choptuik, W. Unruh, J. Bryan, vanced graduate courses at any one site with J. Anderson, C. Bergstrom, D. Grunbaum, K. Behrend (UBC); M. Walton (Lethbridge); the participation of students from multiple R. Hilborne, M. Kot (Washington); B. Roitberg R. Myers, L. Smolin (Perimeter Institute); PIMS universities. The Western Dean’s agree- (SFU); and P. van den Driessche (UVic). K. Viswanathan (SFU); A. Peet (Toronto); and ment allows graduate students at any Western A. Karch (Washington). Canadian university to take courses, for credit, Dynamics & Related Topics: 2003±05 at any Canadian PIMS university. The result Scientific Computing: 2003±05 Due to the diversity of the researchers in this will be new opportunities for PIMS graduate CRG a wide range of topics will be covered in- students and a larger audience for PIMS and A special feature of this period of concentra- cluding operator algebras, the dynamics of bio- visiting scientists. This will directly lead to a tion is the promotion of a multidisciplinary logical systems, and aperiodic order theory. vigorous graduate student exchange program. approach to the subject and the inclusion of Members of the CRG: R. Moody, A. Lau, · Support existing collaborative research important research topics such as the earth and V. Runde, A. Weiss (UA); M. Lamoureux, groups and foster new groups: The periods of atmospheric sciences. B. Brenken, I. Nikolaev (UC); D. Lind, concentration will help to strengthen groups Members of the CRG: R. Choksi, C. Hoffman, S. Rohde, B. Solomyak, S. Tuncel, and give them a vehicle for long-range plan- M.C. Kropinski, T. Möller, D. Muraki, M. Einsiedler (Washington); I. Putnam, ning of research and advanced education ac- K. Promislow, B. Russell, S. Ruuth,J. Phillips, M. Laca, C. Bose, R. Edw ards (UVic); tivities. As well it will encourage and empower L. Trajkovic, M. Trummer, J. Verner, R. Zahar K. Schmidt (Vienna); M. Boyle (Maryland); isolated groups or smaller ones at one univer- (SFU); Y. Lin, J. Macki, P. Minev, Y.S. Wong C. Denninger (Muenster); W. Parry (Warwick); sity by bringing them into larger collaborative (UA); U. Ascher, O. Dorn, S. Dunbar,and D. Rudolph (Maryland). teams. I. Frigaard, A. Peirce, B. Seymour, B. Shizgal, · Effectively facilitate Canada-US collabo- J. Varah, M. Ward, B. Wetton, M. Yedlin (UBC); Probability Theory & Statistical Me- rations: The program will effectively integrate T. Ware, R. Westbrook (UC); D. Olesky, P. van chanics: 2004±06 the mathematical sciences community at the U. den Driessche (UVic); R. LeVeque, L. Adams, of Washington into the operations of the insti- D. Durran, A. Greenbaum, G. Hakim, N. Kutz, Two challenging and related topics looked at by tute. It will allow the 12 groups of Canadian R. O’Malley, P. Schmid, J. Burke, C. Bretherton this group will be: and US researchers that are currently organiz- (Washington); R. Bradean, J. Kenna (Ballard); I. The development of a general theory of inter- ing the PNW Seminars to develop further their J. Lewis, S. Filipowski, M. Epton (Boeing); and active superprocesses & in particular methods to collaborative activities, and allow other groups S. Reddy (Quadrus Financial). characterize these processes & study their prop- to launch these types of activities. The pro- erties. gram will also provide researchers with the Number Theory: 2003±05 II. The use of such models in mathematical ecol- means to play a leadership role on the national ogy and evolution. and international level. All areas of Number Theory will be dealt with Members of the CRG: D. Brydges, J. Feldman, · Attract additional support for research: in this concentration period, including compu- G. Slade, M. Barlow, E. Perkins, J. Walsh Periods of concentration will provide depart- tational and arithmetic aspects. (UBC); B. Schmuland, M. Kouritzin (UA); ments and universities with a mechanism for Members of the CRG: M. Bennett, D. Boyd, C. Burdzy, Z.-Q. Chen, B. Erickson, S. Rohde granting teaching and administrative releases B. Casselman, R. Gupta, I. Laba, G. Martin, (Washington); J. Chayes, C. Borgs, O. Schramm, to the scientists involved. Such programs can N. Vatsal (UBC); P. Borwein, I. Chen, S. Choi, D. Wilson (Microsoft); C. Soteros, R. Srinivasan also be developed in collaboration with other P. Lisonek (SFU); R. Guy, J. Jones, R. Mollin, (Saskatchewan); R. van der Hofstad (Eurandon); organizations and institutes, hence multiplying R. Scheidler, H. Williams (UC); R. Greenberg, and D. Dawson (McGill). the opportunities. A. Iovita, N. Koblitz, B. Solomyak (Washing- ton); A. Akbary, O. Kihel (Lethbridge); For more information please see E. Dobrowolski (College of New Caledonia); www.pims.math.ca/CRG/. Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Fall 2002 15 ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ Important Deadlines for PIMS Opportunities PIMS Postdoctoral Call for Proposals for Call for Proposals for Fellowship PIMS Conference, BIRS 2004 Season

Nominations Workshops, Seminars The Banff International Research Station is now accepting proposals for the 2004 season The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sci- and Related Activities which runs March 12 ± December 18, 2004. ences invites applications for Postdoctoral Fel- The deadline for workshop proposals is Octo- PIMS is now welcoming applications for sup- lowships from outstanding young researchers ber 15, 2002. This is the optimal, but not nec- port for conferences, workshops, seminars and in the mathematical sciences for the year 2003± essary, date for other types of programs too. If related activities in the Mathematical Sciences, 2004. Applicants must be nominated by a possible, proposal submissions should be made to occur after April 1, 2003. scientist(s) affiliated with PIMS or by a De- online using the Online Submission Forms. The deadline for applications is October 15, partment (or Departments) affiliated with Please see the website 2002. After being reviewed by the PIMS Sci- PIMS. The fellowships are intended to supple- www.pims.math.ca/birs/proposals_menu/ entific Review Panel, the decisions will be an- ment support made available through such a for further details including descriptions of the nounced by January 31, 2002. sponsor. The Institute expects to support up to various BIRS programmes and guidelines for For further information please see 20 fellowships tenable at any of its Canadian submitting proposals. member universities: Simon Fraser University, www.pims.math.ca/opportunities/ the University of Alberta, the University of proposals.html. British Columbia, the University of Calgary, and the University of Victoria, as well as the Call for Nominations for PIMS Prizes affiliated universities: the University of North- ern British Columbia and the University of PIMS is now accepting nominations for the mathematical analysis in the resolution of prob- Lethbridge. following prizes: lems with direct industrial, economic or social The deadline is February 7, 2003. Please impact. This prize is intended for individuals see www.pims.math.ca/opportunities/ 1. PIMS Research Prize from the academic, private or government sec- pdf.html for details. Awarded for a particular outstanding contribu- tors. This prize will be given to individuals tion to the mathematical sciences that was dis- who at the time of nomination are Canadian seminated during the five-year period prior to citizens or permanent residents of Canada. the award being given. Open to Canadian citi- National Programme zens, permanent residents of Canada and resi- Nominees for each prize should be nominated dents of Pacific Rim countries who maintain by three sponsors. They are to provide a cover Committee Call for academic ties to the Canadian mathematical letter explaining the nominee's contribution, sciences community. impact and relevance for the prize. The nomi- Proposals nation should also include a CV of the nomi- Submission of proposals involving joint ini- 2. PIMS Education Prize nee, a publication list, a list of creative works tiatives with the Fields Institute and CRM Awarded to a member of the PIMS community or list of industrial products, and relevant should be made by October 15, 2002. who has made a significant contribution to edu- samples of the nominee's work, such as re- Applications should be sent to: cation in the mathematical sciences. This prize prints, patents or educational materials. Chair, National Programme Committe is intended to recognize individuals from the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences PIMS member universities or other educational Nominations should be sent to: Room 205, 1933 West Mall institutions in Alberta and British Columbia, Attention: PIMS Prizes University of British Columbia who have played a major role in encouraging PIMS Director's Office Vancouver BC V6T 1Z2 activities which have enhanced public aware- Room 200, 1933 West Mall Canada ness and appreciation of mathematics, as well University of British Columbia or by email to [email protected] as fostering communication among various Vancouver BC V6T 1Z2 Please see the webpage groups and organizations concerned with math- Canada www.pims.math.ca/opportunities/ ematical training at all levels. natprogcomm.html for details. Nominations must be received by Oct 15, 2002. 3. PIMS Industrial Outreach Prize For more information, please see the webpage Awarded to an individual who has employed www.pims.math.ca/prizes.

