The Erwin Schrodinger¨ International Boltzmanngasse 9/2 Institute for Mathematical Physics A-1090 Vienna, Austria ESI NEWS Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2008 Editorial cal sciences which could serve as a focal point for scientific activities and contribute Klaus Schmidt Contents to putting the country back on the inter- Editorial 1 national map after the terrible intellectual Turning fifteen is not losses of the Nazi era. After the ESI had ESI celebrates its 15th Anniversary 1 usually a major event come into existence it began to offer sci- ESI at Boltzmanngasse 9 – A Site of in an individual’s life, entific activities at the highest international History 3 but for a scientific in- level in a wide range of topics in mathe- stitution this anniver- matics and mathematical physics, many of The Exodus of Physicists and sary is an occasion for which had been represented insufficiently Mathematicians from Austria reflection: unlike indi- in this country. It has attracted, and con- in the Year 1938 4 viduals, research insti- tinues to attract, many of the world’s top Hermann Minkowski and the tutes have to evaluate on a regular basis the researchers to work here in Vienna, and it Scandal of Spacetime 6 impact of their activities both on the local has been instrumental in filling faculty po- scientific communities and the relevant sci- sitions at the surrounding universities with Hyperbolic Dynamical Systems entific disciplines. top quality applicants. Programme at ESI in 2008 8 When the ESI was opened 15 years ago Scientific activities at the ESI since as a result of a fortunate combination of A considerable part of this issue of ESI 1992/93 10 political events in Europe and a bold ini- NEWS is devoted to a review of the activi- tiative by a small group of mathematicians ties of the Institute during the past 15 years. ESI Senior Research Fellow Lec- and physicists (notably Walter Thirring and However, the historical perspective of this ture Courses since 2002 13 Peter Michor) and the (then) Minister of issue is not centered exclusively on the In- ESI News 14 Science Erhard Busek, it quickly made an stitute, its location and its programmes. It enormous difference to the scope, quality also focuses on the exodus from Austria in Current and future activities of the and international orientation of research in 1938 of some of its most creative scientific ESI 15 mathematics and mathematical physics in minds (many of them at a very tender age), this country. Before 1992 Vienna — and and on Hermann Minkowski and the early Austria — was the home of some out- days of relativity theory. Current and future standing individual scientists of interna- scientific developments and activities will, tional status, but it had no internationally of course, regain their rightful place in the visible research center in the mathemati- next issues of ESI NEWS. Where Mathematics meets N. Evans, Berkeley and Peter Schuster, fall of the communist governments in these Vienna). The last of these lectures also countries. At that time the entire region was Physics – the ESI celebrates opened a subsequent Workshop on “Fron- threatened with a huge brain drain involv- its 15th Anniversary tiers in Mathematical Biology”. This list of ing many of these countries’ best scientists. topics reflects the wide spectrum of the In- Setting up an institution on the inter- Wolfgang L. Reiter and Klaus Schmidt stitutes current scientific activities. face between mathematics and physics in Vienna was seen as a potentially valuable A window of opportunity: setting up an contribution at that time of crisis: based on On April 14, 2008, the ESI celebrated Institute for Mathematical Physics its 15th anniversary with a series of lec- the cultural and scientific tradition in Vi- tures by distinguished scientists on top- In August of 1990 Alexander Vino- enna — from Ludwig Boltzmann to Er- ics ranging from ultra cold atoms (Rudolf gradov, Moscow, sent a letter to Peter Mi- win Schrodinger¨ and Walter Thirring, espe- Grimm, Innsbruck), supergravity (Thibault chor, Vienna, with the proposal to set up cially in the field of mathematical physics, Damour, IHES, Bures-sur-Yvette), quan- an institute devoted to mathematics and a new institute based in Vienna could pro- tum ideas in number theory (Don Za- physics in Vienna. This proposal had been vide a focal point for both Eastern and gier, MPIM, Bonn and College de France, preceded by discussions between Vino- Western science and an international plat- Paris), to the Langlands programme and gradov and Michor on the preservation of form at the highest level of research in the mirror symmetry (Ed Frenkel, Berke- the scientific community in the Eastern Eu- field of mathematical physics. ley), and mathematical biology (Steven ropean countries in the aftermath of the This initiative was warmly welcomed 2 Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2008 ESI NEWS ciplines. With its scientific activities and velopment was the creation of the Ju- by Thirring. In a