Category Archives: events

conferences, seminars, lectures, etc

Pilsen, days 5 and 6

Posted on 08/07/2018 by

So the conference is over; but before I start a description of the last two days, let me pose a problem which might be an interesting small research topic for someone. As I have said, statisticians love symmetric real matrices. … Continue reading →

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Pilsen, days 3 and 4

Posted on 06/07/2018 by

After the rush of the first two days, things quietened down a bit, so I can stop and look around me. The conference logo, and an explanation, is here. Norman Biggs, one of the pioneers of algebraic graph theory, speculated … Continue reading →

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Pilsen, days 1 and 2

Posted on 03/07/2018 by

The conference on “Symmetry vs Regularity” in Pilsen has begun. I hesitate at trying to describe the talks, since the first day alone had 13 talks, and the second day 19, of lengths ranging from ten minutes to an hour, … Continue reading →

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British Mathematical Colloquium: satellite meetings

Posted on 17/06/2018 by

The BMC was followed by three satellite meetings, on Semigroups and Applications, Geometric Group Theory, and Ergodic Theory. I had a lot of catching up and other jobs to do, and so was unable to go to more than a … Continue reading →

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British Mathematical Colloquium, days 3 and 4

Posted on 14/06/2018 by

The day began with the plenary talk by Paul Seymour, whom I’ve known for longer than almost anyone else at the meeting. He explained that there are many different “ordering” relations on graphs; the two he considers most important are … Continue reading →

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British Mathematical Colloquium, day 2

Posted on 12/06/2018 by

Things may be a bit briefer from now on. The first plenary talk was by Irit Dinur on the unique games conjecture. I think I understood roughly what this conjecture says, but what it has to do with games, unique … Continue reading →

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British Mathematical Colloquium, day 1

Posted on 11/06/2018 by

The British Mathematical Colloquium began in St Andrews today. I will try to report some highlights, but I am recovering from food poisoning, so my account may be a bit sketchy in some places. Also, of course, there is no … Continue reading →

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