16 Vol. 6, Issue 2 Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

New Lectures Available via Streaming Video over the Internet

Many more videos are now available at http:/ els, Formal Abstractions and Applications PNW String Theory Seminar, PIMS at /www.pims.math.ca/video/ The videos are • Russel Caflisch (UCLA), Modeling and the UBC, March 8±10, 2002 in Realvideo format. We have high resolution Simulation for Epitaxial Growth jpeg images of the speaker’s slides when pos- • Joel H. Ferziger (Stanford University), Nu- 10 lectures are available! sible. MP3 files are also available for listening merical Simulation of Turbulence to for many of the lectures. The library is di- • David Gottlieb (Brown University), Spec- Minicourses vided into five main sections. The following tral Methods for Discontinuous Problems list gives some of the more recent videos that • Philippe R. Spalart (Boeing, Seattle), De- PIMS is offering. tached-Eddy Simulation Minicourses by PIMS Distinguished Chairs Distinguished Lectures Ceremonies and Meetings Michael Shelley (Courant Institute), PIMS • Ivar Ekeland (Université Paris-Dauphine), Distinguished Chair, Simon Fraser University, November–December, 2001 • PIMS Awards Ceremony 2001, Vancouver, Systems of Nonlinear PDEs arising in eco- • Computing Free Boundary Problems in December 1, 2001 nomic theory, UBC, March 22, Moving Fluids (lecture 1) • Computing with Surface Tension, and Dis- • Announcement Ceremony for the Banff In- 2002 covering Singularities (lecture 2) ternational Research Station, The Banff Cen- • Pattern Formation in Fluid Dynamics: Fluid tre, Banff Alberta and The National Science • David Gillman Dynamics meets Materials Science (lecture 3) Foundation, Washington, DC, September 24, (UCLA), Odd • Why do Flags Flap? (lecture 4) 2001 embeddings on lens spaces, • Bending in the Wind: Elasticity and Drag UBC, May 31, Reduction (lecture 5) • Opening Ceremonies and Banquet of the 2001 David Gillman, UCLA Canada-China Mathematics Congress, UBC, 2001 Vladimir Turaev (National Center of Scien- August 20, 2001 • Douglas Arnold (Director, IMA, Minne- tific Research, France), PIMS Distinguished sota), Colliding Black Holes and Gravity Chair, U. of Calgary, July–August, 2001 Seminar Series and Waves: A new Computational Challenge, UBC, • Torsion of chain complexes (lecture 1) May 16, 2001 • Mehler’s Formula and the Renormalization Distinguished Lectures Group (lecture 2) • David Eisenbud (Director, MSRI), Chow • Euler structures and refined torsions (lec- MITACS Annual General Meeting, Forms and Resultants—old and new, UBC, ture 3) UBC, May 23±25, 2002 April 12, 2001 • The torsion function of 3-manifolds (lecture 4) • Gilbert Strang (MIT), Filtering and Signal • Properties of the torsion function (lecture 5) Processing Thematic Programmes, • Ron Graham (UC, San Diego), Guessing Secrets Conferences and Educational Activities • Anil K. Jain (University of Michigan), Fin- Workshops gerprint Matching PIMS Changing the Culture 2002, SFU Thematic Programme on Asymptotic Harbour Centre, April 26, 2002 IAM-PIMS 2001±02 Joint Distinguished Geometric Analysis, PIMS at the UBC, Colloquia, UBC • Ed Barbeau (Mathematics, University of July 1±August 15, 2002 Toronto), Symbiosis: Intu- • Eva Tardos (Cornell 100 lectures are available! ition and Rigour University), Approxima- • Brent Davis (Education, tion Algorithms and University of Alberta), Games on Networks Rigour : Mathematics : : • Adam Arkin (UC, Ber- International Conference on Robust Sta- Intuition : Teaching ... And keley), Signal Processing tistics, UBC, May 13±17, 2002 Vice Versa in Cellular Regulatory Eva Tardos, Networks: Physical Mod- 23 lectures are available! Ed Barbeau, Cornell University U. Toronto

Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Fall 2002 17 ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ Is Economic Theory True? By Dr. Ivar Ekeland, Université Paris-Dauphine Ivar Ekeland

ij I. The problem of testing the so-called Slutsky matrix S (p) = s (p)i,j associated with x (p):

j j ij ∂x k ∂x i s (p) = − X p x Economic theory, like physics, works from the bottom up. For the physi- ∂pi ∂pk k cist, objects, as we see them, are built from atoms aggregated in various ways. For the economist, society is a collection of decision-making indi- Then x (p) can be decomposed in the form (1) if and only if its Slutsky viduals who interact. So we need to know how people make decisions. matrix of x (p) is symmetric negative definite. In other words, the k partial Let us look at the simplest case of a lone individual, having an amount derivatives of x (p) have to satisfy K (K − 1) /2 distinct conditions. This w ∈ R+ to spend on the purchase of K goods. If he buys the quantity is a lot, and there are many conditions to be tested. They have been, and k k x of good k, he pays pkx , where pk is the unit price of good k. In the results make a nice story. classical economic theory, his tastes are subsumed by a utility function Up to 1996, all econometric tests applied on collected data rejected K U : R+ → R, which we will assume to be concave and smooth. The in- the symmetry of the Slutsky matrix. That year, a paper by Browning and dividual then chooses the goods bundle x (p) which maximizes his utility Chiappori appeared, which did two things. First, they tested the symmetry under the budget constrain (throughout the paper, transposition is denoted hypothesis on data for singles. The point is that all collected data con- by prime): cerns household, not individual, consumption: when food is bought, it is 0 max U (x) for p x ≤ w for the whole family. In previous tests, no provision was made to weed out x data concerning households with two or more individuals. Browning and So the individual decision process is reduced to a concave optimiza- Chiappori [1] argued that the theory should not apply to that case: two indi- tion problem. It is a very simple model, and very tractable mathematically, viduals have two utility functions, not one. For households, the individual but is it true? Certainly, there is little prima facie evidence for utility func- choice problem is compounded by a sharing problem. It turned out that tions; we cannot just peer into ourselves and find it. So the problem of they were right: on consumption data concerning singles, the symmetry of testing the model is a difficult one, and we have to handle it in a round- the Slutsky matrix was not rejected. about way. The basic idea is to look at the demand function p → x (p), which gives the choices of the consumer as prices change. Certainly, ways can be devised to observe that. We get a map from RK into itself, and III. Testing with household data the question is whether the theory predicts some properties which can be tested against the observations. Then Browning and Chiappori built a theory for household data and tested it. We shall model two-persons households in a very simple way: two in- II. Testing with individual data dividuals sharing the same budget constraint. Let U1(x1) and U2(x2) be their utility functions. Individual consumptions x1 and x2 are not observ- Introduce the indirect utility function : able, but joint consumption x = (x1 + x2) is. The total earnings of the

0 household are w, and they share it in an unknown way, allotting w1 (p) to V (p) = max U (x) | p x = w x the ﬁrst and w2 = w − w1 (p) to the second. Then each one solves his/her own problem: By the classical theory of Lagrange multipliers, there is some λ (p) >

0 such that: maxx U1 (x) maxx U2 (x)

1 1 0 px ≤ w (p) px ≤ w − w (p) V (p) = max U (x) + λ (p) w − p x x Leading to the indirect utility functions: where the maximum on the right-hand side is attained at x (p) . Applying 0 V1 (p) = max U1 (x) | p x = w1 (p) the envelope theorem, we get: 0 V2 (p) = max U2 (x) | p x = w − w1 (p) DpV (p) = −λ (p) x (p) (1) and to the equations: This is a remarkable relation, because it tells us that the vector ﬁeld DpV1 (p) = −λ1 (p) (x1 (p) − Dpw1 (p)) x (p) (which we know) is collinear to the gradient of an unknown function V (p) . In addition, λ must be positive and V convex. This is a very strong DpV2 (p) = −λ2 (p) (x2 (p) + Dpw1 (p)) condition on x (p) , and the economists have long worked out some neces- 1 1 − DpV1 (p) − DpV2 (p) = x1 (p) + x2 (p) = x (p) (2) sary and sufﬁcient conditions (see for instance the treatise [4]). Introduce λ1 (p) λ2 (p)

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We now raise the question: given a vector field x (p) , when can we and, as above, we seek convex solutions. Chiappori and Ekeland [2] have find convex functions V1 and V2, and positive functions λ1 and λ2 such shown that such a solution exists (locally) for any analytic right-hand side. that the decomposition (2) holds locally? A necessary condition was found From the economic point of view, this is a negative result: any analytic by Browning and Chiappori, and proved to be sufficient by Ekeland and map X from RK into itself can be a market demand function, so there Nirenberg [3]: the Slutsky matrix S (p) of x (p) should split into the sum are no conditions to test. From the mathematical point of view, this raises of a symmetric, negative definite matrix, and a matrix of rank 1 : another question, to which I would very much like to know the answer: 0 0 S (p) = Σ (p) + a (p) b (p) , with Σ (p) = Σ (p) > 0 (3) what about smooth, but not analytic, right-hand sides? To give a specific example, can one find functions u (x, y, z) and v (x, y, z) such that So household demand, although it does not satisfy the Slutsky condition, satisfies a weaker condition, which is (3) in the case when the house- ux vx + = f (x, y, z) hold consists of two persons. Lo and behold, this condition is not rejected uz vz uy vy by econometric tests conducted on collected data. I find it a most remark- + = g (x, y, z) uz vz able fact that people solve complicated systems of nonlinear PDEs simply by taking care of themselves. ∞ where the right-hand sides f, g are C ? The question is open.

