2010 NZMRI Summer Workshop
From MathsDept
The theme of the 2010 NZIMA / NZMRI Summer Workshop is Groups, Representations and Number Theory
It features outstanding researchers, each giving a series of expository lectures aimed at a general mathematical audience.
Organisers
- Ben Martin b.martin@math.canterbury.ac.nz, Department of Mathematics, University of Canterbury
- Eamonn O'Brien e.obrien@auckland.ac.nz, Department of Mathematics, University of Auckland
Invited speakers
- Martin Bridson, Oxford: Groups that want to be free
- Michel Broué, Université Paris VII: Local representation theory of finite groups and cyclotomic algebras
- Persi Diaconis, Stanford: Probability, Combinatorics and Group Extensions
- Roger Howe, Yale: Representations of the general linear group, an algebraic perspective
- Gus Lehrer, Sydney: Knot invariants, Hecke algebras and cellular algebras
- Marcus du Sautoy, Oxford: Through the looking glass: groups from a number theoretic perspective
Reading material
Michel Broué has made his lecture notes available.
Martin Bridson recommends the following article on Geometric Group Theory as reading material.
Persi Diaconis recommends "Carries, Shuffling, and an Amazing Matrix" and "On Adding Up a List of Numbers" as reading material.
Roger Howe has made his lecture notes available.
Gus Lehrer has made a list of problems and references available.
Marcus du Sautoy suggest the following reading material.
1.Zeta functions of groups: the quest for order versus the flight from ennui. Groups St Andrews 2001 – in Oxford, Volume 1, CUP 2003.
2.Zeta functions of groups, with D. Segal, in ``New horizons in pro-p groups edited by du Sautoy, Segal, and Shalev, Progress in Mathematics 184 Birkhauser.
3.A newcomer's guide to zeta functions of groups and rings, by Christopher Voll. On the arxiv
Conference Location
All lectures will be in the Heritage Hotel conference centre.
Timetable and format
Arrival: Sunday, 3 January, 2010
Departure: Sunday, 10 January, 2010
Talks start Monday 4 January and finish at noon on Sunday 10 January, 2010.
Thursday, 7 January, will be a free day, as will all afternoons.
Program
A program is now available.
Special Event: On Monday evening from 8pm - 9pm there will be a special public lecture
Music: the act of sounding mathematics by Marcus du Sautoy
We particularly welcome partners and families to this lecture.
Accommodation
We provide a variety of accommodation options. These include:
- a variety of rooms at the Heritage Hotel;
- a limited number of holiday homes, available for rental to family or group;
- (These have shared kitchen and bathrooms.)
- shared rooms at local hostels.
We do not guarantee to satisfy your preferences. Priority for allocations will be by date of registration.
Update [December 15]:
If you are a registered participant, you should have received email by now advising you of your accommodation. If you have not received such, please email urgently.
Catering
Morning tea and evening meals will be provided at the Conference Centre for participants and their families from Monday through Saturday (apart from the free Thursday).
Registration
Registration has now closed.
Here is a list of registered participants.
Associated costs for NZ-based participants
Accommodation and some meals are free to all New Zealand based participants in the workshop.
If a New Zealand based participant is accompanied by a non-participating partner (or by family), we will ask for a contribution towards accommodation and catering costs. See the Costs section below for details.
We also ask that participants who have research grants make additional contributions towards costs. We can provide GST receipts or invoices for this purpose.
Alternatively, participants may wish to make tax-deductible donations to the NZMRI, in support of its mission of enhancing mathematical research in New Zealand and to enable it to continue running these sorts of meetings in the future.
Support for NZ-based students
Accommodation and some meals are free to all NZ-based student participants.
We expect to subsidise travel costs for students up to a maximum of $500. The final subsidy will depend on the number of students attending and available resources, and in no case do we guarantee to fund 100% of your travel costs.
Australian graduate students
Graduate students based in Australia are eligible to receive a subsidy of up to AUD$300 each to cover some of the local accommodation and catering costs. You do not need to apply for this funding, simply provide us with your membership number when you register.
This support is generously provided by the Australian Mathematical Society.
We encourage you to seek travel support from your local institution.
Participants based outside of New Zealand
We welcome you to take part and will organise accommodation on your behalf. See below for cost details.
If you require additional information, please email.
Costs for foreign participants
- A shared room at the conference hotel costs about NZD$79 per night.
- Accommodation in a shared "holiday home" costs about NZD$30 per night.
- (There is considerable variation in costs here, depending on sleeping arrangements.)
- A shared twin room at a nearby good-quality hostel costs about NZD$30 per night.
- (Students and new researchers have priority for this option.)
In all cases, expect to double the cost if you wish to be the sole occupant of the bedroom.
- We will organise morning tea and evening meal for a daily charge per person of about NZD$60 per person.
- Breakfast and lunch (self organised): expect to pay a total of NZD$25 per day to cover these two.
Please treat these figures as approximate but closely indicative of final costs.
These costs also apply to persons accompanying NZ-based researchers.
Location and other activities
Hanmer Springs is New Zealand's alpine playground: a home of hot springs, and an excellent location for walking, biking or relaxing. It is about 90 minutes by car north of Christchurch, which has an international airport and good bus connections.
An all day walk will be arranged on Thursday 7 January by David Gauld.
This will consist of a climb of Mt Isobel which, at 1324 metres, is almost 1000 metres above Hanmer Springs and has extensive views of the surrounding mountains and across towards the Pacific. Along the way we will pass by the 40 metre high Dog Stream Waterfall. This walk can be completed entirely as a walk from Hanmer Springs.
So please bring suitable walking shoes!
Getting There and Away
A special bus for workshop participants from Christchurch to Hanmer Springs will depart from Christchurch Airport at 1645 on January 3. It will depart from the coach pick-up area near the end of the International Terminal.
Update November 10: A special bus for workshop participants will depart from the Heritage Hotel at Hanmer Springs to Christchurch Airport at 1215 on January 10. When booking flights, allow 2.5 hours for this bus trip. You can register for this return bus trip during the meeting.
ATSNZ has a scheduled bus service between Hanmer Springs and Christchurch three times a day in summer. Buses from Christchurch to Hanmer Springs leave at 0900, 1030 and 1430. Buses from Hanmer Springs to the centre of Christchurch leave at 1130, 1400 and 1700. Travel time is approximately 2 hours.
An associated meeting
There will be an informal one-day meeting on algebraic groups/finite groups/representation theory at the University of Canterbury on Monday 11 January, organised by Ben Martin b.martin@math.canterbury.ac.nz.
More information is available here.
We encourage participants at the NZMRI meeting to take part in this one-day meeting and to organise travel accordingly.
Last updated Jan 14, 2010
