THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

Forthcoming COUNCIL DIARY how the issues and proposals in 18 June 2004 the report could be taken for- Society ward. Council discussed some Meetings The first item for discussion at recommendations put forward the June meeting of Council by Norman Biggs, and a tabled 2004 was a draft proposal for the for- paper by Penny Davies on the Friday 17 September mation of an Advisory implications of the CTA mecha- Exeter Committee for Mathematics nism. Among other things, we South West & South Research and Industry, as rec- are determined to press for Wales Regional ommended by the Smith improvements in doctoral train- Meeting Report. This new body would ing accounts, and to seek fund- R. Langlands speak on behalf of the mathe- ing for the recruitment of aca- G. Henniart matical sciences community to demic mathematicians to cover 1 [page 5] government and others on the the gaps created by the retire- role of mathematics and mathe- ment of key researchers. Friday 19 November matics research; it would com- The first item for discussion in London plement ACME's role in relation the Treasurer's report was the Annual General to mathematics education. The level of our subscriptions, which Meeting draft proposal arose out of dis- we shall raise by 10% this year; D. Olive cussions at the Council for the Council considers that this still P. Goddard Mathematical Sciences on 18 represents a good deal. The (Presidential Address) May, and will form a basis for budget for 2004/05 was dis- further discussion with the CMS cussed and agreed. The Treasurer and with ACME. Much, includ- had already been given a grilling ing a name for the new body, by the Finance and General remains to be decided, but the Purposes Committee, so discus- proposal, in principle, received sion at Council was short. The strong support from Council. Programme Secretary drew The President's Report also Council's attention to the fact prompted discussion of RAE 2008. that the Programme Committee An invitation to nominate for budget had (in effect) been cut membership of panels and sub- through a clarification of policy panels was expected imminently, on reserves and unspent grants. with a deadline of 15 September. Under the report of the (More details are given on page 4 Publications Secretary, Council of this Newsletter.) formally approved a 5.5% rise The CMS is arranging a meet- in the sterling prices of our ing with EPSRC to follow up on standard journals, a slightly the International Review of higher dollar price increase (to Mathematics, and to discuss reflect exchange rates) and a THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

2% rise in the price of Compositio The Education Secretary reported further Having toyed with the idea of a colour and topology, but also provided entirely new Mathematica. The Publications Secretary on actions which followed up on the Smith change every month, or every three connections with other subjects such as num- expressed some anxiety over subscription lev- report. A meeting would shortly take place months, the Editorial Board decided that ber theory and also theoretical physics. els, which are falling. Publications income has between the Presidents of the CMS societies keeping each academic year's issues the Professor Singer was one of those responsi- been a very major contributor to the Society's and the Secretary of State for Education and same colour would help readers to file their ble for establishing the very successful dia- income for several years, so this is certainly Skills. There would also be a meeting with collections and would look more attractive logue that has taken place in recent decades not welcome (but also not unexpected) news. Anita Straker, in her capacity as the interim on the shelves: we hope you agree. between geometers and physicists, introduc- Stephen Huggett reported on the recent Chief Adviser for Mathematics. The Whatever its colour, the Newsletter wel- ing into mathematics viewpoints from quan- meeting of the new International Affairs Education Committee had discussed at comes items of interest that any readers tum field theory which have radically Committee, when John Ball (President of the length the matters that should be covered in may like to tell us about: mathematics in changed the agenda in both geometry and International Mathematical Union) had present- these meetings. the news, on the stage, cinema, radio or TV, topology. ed a review of its responsibilities as the UK As the meeting drew to a close, David in the art gallery or even in Parliament - in ‘Committee for Mathematics’ within the Union. Abrahams reminded us that the IMA, rather addition of course to the usual mainstream CMS MEETS SECRETARY Stephen suggested that the LMS should consid- younger than the LMS, would celebrate its meetings, conferences and workshops. er setting up a web page devoted to IMU busi- 40th birthday with a celebratory event on Items with visual impact are especially wel- OF STATE FOR EDUCATION ness. The Committee had recommended sup- Thursday 2 September. come: they can be any colour you like this AND SKILLS port for a request from John Ball for help sup- Sarah Rees year, as long as it is amber. porting a new post to improve the IMU's work David Chillingworth The three CMS Presidents, together with 2 in poor countries (and this was now agreed by NOT AMBER FOREVER Nigel Steele (Hon. Sec., Education, IMA) and 3 Council). The forthcoming EMS Council meeting HONORARY MEMBERSHIP Peter Cooper (current CMS Secretary) had a had been discussed, and in particular the ques- As the green leaves of summer begin to meeting with the Rt Hon. Charles Clarke, tion of mathematics in Framework 6, the elec- tinge with autumn brown, so the The London MP, Secretary of State for Education and tions to the EMS executive, and EMS publishing. Newsletter takes on a new shade for the Mathematical Skills, on 6 July 2004. The meeting had been Martin Taylor had presented an excellent brief- whole of its second year in colour. Readers Society has arranged following earlier discussions ing on Anglo-Russian collaboration, including a can be assured that as winter approaches elected Professor between the LMS and Mr Clarke. proposal for a joint meeting between the the Newsletter will not (intentionally) fall I.M. Singer of The CMS delegation welcomed the DfES London and Moscow mathematical societies. in pieces to the ground or turn all white. MIT to Honorary response to the Smith Report and reiter- Membership of ated its support for implementation of the Society. Prof- the recommendations. Frances Kirwan essor Singer has (LMS) and Andy Grieve (RSS) put the CMS’ LMS Newsletter been a leading case that the supply of mathematically- figure in geom- skilled people needed to be addressed as General Editor: Dr D.R.J. Chillingworth ([email protected]) etry and analy- a whole, looking at all stages in second- Reports Editor: Dr S.A. Huggett ([email protected]) sis for over fifty years. He has received many ary and higher education and research Reviews Editor: Professor M.P.F. du Sautoy ([email protected]) honours and prizes including the American training. The erosion of the maths base in Administrative Editor: Miss S.M. Oakes ([email protected]) Mathematical Society's Prize for universities was a major problem, primari- Editorial office address: London Mathematical Society, De Morgan House, Distinguished Public Service and the Steele ly brought about by a system in which stu- 57-58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS (tel: 020 7637 3686; fax: 020 7323 3655; Prize for Lifetime Achievement, as well as dents’ choice was the main determinant email: [email protected], web: www.lms.ac.uk) the US National Medal of Science. Together of a department’s viability. This was lead- Designed by CHP Design (tel: 020 7240 0466, email: [email protected], web:www.chpdesign.com) with Sir Michael Atiyah he was awarded the ing to closures and mergers, limiting stu- Publication dates and deadlines: published monthly, except August. Abel Prize for 2004. Professor Singer is best dent access in some areas and depriving Items and advertisements by first day of the month prior to publication. known for his share in the Atiyah-Singer schools and local businesses of access to Information in the Newsletter is free to be used elsewhere unless otherwise stated; attribution is index theorem for elliptic operators on man- mathematical expertise. Without an over- requested when reproducing whole articles. The LMS cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy ifolds which was proved in the mid-1960s. arching strategic approach to provision in of information in the Newsletter. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or policy This powerful tool not only gave an explana- mathematics the Government’s plans of of the London Mathematical Society. Charity registration number: 252660. tion for a host of earlier results in geometry increasing the supply of STEM-trained THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