IV. Testing with market data Consumption data concerning households or individuals is difﬁcult to References come by. It would be much easier to test the theory on market data, that is, the aggregate consumption of many individuals, which is readily found in [1] M. Browning and P.-A. Chiappori “Efﬁcient Intra-Household Alloca- many available sales statistics. Let us again consider a simple model, con- tions: a General Characterization and Empirical Tests”, Economet- sisting of N individuals, each one with his own utility function Un, and rica, 66 (1998), 1241-1278. his own wealth wn, resulting in an individual demand function xn (p). We [2] P.A. Chiappori and I. Ekeland “Aggregation and Market Demand : an observe the wn and the aggregate demand X (p) = P xn (p). As above, we have: Exterior Differential Calculus Viewpoint”, Econometrica 67 (1999), 1 1435-58 xn (p) = − DpVn (p) λn (p) [3] I. Ekeland and L. Nirenberg, “A convex Darboux theorem”, to appear, 1 0 wn = − p DpVn (p) Methods and Applications of Analysis λn (p) Substituting, we get a system of K nonlinear PDEs for the Vn: [4] A. Mas-Colell, M. Whinston, J. Green, “Microeconomic theory”, Ox- N wn ford University Press, 1995 X 0 DpVn (p) = X (p) p DpVn (p) n=1

This article is based on a talk Dr. Ekeland gave as a PIMS Distinguished Lecturer. The lecture is entitled Systems of Nonlinear PDEs arising in economic theory and can be viewed at www.pims.math.ca/science/2002/dist_lect/ekeland/.

Upcoming Cascade Topology Seminar PIMS-UBC, 2±3 November 2002

Contributed by Dale Rolfsen, PIMS-UBC

The 29th meeting of the Cascade Topology Seminar (CTS) will be held at PIMS-UBC over the weekend of 2±3 November. The CTS is a regional seminar which takes place twice a year in western Canada or the northwest region of the US, on a rotating basis. It is supported by PIMS as well as by an NSF grant. There will be five lectures on Saturday and Sunday (ending noon Sunday) and a social event on Saturday evening. Students and postdoctoral fellows are especially encouraged to attend, and may qualify for financial support. Among the confirmed speakers are: · Ian Hambleton (McMaster Universit) · Vaughan Jones (UC Berkeley) · Sergey Yuzvinsky (University of Oregon) with two others not available at press time. Details will be posted on the PIMS website as they are confirmed.

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continued from page 4 Open Letter to The Prime Minister of If you are an organizer or participant of an Canada, The Honorable Jean Chretien upcoming BIRS programme, be sure to check out the website for the links to the Banff Cen- The Fields Medal is the highest recognition that the world mathematics community offers for tre and its extensive programme of artistic ac- research in mathematics, and in prestige it rivals the Nobel Prize (which is not given in mathemat- tivities, its very considerable athletic facilities ics). Unfortunately, few are aware that J. C. Fields was a Canadian, that the Fields Medal was a (swimming pool, climbing wall, etc.) and other Canadian idea, and that the Fields Foundation is located in Canada. This is in sharp contrast with links to the National Parks, shuttle services, the Nobel Prize which is usually announced and presented by the King of Sweden. accommodations for extending your stay, maps, Recently, the Norwegian Prime Minister, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, has taken the lead by granting and so on. You will also find that your work- US$22 million to fund the Abel prize: a new international prize in mathematics that is supposed to shop has its own webpage. serve as the counterpart of the Nobel Prize for our discipline. This is in sharp contrast with the token monetary value of the Fields medal. The location of BIRS in the lively artistic In 2002, there may be an opportunity to change that: community of the Banff Centre raises the po- (1) to clearly identify Canada with the Fields Medal, tential for workshops that combine the normal (2) and to increase the monetary value of the Fields Medal. fare of the mathematical sciences with other The International Congress of Mathematicians will meet in Beijing in August 2002. The Chi- parts of cultural world that makes up our soci- nese President is expected to be present at the opening ceremony where the medals will be ety. One such example is a BIRS workshop on presented. It is important that a very prominent CanadianÐthe Prime Minister, the Governor- Creative Scientific Writing that will be held General or the Minister of IndustryÐbe present in Beijing to award the Fields Medals. It is also a around Labour Day 2003. Each year we would good opportunity for the government of Canada to align the medal with the Nobel Prize by like to run a couple of events of this type. If announcing an appropriate level of funding. you are interested in creating a proposal that This is a unique opportunity to brand Canada as a leader at the highest level of international crosses boundaries between the traditional research, and to retain that branding through the continuing identification with the Fields Medal. It mathematical/scientific culture and the any of is entirely consistent with the government's goal of moving Canada up ten places in world R&D. the arts (music, dance, theatre, visual arts, me- It deserves to be seized and given much prominence at the highest level. dia, etc.), BIRS is certainly receptive. Nassif Ghoussoub, Director, PIMS Arvind Gupta, Director, MITACS BIRS opens its doors for business on March Robert V. Moody, Scientific Director, BIRS 15, 2003. It was in October 2000 that Nassif Ghossoub first began to travel around, sounding out how much enthusiasm there was for a Philippe Tondeur’s Remarkable Term at NSF North American answer to Oberwolfach, to be Comes to an End situated in the Canadian Rockies. The response was immediate and emphatic; Do it! But to do In June 2002 Philippe Tondeur retired from his position as Direc- it, and to have actually done it (in just 2 years), tor of NSF's Division of Mathematical Sciences. that is another matter. And to have done it by It is known to all what an articulate voice Philippe Tondeur has creating an international partnership with one been for the Mathematical Sciences within the U.S. Science and of the top mathematics institutes in America, Engineering enterprise. Philippe's tireless work for mathematics and with the cooperation of scientific funding during his tenure as the Director of the Division of Mathematical agencies in United States, Canada, and Alberta Sciences, has also had a substantial impact beyond the United as well as MITACS ± this is more than we States borders. could have dreamed at the time. From the Canadian perspective, Philippe's leadership at the NSF will always be connected to the Banff International Research To celebrate the remarkable achievement of Station (BIRS). When this station was proposed Philippe had the creating this new institution there will be a party foresight to realize that it would provide an incomparable resource on February 28 at the Banff Centre. This will for the Mathematical Sciences community in North America, and indeed the world. be a gala affair the combining of the Boards of Through their support of BIRS, NSF Director Rita Colwell, NSERC President Tom Trustees of PIMS, MSRI, MITACS, the Aca- Brzustowski, and Philippe set a new precedent for joint U.S-Canada scientific collaborations. demic Sponsors of MSRI, the Scientific Advi- BIRS will be one of the enduring legacies of Philippe's tenure at the NSF. sory Board of BIRS, and of course suitable The recent renaissance and awareness of the Mathematical Sciences in North America owes representatives of NSERC, ASRA, and the a great deal to Philippe's work at the NSF. NSF Ð all told some 150 people. On May 15, 2002 a celebration in Philippe©s honor was held in the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. 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MITACS Scientists Converge on UBC: Third AGM Brings Together Bright and Young in the Mathematical Sciences

Contributed by Louise Clark, MITACS

The MITACS (Mathematics of Information evening at UBC's Museum of Anthropol- Technology and Complex Systems) Third An- ogy. Dr. Indira Samarasekera, VP Research nual General Meeting, held at the University at UBC, delivered the opening address. of British Columbia from May 23±25, 2002, On Friday morning, Ron Graham of the brought together over 350 students, research- University of California, San Diego, treated ers and industrial representatives from across participants to a lecture entitled Guessing Se- Canada and the United crets. The rest of the day was States. The participants filled with lectures and in- enjoyed a range of activi- formal discussion in the ex- ties that included lectures hibition area. A highlight of by illustrious scientists, a the AGM was the confer- poster and demo exhibi- ence banquet, held Friday tion and competition, ad- evening at UBC's Sage Bis- ministrative meetings and tro. In attendance were social gatherings. Arthur Carty, President of The AGM Exhibition the National Research Coun- commenced on May 23, cil (NRC) and Philippe Ron Graham (University of California, San when students and post- Tondeur, Director of the Di- Diego) giving a lecture entitled ªGuessing docs began mounting vision of Mathematical Sci- Secretsº at the AGM. over 70 posters and ences at the National Science demos. The display area Foundation (NSF). Both dents for interviews. News about the AGM quickly became filled Carty and Tondeur gave in- appeared on CBC Newsworld, the Discovery with lively interaction, Anil Jain (Michigan State University) spiring talks that emphasized Channel and the Multilingual Fairchild TV, to speaking about ªFingerprint culminating in the after- Matchingº at the MITACS AGM. the importance of math- name but a few. Thanks to a generous donation noon poster judging ses- ematical research to society by the Globe and Mail, the winners of the poster sion for the Best Poster Competition. Present- at large. competition appeared in the Saturday, June 1 ers then had the chance to explain their results Following the talks, Dr. Gupta, MITACS issue of the national newspaper. and field specific questions from the judges. Inc. Scientific Director, announced the win- The lectures of Gilbert Strang, Ron Gra- After the judging session, Gilbert Strang ners of the Best Poster Competition. In all, ham and Anil Jain are available online at from MIT, gave a stimulating talk entitled Fil- eight posters earned prizes, which consisted www.mitacs.math.ca/agm2002/ tering and Signal Processing. The AGM wel- of plaques and cash awards. Three compa- coming reception took place on Thursday nies generously sponsored the First Place prizes: Object Technology International, Inc.; StemCell Technologies Inc.; and Alcatel. On Saturday morning, Anil Jain of Michigan State University presented a fasci- nating lecture entitled Finger- print Matching. Lectures and informal interaction continued until noon. This year©s AGM drew remarkable press coverage, with television and radio stations Gilbert Strang (MIT) talking about seeking out scientists and stu- ªFiltering and Signal Processingº. MITACS AGM Demonstration Presenter.

