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NEWSLETTER No NEWSLETTER No. 455 February 2016 LMS INAUGURAL HIRST LECTURE: PROFESSOR EDMUND F. ROBERTSON he Society is pleased to announce that MacTutor History of Mathematics website has TProfessor Edmund F. Robertson (St Andrews) now become an important resource for those in- will give the inaugural Hirst Lecture at St terested in the history of mathematics. It contains Andrews on Wednesday 20 April 2016. Mark over 2,800 biographies of mathematicians and is McCartney (University of Ulster) will give an ac- used across the world by schoolchildren, under- companying lecture. graduates, graduates and their teachers. The Hirst Lecture celebrates the joint award of The Hirst Prize and Lectureship are named after the Hirst Prize & Lectureship, in the 150th Anni- Thomas A. Hirst, 5th President of the London versary year of the London Mathematical Society, Mathematical Society from 1872-1874. The prize to Professor Edmund Robertson (St Andrews) and is awarded in recognition of original and inno- Dr John O’Connor (St Andrews) for their creation, vative work in the history of mathematics, which development and maintenance of the MacTutor may be in any medium. History of Mathematics website (www-history. In 2015, the Council of the Society agreed to mcs.st-and.ac.uk). continue the Hirst Prize and Lectureship on a Originally developed in the early 1990s to enrich biennial basis with the next award to be made the Mathematical MacTutor System that supports in 2018 and the lecture to be given at a Society teaching mathematics to undergraduates, the Meeting in 2019. Thomas A. Hirst Edmund F. Robertson John O’Connor LMS President, 1872-1874 Joint Hirst Prize-winner Joint Hirst Prize-winner SOCIETY MEETINGS AND EVENTS • 26 February: Mary Cartwright Lecture, London page 16 • 8 July: Society Meeting, London • 21 March: Society Meeting at the BMC, Bristol page 17 • 21 July: Society Meeting at the 7ECM, Berlin • 21–25 March: LMS Invited Lectures, Loughborough page 15 • 11 November: Graduate Student Meeting, London • 20 April: Hirst Lecture & Society Meeting, St Andrews page 25 • 11 November: Annual General Meeting, London • 8 July: Graduate Student Meeting, London • 20 December: South West & South Wales Regional Meeting, Bath NEWSLETTER ONLINE: newsletter.lms.ac.uk @LondMathSoc LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk Contents No. 455 February 2016 8 14 150th Anniversary Events Wales Mathematics Colloquium............23 Departmental Celebrations.....................3 Young Functional Analysts’ Workshop...22 Awards News 2 Fermat Prize 2015...................................7 European News........................................12 New Year Honours List.............................7 International Maths Competition for Calendar of Events 31 University Students...............................11 LMS Items Mathematics Policy Round-up................10 New Zealand Mathematical Society.......13 Christopher Zeeman Medal 2016 – Call for nominations..............................5 X&Y..........................................................14 Inaugural Hirst Lecture...........................1 Obituary Postdoctoral Mobility Grants 2016-17....6 Milne Anderson.......................................24 LMS Meetings Records of Proceedings BMC 2016 – Society Meeting...................17 SW & South Wales Regional Meeting......7 David Crighton Lecture...........................19 Reports Hirst Lecture and Society Meeting.........25 Invited Lectures 2016..............................15 British Topology Meeting.......................8 Mary Cartwright Lecture.........................16 SW & South Wales Regional Meeting.....9 Meetings Reviews Explicit Methods in Number Theory.....21 Creating Symmetry..................................26 From the Continuum to the Tectonic.....30 Genius at Play..........................................28 Hilbert's Sixth Problem............................22 The Magic Garden of George B..............27 Modern Topics in Nonlinear PDE and Visits Geometric Analysis................................18 Operators, Operator Families and Hassannezhad, Asma...............................20 Asymptotics..........................................21 Kosmann-Schwarzbach, Yvette...............21 Point Processes and Warping Functions....23 Naboko, Sergey.........................................20 Probabilistic Combinatorics....................23 Ortega, Miguel.........................................20 The History of Number Theory...............23 Scheel, Arnd..............................................20 [email protected] No. 455 February 2016 LMS 150TH ANNIVERSARY DEPARTMENTAL CELEBRATIONS These events were part of a series of receptions hosted across the UK by mathematics depart- ments, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the LMS. THE OPEN UNIVERSITY We held the LMS 150th