people could not be achieved. Radical NOMINATIONS ideas – necessarily involving money – LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY were needed. FOR RAE 2008 The Secretary of State commented on the Earlier this year the LMS, in conjunction SOUTH WEST AND SOUTH WALES CMS’ points, but could not commit himself – with the IMA and RSS, set up a coordinating but we would not have expected him to at group to monitor the events leading up to REGIONAL MEETING such a meeting. In discussion several points RAE 2008. Its first task was to respond to were made that the CMS will consider fur- the HEFCE consultation document RAE Harmonic Analysis and Number Theory ther. The CMS will undertake, with HoDoMS, 2/2004. The response, which was circulated a survey of current maths provision (scale, to members with the July Newsletter, set University of Exeter, Friday 17 September 2004 location and trends). The CMS is already out our views on the positive and negative involved in a project (mainly funded by DfES) aspects of the RAE, and what should be 3:15 – 3:30 LMS Business to provide careers-based materials to attract done about them. In line with our recom- 3:30 – 4:30 Robert P Langlands (IAS) more young people to study maths post-16 mendations, HEFCE decided to proceed and into university. The Secretary of State with the structure under which Pure The trace formula’s potential suggested that the CMS should engage the Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, as a tool in number theory support of industry and commerce that was Statistics and OR, and Computer Science are 4:30 – 5:00 Tea/Coffee dependent on a strong mathematically- sub-panels of Panel F. 4 trained workforce and/or mathematical This decision was announced on 15 July, 5:00 – 6:00 Guy Henniart (Paris) 5 research. together with a call for nominations to be Extending the Langlands conjectures: Tim Pedley (IMA) noted the conclusions made by 15 September. The LMS Council had of the International Review of discussed the matter at its June meeting, and p-adic representations of p-adic groups Mathematics, regarding the length of the members of Council had been asked to sug- training envelope for mathematics doctor- gest names to the President. At that time it The South West and South Wales Regional Meeting of the London Mathematical Society will be held on Friday 17 September at the University of Exeter. There will ates, and related this to the Bologna was clear that the President would have to be a reception and dinner afterwards in the University Staff Social Centre. The cost agreement and the uncertainties as to make difficult decisions on Council's behalf will be £25 per person. Places must be reserved in advance: for this contact N.P. Byott where funding for an intermediate stage before the next meeting in October. The LMS ([email protected]) to whom cheques (made payable to University of Exeter) would come from. Nigel Steele (IMA) is mainly concerned with the Pure should be sent before Friday 10 September. agreed to provide the Secretary of State Mathematics sub-panel, but we expect to with a report that the CMS bodies are pro- liaise with IMA, RSS, and the CS community There are limited funds available to contribute in part to the expenses of members ducing on the implications of Bologna on about the other sub-panels of Panel F. We of the Society or research students to attend the Society meeting. Requests for mathematics courses. will also work closely with HoDoMS. Subject support, including an estimate of expenses, may be addressed to the Programme The Secretary of State also reiterated his coverage, geographical balance, and the Secretary at the Society (web: www.lms.ac.uk; email: [email protected]). support for the CMS’ plans to establish an other criteria proposed by HEFCE will require This will be followed by a workshop on Harmonic analysis and number theory Advisory Committee on Mathematics careful consideration. from 18-20 September. Speakers include: D. Bump (Stanford), K. Buzzard (Imperial), Research and Industry, along the lines of the The President will welcome suggestions for S. deBacker (Harvard), W. Duke (UCLA), G. Henniart (Paris), W. Hoffmann (Durham), recommendation in the Smith Report. He nominations from members of the Society, R. Langlands (Princeton), E. Lapid (Hebrew), W. Luo (Ohio), C. Moeglin (Paris), would be interested to hear how those plans preferably by email to [email protected]. W. Müller (Bonn). developed. It must be stressed that the overriding objec- The CMS delegation left feeling that their tive is to set up sub-panels that will have the Some financial support for attending the workshop is available for research students at UK institutions and for participants from countries other than case for mathematics and statistics had been confidence of the community as a whole. As North America, Western Europe and Australia. The workshop programme, heard sympathetically – there was still much a general guide, persons suggested should together with local arrangements and other information, is on the web to do to make the arguments strongly in the have the standing required to serve on the (www.maths.ex.ac.uk/ ~anton/LMS-2004/title.html) or contact the organisers: right quarters, but the CMS had been given editorial board of an international journal. Anton Deitmar ([email protected]); Nigel Byott ([email protected]) some useful feedback on how it could take Norman Biggs or Robin Chapman ([email protected]). the matter forward. General Secretary THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

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INTERNATIONAL REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON OF MATHEMATICS MATHEMATICS RESEARCH The CMS met the EPSRC Chief Executive, John AND INDUSTRY O'Reilly, and the Mathematical Sciences Programme Manager, Annette Bramley, on One of the recommendations of the Smith 2 August to discuss the outcomes of the Report on 14-19 mathematics education was International Review of Mathematics. Input that there was a need for a high-level advi- to the meeting included all the views sory committee on mathematics as it affects expressed by the community, received via e- higher education, research, industry and mail, letter and at the Community Meeting in commerce, complementing the Advisory May. Committee on Mathematics Education The discussions looked at doctoral training, (ACME). The CMS has considered this recom- in particular the quality, breadth and dura- mendation and noted that it the Council was tion of PhDs in the UK. The EPSRC was able to itself created in part to present such a unified confirm that an increase in funding for EPSRC ‘voice of mathematics’. It has therefore pro- PhD studentships awarded though the DTA posed to Adrian Smith and to the to take the average PhD duration to 3.5 years Department for Education and Skills that it 6 will be coming on line for those starting in should establish such a body. 7 October 2004. The meeting considered how The role of the proposed body would be to that additional resource could be used, and speak on behalf of the mathematical sciences the potential for universities to make best community to Government and others on use of the increased average PhD duration in strategic-level issues concerning the role of the future to enhance the quality of PhD mathematics and mathematics research in training in mathematics. The matter of the economy and society, especially in rela- Masters level training was also taken up, tion to industry, business and the financial including the quality of MMath courses, sector, complementing ACME’s role in rela- Collaborative Training Accounts, and HEFCE tion to mathematics education. funding of Masters courses. It would provide a coherent view on mat- The IRM had identified some very worry- ters affecting the mathematical sciences in ing aspects of the recruitment and retention higher education, research, business and of staff in particular areas, not least in sta- industry, responding to Governmental and tistics. This is a particularly complex issue Parliamentary inquiries, public and private, involving many ‘players’ – the Funding and discussing with funding agencies for Councils as well as the Research Councils, higher education and research the means to and the individual universities themselves. achieve a strong mathematics base in the UK. We heard how EPSRC was planning to help It would facilitate communication between through its new Research Leadership the mathematical sciences community and Capacity initiative. other stakeholders and explore common The final area touched on was the role of issues and potential solutions, including the the national research institutes – in particular preparation of reports on aspects of mathe- INI and ICMS as identified by the Review. matics research and its application. The outcomes of the meeting will be It is expected to have two levels of mem- developed further and reported to the com- bership – a core committee primarily of mem- munity through this Newsletter and other bers proposed by the major mathematical means in due course. organisations plus some ex officio members, THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

and an ‘outer circle’ containing a larger num- es into mathematical sciences degrees. The ber of related organisations in mathematics CMS and HoDoMS have also agreed to carry and related areas in academe, government, out a survey of the distribution of mathe- business and industry. matics courses across the UK, following the The proposal is still being developed and CMS meeting with Education and Skills discussions on the remit, membership, pro- Secretary Charles Clarke. gramme and funding of such a body are con- Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, tinuing over the summer. The proposals have 2004 Spending Review been raised with the Royal Society, ACME, The Chancellor’s Spending Review announced JMC and at the CMS' meeting with the that Government funding for science will rise by Secretary of State for Education and Skills; in £1 billion by 2008 to support science teaching in all cases they have been widely supported. schools, improve salaries for graduate scientists and support private and public research and MATHEMATICS POLICY development, in line with the Government’s Ten Year Framework for Science and Innovation. Universities UK/SCOP/HEFCE/Higher Education Academy Consultation ‘Towards a Framework INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS of Professional Teaching Standards’ 8 The Society has made a response to this report. COMMITTEE 9 It recommends that initial professional devel- Council has noted the increasing internation- opment (IPD) and continuing professional al activity of the Society: its roles as adhering development (CPD) for academic teachers body to the IMU (and ICMI), its schemes with should be subject-specific and carried out in mathematicians abroad, its links with the association with the learned societies in European Mathematical Society, and so on. It order to achieve the highest standards of has decided, therefore, to establish an teaching practice. There is access to the full International Affairs Committee, incorporat- version of this response on the LMS website. ing the former IMU Liaison Committee, to Government response to the report by oversee these activities and advise Council Professor Adrian Smith FRS on Post-14 accordingly. Its membership is as follows: Mathematics ‘Making Mathematics Count’ • Programme Secretary (ex officio, chair) The CMS has welcomed the recommenda- • Publications Secretary (ex officio) tions made by Education and Skills Secretary • The LMS representative on the Royal Charles Clarke for reform of 14-19 mathe- Society Scientific Unions Committee matics education, in line with the Smith (currently John Ball) Report. There is access to the full version of • ICMI National Representative (currently this response and the CMS Press Release on Derek Woodrow) the LMS website. • A person with links to the European Mathematics Promotion Unit (MPU) collabo- Mathematical Society (currently Sir John ration with Heads of Departments of Kingman) Mathematical Sciences (HoDoMS) • Nominees of the Edinburgh Mathematical The MPU will be collaborating with Professor Society, the Royal Statistical Society, and Charles Goldie of HoDoMS to acquire data on the Institute for Mathematics and its mathematics education and research, in line Applications (currently Peter Rowlinson, with the recommendation of the Smith Peter Green and John Hogan respectively) Report that HoDoMS and the CMS investi- • Two members ad hominem (currently gate patterns of applications and acceptanc- Martin Taylor and Florence Tsou) cont’d THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