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5th PIMS Graduate Industrial Math Modelling Camp Simon Fraser University, May 18±23, 2002

Contributed by Marc Paulhus, University of Calgary

PIMS held its 5th Annual Graduate Indus- was to apply combinatorics and statistical de- of a well log tool that measures the resistivity trial Math Modelling Camp (GIMMC) at sign to devise the best possible set of tests for in the surrounding structure. The students Simon Fraser University May 18±23. At the a piece of abstract software. The students learned a great deal about finite element meth- camp 60 graduate students from all over worked very hard devising combinatorial cov- ods. Canada, the US and even some from as far as erings of the space of possible input param- Alexander Melnikov came from the Uni- Europe cut their teeth on some problems in eters. versity of Alberta with some problems in fi- Industrial Mathematics presented by prestigious Tim Myers of the University of Cape Town nancial mathematics. His problem attracted the academic mentors. presented a problem on heating an airplane wing largest number of students who were interested As usual the week begins when the mentors in order to evaporate water before it freezes. in learning about hedging and option in both present a mathematical problem inspired from His students made great progress in modelling complete and incomplete market settings. an industrial application. The students then and solving this challenging thin film problem. Petra Berenbrink was a local mentor from break into teams and spend 5 intensive days Chris Budd of the University of Bath pre- SFU. She brought her students right to the very trying to solve the problem. The mentor, who sented a problem where you use a prod to test edge of research in the complex area of routing has a good idea of how to solve the problem, for the freshness of fish. His students were in ad-hoc networks. The students came up with acts as a gentle guide helping the students reach challenged into building a mathematical model many new approaches and some counter-ex- their goal. The objective is to prepare the stu- the fish prods response and attempting to infer amples to this very difficult problem. dents for the types of challenges they may face what information on the freshness of the fish Brian Wetton from UBC challenged the when they move out into the workforce. Also, could be retrieved from the data. Fortunately students with a very complex problem in mod- many students are exposed to truely applied Prof. Budd came with some pre-made fish data elling a protein membrane of a fuel cell. His mathematics for the first time. Finally, it is a so that no fish had to be prodded during the students did an excellent job of solving some way of preparing for the PIMS Industrial investigation. very difficult mathematics. Problem Solving Workshop held the follow- Yongji Tan came all the way from Fudan This year the students had a unique oppor- ing week. University in Shanghai China to present a prob- tunity to present the results of the week's work Brett Stevens of Carleton University pre- lem applicable to the oil and gas industry. The in the form of a poster at the MITACS-AGM. sented a problem in software testing. The idea students were asked to investigate the results

PIMS-MITACS Crystal Growth Workshop PIMS-UBC, May 26, 2002

Contributed by C. Sean Bohun, Penn State

One of the recent MITACS research collaborations involves modelling the industrial manufacturing of crystals. Led by Dr. Huaxiong Huang, the project is entitled ªMathematical and Computational Modelling of Semi-Conductor Manufacturing Processesº. The main goal of the project is to improve semiconductor manufacturing through scientific modelling. Many of the group participants, the author included, were first introduced to a portion of this problem by Bill Micklethwaite of Firebird Semiconductor at the 5th PIMS Industrial Problem Solving Workshop held in June 2001 in Seattle. The group consists of a handpicked international collection of researchers with a variety of backgrounds and expertise. This last May the group met for the inaugural PIMS-MITACS crystal growth workshop that took place at UBC. Shown standing from left to right are San Arjoriandi (UBC), Wenxiang Zhu (Penn State), Colin Carrew (Firebird), Ian Frigaard (UBC), Bill Micklethwaite (Firebird), Huaxiong Huang (York University), Dong Liang (York University), Shuqing Liang (York University). Sitting from left to right are C. Sean Bohun (Penn State), Tim Myers (University of Cape Town) and Matt Bolton (UBC). Missing are Carl Ollivier-Gooch (UBC), Brian Seymour (UBC) and John Stockie (University of New Brunswick).

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6th PIMS Industrial Problem Solving Workshop University of British Columbia, May 27±31, 2002

Contributed by Marc Paulhus, University of Calgary and Ian Frigaard, University of British Columbia

PIMS held the 6th Industrial Problem Solv- ized that the best approach was to construct a should change the resistivity of the soil as it ing Workshop (IPSW) at the University of simple one-dimensional 3-layer model to test a progresses. For this reason, departures from British Columbia in Vancouver on May 27— hybrid seismic-magnetotelluric approach by the characteristic evolution of resistivity are of 31. About 100 people registered for the event, minimizing the weighted least square errors of particular interest. The workshop participants including the 60 graduate students who had both seismic and magnetotelluric data. Even were given the inverse problem of find the ac- taken part in the graduate modeling camp the though the team worked on this project was tual resistivity, given the response curve of the week before. Faculty from as far away as South the smallest, each participant brought consid- current, (or indeed any other measurable data). Africa, Finland and China were also involved. erable expertise from various areas. With the Failing this, was it possible to localize where Participants split up into six groups to attack help of Doug Oldenburg, (an expert in geo- in the domain any changes in resistivity oc- the industrial problems brought to the work- physical inverse problems), Yongji Tan, (an curred? Because of the size of the group (7 shop, spanning a broad range of applications expert in inverse problems), and with the help faculty and 9 graduate students), various as- and mathematical techniques. Most of the in- of two graduate students, it was found that the pects of the problem were investigated. To dustrial participants were able to stay all week hybrid method works better than either seis- understand the forward problem a sequence of this year, and were actively involved in work- mic or magnetotelluric approaches. This was one and two-dimensional models were con- ing with the groups. A brief description of the only true if appropriate weight functions were structed to determine (i) the time evolution of problems and some of the progress made is chosen. Kai Meunzer was very satisfied with the temperature field when cold water is in- given below. More complete problem descrip- the progress made during the workshop and jected and (ii) the sensitivity of the model to tions may be found on the website, some follow-up work after the workshop has small localized changes in the resistivity. These www.pims.math.ca/industrial/2002/ipsw/ provided further insight into the problem. preliminary investigations illustrated that an in- problems.html, and proceedings papers are Edward Keyes of Semiconductor Insights ternal transition layer is generated during the now being written by each group. was interested in an algorithm to automatically propagation of the shock of injecting cold wa- Edmond Lou represented Capital Health stitch a large number of images of an integrated ter, which persists in the steady state. Further- of Edmonton and brought a problem involving circuit together in order to reconstruct the im- more, the measured voltage between the elec- automating the process of analysis data from a age of the entire circuit itself. This problem trodes is much more sensitive than the outflow 3D laser scanner that is used to diagnose pa- attracted a large number of participants who fluid temperature to localized resistivity tients with scoliosis. The current process, al- quickly broke into teams to test the many dif- changes. Using these forward models as justi- though good, relies on many manual user steps ferent approaches that were suggested. The fication, the temperature field was neglected to complete the analysis. The team was able to most straightforward approach, based on least- for the inverse problem and an attempt was show how some standard (and some not so squares was implemented and tested during the made to implement the generalized sensitivity standard) image processing techniques could week and was found to be a significant im- theorem in a square domain with a localized be used to fully automate the data analysis pro- provement over the current method. Other ap- resistance anomaly at its centre. By combining cess. Further, Capital Health was interested in proaches, based on graph theory, simulated the computed voltage field in the domain with- knowing if it was necessary to use the physical annealing and linear programming also showed out the anomaly with a series of voltage mea- marker points that they currently place on the a great deal of promise. It is clear that once the surements obtained with the anomaly in place, patient’s back before the scanning process. The smoke clears the company will have an algo- a picture of where the anomaly was located team was convinced, after looking at a large rithm that is a significant improvement over was built up. Work continues on the problem amount of sample data, that the information the current techniques. specifically in extending the analysis of the in- given by the marker points could not be re- Appearing in his second IPSW, Bruce verse problem to a simple layered medium. In- trieved mathematically from the data, and hence McGee of MacMillan-McGee presented the vestigations to increase the resolution of the are necessary. following scenario. One method of recovering inverse problem using an analytic Green’s func- Kai Meunzer from Shell Canada came to soil contaminants is to electrically heat the soil tion and finite difference rather than finite ele- the workshop with an inverse problem: Given with various electrodes inserted into wells in ment methods are ongoing. Bruce McGee was seismic and magnetotelluric data, can we de- the ground. By injecting water into certain elec- quite pleased with the progress made on the termine geological properties of the Canadian trode locations and pumping fluids out of the problem and anticipates a predictive model that foothill? After some discussion on the back- remaining locations, the contaminants are can be used onsite. In Bruce’s words, “It’s all ground materials of both seismic and slowly removed. If the contaminants are actu- good!” magnetotelluric methodologies, the team real- ally removed, as is intended, this process Ritchie He of the RBC Financial Group

