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NEWSLETTER No. 450 September 2015 LMS HONORARY MEMBERS 2015 he London Mathematical Society has elected the following people to Honorary Membership of the TSociety in its 150th Anniversary year: Professor Joan Birman, Barnard College, Columbia University Professor Robert Calderbank, Duke University Professor Shafi Goldwasser, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Weizmann Institute of Science Professor Donald Knuth, Stanford University Professor Robert Langlands, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton University Professor Maryam Mirzakhani, Stanford University Clockwise from top left: Joan Birman, Robert Calderbank, Shafi Goldwasser, Donald Knuth, Maryam Mirzakhani and Robert Langlands (Continued on page 3) SOCIETY MEETINGS AND EVENTS • 17 September: LMS Computer Science Colloquium page 12 • 11 November: Popular Lectures, Leeds page 9 • 18-20 September: LMS-EMS Anniversary Weekend, Birmingham page 26 • 13 November: LMS AGM, London page 13 • 23 September: Popular Lectures, Birmingham page 9 • 28–29 November: Einstein's Legacy, London page 38 • 21 October: Popular Lectures, Glasgow page 9 • 14 December: SW & South West Regional Meeting, Southampton NEWSLETTER ONLINE: newsletter.lms.ac.uk @LondMathSoc LMS NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk Contents No. 450 September 2015 25 14 150th Anniversary Events INI The Role of the Higher Anniversary Celebrations Events...................19 Infinite in Mathematics................................37 Departmental Celebrations.............................14 Integrable Systems...........................................43 LMS-EMS Mathematical Meeting...................26 Mathematical and Computational 2 LMS Handbook and List of Members...............20 Modelling of Biological Systems...................42 LMS-NZMS Aitken UK Lecture Tour.................21 Sheffield Probability Day.................................43 Local Hero George Boole - Lincoln..................10 News Local Hero Robert Recorde - Tenby..................11 Alan Turing Institute Future Plans....................34 Queen of the Sciences online catalogue.......20 BSHM new website..........................................29 Awards European News.................................................40 Clay Award........................................................40 Mathematical Science and the REF..................4 Calendar of Events 50 Mathematics Policy Round-up........................8 LMS Items Obituaries Annual Subscription 2015-16..........................28 Lister, Tim...........................................................45 Council Diary......................................................35 Safarov, Yuri.......................................................44 Elections 2015...................................................22 Shepherdson, John............................................44 Grant Schemes..................................................22 Records of Proceedings Honorary Members 2015.................................1 London 3 July 2015..................................................30 LMS-EPSRC Durham Symposia - Midlands 7 July 2015................................................31 Call For Proposals...........................................27 Reports Open House.......................................................3 LMS Graduate Student Meeting...........................3 4 Perigal Artefacts................................................25 LMS Midlands Regional Meeting.........................32 LMS Meetings AGM...................................................................13 Reviews BCS-FACS Evening Seminar...............................36 Mathematics without Apologies.....................46 Computer Science Colloquium.........................12 The Fascinating World of Graph Theory........49 Einstein's Legacy...............................................38 Things to Make and do in the Fourth Popular Lectures...............................................9 Dimension....................................................48 Meetings Visits Complex Geometry Fragoulopoulou, Maria....................................41 Postgraduate Conference..............................43 Helemskii, Alexander.........................................41 Geometry Conference.......................................42 Saveliev, Nikolai.................................................42 INI Stochastic Dynamical Systems in Biology...7 Yakimov, Milen..................................................41 [email protected] No. 450 September 2015 Professor Birman has revealed deep and sur- Professor Knuth is one of the world's prising connections between fields. She has greatest computer scientists, whose works played a leading role in 3-manifold topology, have had a profound influence on the subject knot theory, and geometric group theory. for the past half-century. His research covers Professor Calderbank discovered that diverse areas of mathematics and computer classical mathematical objects (such as the science, including structure in random graphs, quaternions, and more generally solutions word problems in universal algebras, pattern to the Radon—Hurwicz matrix equations) matching in strings, prefix codes and binary could be used to improve significantly the search trees. capacity and reliability of mobile phone Professor Langlands secured his place in networks. This used the notion of space- history of mathematics as the proposer (in time block codes, which he developed with 1967) and first developer of the eponymous Vahid Tarokh and Hamid Jafarkhani. Their research programme. The deep results two papers each collected more than 7000 and visionary conjectures of the Langlands citations. Programme relate the core themes in number Professor Goldwasser’s work has had a theory and representation theory. tremendous influence on computational Professor Mirzakhani has done brilliant and complexity and modern cryptography. She, highly original work which spans the fields together with her co-author Silvio Micali, of Teichmüller theory, hyperbolic geometry established the principle of probabilistic en- and dynamics. Her award of the Fields Medal cryption. Their formulation of the concept of in 2014 marked a turning point for female security of encryption as an adversarial game mathematicians, for whom she has been an 3 has become a de facto standard in modern inspiration worldwide. cryptography and has revolutionized the Full citations for all the new Honorary field. Members will appear in the LMS Bulletin. OPEN hOuSE IN 2015 For the past four years De Morgan House ics. On 20 September 2015 the Society will has featured as part of Open House London. once again open its doors to the public with Over 1,500 people have visited and heard special displays and exhibitions celebrating about the Society and about mathemat- the 150th Anniversary. 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. 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 NEWSLETTER http://newsletter.lms.ac.uk MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE AND THE REF Report by the LMS Research Policy Committee As REF 2014 starts to fade from the memory, Here are some observations, comments REF 2020 is already lumbering over the and queries relating to these questions, horizon. It is absolutely certain that HEFCE informed by discussions in the Research and the other UK Funding Councils will soon Policy Committee of the LMS and supported be opening consultations on the format of the by data analysis by staff in De Morgan next REF, so we should be ready as a community House. We’ve focussed for the most part on to submit well-considered responses which issues that are particular to the mathemati- reflect the views of the majority of UK math- cal sciences. Other, more generic topics, ematical scientists as fairly and forcefully as are also very important, of course – for possible. The LMS, in association with the CMS example, the selective submission of some and HoDOMS, will shortly send a survey to research active staff, and the exclusion of all mathematical science departments in UK others, is something which rightly concerns HE, whether or not they submitted to REF many. But since this is already well-aired