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The first meeting was held in June. Professor Councils, and, if they so decide, there will John Ball gave an overview of the be a wider consultation with the members Committee’s role as the UK ‘Committee for of the organisations during 2005. Mathematics’ as required by the IMU • The meeting noted that several committees Statutes, and we agreed that it would be use- now have some form of cross-representa- ful to have an ‘international affairs’ area on tion. It was agreed that this kind of collabo- the LMS website, with appropriate links to ration should continue, irrespective of the the IMU and other bodies. The Committee eventual outcome of the Framework Study. looked at the agenda for the forthcoming • David Youdan (IMA Executive Director) and EMS Council meeting, to provide a briefing Peter Cooper (LMS Executive Secretary) for the LMS delegation. Links with the reported on discussions at the recent BMC Anglo/Russian collaboration committee were and BAMC meetings about future collabo- discussed, and two new proposals consid- ration between the Colloquia, following ered. Members felt that it had been very the meeting held at De Morgan House ear- valuable: we will be meeting once per year lier in the year. and conducting business by email in the • The LMS reported that it had established a interim. Mathematics Promotion Unit, primarily Stephen Huggett aimed at policy makers and the media. The 10 IMA expressed interest in the possibility of 11 IMA-LMS WORKING participating in the work of the unit. The Group agreed to meet next on Friday 12 GROUP November 2004. A meeting of the IMA-LMS Working Group Norman Biggs took place on 18 May 2004 at De Morgan Charles Evans House. • The meeting considered the progress that LMS MEMBER AWARDED had been made by the Framework Study Initiative (FSI), which is investigating possi- NATIONAL TEACHING ble structures for supporting the activities FELLOWSHIP of the two societies, including a full merger. The FSI had met on 18 February, 31 March, Dr David Acheson, Fellow in Mathematics at and 10 May and is planning to meet again Jesus College, Oxford and member of the in July and September, with the intention of LMS, has been awarded a National Teaching producing an interim report for the two Fellowship worth £50,000 in recognition of Councils in October/November. At this stage his outstanding contribution to learning and the FSI is investigating aspects of a ‘single teaching. He will be presented with his Council’ model. A number of difficult ques- award by the Rt Hon. Alan Johnson, Minister tions arise, for example: finance, invest- for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education, ments and reserves; membership categories, at a celebration dinner in London on professional registration and the link with 9 September 2004. Chartered Mathematician status; and the Dr Acheson is well known for his innova- composition of the Council. Other models tive and inspiring teaching methods, which are also under consideration. include playing an electric guitar in lectures • It is intended that the interim report will to demonstrate the mathematical theory of address all aspects of these complex issues. vibrating strings. In addition to his teaching The report will be considered by the two and research at Oxford, he has given a num- THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

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ber of public lectures including last year’s inspiring students and colleagues and LMS Popular Lecture, Mathematics, Magic demonstrating a reflexive approach to teach- and the Electric Guitar. He has also ing. Professor Chetwynd has used her award appeared on Tomorrow’s World presenting to develop a project that aims to bridge the his ‘upside-down pendulums theorem,’ and gap between school and university mathe- written 1089 and All That, a book that matics, addressing issues such as the decline attempts to bring the joy of mathematics to in mathematical competence of students the general public. entering higher education, the shortage of Dr Acheson aims to use his award to students choosing to study mathematics to establish a unique form of communication degree level and the insufficient number of of mathematics, particularly to students well qualified mathematics teachers in who are just starting university. He plans to schools. do this by writing an accessible and inspir- Professor Chetwynd began her ing book on mathematics that is neither a Fellowship project this February. The proj- conventional textbook nor a ‘popular sci- ect involves designing interactive activities ence’ book, but one which draws on the to provide an introduction to probability best elements of both. The book will and statistics. These activities adopt a prob- emphasise the aesthetic and practical sides lem-based learning approach, taking inter- 12 of mathematics, helping readers to actual- esting and accessible examples from health, 13 ly do maths, rather than just appreciate it. medicine and the environment to bring Dr Acheson will also create web-based mathematics to life and emphasise its rele- interactive software to accompany his vance to other disciplines and society as a book, illustrating those aspects of mathe- whole. The activities aim to widen partici- matics that are best brought to life by mov- pation in mathematics by extending the ing images. learning resources for AS and A-Level The National Teaching Fellowship teachers and students, and making links Scheme was set up five years ago by the between A-Level and university-level course Higher Education Funding Council for content. England (HEFCE) and the Department for The LMS congratulates Dr David Acheson Employment and learning in Northern and Professor Amanda Chetwynd on their Ireland to recognise individuals who are awards and wishes them every success with excellent teachers and fund projects that their Fellowship projects. will make a significant contribution to learning and teaching in Higher Education. COLLINGWOOD The Scheme has awarded 50 fellowships this year, chosen from a total of 249 nomi- MEMORIAL PRIZE nations. Dr Acheson won his award within The 2004 Collingwood Memorial Prize has the Experienced Staff category of the been awarded to Paul R. Buckingham, Scheme for wide dissemination of his S. Cuthbert's Society, University of Durham. teaching practices across the learning and The Collingwood Memorial Prize, established teaching community. in memory of Sir Edward Collingwood, FRS, Last year Professor Amanda Chetwynd, President of the Society 1969-1970, is award- Lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics at ed to a final-year mathematics student at the Lancaster University and Vice President of the University of Durham who intends to contin- LMS, was awarded one of twenty National ue to a higher degree in mathematics at Teaching Fellowships for influencing and Durham or any other university. THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

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FERMAT PRIZE FOR MATHE- sions were mostly at the strategic level, because Council only meets every two years, MATICS RESEARCH 2005 and so the detailed work is done in between UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Fermat Prize, awarded every two years by smaller committees. The LMS delegation by the Université Paul Sabatier, in Toulouse, consisted of Frances Kirwan, Tsou Sheung FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS France, rewards research in fields where the Tsun, and myself. contributions of Pierre de Fermat have been There were over 90 delegates altogether, decisive. These are: and so chairing the meeting was no joke, but ADAMS PRIZE • Statements of Variational Principles the EMS President, Sir John Kingman, man- • Foundations of Probability and Analytical aged it in his relaxed style. After the Differential Equations Geometry President's report (during which he reminded • Number theory us that the next President of the EMS takes The Chairman of the Adjudicators for the Adams Prize invites applica- The spirit of the Fermat prize is focused on office from January 2007) we moved on to rewarding the results of research accessible elect several new corporate members to the tions. The Prize will be awarded this year for research achievement in to the greatest number of professional math- EMS, and then we chose the new Executive the field of Differential Equations, interpreted in the broadest sense. ematicians within these fields. The amount of Committee. the Fermat prize has been fixed at
20,000, The rest of the meeting was devoted to The prize is open to any person who, on 31 October 2004, will hold with the ninth award being announced in reports from the various committees of the 14 an appointment in the UK, either in a university or in some other October 2005. EMS: these covered a very broad range of 15 institution, and who is under 40 (in exceptional circumstances the Rules governing the prize, candidacy for- activity, and I have only picked out a few Adjudicators may relax this age limit). The value of the prize is malities, etc. are available from the secretari- here. Under publications, we heard from the expected to be approximately £15,000, of which one third is award- at of the Fermat prize at Prix FERMAT de new EMS Newsletter Editor and we had a ed to the prize-winner on announcement of the prize, one third is recherché en Mathématiques, Service presentation on the EMS Publishing House. provided to the prize-winner’s institution (for research expenses of Communication, Université Paul Sabatier, 118 Then there was a discussion on recent and the prize-winner) and one third is awarded to the prize-winner on route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 4, proposed developments in Zentralblatt, such acceptance for publication in an internationally recognised journal of France. This information is also available at as the formation of a Scientific Advisory a substantial (normally at least 25 printed pages) original article, of www.ups-tlse.fr. The closing date for applica- Committee, and how the Society can best tions is 30 June 2005. support these. which the prize-winner is an author, surveying a significant part of Not surprisingly, the report from the the winner’s field. UP AND COMING ‘Group on Relations with European Institutions’ also led to animated discussion! Applications (seven copies), comprising a CV, a list of publications, Marcus du Sautoy is presenting Five Shapes Luc Lemaire explained that it is a minority the work or works (published or unpublished) to be considered, and on BBC Radio 4 at 9.30 am on Tuesdays in view in EU institutions that pure research a brief non-technical summary of the most significant new results of September. should be supported as an engine for future these works (designed for mathematicians not working in the subject development. The majority view, heavily area) should be sent to: EUROPEAN MATHEMATICAL influenced by industry, is that the EU should only support short-term and immediately The Secretary of the Adams Prize Adjudicators, SOCIETY COUNCIL applicable research. This is the background to Faculty Office, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, MEETING the difficulty that mathematics has in fitting into FP6, for example, and is partly why there Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA. Uppsala, 26-27 June 2004 has been intense lobbying from mathemati- (Enquiries may be emailed to: [email protected].) Uppsala seemed to be deserted, as if a John cians in favour of the setting up of a Wyndham story was taking place, but in fact European Research Council. EMS Council The deadline for receipt of applications is 31 October 2004. it was only the Swedish midsummer holiday! members were also asked to try to influence The Council of the EMS met in the fine old other scientists: the point was made that we University there, over two days. Our discus- certainly cannot assume that they appreciate THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