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team was able to formulate a system of eight non-linear equations that could be solved for the elastic modulii that were sought. Unfortu- nately, with the introduction of experimental errors, the system proved highly unstable and had to be abandoned. However, with the introduction of some further, yet not overly restric- tive, assumptions, the team went on to formulate a new system of four non-linear equations. Initial follow up work suggests the new for- mulation is reasonably stable under experimental conditions. Apart from the mathematics, an enjoyable social time was had by all. Mathematical modeling of industrial problems is an interactive social activity and many problems were dis- The PIMS Industrial Problem Solving Workshop participants beside the PIMS facility at UBC. cussed well into the evening at Koerners pub. presented a challenge to compute the closed ergy presented an inverse seismic ray problem Proceeding from IPSW will soon be avail- form solutions to some very complex “pseudo” that sought to incorporate recent technological able at www.pims.math.ca/publications/pro- statistics. The team for this problem consisted advances in the determination of elastic moduli. ceedings almost entirely of graduate students, most of In particular, with the development of three- whom were new to financial mathematics. component geophones it is now possible to The annual prize for the best “PIMS-slip” Nevertheless, the result was achieved and we measure particle displacement associated with went to Fabien Youbissi for the following look forward to seeing the full solution pre- a seismic wavefront at depth. Such an experi- gem: sented in the report. ment, whereby sources are located at the sur- Receptionist at Gage: ªYour name please?º In the areas of petroleum exploration and face and geophones are place within the earth, Fabien: ªYoubissiº reservoir engineering, geoscientists use con- is called a VSP, (vertical seismic profile). It Receptionist at Gage: ªNo, your name, not cepts from seismology to image the subsur- was hoped that pairing particle displacement your universityº face and determine essential rock-physics prop- (i.e., polarization angle) with recorded Witnesses report that a few more repetitions erties. Experimental conditions are typically in traveltime would lead to an in situ inversion occurred, before the light came on ... It is the form of a seismic survey whereby mea- for elastic modulii requiring only a single not known if Fabien shared the traditional surements are made of a seismic wave travel- source/receiver pair. Using concepts of asymp- prize with the receptionist. ing between source and receiver. Talisman En- totic ray theory and continuum mechanics the

PIMS-MITACS-COE Undergraduate Industrial Case Study Workshop University of British Columbia, May 25±27, 2002

The Centre for Operations Excellence (COE) teams presenting their findings to industry ex- Queyranne, (COE Director, Academic) were hosted this successful workshop at UBC from ecutives and academics on May 27. Cash prizes presented with outstanding presentations from May 25–27, 2002. Sixteen undergraduate stu- were awarded to the team that produced the the workshop teams. All participants were dents in commerce, engineering, business, best case study and presentation. awarded with certificates and COE sweatshirts physics, mathematics, statistics, and computer Universities represented in the workshop for their excellent work over the weekend. science were invited from across Canada to were UBC, SFU, U of A, U of C, McGill and Team four, composed of Derrick Chung meet industry executives and renowned aca- Mount Allison. Workshop judges Glen Darou (McGill), Amir Motamedi (McGill), Igor demics, and to explore graduate study oppor- (COE Director, Industry), Carol Leacy (Vice Naverniouk (UBC), and Philip Seo (UBC), tunities, and to work in teams to solve chal- President, Systems and Process Integration, was honored with the prize for “Best Overall lenging business problems. Mark Anthony), Bernard Lamond (Profes- Case Analysis and Presentation”. The focus of the workshop was a real- sor and Director, Department of Operations Please see the web page www.coe.ubc.ca/ world case study competition, culminating with and Systems, Université Laval) and Maurice pimsworkshop for more information.

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The Fourth Annual PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer School University of Alberta, July 28±August 9, 2002

Contributed by Bruce Sutherland, University of Alberta

A knowledge of the dynamics of fluids is the versity of Cambridge, England and the other at (Physical Oceanography). starting point to understanding such diverse Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA, We had four invited lecturers: John Allen fields of study as aerodynamics, weather fore- USA. The PIMS Fluid Dynamics Summer (University of Oregon) spoke on ªCoastal casting, ventilation, lubrication and turbulence. School is unique in its emphasis on computa- Oceanographyº. John Bush (MIT) spoke Fluid flows can be described by mathematical tional fluid dynamics and computer-aided labo- on ªGeophysical Plumesº. Jean-Luc equations but these cannot be solved except in ratory measurements. Indeed, with its modern Guermond (LIMSI, University of Paris, special circumstances. Instead scientists solve computational resources and its concentration Orsay) spoke on ªLarge Eddy Simulationsº; the equations numerically or use the results of of expertise in experimental and numerical fluid and Peter Rhines (University of Washington) laboratory experiments to guide their intuition dynamics, the University of Alberta is one of spoke on ªOverturning Circulations in the in finding solutions. the few institutions in the world capable of run- Oceans and Atmospheresº and ªMontainous In its dedication to the training of highly ning a school which simultaneously exposes Flows in Rotating Fluids: Vorticity Dynamics, qualified personnel, each year the Pacific In- participants to theory, numerical and experi- Form Drag and Induced Circulationº. stitute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) mental methods. More information about this summer school sponsors a fluid dynamics summer school at This year the Fourth Annual PIMS Fluid can be found at http://fdss.math.ualberta.ca. the University of Alberta. The two week long Dynamics Summer School event is attended by graduate students and ran from July 28 to August senior undergraduates from around the world. 9. The summer school was Each morning the participants attend lectures fully attended by eighteen on a broad range of topics including waves participants from Canada, and turbulence, convection, physical ocean- England, Germany and the ography and climate modelling. The afternoons United States. Core lectures are spent gaining hands-on experience running were given by John Bow- numerical simulations and performing labora- man (Turbulence Model- tory experiments which are designed to ling), Andrew Bush (Cli- complement the lectures and which are adapted mate Modelling), Peter from the lecturers' current research. At the Minev (Computational Fluid end of the school the students give presenta- Dynamics), Bryant Moodie tions based on the results of their work. (Wave Theory), Bruce There are two other annual fluid dynamics Sutherland (Stratified 2002 Fluid Dynamics Summer School participants. summer schools in the world, one at the Uni- Flows) and Paul Myers

Lunchbox & Showcase Lecture Series, University of Calgary

Contributed by Gary Margrave, University of Calgary

The University of Calgary PIMS site has re- Calgary scientists for whom mathematics plays tracting an audience from the large body of cently completed the first term of two very a strong role in their research. We deliberately scientists and engineers who work there. Shell popular lecture series. These series were mo- selected speakers from a broad range of scien- Canada generously agreed to sponsor the lec- tivated by the desire to increase the profile of tific disciplines and advertised the talks widely tures and provided both an excellent meeting mathematical research at the around the campus. We were very pleased with facility and a light lunch that was free to all University of Calgary. The the quality of the presentation and with the size attendees. The attendance at these lectures was Spotlight Series was con- of the audiences, which ranged from 25 to 60 even greater than at the Spotlight Series on cam- ducted on campus and con- people. pus, with the typical crowd being about 80 but sisted of four lectures given The Lunchbox Lecture Series was held in that ranged to as high as 120. While there were by invited University of the downtown core with the intention of at- many downtown professionals in attendance,

Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Fall 2002 25 ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ we also attracted people from the Calgary Board The Uses of Differential Geometry in the Me- Richard Churchill (Mathematics, Hunter of Education, the University, and elsewhere. chanics of Deformable Media College CUNY), Fermat’s Last Theorem We conducted a survey of the audience to ask Christian Jacob (Computer Science), Design Upcoming lectures in the Lunchbox Series: what topics would be of interest in future lec- by Evolution—The Artand Science of Genetic Len Bos (Mathematics and Statistics), Chris- tures and were surprised to find that they Computer Programming tian Jacob (Computer Science), Tony Ware wanted to hear about quite theoretical subjects And here is a list of the Lunchbox Lectures: (University of Calgary) and Edward S. as well as applied ones.We plan to renew both Michael Lamoureux (Mathematics), Wavelets Krebes (Geology and Geophysics). lecture series in the fall and run them through in Industry spring of 2003. At that point we will take stock Rita Aggarwala (Statistics), Designing better of the situation and plan anew. industrial experiments Here is a list of the Spotlight Lectures: Antonin Settari (Chemical and Petroleum Jim Nicholls (Geology), Mathematical mod- Engineering), Mathematics of coupled reser- eling of processes beneath the volcano voir and geomechanical modeling David Hobill (Physics), The non-linear dy- Ian Frigaard (Mathematics and Mechanical namics of gravitatingsystems in general rela- Engineering, UBC), Advances in understand- tivity ing well-construction fluid mechanics: cement- Participants at Richard Churchill’s talk. Marcello Epstein (Mechanical Engineering), ing flows andturbulence

Upcoming PIMS-IAM Joint Distinguished Colloquium Series University of British Columbia

PIMS and the Institute for Applied Mathematics at UBC jointly sponsor six distinguished colloquia each year. The speakers for the year 2002± 2003 are: · Gordon E. Swaters (Institute of Applied Mathematics, University of Alberta), Dynamics of Abyssal Ocean Currents, October 7, 2002 · David Chandler (Chemistry, University of California), Transition pathways in complex systems: throwing ropes over rough mountain passes, in the dark, October 28, 2002 · Ulf Dieckmann (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg), Title TBA, December 2, 2002 · Parviz Moin (Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University and NASA Ames Research Center), Title TBA, January 13, 2003 · Leon Glass (Department of Physiology, McGill University), Dynamics of Genetic Networks, January 27, 2003 · Lloyd N. Trefethen (Oxford University Computing Laboratory), Fast accurate solution of stiff PDE, March 17, 2003 Videos of last year's series may be watched by going to www.pims.math.ca/industrial/2001/iampims_lect/

Upcoming PIMS-ASRA Industrial Workshop: Mathematical Prediction of Sound Transmission through Composite Lightweight Walls ATCO Noise Management, Calgary, November 7, 2002

This workshop shall include discussion of:

· the factors affecting sound transmission loss, mathematical formulations for the prediction of transmission coefficient · predicting sound transmission loss of panels using the Mass Law or the unit per mass area · the coincidence effect and resonance phenomenon · estmiated transmission loss of untested composite lightweight walls · data collection · factors affecting sound transmission loss.

The organisers of this workshop are Daryl Caswell (University of Calgary), Liming Dai (University of Regina), Dave Nichols and Salem Hertil (ATCO Noise Management).

26 Vol. 6, Issue 2 Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ The New PIMS Math Fair Booklet by Ted Lewis PIMS published the math fair booklet by Ted Lewis in the Spring. This is a major new resource for teachers and others interested in math fairs for schools. It is based on the experience of the author and his colleagues over the past few years. It is a rich source of guidelines to organizing math fairs, and to finding suitable problems puzzles and challenges. The booklet will shortly be available for free download in pdf format suitable for laser printing. Hard copies may be purchased from PIMS University of Alberta for a nominal fee (US$10.00 for shipping and handling in North America, US$15.00 elsewhere).

From the Introduction: the math fair booklet by Ted Lewis, PIMS 2002.

Everybody knows what a science fair is. Stu- higher grades. When the participants present have a profound effect on the poise, confidence, dents find projects to work on, they prepare their problems, they will discover that the visi- communication skills and patience of the par- posters and demonstrations, the public is in- tors need help to work through the solutions, ticipants. The reason for our second differ- vited to come and see what they have done, ence, that the math fair be officially non-com- and a panel of judges awards prizes for projects petitive, is so that all students are encouraged that are deemed to be the best. to participate and benefit. If some students feel A math fair is similar, but two important they have little chance of winning they may differences set our concept apart. Although decline to join in or not put in a full effort. mathematics is extremely diverse, our math fairs Even if a math fair is officially non-competi- concentrate on just one aspect of the subject, tive, informal competition does occur. The par- namely problem solving, and our fairs are offi- ticipants quickly recognize who among them cially non-competitive, so there are no awards are good problem solvers, who can explain or prizes. We have chosen to focus on prob- things well, whose presentations have the best lem solving for several reasons. It is one activ- artwork, and which displays attract the most ity that is common to most of mathematics, it is visitors. But this sort of competition is friendly frequently an explicit part of the mathematics and constructive, and frequently leads to co- curriculum and it encourages skills in students operative efforts among the participants. The that can be applied in all areas of their lives. focus on problem solving and the lack of for- The problems in this booklet are ones that mal awards are the key parts to our concept of a young students can solve and truly understand math fair for children, but otherwise there are with a reasonable amount of work. They will many opportunities to creatively adapt the con- not need a broad educational background, but and the presenters will gain the satisfaction cept to a particular situation. We hope you will the problems are not simple and most will have and confidence that comes from helping more find this booklet useful in organizing your own to think before solving them. The same is true talented or older persons. math fair and are looking forward to hearing about the people who visit the math fair even The interaction between the participants and from you about your experiences. though they may be adults or students from the viewers at a problem-based math fair can

PIMS/University of Alberta Math Fair, March 21, 2002 Contributed by Ted Lewis, University of Alberta

How often do you find grade school students crossing problems to the towers of Hanoi. and end with 5 happy to spend two and a half hours doing Here's one that was very popular (and it's so- piles of two, mathematics? This is what happened for about lution is not immediate even for us): Put 8 or 12 pucks On the way to the Math Fair. 450 students from elementary and junior-high hockey pucks in a straight line. The problem is and end with 6 piles of two and so on. At least schools in the Edmonton area on Thursday, to make four piles with two in each pile by one child figured out the recursion and showed March 21, at the PIMS/U of A Math Fair. jumping some of the pucks over the others. how to do it for up to 16 pucks. There were actually two parts to the activitiesÐ Each jumping puck must pass over exactly two Among other things, Andy's session in- the fair itself which was presented by the stu- pucks and land on a single puck. It doesn't volved ªscientific origamiº. Unlike the math dents of the Math 160 class, and a problem matter whether the two pucks you are jumping fair, where the students moved from booth to solving session conducted by Andy Liu. over are an existing pile of two or are sitting by booth, Andy's was a sit-down session. The The math fair was non-competitive, and pre- themselves. Spaces don't count. problems were very challenging, and the suc- sented mathematical puzzles for the visitors to After the students solved that puzzle they cess rate among the students was very high. try. The puzzles were very diverse, from river- were asked to see if they can start with 10 pucks The math fair is part of the curriculum for

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Math 160 and has significantly revitalized the several others. Renee Polziehn from the uni- department, PIMS, and the schools in Alberta course. This is the first time that the math fair versity outreach center provided many useful in promoting mathematics. Feedback from took place on campus instead of at individual suggestions. school teachers show that the math fairs widen schools. Moving the fair here was prompted Shirley Mitchell and Lisa Haraba from the children's interest and perception about by both the popularity of the fairs and associ- PIMS were invaluable in helping with the or- mathematics. The idea is spreading and math ated logistical problems of taking a Math 160 ganization of the fair. For the past few years, fairs modelled after the Math 160 fair are in the class to a school away from the campus. Hold- PIMS has sponsored the math fairs, and the works for Going to the Math Fair, March 21 ing it here solved some problems but raised result is strong cooperative effort between our 2002 Calgary, Vancouver and Ft. McMurray.

Math Fair at Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair That’s a Good Problem! University of British Columbia, April 4–6, 2002 Math Fairs in Calgary

Contributed by Janet Martin, PIMS Education Officer Contributed by Indy Lagu, Univ. of Calgary

