WORKSHOP ON ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY AND TOPOLOGY

22 Jan. -- 9 Feb. 1996, ANU, Canberra

An event in ANU's 1996 Special Year on Geometric Group Theory

This will be an instructional workshop, accessible to graduate students, and may be useful to mathematicians who do not work directly in these areas. There will be several series of expository lectures and some talks on recent research. Topics covered in the first week will be fundamental, with those in the second and third weeks progressively more specialised. The intention is to present a broad overview of and a perspective on current research in a number of areas in which geometry and group theory interact. Speakers will include both Australian and overseas experts.

The following points indicate the intended flavour of the short courses:

• This is to be an instructional workshop in which lecturers will try to give an introductory overview of the important aspects of each of the areas considered. Major concepts and results will be covered but details usually passed over.
• The lectures will be suitable for graduate students in a wide variety of areas, exposing them to important topics they might not otherwise study.
• There will be five lecture series each week, each with five one hour lectures. The first week's topics will be fairly fundamental, with the second and third week progressively more specialized. In the third week a slightly different format may be followed.
• Lecturers (particularly in weeks 1 and 2) will be expected to produce lecture notes in advance of the Workshop.
• Each lecture series will begin with a brief overview of the subject matter including an explanation of why one should be interested in studying the topics considered.

Accommodation will be at Burgmann College, one of the residential colleges at ANU. The cost is expected to be $38 per day for full board for students and $48 per day for staff. Registration cost for the workshop is $20. Anyone interested in attending the Workshop is encouraged to send e-mail to gporg\@maths.mu.oz.au

There is a World Wide Web page for the 1996 Special Year in Geometric Group Theory including information about the Workshop and July Conference. Its URL is:

http://www.maths.mu.oz.au/~gporg