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the importance (even in utilitarian terms) of Congresses, the Society had a stand, which supporting pure mathematics. attracted great interest in the Society, its Vagn Lundsgaard Hansen spoke very well activities and its journals and books. About on behalf of the ‘Raising Public Awareness’ 70 people attended a Reception on committee. His main point was to ask Wednesday 30 June. The President was able research mathematicians to give support to to welcome Members, including two colleagues who devote time and energy to Honorary Members, officials of EMS and this increasingly important activity. In discus- organisers of 4ECM, as well as many other sion it became clear that there was a need for friends and guests. national societies to do even more network- The Congress had been preceded by the ing here. EMS Council, held in Uppsala. The Society's We ended with a short discussion on the delegation comprised the President, Dr intriguing possibility of creating a ‘Digital Stephen Huggett (Programme Secretary) and Mathematical Library’. Council felt that it Dr Florence Tsou (Oxford). A report appears was very important for European mathemati- on page 15. cians to be involved, should this project take off. (There is some information at the site ECM PRIZE WINNERS www.wdml.org.) 16 I was very impressed by all I learned about Winners of the EMS Prizes 2004: 17 the EMS, and with the fervour of the newly • Franck Barthe, Institut de Mathématiques converted I would urge you to rush out and Laboratoire de Statistique et Probabilités, join. While you are at it do visit the EMS web- Toulouse, France site (www.maths.soton.ac.uk/EMIS/index.html) • Stefano Bianchini, Instituto per le Applicazioni to browse the publications or learn about the del Calcolo ‘M. Picone’, Rome, Italy Sitting from the left: Xavier Tolsa, Paul Biràn, Sylvia Serfaty, Stefano Bianchini, Otmar Venjakob. various opportunities for summer schools • Paul Biràn, School of Mathematical Standing from the left: Franck Barthe, Warwick Tucker, Nina Uraltseva (President of the Prize Committee), and lectures. Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Israel Elon Lindenstrauss, Andrei Oukonkov, Stanislav Smirnov. Stephen Huggett • Elon Lindenstrauss, Clay Mathematics Institute, Massachusetts and Courant EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF A further new feature was to hear European THE LMS AT 4ECM Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New MATHEMATICS network co-ordinators talk about the mathe- York, USA matical progress achieved by their networks. A trumpet voluntary by J. Clarke heralded • Andrei Okounkov, Princeton University, 4ECM was held at Stockholm University at the My selection of talks included subjects such as: the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 European USA end of June. During the opening ceremony, the waves in forest floor bacteria, knots as stable sin- Congress of Mathematics (4ECM) in • Sylvia Serfaty, Courant Institute of winners of the ten EMS prizes and the Carl-Eric gularities in waves, the development of MRI Stockholm, Sweden, on 28 June. Following Mathematical Sciences, New York, USA Fröberg prize were announced. For a change, scanning, evolutionary dynamics, isoperimetric stirring speeches by Ari Laptev, President of • Stanislav Smirnov, KTH, Sweden and the announcement was not controversial: the inequalities, quantum chaos, complexity theory the 4ECM Organising Committee, John Geneva University, Switzerland prize committee had managed to award out- (and other talks with lengthier titles). Taking Kingman, EMS President, and the Rector and • Xavier Tolsa, ICREA and Universitat standing mathematical achievement, with a notes from Powerpoint lectures was difficult, so Chancellor of Stockholm University, the EMS Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain good spread of nationalities and subjects. I’m looking forward to the publication of the prizes were announced (see below) and the • Warwick Tucker, Uppsala University, The Congress was an opportunity to hear conference proceedings by the EMS Publishing Congress went into full swing with a truly Sweden about advances across the whole spectrum of House (www.ems-ph.org), hopefully next spring. impressive programme. The Congress was • Otmar Venjakob, Mathematisches Institut mathematics, with a particular emphasis on Because of the new features, there were no held in the very pleasant surroundings of the Universität Heidelberg, Germany applications. Taking advantage of the confer- ‘round table’ discussions, but it will be open to University of Stockholm, and the organisers The Carl-Eric Fröberg Prize was awarded to ence’s location, the organising committee the organisers of 5ECM to restore them to the are to be congratulated on laying on such an Anna-Karin Tornberg, Stockholm, Sweden. had been able to attract two Nobel prizewin- programme in Amsterdam in 2008. effective and enjoyable event. Full citations are at www.math.kth.se/4ecm/ ners and four other scientists to talk about David Salinger As is traditional at such international prizes.ecm.html. their work and its link with mathematics. EMS Publicity Secretary THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS ORDINARY MEETING held on Wednesday 30 June 2004 at the Aula Magna, Stockholm University, during the Fourth European Congress of Mathematics. At least 70 members and guests were present. Alexei Zhizhchenko, Lennart Carlson The meeting began at 6.00 pm, with Professor F.C. KIRWAN, FRS, President, in the Chair. Professor Kirwan welcomed members and guests: the meeting provided an opportunity for overseas members to meet other members of the Society. She gave a particular welcome to Professor Lennart Carleson and Professor Serge Novikov, Honorary Members of the London Mathematical Society. She then welcomed guests, with a special welcome to Professor Ari Laptev, organiser of the European Congress of Mathematics, Sir John Kingman, President of the European Mathematical Society 18 and Jean-Pierre Bourguignon. 19 Fifteen members signed the membership book. The meeting was followed by a reception.

Frances Kirwan, Michael Berry Stephen Huggett, David Salinger, Tuulikki Makelainen LMS RECEPTION AND STAND AT THE FOURTH EUROPEAN CONGRESS OF MATHEMATICS Stockholm, 28 June – 2 July 2004

Stephen Huggett, Frances Kirwan, Jan Thomas Victor Buchstaber, Elmer Rees, Michael Butler LMS Stand: Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Peter Cooper, Stephen Huggett, Frances Kirwan THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

FUTURE BMCS Special sessions and mini-symposia will JOHN H.H. CHALK where steps are being taken to give emer- Here are preliminary announcements of include: Dynamical Systems, Algebraic and Professor John Chalk, who was elected a gency English schooling to refugee children. future meetings of the British Mathematical Arithmetic Geometry, Solid Mechanics, member of the London Mathematical Society There were children present from all around Colloquium (BMC). Mathematical Biology, Mechanics of Fluids on 22 April 1954, died on 28 June 2004 in the globe: Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Somalia, The meeting ‘Mathematics 2005’ will incor- and Asymptotic Analysis. Vancouver, BC, aged 81. He was born and Yemen, Angola; a real test for the universali- porate the 47th meeting of the BAMC and the See www.maths.liv.ac.uk/colloquium for educated in London, obtaining a war time ty of the language of mathematics. 57th meeting of the BMC. It will take place in further details as they become available. degree at Imperial College in 1943. He spent One young Somalian refugee caught Ian Liverpool from lunchtime on Monday 4 April The 58th meeting of the BMC will be held 1946-47 with H. Davenport at University Porteous’ attention. As with the other refugee to lunchtime on Thursday 7 April. There will at Newcastle University from 10 to 13 April College London, before becoming a research children his personal story is woeful. He be one plenary talk each day aimed at the 2006. The special sessions at this meeting will student at Trinity College, Cambridge, in arrived in this country with his brother and sis- entire gathering, supplemented by ‘plenary be devoted to Analysis and Geometry on 1947, working with L.J. Mordell. He went to ter but without his mother, father or anybody BMC’ and ‘plenary BAMC’ talks. The remain- Groups and to Operator Theory. Further Princeton in 1949-50 as a postdoctoral fellow, else to take care of him. In fact he does not der of the time will be devoted to concurrent details will be given later on websites and in coming under the influence of E. Artin. From know whether his parents are living or not. He activities following the traditional pattern of this Newsletter. 1951 he was an assistant lecturer at Bedford has not been given the opportunity to attend each colloquium. These will include ‘morning The Scientific Committee of the BMC wel- College, London. In 1957 he moved to school in this country, nor had he received any speakers’ and splinter groups in the BMC style, comes thoughts on the future of the BMC, Canada, first to McMaster University, and formal education before he arrived. alongside minisymposia in parallel sessions and it also welcomes communications from then in 1963 to the University of Toronto. On The Somali boy’s ability shone and he, following the BAMC model. those who would like to host a future BMC. retirement in 1988 he returned to London amongst others, was invited along to the 20 The plenary speakers will be J. Ball, For this, please contact Committee Chairman, and until 1998 was a senior fellow at Imperial weekly maths club. He has attended every 21 M. Berry, N. Elkies, B. Fantechi, A. Friedman, Professor H.G. Dales, University of Leeds College London. John's early work was on week since and has quickly become one of A. Khovanski, V. Maz’ya, D. McDuff, G. Milton, (garth@maths. leeds.ac.uk). convexity and the geometry of numbers, an the brightest, keenest members of the club. J. Toland and W. Werner. interest which he retained throughout his He now volunteers to help at maths events, career. He had many other interests in num- on one occasion teaching the sponsor how to ber theory, especially the theory of congru- complete one of the harder puzzles. ences and exponential sums. He obtained an The organisers of the maths club and the local THE GLASGOW MATHEMATICAL JOURNAL external London PhD in 1948, a Cambridge community college are coming together to pro- PhD in 1951, and a Cambridge DSc in retire- vide a GCSE maths crash course for this promis- LEARNING AND RESEARCH SUPPORT FUND ment. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of ing Somali youth, whose talents were discovered Canada. at a Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclass. Grants in support of Scottish Mathematics Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclasses ROYAL INSTITUTION are organised regionally, mainly by groups of The fund aims to support mathematical projects which have demonstrable local volunteers. There is a network of centres benefit to mathematics in Scotland. This includes conferences, workshops MASTERCLASSES around the UK organising around 60 series and summer schools in Scotland, lecture tours in Scottish universities and The Royal Institution has organised each year. Each series consists of between five the publication of lecture notes or other monographs associated with such Mathematics Masterclasses for over twenty to ten classes usually for Year 8 or 9 students activities. Grants of up to £1,000 are available. years. However, the scope and reach of the class- (12 to 14 year olds). es never ceases to amaze me. I had recently Masterclasses are designed to stimulate and There are two rounds of awards each year. Closing dates for application are started organising the Masterclass programme encourage mathematically promising students the last days of October 2004 and January 2005. It is hoped that confirma- when I heard the following heartening story. by introducing them to aspects of mathemat- tion of awards will be made within about three months from these dates. Asylum seekers coming to this country ics that are not usually found in the school cur- Further information and application forms are available from the address between the ages of 14 and 16 may often riculum. Their emphasis is on exploration and below or on the web at www.maths.gla.ac.uk/gmj/gmj-trust. Application find that their education suffers. When this enjoyment for all concerned. Topics are cho- should be made to: Dr C. Athorne, Secretary G.M.J. Trust Fund, Department came to the attention of Ian Porteous, presi- sen by each lecturer, who varies from week to of Mathematics, University of Glasgow, University Gardens, Glasgow G12 dent of Mathematical Education on week, to reflect his or her personal interest. 8QW (tel: 0141 330 5176, email: [email protected]). Merseyside, he decided to take their maths This can be anything from algebra to cryptog- roadshow to the local community college, raphy and from dinosaurs to mazes; there is THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