That's a Good Problem is a collaborative project The Math Fair project took place this year amidst the teachers' job action. Yet despite this of PIMS, the Galileo Educational Network obstacle, ten projects were entered in the Computational and Mathematical Sciences cat- (GENA), and Mount Royal College in Calgary. egory at the 2002 Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair (GVRSF) and of these, two It is based on the highly successful math fairs were selected to attend the Canada-Wide Science Fair held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in organised by Ted Lewis (PIMS Education Co- May 2002. These students were Gabrielle Arden of Burnaby South Secondary School and ordinator, University of Alberta). Teams of Rochelle Leung of York House School (pictured). teachers from several Calgary-area schools were PIMS gave the following awards. invited to a half-day workshop. The focus of First: Rochelle Leung (York House): Decrypting the math behind cryptography and its the workshop was on teaching mathematics ciphers through explorations and investigations by Second: Gabrielle Arden (Burnaby working through a number of mathematical ex- South Secondary): Forecasting weather plorations, suggestions for introducing explo- with neural networks, Frank Sun and rations to other teachers, organising and pro- Winnie Ho (Windermere Secondary): moting a school math fair. Matrices and cryptology, Harvey Zhang The teachers returned to their schools armed (Burnaby North Secondary): Inscribed with Ted Lewis' excellent booklet on how to triangles in circles and ellipses run a math fair. Sharon Friesen of GENA and Third: Pearly Trinh and Elaine Lee Indy Lagu (PIMS Education Coordiantor, (Windermere Secondary): RSA algorithm Calgary) made visits to the schools to work cryptology, Galina Meleger and Kathryn Rochelle Leung with her project, Decrypting the with the teachers and students before the math Math behind Cryptography and its Ciphers. Cheng (York House): The golden num- fairs. ber After the math fairs, the teachers were in- The first prize winner received $200, the second prize winners $100 each and the third vited for another half-day workshop to talk prize winners $50 each. about problem solving, what worked and what Considering there were only ten did not with their fairs, and future steps. Many projects entered in the Computational and of the teachers admitted that they were worried Mathematical Sciences category, it is note- about how successful their math fair would be, worthy that the GVRSF judges selected but none were disappointed, and all thought of two of these projects as part of the top ten the math fair as an unqualified success. The projects at the entire science fair. many parents who attended the math fairs were PIMS contributed $2500 travel money also quite impressed. In all, seven schools par- to send two winners to Saskatoon. ticipated, and all expressed an interest in re- At the Canada-Wide Science Fair, peating a math fair. More information about Gabrielle Arden won a Gold Medal and a the math fairs (including lots of photographs) $2000 scholarship to the University of can be found at www.galileo.org/math/ Western Ontario in the Intermediate Com- Gabrielle Arden with her project, Forecasting sumtalk/index.html. Weather with Neural Networks. putational and Mathematical Sciences cat- Dr. Friesen and Dr. Lagu are planning to egory, and Rochelle Leung won a Bonze Medal and a $1000 scholarship to the University involve 10 or 12 new schools in the project of Western Ontario in the same category. Congratulations to both students on their out- next year. standing projects! 28 Vol. 6, Issue 2 Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢

Calgary Youth Science Fair PIMS ELMACON 2002 April 10Ð13, 2002 Contributed by Heather Jenkins, PIMS

At this year's Calgary Youth Science Fair the The fourth annual PIMS Elementary Grades PIMS award went to Katanya Kuntz, a grade Math Contest took place on May 25 at UBC. 11 homeschooler from Alberta Distance Learn- This contest is organized by PIMS under ing. Her project was called Quantum Physics the guidance of Dr. Cary Chien of David Th- and Spectroscopy. The objective of the project ompson Secondary School in collaboration was to learn more about Quantum Physics and with the BCAMT and volunteers from Lower to test mathematical models of the atom (the Mainland schools of all levels. It is open to Bohr theory and the Quantum theory) for their students in Grades 5 to 7 giving them a chance accuracy in predicting and explaining the atomic to experience mathematics as an exciting sport. universe. Her Unified Hypothesis was ªSpec- A total of 229 students competed in the con- troscopic signatures, other atomic characteris- test with 67, 80 and 82 in grades 5, 6 and 7 tics, and atomic phenomena can be accurately respectively. The format was the same as in Grade 6 winners (l-r) Daniel Park, Jimmy He, predicted and explained by a mathematical previous years. There were 3 rounds, and the Alarica Tang. model of the atom.º She concluded that the written part came first with the Sprint and Tar- Quantum theory is the best known model (so get rounds. The top 10 from these rounds went Grade 6: 1. Alarica Tang (Kitchener) 2. Jimmy far) that is extremely accurate in predicting and on to the Countdown round where the students He (Pinewood) 3. Daniel Park (Kwayhquitlum explaining the atomic universe. ªduelledº starting with the 9th and 10th. The Middle) 4. Bryan Huang (Osler) 5. Yuan Liang winner of that contest then went on to ªduelº (Pitt River Middle) 6. Silviu Toderita 7. with the 8th place holder. So the person who Sherwin Kwan (Seaforth) 8. Jonathan Zhang ranked 10th had the potential of winning the (Oppenheimer) 9. Hank Duan (Mapple Creek contest by beating the 9 people ahead of him/ Middle) 10. Simon T H Tseng (Chantrell her one by one. The duelling consisted of an- Creek) swering math questions against the clock and Grade 7: 1. James Chen (John T Errington) 2. sounding a buzzer. Arthur da Silva (St. Paul's) 3. Anthony The top 10 in each grade received a t-shirt Chuang (Maple Lane) 4. Sebastian Crema and medal. The top 3 also received a trophy (Boundary Community) 5. Jerome Li and an electronic calculator donated by Sharp. (Kwayhqitlum Middle) 6. Steven Karp Certificates of participation were available for (Kitchener) 7. Jeffrey Hsiung (Emily Carr) 8. all students on the day. Kevin Xiao (Confederation Park) 9. Mulin Top 10 winners in each grade are as follows: Yang (University Hill) 10. Javin Chen Grade 5: 1. Juno Jung (Nelson) 2. Aram (Thunderbird) Ebtekar (Glen) 3. Jeffrey Choi (John T While the markers where ranking the kids Errington) 4. Karen Bennie Ho (Oppenheimer) in preparation for the countdown round Cary 5. Nikita Zouev (Lynn Valley) 6. Jeffrey Yeh Chien gave a talk on strategies and common (Vancouver Montesorri) 7. Sophie Ji-Soo mistakes. A video tape of his talk and other Katanya Kunts and Gary Margrave in Kwalk (Canyon Heights) 8. Veronika Dikoun parts of the contest will soon be available at front of her project. (Maywood Cummunity) 9. Phil Chang (Simon www.pims.math.ca/elmacon/. Fraser) 10. Yanga Zhu (Eric Langton)

AB High School Math Competition, 2001±2002 Contributed by Ted Lewis, UA PIMS Eduation Coordinator This was the 46th year of the Alberta High School Mathematics Competition. In this two part competition, part I, with 1093 participants, occurred on No- vember 20, 2001, and part II, with the top 69 competitors from part I, took place on February 6, 2002. The major prize winners attended the PIMS awards dinner, which was held in Calgary. The awards dinner will be held in Edmonton next year. The dates for 2002±2003 are: Part I: Tuesday, November 19, 2002. Part II: Wednesday February 5, 2003. For more details and a complete list of Left photo: Grade 5 winners (l-r) Jeffrey Choi, Aram Ebtekar, Juno Jung. Right photo: Grade 7 winners (l-r) Anthony last year's winners see our website at www.math.ualberta.ca/~ahsmc. Chuang, Arthur da Silva, James Chen.

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More Fun for Kids at Math Changing the Culture 2002 2002 Esso-CMS-PIMS Mania Nights Contributed by Malgorzata Dubiel, SFU Summer Math Camp Contributed by David Leeming, UVic PIMS PIMS Education Coordinator SFU, July 2–5, 2002 Education Coordinator The 5th Annual Changing the Culture con- Contributed by Malgorzata Dubiel, SFU The very successful Math Mania program conference took place April 26, 2002 at the SFU PIMS Education Coordinator Harbour Centre campus. The conference was tinues to thrive in Victoria with the third event The second Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Math attended by 78 participants: Teachers from all of the 2001–02 school year being held at Camp for High School students took place levels, from elementary through university; Lampson St. Elementary School in Esquimalt July 2–5, 2002, at the SFU PIMS Site in the student teachers and graduate students in math- on May 28, 2002. Math Mania presents a va- East Academic Annex. ematics and math education. riety of interactive demonstrations, puzzles, Twenty-five students from schools across The theme of this year’s conference was games and art such as “goats and gold”, the the Lower Mainland were selected to partici- Rigour and Intuition in Mathematics. Two penny game, the “game of 24”, kaliedoscopes pate in the camp, out of almost 50 nomina- plenary speakers: Ed Barbeau, a mathemati- and hexaflexagons, and a variety of mathemati- tions send by their teachers. For four days, cian from the University of Toronto, and Brent cal puzzles and paradoxes. These activities are they participated in exciting and challenging Davis, a Canada Research Chair in Education designed to demonstrate to children and their activities organized by the SFU faculty and at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, pre- parents fun ways of learning both math and graduate students. Two guest speakers were sented their views on understanding mathemat- computer science concepts. invited as well: Lily Yen from Capilano Col- ics and the respective roles of intuition and Math Mania is sponsored by PIMS and the lege and Branko Curgus from Western Wash- logic in the process of achieving it. presenters are enthusiastic volunteers from the ington University. A lively panel discussion, chaired by Klaus faculty, staff and students (and some family For more information about the camp, and Hoechsman (PIMS), addressed the topic in members) of the Department of Mathematics the pictures, see www.cecm.sfu.ca/~lisonek/ the afternoon. Lin Hammill (Kwantlen Uni- and Statistics at the University of Victoria. mathcamp.html. A video report about Math Mania will soon versity College), Christine Stewart (SFU), be available on the PIMS webpage. Günter Törner (German Mathematical Soci- ety, DMV) and Kirsten Urdahl-Serr Fifth Annual FAME is (School District 42, Maple Ridge), presented their views on the subject. Bigger than Ever! The participants were offered a choice Contributed by David Leeming, UVic PIMS of 3 workshops to enrich their experiences: Education Coordinator Sue Haberger of Centennial Secondary School led a workshop The Moment of Students in Greater Victoria (School District Proof, which described methods and tricks #61) took part in FAME, the Forever Annual she has developed and successfully used Math Exhibition at S.J. Willis Educational over the years to make students appreciate Center on April 10, 2002. A total of 120 stu- the need for rigour. dents participated in the events, with 20 el- Natasa Sirotic of Collingwood School ementary entries, 13 junior entries and 20 se- gave a workshop on ‘Proofs’ of Fallacies, nior entries. Twelve students won Distinction or how to spot problems in seemingly flaw- The participants of the Esso-CMS-PIMS Summer Awards (score 90+/100). The winning schools Math Camp for High School students outside less reasoning. (in terms of scores for the top 3) were Fairburn East Academic Annex SFU. David Lidstone of Langara College invited (elementary) and Lansdowne (junior and se- participants of his Intuition in Problem Solv- nior). ing workshop to test their mathematical intu- A selection of some of the topics chosen ition in a series of challenging problems. this year were Optical illusions, Tower of Hanoi, The average sleeper, Numbers that make you go hmm, History of math in South America, Upcoming Education Activites Codes and ciphers, Catapults and What is the fourth dimension? · October 9, 2002: Math Mania Night, Happy Valley Elementary School, Victoria Fame is sponsored by PIMS, BCAMT, · November 19, 2002: The Alberta High School Mathematics Competition, Part I Greater Victoria Teacher Association and of the 2002–2003 season, Alberta and Northwest Territories School District #61. The event was organized · May 2, 2003: Changing the Culture 2003, SFU Harbour Centre by mathematics teachers Betty Doherty of · June 23–27, 2003: ESSO-CMS-PIMS Math Camp for High School Students, Lansdowne and Wendy Swonnell of East Academic Annex, SFU Burnaby Campus Lambrick Park.

