Fields workshop announcement

Fields workshop announcement

[Pieter Hofstra]

Workshop Announcement and call for participation: New directions in Inverse  semigroups.

University of Ottawa, June 1-4. Organizers: Philip Scott and Pieter Hofstra

Scientific Background: Inverse semigroups algebraically model partial symmetry, generalizing the way groups model global symmetry. They were introduced in the 1950's as a correct algebraic setting for studying pseudogroups (of partial homeomorphisms between open subsets of a topological space).The influential monograph of J. Renault (1980) highlighted the close connections  between inverse semigroups, \'etale groupoids, and C*-algebras. Later, Kellendonk developed connections of inverse semigroups to aperiodic tilings and C*-algebras, inspired in part by Shechtman's work on quasicrystals in the  1980's. Recently, in joint work of Kudryavtseva, Lawson, Lenz, and Resende, a global understanding of the relationship between inverse semigroups and  \'etale groupoids has been put in the categorical setting of non-commutative Stone duality.
Additionally, work by various researchers has also established important connections between inverse semigroups, toposes, and MV-algebras.

Purpose of the Workshop: the workshop will focus on various themes surrounding inverse semigroups and their applications, with the goal of bringing together researchers from each of the surrounding areas.

Workshop Format: the meeting will consist of roughly three days of invited and contributed talks, both from senior professors and young researchers. The meeting will start with overview talks by experts in their area, aimed at bringing newcomers to the field up to speed with recent developments.

Invited Talks: there will be invited talks by the following researchers: R.  Exel (U. Santa Catarina), J. Funk (CUNY), G. Kudryavtseva (U. Ljubljana), M. Lawson (Heriot-Watt), D. Mundici (U. Florence), J. Renault (U. Orleans),  P. Resende (Instituto Superior Tecnico), C. Starling (U. Ottawa), F. Wehrung (U. Caen).

Contributed Talks: we are soliciting contributed talks. If you wish to give  a (30 minute) talk at the meeting, please send the organizers a title and short abstract before February 15. (In case your decision to attend and/or your access to travel funds depends on the acceptance of your talk, let us know and we will ensure a quick decision.)

Satellite Workshop: Immediately preceding our workshop, the analysis group in our department (Thierry Giordano, Vladimir Pestov and Charles Starling) will host a workshop entitled “Operator Algebras and Dynamical Systems”  (May 30 - June 1, Ottawa). The two workshops will coordinate and have some  invited speakers in common. Hence we strongly encourage participants to attend both workshops.

Webpage: the following page contains essential information about housing options, registration fees and procedures, maps and more:

http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~scpsg/Fields16/Fields16.NewDirections.Semigrps.html

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the organizers:

Philip Scott   -  phil@site.uottawa.ca<mailto:phil@site.uottawa.ca>
Pieter Hofstra -  phofstra@uottawa.ca<mailto:phofstra@uottawa.ca>


[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

Fields Workshop Announcement

[Pieter Hofstra]

This is a first announcement and call for participation for a Fields Institute Workshop on the interaction between category theory and semigroup theory. The workshop will take place at the University of Ottawa, May 2-4 2010, and everyone interested is welcome to attend.

Topic, aims and scope: while the connection between inverse semigroups and ordered groupoids has been known for quite a while, it has only become clear fairly recently that many results and constructions in semigroup theory have natural and canonical topos-theoretic interpretations. The workshop aims to explore these connections, as well as those to locale theory, etale groupoids, categories of partial maps and also to operator algebras.
The purpose is to bring together representatives from each of these areas, to further promote interaction and to develop new perspectives on the challenges in the field. There will be several tutorial talks which have the specific aim of bringing newcomers and non-experts up to speed on the central concepts, techniques and results of category theory and semigroup theory, and to introduce them to etale groupoids and operator algebras.

Invited speakers: Robin Cockett (Calgary), Thierry Giordano (Ottawa) Mark Lawson (Heriot Watt), Ernie Manes (Massachussets), Dorette Pronk (Dalhousie), Pedro Resende (Lisboa) and John Rhodes (Berkeley).

Student Support: graduate students are particularly encouraged to attend, and some funding is available in order to support their travel. Those who wish to apply for support can fill out the form on the workshop web page. Priority will be given to those students who do not have access to other funding.

Registration: online registration is now open at:

http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/09-10/semigroups/index.html

Accommodation: early May is a busy time in Ottawa and participants are urged to book sooner than later. We have reserved a block of rooms at the Quality Inn Hotel (10 min. walk from campus); please contact Pieter Hofstra for the booking code.

[For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]