no typical Masterclass. The lecturers are cho- lishing income to keep their programme of then the national bill to universities would be university library budget and the revolution sen for their ability to communicate their activities going and they fully approve of the greater than the existing sum of UK library towards an author-pays model will affect us enthusiasm and excitement for their subject. good work that is done. However, although budgets. The fact that the UK is host to some even if we don’t adopt the policy. For further information about your nearest it noted the threat to learned societies’ of the largest STM publishing groups means Over the last year alone we have experi- Masterclass group contact Katie Chicot, income, it was unable to offer any assurance that the loss of income received from over- enced a 10% increase in the number of ([email protected]). that societies would be protected against seas libraries would not be recovered papers submitted to the Bulletin, Journal and Katie Chicot fallout from its recommendations. A local through income from overseas authors. This Proceedings, without any discernable drop in Clothworkers’ Fellow in Mathematics conclusion is that it is up to us at the LMS to is certainly true in the case of the LMS, where quality. It may be that authors are making a look after our own and, in this respect, the less than 14% of our subscription income policy decision to support learned society SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS: LMS is way ahead (see the next Newsletter from journals originates in the UK and about publishing and recognise that the profits are item on the LMS open access policy). 23% of our authors are British based. being recycled back into the LMS pro- FREE FOR ALL? Initially, the Select Committee appeared to However, the Committee recommended that, grammes that support mathematics. … is the title of the latest report from the be interested in issues concerning peer despite these arguments, the UK However, libraries are not following this House of Commons Science and Technology review, but there is very little about this in Government should act as a proponent for example and are still cancelling subscriptions, Committee and it has some important impli- the final report – it came to the simple con- change on the international stage and lead so we have to look at ways to protect the cations for publishing at the LMS. The full clusion that it was a good thing, and it rec- by example. income to the Society. We thought about report can be found at www.parliament. ommends that current publishing standards The response: LMS Open Access Policy whether to extend open access to older uk/commons/selcom/s&thome.htm. In my be maintained. It also looked at the question Council discussed a variety of publishing mod- papers but instead we have come up with a 22 alternative role as Junior Cub Reporter for of retrodigitization of the paper archive and els earlier in the year and came down against unique response that we hope will best serve 23 the LMS Newsletter, I trotted off to the Press praised the work of the British Library in this the introduction of an author-pays model for the mathematics community for the present, Conference last month and (in common with respect. It believes that Government should mathematics, recognising two big problems. without hitting our income too hard in the several other heavily-disguised publishers) move immediately towards the compulsory First, mathematicians from poorer countries long term. picked up a free copy of the report. The deposit of non-print publications at the cannot pay and, even if the fee is waived upon At present, anyone can freely access the Chairman Dr Ian Gibson expressed great national libraries. application, such a policy would be divisive. most recent two issues of the Bulletin, Journal pleasure at the number of people at the con- The Committee’s major recommendation is Second, it is very unusual for a mathematician and Proceedings and download the full text of ference and at the public hearings of the that all UK higher educational institutions from any country to survive on research funds; the articles. You can access the articles via our Select Committee. In his experience, the establish ‘Institutional Repositories’ in which most are paid by universities. The author-pays web pages or directly from Cambridge jour- largest number of people ever attended the their published output can be stored and model assumes that a research funder will nals online at http://journals.cambridge.org/ four sessions of the Science and Technology from which it can be read, free of charge, allocate a portion of the funds given for a public/door. Committee earlier in the year when oral evi- online. The Report also recommends that project to publication costs and the scientist By setting the most recent issues free, we dence was presented. Research Councils and other Government will draw on that budget when the paper is hope to encourage mathematicians to read The Select Committee’s main conclusion is funders mandate their funded researchers to published. Clearly, that doesn’t work for math- and cite papers published in our journals and that the current model of scientific publish- deposit a copy of all articles in this way. The ematics! that this will increase the visibility of the jour- ing is unsatisfactory and it believes that the committee criticised HEFCE and recommend- However, we do not work in a vacuum from nals. It should also encourage the best authors ‘author-pays’ publishing model could be ed that HEFCE be required to provide good the rest of society and government policy is to submit papers in the knowledge their work viable and was not convinced by many of the national data on library budgets. However, it driven by people such as the Science and will be seen now, rather than waiting for an arguments mounted against it. It also accepts that, despite the lack of detailed Technology Committee that reflect the whole archive to become freely available after some thought that the costs of peer review should data, there is a real problem in library fund- of science. The economics of journal publish- years. This is a one-year trial and the be met through submission fees, rather than ing and feel that moving to the author-pays ing and the models that librarians are willing Publications Committee will review the policy successful authors having to pay for the cost model would have benefits in the UK. to deal with is driven by ‘big science’, predom- in October 2005. If you have any views you of others’ mistakes. It encourages further This conclusion has been disputed by some inantly bio-medical research, and policy would like the LMS to consider, please write to experimentation, particularly to establish the learned societies and publishers, who claim changes are heavily influenced by bodies like the Publications Secretary, Jim Howie, or impact that such models would have on that the UK is a net exporter of both research the Wellcome Trust and the Public Library of myself and it will be reported to the learned societies. and published journals. The argument is that Science. A small mathematics publisher like Publications Committee. The Select Committee recognises that if the government has to give the author the LMS finds that sales are influenced by Susan Hezlet many learned societies rely heavily on pub- funds to have his or her article published what it happening to the rest of the average LMS Publisher THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

VISIT OF PROFESSOR • Y. Brenier (Nice, France) • J.D. Gibbon (Imperial) A.S. MOROZOV • R. Grauer (Bochum, Germany) Professor A.S. Morozov (Sobolev Institute of • R. Kerr (Warwick) Mathematics, Novosibirsk) will be visiting the There will also be a poster session. Interested UK for a month from 11 October supported by participants should contact X. He (xinyu@maths. a Scheme 2 LMS grant. Professor Morozov is an warwick.ac.uk). For further details see acknowledged expert on automorphism groups www.maths. warwick.ac.uk/miraw. This Euler Day of computable structures, and theories of finite- is supported by Mathematical Interdisciplinary ly generated groups. He will be giving lectures Research at Warwick. Limited funds are available at the universities of Leeds, Cambridge, QMUL from a London Mathematical Society grant to pay and Manchester. For more information contact expenses of nonspecialists from the UK wishing to Professor J.K. Truss ([email protected]). learn more about these topics. VISIT OF PROFESSOR MATHS GOES M.J. FIELD UNDERGROUND Professor M.J. Field (University of Houston) is vis- The Isaac Newton Institute (INI) has repro- 24 iting the Department of Mathematics of duced its beautiful and very popular Maths 25 Imperial College London as a Leverhulme on the Tube posters as a booklet. The book- Visiting Professor, from September 2004 until let - Maths Goes Underground - is available July 2005. Professor Field’s research interests lie directly from the INI (www.newton.cam.ac. in the area of dynamical systems with emphasis uk/wmy2kposters/booklet/). on bifurcation theory with symmetry and ergod- Sets of the posters themselves, which were ic theory. In the context of his Leverhulme posi- mailed out to schools when originally produced tion, he will give a series of Leverhulme lectures. in 2000, are now available again through the Details of these lectures will be posted on the Mathematical Association. An article giving DynamIC website www.ma.ic.ac.uk/DynamIC. more information about the posters, and links For further information contact Jeroen Lamb, to further reading, can be found on the Plus site Department of Mathematics, Imperial College at pass.maths.org.uk/ issue17/features/posters/. London (jeroen.lamb@ imperial.ac.uk). EULER DAY A meeting on Singular Euler Dynamics will take place on Monday 18 October at the University of Warwick, organised by R. Kerr, J. Robinson, and X. He. The aim is to review recent developments in the mathematical theory and numerical simulation of the incompressible Euler equations, in the con- text of possible finite-time singularities. It is hoped that the meeting will provide an opportunity to exchange ideas, and in partic- ular to discuss adaptive numerical algo- rithms. Invited speakers are: © Sidney Harris THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