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Women and Mathematics Contest Winners The New Issue of Pi in the Sky Magazine Contributed by Heather Jenkins, PIMS Communications Officer

The fifth issue of the PIMS educational maga- In January 2002 the Women and Mathematics contest came to an end. We now feature short zine Pi in the Sky came out in September profiles of the winners of the last 7 months of the contest. 2002. The cover was specially created by Back in July when Florence Nightingale was featured, the winner was Alain Goulet of Victoria, Czech artist Gabriela Novakova according to BC. He is a 46 year old father of 4 who is studying towards a B.Sc. in Mathematics at the University an original idea by George Peschke, and the of London through their External Programme. Most of his career so far has been in the financial/ meaning of the scene is explained in the ar- accounting field, which he hopes to change when he is ready to start his graduate studies in math- ticle ªOops!!! Just what happened to Prof. ematics. Recently he has also become interested in astronomy. Zmodtwo?º In August, the month we featured Maria Goeppert Mayer, the winner was Stefanie Smith of The Math & Astronomy section features Kingston ON. She is 24 year old student at Queen's University working on a Ph.D. in Computa- ªSolar Eclipses: Geometry, Frequency, tional Chemistry. Her inter- Cyclesº by Hermann Koenig. Read a biog- ests include camping, curling raphy of female mathematician ªEmmy and skiing. She found out Noetherº by Volker Runde. about the contest from a ªFrom Rabbits to Roses: A Geometric friend, and she thinks that it's Mystery Storyº by Klaus Hoechsmann is the a great way to learn about fa- continuation of the mystery series ªThe Rose mous women in science and and the Nautilusº. math. Other article include ªStudent's Work- Jordan Bemmels of shop: Polyhedra with Six Verticesº by Richie Richmond, BC won the Sep- Ng, ªMathematics of the Pastº by Garry tember Emmy Noether con- Kasparov, and ªDecoding Dates from An- test. He was 14 years old cient Horoscopesº by Wieslaw Krawcewicz. and in Grade 9 at the time, Another article is about ªGibbon, Malthus, and he found out about the and the Ancientsº. contest from his math In addition to being distributed to high teacher. He said ªI think that schools in British Columbia, Alberta and the contest is a great way for Washington State, ªPi in the Skyº is now everyone to learn more about being distributed to people across North ªWomen in Mathematics,º America who have requested to be added to and mathematics in general. Astronomer Caroline Herschel our mailing list. All the issues are also avail- Learning mathematics can be useful throughout life, so this contest is very practical for nearly able for download on the website everybody.º He is interested in geography and the humanities, plays the piano and trumpet, and www.pims.math.ca/pi. roller-blades. In October the winner was Lichung Jen also of Richmond, BC, who works at Minerva Database Marketing Consultants Ltd. The contest featured Sofia Kovalevskaya. Lichung is 40 years old and found the contest very interesting. Caroline Herschel appeared in November and the winner was Wayne Chevrier of Langley, BC. He was also a winner of the Mathematics is Everywhere contest. The December winner was Michelle McGinty of Waterloo, ON and that month we featured Maria Gaetana Agnesi. She is 39 years old and is a University Waterloo Mathematics Graduate and teaches secondary school mathematics at Waterloo Collegiate Institute. Michelle said ªI think what PIMS is doing is fantastic: your semi-annual Pi in the Sky publication, your visits to elementary and secondary schools and your contest. I have all of the posters of this year's contest posted in my classroom. I have some of last year's bus posters that were sent to me posted on my classroom windows. They are wonderful, the posters initiated a great deal of discussion and problem solving by my students.º Emilie de Breteuil concluded the contest in January and Wendy Bennett of Victoria, BC, was our final winner. She is 51 year old mother of three children who has degree in Political Science. She lists her main interest as a fascination with people. Her middle son, Andrew, is a math student and she found out about the contest through him. To find out more about these women see www.pims.math.ca/education/2001/women. Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Fall 2002 31 PIMS Contact List

Director: Dr. N. Ghoussoub Admin. Asst: Derek Bideshi Phone: (604) 822-9328, Fax: 822-0883 Email: [email protected] SFU Site Director: Dr. M. Trummer Admin. Asst: Fuyuko Kitazawa Phone: (604) 268-6655, Fax: 268-6657 Email: [email protected] U of A Site Director: Dr. J. Muldowney Industrial Facilitator/Executive Assistant: Shirley Mitchell Phone: (780) 492-4308, Fax: 492-1361 Email: [email protected] UBC Site Director: Dr. D. Rolfsen Admin. Asst: Derek Bideshi Phone: (604) 822-3922, Fax: 822-0883 Email: [email protected] U of C Site Director: Dr. G. Margrave Admin. Asst: Marian Miles Phone: (403) 220-3951, Fax: 282-5150 Email: [email protected] UVic Site Director: Dr. F. Diacu Admin. Asst: Dil Bains Phone: (250) 472-4271, Fax: 721-8962 In April this year Robert Moody (Professor, University of Alberta and BIRS Scientific Email: [email protected] Director) became one of five Canadian scholars to win a 2002 Killam prize for outstand- UW Site Director: Dr. S.P. Smith ing career achievements. Administered by the Canada Council for the Arts, the prizes Admin. Asst: Mary Sheetz are worth $100,000 each. Photo: Canada’s Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson, Phone: (206) 543-1173, Fax: 543-0397 Email: [email protected] congratulates Robert Moody. Scientific Executive Officer: Dr. A. Rutherford Phone: (604) 822-1369, Fax: 822-0883 PIMS is supported by: Email: [email protected] ♦ The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Education Coordinator: Dr. K. Hoechsmann ♦ The Alberta Ministry of Innovation and Science Phone: (604) 822-3922, Fax: 822-0883 Email: [email protected] ♦ The British Columbia Ministry of Competition, Science and Enterprise ♦ Administrator: Andrea Hook Simon Fraser University Phone: (604) 822-1522, Fax: 822-0883 ♦ University of Alberta Email: [email protected] ♦ University of British Columbia Programme Coordinator: Derek Bideshi ♦ University of Calgary Phone: (604) 822-3922, Fax 822-0883 Email: [email protected] ♦ University of Victoria ♦ Communications Officer: Heather Jenkins University of Washington Phone: (604) 822-0402, Fax: 822-0883 ♦ University of Northern British Columbia Email: [email protected] ♦ University of Lethbridge PIMS-MITACS Admin. Asst., UBC: Clarina Chan Phone: (604) 822-0401, Fax: 822-0883 Newsletter Editor: Heather Jenkins Email: [email protected] This newsletter is available on the web at www.pims.math.ca/publications. BIRS Programme Coordinator: Jessica Douglas Phone: (604) 822-3782, Fax: 822-0883 Email: [email protected] PIMS/MITACS Website Manager: Kelly Choo Phone: (250) 472-4927, Fax: 721-8962 Email: [email protected] Computer Systems Manager: Shervin Teymouri Phone: (604) 822-0410, Fax 822-0883 Email: [email protected] Computer Systems Manager: Brent Kearney Phone: (604) 268-6654, Fax: 268-6657 Email: [email protected]

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