Anniversary Celebration on 15 December 2015 during the Depart- ment's winter postgraduate research day, which included research talks by PhD students and a lecture on the philosophy of Hermann Weyl by Professor Jeremy Gray. The Anniversary Cel- ebration featured prosecco, mince pies and a huge cake baked by one of the PhD students David Marti Pete, who is pictured cutting the cake. Also pictured are Jeremy Gray and PhD students Rosie Cretney and Mairi Walker. At the event, Professor June Barrow-Green said a few words about the LMS and, after the toast, we all sang 'Happy Birthday' to the LMS, ac- companied on the ukelele by former head of department Dr Toby O'Neil. 3 Editorial team Publication dates and deadlines http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk Editorial office General Editor Published monthly, except August. Items and adver- London Mathematical Society, Mr A.J.S. Mann tisements by the first day of the month prior to publi- De Morgan House, 57–58 Russell ([email protected]) cation, or the closest preceding working day. Notices Square, London WC1B 4HS and advertisements are not accepted for events that Reports Editor occur in the first week of the publication month. (t: 020 7637 3686; Professor I. A. Stewart f: 020 7323 3655) ([email protected]) News items and notices in the Newsletter may be freely used elsewhere unless otherwise stated, al- Events calendar Reviews Editor though attribution is requested when reproducing Updates and corrections to Professor D. Singerman whole articles. Contributions to the Newsletter are [email protected] ([email protected]) made under a non-exclusive licence; please contact Articles Administrative Editor the author or photographer for the rights to repro- Send articles to S.M. Oakes duce. The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the [email protected] ([email protected]) accuracy of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or Advertising Typeset by the LMS at De policy of the London Mathematical Society. For rates and guidelines see Morgan House; printed by newsletter.lms.ac.uk/rate-card Holbrooks Printers Ltd. Charity registration number: 252660. LMS Items LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFAST The Mathematics Department of Queen's University Belfast held a reception in the Old Staff Common Room on Friday afternoon 18 December 2015 to celebrate the LMS 150th anniversary. It was a small group but no less merry. The streaming from the LMS website of the launch event (we watched Robert Pieké's Mathematics: Smoke and Mirrors) added essentially to the gathering as it immediately stimulated discussions on the applications of partial differential equations to 'real life' problems. The support of the LMS is thankfully acknowledged. 4 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY The Department of Mathematics held a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the LMS on Friday 4 December 2015. The event was well attended by students and staff, and marked a welcome end to our Fall term. [email protected] No. 455 February 2016 CHRISTOPHER ZEEMAN MEDAL 2016 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS The Councils of the LMS and the IMA are delighted to invite nominations for the 2016 award of the Christopher Zeeman Medal, which is the UK award dedicated to recognising excellence in the communication of mathematics. The IMA and the LMS wish to honour mathematicians who have excelled in promoting mathematics and engaging with the general public. They may be academic mathematicians based in universities, mathematics school teachers, in- dustrial mathematicians, those working in the financial sector or indeed mathema- 5 ticians from any number of other fields. Most importantly, these mathematicians will have worked exceptionally to bring mathematics to a non-specialist audience, whether it is through giving public lectures, writing books, appearing on radio or television, organising events or through an entirely separate medium. The LMS and IMA want to celebrate the achievements of mathematicians who work to inspire others with their work. The award is named after Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman, FRS, president of the LMS between 1986 and 1988. His notable career has been pioneering not only in the fields of topology and catastrophe theory but also because of his ground breaking work in bringing his beloved mathematics to the wider public. Sir Chris- topher was the first mathematician to be asked to deliver the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 1978, a full 160 years since they began. His Mathematics into Pictures lectures have been cited by many young UK mathematicians as their inspi- ration. In recognition of both his work as a mathematician and his contribution to the UK mathematics community, Sir Christopher received
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