BRITISH COMBINATORIAL THE NATURE OF being made on twistor string theory and to ogy, to present talks and to hold open discus- encourage further cross-fertilization sions on what has been achieved to date and CONFERENCE MATHEMATICAL PROOF between string theory and twistor theory. what they would like to achieve in the The 20th British Combinatorial Conference will be What role does proof play in the way mathe- Twistor string theory was introduced by future. Speakers will include: held at the University of Durham from 10-15 July maticians learn and think? On Monday 18 Witten in http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0312171 • Brian Sleeman FRSE (Department of 2005, and is being co-organized on behalf of the and Tuesday 19 October, the Royal Society as a string theory in twistor space that makes Applied Mathematics, School of British Combinatorial Committee by the will be holding a two-day Scientific contact with N=4 super Yang-Mills theory on Mathematics, University of Leeds) University of Durham and the Open University. Discussion Meeting to examine ‘The Nature space-time via a generalization of the • Nick A. Hill (Department of Mathematics, The invited speakers at the 20th in this series of of Mathematical Proof’. Penrose-Ward transform augmented by cer- University of Glasgow) biennial conferences are B. Green (Trinity College, With the increasing use of computers both tain instanton corrections. It promises to • Torbjörn Fagerström (Swedish Agricultural Cambridge), O.H. King (Newcastle), P. Östergård within mathematics and to automate mathe- combine many of the most attractive fea- University, Uppsala) (Helsinki), T. Penttila (Western Australia), A.D. matical reasoning, new questions have been tures of string theory and twistor theory and • Nick H. Barton FRS, FRSE (Darwin Trust Scott (University College, London), O. Serra raised about the nature of mathematical has implications not only for Yang-Mills but Professorial Fellow, Institute of Cell Animal & (Catalunya), P.D. Seymour (Princeton), A.D. Sokal proof. This meeting will present and contrast also for (conformal) gravity. Population Biology, University of Edinburgh) (New York) and A. Steger (Zürich). the different viewpoints, including: experi- So far the following people have agreed to • Siv Andersson (Department of Evolution, The conference programme will comprise mental mathematics vs mathematical rigor, participate: Atiyah, Berkovitz, Gukov, Genomics & Systematics, Uppsala University) invited talks and parallel sessions of con- automated vs human proofs and formal vs Hitchin, LeBrun, Nair, Penrose, Spradlin, • Dick Hedberg (The Royal Swedish Academy tributed talks covering all aspects of combina- rigorous arguments. Organised over seven Svrcek, Volovich and Witten. of Sciences) 26 torics. The invited talks will be published by sessions, speakers will include: The lectures will all take place in the • Jonathan Sherratt FRSE (Department of 27 Cambridge University Press as part of the • Sir Michael Atiyah (Cambridge & Edinburgh) Mathematical Institute, Oxford. There will be Mathematics, Heriot-Watt University) London Mathematical Society Lecture Note • Professor Alan Bundy (Edinburgh) a small registration fee to cover things like • Mark Chaplain FRSE (The SIMBIOS Centre, series. Arrangements are also planned for the • Professor Angus MacIntyre (Edinburgh) coffee. Some financial support is available for Division of Mathematics, University of publication, subject to refereeing, of papers • Professor Donald MacKenzie (Edinburgh) UK participants. Those wishing to attend are Dundee) corresponding to the contributed talks. • Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer (Cambridge) asked to register by email to Sara Joliffe: • Philip Maini (Centre for Mathematical Further information on the conference can be • Professor Paul J. Cohen (Stanford) [email protected], to whom all Biology, Mathematical Institute, Oxford) found at mcs.open.ac.uk/bcc2005/. The con- • Professor Richard A. DeMillo (Georgia enquiries should be addressed. • Eric Renshaw (Department of Statistics & ference organizers are N. Martin (Durham), Institute of Technology) Further information will be posted at Modelling Science, University of Strathclyde) M.J. Grannell, T.S. Griggs, F.C. Holroyd, • Professor Robin Milner (Cambridge) www.maths.ox.ac.uk/~lmason/Tws.html • Peter Jagers (Department of Mathematical K.A.S. Quinn and B.S. Webb (Open University). All those interested in the subject are wel- when available. Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology come to attend the meeting. Contact Suzi and Gothenburg University) LÉVY PROCESSES White, Science Communication Section, The MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY • Sean McKee FRSE (Department of Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, Mathematics, University of Strathclyde) SYMPOSIUM London SW1Y 5AG, or email discussion.meet CONFERENCE Details of speakers still to be confirmed will The Fourth Symposium on Lévy Processes: [email protected]. Registrations will close if Over the past 25 years Mathematical Biology be posted on the RSE website at www.royal- Theory and Applications, will take place at the the capacity of the lecture theatre is exceeded. has become an increasingly important soced.org.uk. The conference will be held at Manchester Institute for Mathematical research area. It is a wide-reaching subject the Kelvin Gallery, Conference Centre, Sciences at the University of Manchester, from TWISTOR STRING which has seen success in many practical and University of Glasgow, Gilmorehill Campus, 10-14 January 2005. The event will also include applicable problems, from helping to deter- Glasgow. Attendance at the conference is a special day in honour of the 75th birthday of THEORY WORKSHOP mine government policy on conservation and subject to a fee of £40.00 (£30.00 for conces- S. James Taylor. The organisers are: Ron Doney A London Mathematical Society Workshop infectious disease control issues to investigat- sions: students/OAPs and Fellows - proof of (Manchester), Dave Applebaum (Nottingham on Twistor String Theory will be held in ing the mechanisms by which tumours grow status is required). The fee includes a dele- Trent), Nick Bingham (Sheffield), Charles Oxford from 10-14 January 2005. It has been or wounds heal. The Royal Society of gate pack, refreshments and the event report. Goldie (Sussex) and Rene Schilling (Sussex). organised (by Philip Candelas, Xenia de la Edinburgh and the Royal Swedish Academy To register visit the RSE website at www.roy For further information visit www.ma.man. Ossa, Stephen Huggett, and Lionel Mason) to of Sciences is holding a one-day conference alsoced.org.uk to download a form or contact ac.uk/4levy-conference.html or contact: rad@ take stock of the rapid progress (see on 25 November to bring together experts in Sue Walker, Events Officer (tel: 0131 240 5000, maths.man.ac.uk or [email protected]. http://arxiv.org/cits/hep-th/0312171) currently several different areas of mathematical biol- email: [email protected]). THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY • Matt Finn (Nottingham) Placental blood flow LMS PROGRAMME AND CONFERENCE FUND • Nigel Burroughs (Warwick) AND APPLIED ANALYSIS This is the third of a series of meetings Programme Committee has awarded grants to support the following conferences and meet- An international meeting on Mathematical sponsored by the LMS promoting ings. These are open to all members. If you wish to attend, or would like more information, Biology and Applied Analysis in honour of Mathematical Biology at the Universities of please contact the organiser. Professor Brian Sleeman, on the occasion of Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick. his 65th birthday, will be held on Monday 11 The meeting is embedded within a Summer Date/ Venue Title Organiser/email and Tueday 12 October at West Park School being run by the Centre for Conference Centre, University of Dundee, Mathematical Medicine. For further infor- 11-12 Oct 2004 Applied Analysis and Mathematical M.A.J. Chaplain 319 Perth Road, Dundee DD2 1NN. Invited mation contact Oliver Jensen, University of Dundee Biology: A meeting on the occasion of [email protected] speakers are: Nottingham (Oliver.Jensen@nottingham. the 65th birthday of Professor Brian • N. Bellomo (Politecnico di Torino) ac.uk). Sleeman • P. Browne (University of Saskatchawan) • D. Colton (University of Delaware) CIMPA 2005 13-17 Dec 2004 Stellar Dynamos Meeting D.W. Hughes • P. Grindrod (Numbercraft) Leeds [email protected] • K. Hadeler (University of Tübingen) The Centre International de Mathématiques • D. Jones (Emeritus, University of Dundee) Pures et Appliquées (CIMPA) will be running 21-23 Mar 2005 Mathematical Neuroscience Meeting G. Lord • R. Kress (University of Goettingen) the following courses during 2005: Edinburgh [email protected] 28 • V. Kuznetsov (University of Leeds) • Computational and mathematical physics, 29 • P. Maini (University of Oxford) Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, 20 Dec–2 Jan 21-25 Jun 2005 Pure and Applied Algebraic Topology S. Theriault • D. Needham (University of Reading) • Security for computer systems and net- Skye Conference [email protected] • T. Pedley (University of Cambridge) works, Bangalore, India, 25 Jan–5 Feb • A. Stevens (MPI Leipzig) • Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian Full information is available from the con- geometries and dynamics and INDUCTION COURSE FOR The course will take place in the School ference website (www.maths.dundee.ac.uk applications, El-Oued, Algeria, NEW UK MATHEMATICS of Mathematics and Statistics in the /bds65/). For other information contact: 26 Feb-10 Mar University of Birmingham, beginning with Professor M.A.J. Chaplain, Division of • Arithmetic and geometry around LECTURERS an afternoon session on 16 September and Mathematics, University of Dundee, Dundee hypergeometric functions, Istanbul, finishing at lunchtime on 17 September: DD1 4HN ([email protected]). Turkey, 13-25 Jun This induction course, organised by the Maths, accommodation is within easy walking dis- The conference organisers gratefully • Mathematical tools and methods for the Stats & OR Network – part of the Higher tance. The cost will be kept as low as pos- acknowledge financial support from the analysis and the regulation of fisheries, Education Academy – is aimed at lecturers who sible with a subsidy from the Maths, Stats London Mathematical Society and EPSRC Nouadhibou, Mauritania, 11-24 Jul have started teaching mathematics in UK high- & OR Network. through the Mathematics Biomedical • Psuedo-random sequences, Manilla, er education institutions within the last three If you would like to register for this Network, MBN (www.mbn.ac.uk). Phillippines, 4-18 Jul years whether new graduates or those having event or find out further details visit • Gröbner bases and applications, Zanjan, come from industry or from outside the UK. In mathstore.ac.uk/workshops/induc- MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY Iran, 9-22 Jul the past, attendance has been recognised as tion2004/, or contact the Administrator, • Mathematical modelling for financial contributing towards an introductory institu- Maths, Stats & OR Network, School of NETWORK MEETING markets, Irbid, Jordan, 2 weeks in Sept tional programme in learning and teaching for Mathematics & Statistics, The University of A Mathematical Biology Networking meet- • Quantization and harmonic analysis, new staff (certificated or otherwise). Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 ing will be held on 8 September at the C18 Monastir, Tunisia, 29 Aug-10 Sep Topics will include: 2TT (tel: 0121 414 7095; email: info@math- Pope Building, University of Nottingham For further information and to register • Teaching and supporting learning store.ac.uk). Bookings should be con- from 2.00 - 5.30 pm. The speakers are as for any of these events, contact CIMPA, ‘Le • Design and planning of learning activities firmed by post, with payment in advance – follows: Dubellay’, 4 avenue Joachim – Bât. B, 06100 • Assessment and feedback the cost is £75 including accommodation • Kevin Painter (Heriot-Watt) Modelling cell Nice, France (tel: +33 4 92 07 79 30; fax: • Systems to support learning and an evening meal. Cheques should be migration during embryonic growth +33 4 92 07 05 02; email: [email protected]), • The computer environment made payable to ‘The University of • John Ward (Loughborough) or visit math-adrar.ujf-grenoble.fr/CIMPA/. • Sharing experience Birmingham’. THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