letter to the Minister international contacts the Institute aims to nior Research Fellows Programme in 2004. of Science and Research, Erhard Busek, support research at the surrounding univer- The purpose of that programme is to en- dated October 18, 1990, Thirring pro- sities and to stimulate the scientific envi- able post-docs and PhD-students to par- posed to establish an international research ronment in Austria and beyond. ticipate in the activities of the Institute, institute in Vienna, devoted to mathe- When the Institute was founded in 1993 to strengthen their contacts with the Aus- matical physics with the name “The Er- it had a second important mission: through trian and international research communi- win Schrodinger¨ International Institute for its geographical location in the centre of ties, and to work with individual visitors Mathematical Physics” (ESI). Thirring’s Europe the Institute aimed to stimulate in- and Austrian scientists. proposal immediately won the support of tellectual exchange between scientists from The presence of the Junior Research eminent scientists all over the world, and Central and Eastern Europe and the West- Fellows at the Institute has a very positive Busek favourably responded in December ern world. With the subsequent changes in impact on its scientific atmosphere through 1990. A non-profit society was founded ac- post-Communist Europe this second mis- their interaction with the regular thematic cording to Austrian law, which formally sion became less important. Nevertheless, programmes and the Senior Research Fel- runs the Institute and receives its basic the role of the ESI as a scientific meeting lows. The Junior Research Fellows Pro- funding from the Austrian Federal Ministry place of these European regions remains as gramme is part of the Institute’s long term for Science and Research. strong as ever. policy of vertical integration of research The Institute became fully operational The Institute’s scientific activities are and scientific education at highest interna- in January 1993 under the directorship of centred around four to six larger thematic tional levels. Gender mainstreaming is es- Walter Thirring and Peter Michor in the programmes per year on the basis of appli- pecially taken care of with this programme: very building in Pasteurgasse in Vienna’s cations submitted two years in advance and since its beginning the rate of female par- 9th district where Erwin Schrodinger¨ had evaluated by an International Scientific Ad- ticipants is about 25 % of the participants spent his last years. visory Committee. In addition, workshops, of this programme, a number slightly above With the growth of the Institute its orig- conferences and summer schools are orga- similar ratings in the US. To achieve this inal accommodation in Pasteurgasse soon nized at shorter notice, as well as visits of goal the ESI was supported by extra fund- became too small, and in summer 1996 individual scientists who collaborate with ing from the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Institute moved into its new premises members from the local scientific commu- Science and Research. next to the Institutes of Mathematics and nity. Physics of the University of Vienna in To date the Institute has organized 78 Boltzmanngasse 9. In order to increase the impact of the thematic programmes, almost 4000 sci- Institute’s activities on the graduate and entists have visited the Institute (among Mission of the ESI post-doc programmes of the surrounding them the majority of leading reasearchers From the very beginning the Institute’s universities the ESI started in 2000 to offer in mathematics and mathematical physics). mission was to advance research in math- several Senior Research Fellowships with The ESI preprint server offers about 2000 ematics and physics at the highest inter- the aim of attracting top quality scholars to ESI preprints, almost all of them directly national level through fruitful interactions Vienna for longer (and repeated) periods. related to research originating from scien- between leading scientists from these dis- The most important subsequent de- tific activities at the Institute. Some pictures from the Anniversary Celebration AUDIENCE AT THE OPENING CEREMONY DON ZAGIER RUDI GRIMM Erwin Schrodinger¨ Institute of Mathematical Physics http://www.esi.ac.at/ ESI NEWS Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 20083 hfill THIBAULT DAMOUR ED FRENKEL STEVEN N. EVANS PETER SCHUSTER JAKOB YNGVASON,PETER MICHOR AND WALTER THIRRING KLAUS SCHMIDT THANKING THE SPEAKERS CONVERSATION AMONG SPEAKERS AND REKTOR GEORG WINCKLER WITH PETER AICHELBURG ESI at Boltzmanngasse 9 – proved difficult to look after them properly Ochsenberg). In these grounds the building if they fell on hard times and became sick, of the hospital began on the day of the feast A Site of History since they were seldom capable of speak- of saint Eulalia (December 10). The church Annelise Schmidt ing German and very much adhered to the was built at the same time.