LMS SPITALFIELDS DAY mology of Voevodsky-Suslin-Friedlander. In the tables, their development and influence. The success of the author in holding the reader’s full Applications of K-theory third Spitalfields Day lecture I explained, by way divergence of the harmonic series and some of its attention through some fairly tricky mathematics and Cohomology of illustrating algebraic K-theory at work in arith- subseries, including the harmonic series of primes, is possibly compromised. metic, how the long conjectured non-vanishing of are considered next. Two breathtaking proofs by The climax of the book is the two chapters The workshop with the same title, which was Kubota-Leopoldt p-adic L-functions at positive Erdos are included for the delight of the reader. which place the harmonic series and logarithms held at the University of Southampton during integers is equivalent to the injectivity of a natu- Over the course of the following chapters we are fully in the context of the real world through 31 March – 2 April 2004, was designed as a fol- ral map between algebraic K-groups. This result introduced to Gamma and become so convinced recent applications such as sorting and low-up to the research programme entitled was originally proved by Soulé in the 1980's but I of the link between logarithms and the harmonic Shannon’s measure of entropy for information. New Contexts for Stable Homotopy Theory presented a simpler approach using more recent series that Gamma’s existence seems entirely nat- One of these, Benford’s Law for the distribution organised by John Greenlees, Haynes Miller, results due to Bruno Kahn, based on work of ural. In learning that, more than 250 years after its of first digits, is a particularly fascinating Fabien Morel and Victor Snaith at the Newton Merkuryev-Suslin. discovery, it is not known whether Gamma is account of a most surprising result. Naively one Institute during September-December 2002. The Spitalfields Day served very effectively rational or irrational we appreciate that no-one is would imagine that the first digits of the num- Accordingly the main themes of the workshop both as an overview of the outstanding recent yet Gamma’s master. bers in, for instance, geographical or sporting focused on the Fields Medal winning work of progress in algebraic K-theory and as a taste of Along the way Zeta and Gamma functions (the data occur with roughly equal frequency but Voevodsky and the related work of Suslin, Rost, the many resulting applications to other central first appendix is the Greek alphabet!), inclusion- Benford’s Law states otherwise. Levine, Morel et al. which has resulted in a burst subdisciplines of pure mathematics. exclusion formulae, floor functions, Bernouilli In his foreword, Freeman Dyson states that the of progress on a host of famous conjectures due V.P. Snaith numbers, continued fractions, Euler’s totient author’s historical approach provides a ‘third way’ to Bloch-Kato, Beilinson, Birch-Swinnerton-Dyer, University of Southampton function and many other mathematical tools and in the teaching of mathematics with enough 30 Coates-Sinnott, Lichtenbaum and others. Many ideas are introduced and put to use. rigour to satisfy the demands of the curriculum 31 of these applications were reported on in the BOOK REVIEW Trigonometric functions make an unlikely and enough context to give the student a way in. subsequent workshop, which was attending by appearance. Many remarkable results are It certainly is an enlightening read but I suspect about 40 people and featured seventeen speak- Gamma: Exploring Euler’s Constant, Julian Havil, proved. Quite often these veer away from the that it will appeal more to the initiated mathe- ers from Canada, Denmark, France, Japan, 2003, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691 099839, subject of Gamma itself, with Number Theory matician than to the novice. In contrast to the Poland, Russia, Britain and the USA. 376 pp, £18.95. providing a great source. We are given some many recent popular accounts of mathematics The accompanying Spitalfields Day consisted of Following in the footsteps of Princeton results without proof. The significance of these is there is no shying away from equations. This will three lectures designed to show how algebraic K- University Press’s An Imaginary Tale: The Story of always made emphatically clear. Zeta functions appeal to those of us who thoroughly enjoyed the theory impinges on group cohomology, number √-1 by P.J. Nahin and e: The Story of a Number by and the harmonic series are inextricably linked. drama of the story in books such as Fermat’s Last theory and algebraic geometry. Rick Jardine out- E. Maor, Julian Havil appears to have chosen a This gives the author licence to explore Zeta func- Theorem but yearned for more mathematical lined the history of the problem, initiated by John more esoteric subject. It turns out that by con- tions in greater depth and the final two chapters meat. This is not a book for reading in an armchair. Milnor in the context of Lie groups, of comparing sidering Gamma one gains a wonderful insight give an account of the Riemann Hypothesis. To A pen and paper are needed and there is the occa- the cohomology of an algebraic group viewed on into the extraordinary work of a large number this end two appendices on complex function sional instructive suggestion of an exercise. the one hand as a discrete group and on the other of mathematicians. The mathematics involved in theory and its application to the Zeta function The author teaches in a school and, as a teacher as a topological group with the classical topology. discovering and exploring Gamma together with are included. Although the Riemann Hypothesis myself, I have little doubt that a great deal of the The case of the general linear group is particular- a great variety of results which follow from its is descended from the area of Euler’s work which material from this book can be used to provide ly closely related to algebraic K-theory where such existence are explained clearly in detail and with took in the constant context, elaboration and, most importantly, inter- a comparison isomorphism, due originally to great enthusiasm. Gamma, one cannot est to a host of topics. However, I would hesitate to Suslin and Jardine independently, states that the Gamma is the limit of the difference between help but feel that advise any but the most exceptional sixth form mod p Quillen algebraic K-theory of the complex the natural logarithm of an integer n and the har- these two chapters pupils to read it through. I would fully recommend numbers and the topological K-theory coincide. monic series (the sum of the reciprocals of the belong in another it to anyone who has completed the first year of a Mark Levine explained the significance of integers) from one up to n as n tends to infinity. book. The diver- degree in Mathematics. The author’s enthusiasm is Grothendieck’s notion of a motive in algebraic That the limit exists seems unlikely at first and gence of the har- contagious. In looking back it provides fascinating geometry, of the search for Deligne’s category of anyone would be awestruck by the sheer compu- monic series is and inspiring stories. As a survey of present knowl- mixed motives and of the significance of the tational power primarily of Euler, who discovered famously slow. The edge it is extremely scholarly. By describing open recent construction of the derived category of it, and the other eighteenth and nineteenth cen- divergence at the problems, it sets a challenge for the future. mixed motives by Levine, Hanamura and others, tury mathematicians who followed in his wake. end of the book is Dr Ben Meisner explaining how it fits in with the motivic coho- The book starts with the birth of logarithmic relatively rapid. The teaches mathematics at Oundle School THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS ORDINARY MEETING held on Friday 18 June 2004 at University College London. At least 70 members and visitors were present for all or part of the meeting. The meeting began at 3.30 pm, with the President, Professor F.C. KIRWAN, FRS, in the Chair. The President invited Professor J.C. Rickard, of the University of Bristol, Senior Berwick Prize-winner for 2002, to give a lecture, postponed from last year, on The stable module category of a finite group algebra. After tea, a GENERAL MEETING was held, with Professor Kirwan in the Chair. On a recommendation from Council it 32 was agreed to elect Dr D.J. Collins and Professor P.T. Saunders as scrutineers in the 33 forthcoming Council elections. The Ordinary Meeting then resumed. The President, on Council’s behalf, proposed that Professor I.M. Singer, of MIT, be elected to Honorary Membership of the Society. This was approved by acclaim. The President read a short version of the citation, to be published in full in the Bulletin. Eight people were elected to Ordinary Membership: R. Ahmad, Y.D. Barnea, Y. Chen, R.O. Jozsa, J.B. Lawrie, K. Liu, N.C. Snaith, J.R. Winkler; five people were elected to Associate Membership: M.R. Clelland, S.B. Connor, M.J. Heath, T.W.S. Hodge, G.L. Titchener; one person was elected to Reciprocity Membership: E. Bayer-Fluckiger. The President announced the awards of the medal and prizes for 2004: De Morgan Medal - Professor Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS (University of Oxford); Senior Berwick Prize - Professor Boris Zilber (University of Oxford); Naylor Prize - Professor Richard Jozsa (University of Bristol); the first Fröhlich Prize - Dr Ian Grojnowski (University of Cambridge); The July Newsletter reported on the LMS create this effect, and by using this and the Whitehead Prizes - Professor Mark Ainsworth FRSE (Strathclyde University), Dr Vladimir Markovic (University of Warwick), Dr Richard Thomas (Imperial Midlands Regional Meeting (p33). Dr Bart de exponential map, Dr de Smit and his col- College, London), Professor Ulrike Tillmann (University of Oxford). Smit (University of Leiden), gave a captivat- leagues have been able, not only to recreate ing presentation on the mathematics behind Escher's picture, but also to fill in the myste- The President read short versions of the citations, to be published in full in the Escher's ‘Print Gallery’. Dr de Smit heads a rious white circle in its centre. More informa- Bulletin. team of mathematicians in the Netherlands tion may be found on the excellent website The Hardy Lecture was given by Professor T. Tao, on Long arithmetic progressions working on a project to interest the general (escherdroste.math.leidenuniv.nl) which has in the primes. public in mathematics. The artwork in ques- been visited over 300,000 times, testimony to After the meeting, a reception was held in De Morgan House, followed by dinner tion shows a picture hanging in a print the success of the project. at the Bloomsbury Park Hotel. gallery which, by clever use of perspective, M.C. Escher's ‘Ascending and Descending’ appears to contain the gallery itself. Escher ©2004 The M.C. Escher Company - The Netherlands had (unknowingly) used a conformal map to All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.mcescher.com THE LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER No. 329 September 2004

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 20 One Day Function Theory Meeting, BRITISH WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS DAY De Morgan House, London (326) This calendar lists Society meetings and 20-24 VII Congress of SIMAI, Venice, Italy Tuesday 28 September other events publicised in the Newsletter. (327) The 2004 British Women in Mathematics Day will be held on Tuesday 28 September at the Further information can be obtained from 23 Percy Alexander MacMahon’s 150th London Mathematical Society, De Morgan House, 57-58 Russell Square, London WC1B 4HS. the appropriate LMS Newsletter whose num- Birthday Celebration Meeting, Open Details of the programme are below. The organisers would be very grateful if all members ber is given in brackets. A fuller list of meet- University, (322) could encourage women mathematicians, particularly students (including final year under- ings and events is given on the Society’s web- 28 British Women in Mathematics Day, graduates) and those at an early stage in their career, to attend this meeting. site (www.lms.ac.uk/meetings/calendar.html). De Morgan House, London (329) One aim of the day is to encourage women approaching the various interfaces – undergradu- ate/postgraduate, PhD/postdoc and so on – to stay in mathematics; we hope that an opportunity SEPTEMBER 2004 OCTOBER 2004 to see women who are active and successful in mathematics, and to meet with them informally 1-3 UMTC, Birmingham University (326) 11-12 Mathematical Biology & Applied over lunch, tea etc will have a positive effect on this problem. British Women in Mathematics are 1-6 Pan-African Congress of Mathematics, Analysis Seminar, Dundee University (329) very grateful for the support given to this event by the London Mathematical Society. Tunisia (308) 18 Euler Day, Warwick University (329) Programme 6 Million Dollar Maths, BA Festival, Exeter 18-19 Nature of Mathematical Proof 10.30 am Registration and coffee University (329) Discussion Meeting, Royal Society, London 11–1 pm Morning Session 6-8 British Logic Colloquium 2004, Leeds (329) 11 am Susan Howson, University of Oxford University (327) 34 Elliptic curves: in theory and in practise (doughnuts and credit cards) 6-11 Noncommutative spaces:their topolo- NOVEMBER 2004 35 12 pm Helen Byrne, University of Nottingham gy and measure theory, LMS/EPSRC Short 19 LMS Annual General Meeting, London Maths in medicine: treating tumours Course, Southampton University (327) 25 Mathematical Biology Conference, 12.30 pm Jackie Stedall, University of Oxford 6-17 Magnetohydrodynamics of Stellar Glasgow University (329) How we got to where we are: a personal and professional Interiors, INI, Cambridge (325) glimpse into the history of mathematics 7-10 Sheffield Machine Learning DECEMBER 2004 1–2 pm Lunch Workshop, Sheffield University (327) 14-16 Mathematics in Signal Processing VI, 2–4 pm Afternoon Session (postgraduate speakers) 8 Mathematical Biology Networking IMA Conference, Cirencester (319) 2 pm Jasmina Panovska, University of Oxford Meeting, Nottingham University (329) title tba 10-14 Numerical Analysis and Applied JANUARY 2005 2.25 pm Claire Irving, University of Leicester Mathematics Conference, Greece (323) 10-14 Twistor String Theory Workshop, Quasiperiodicity in geometry and physics 13-14 British Topology Meeting, Glasgow Oxford University (329) 2.50 pm Maha Rahrouh, University of Durham University (325) 10-14 Lévy Processes Symposium, On Bayesian zero-failure reliability demonstration 13-17 Homogenization & Shape Manchester University (329) 3.15 pm Susha Parameswaran, University of Cambridge Optimization Summer School, Portugal (325) A toy model for realistic string theory scenarios 13-17 Algebraic Groups, LMS/EPSRC Short APRIL 2005 3.40 pm Katrin Gehles, University of Glasgow Course, Birmingham University (326) 4-7 Mathematics 2005, Liverpool University Algebra representations - a geometric application 13-18 Stochastic Geometry CIME Summer (329) 4.05 pm Apala Majumdar, University of Bristol Course, Taranto, Italy (324) Liquid crystals and harmonic maps 14-18 Boundary Integral Methods III: JULY 2005 4.30 pm Tea Theory and Applications, IMA Conference, 10-14 Mathematical Modelling and Followed by an early supper at a nearby restaurant for those able to stay. Reading University (319) Applications International Conference To register please contact Isabelle Robinson, Administrative Officer, at the address above 16-17 Induction Course, Birmingham (ICTMA12), City University, London (321) (tel: 020 7291 9979, fax: 020 7291 9978, email: [email protected]). The day is free for University (329) 10-15 British Combinatorial Conference, postgraduate students and £5 for all others – payable on the day. There are limited funds 17 LMS South West & South Wales Durham University (329) available to help with travel costs. While this is an occasion particularly for women active Regional Meeting, Exeter University (329) in mathematics to get together, men are certainly not excluded. 18-20 Harmonic Analysis & Number Theory APRIL 2006 Workshop, Exeter University (329) 10-13 BMC, Newcastle University (329) JOHN EDENSOR LITTLEWOOD DE MORGAN MEDALLIST 1938

Extract from the President's address: ‘The De weight and power that he shows is over- Morgan Medal is awarded to Professor J.E. whelming.’ In support of the award, the Littlewood on the ground of the importance President made special mention of six pieces of his contributions to mathematical knowl- of work in the theory of numbers and the edge. Some of those who are best acquaint- theory of functions as specimens of ed with his work maintain that he is the best Littlewood’s powers; none of them was the pure mathematician that they know; the result of collaboration with another author.