Geometry Semester at MSRI next fall

[Sharir Micha]

        MSRI HALF-YEAR PROGRAM IN DISCRETE AND COMPUTATIONAL GEOMETRY

                      August 11 to December 19, 2003
                 Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
                           Berkeley, California

                                Organizers:
         Jesus A. De Loera, Herbert Edelsbrunner, Jacob E. Goodman,
        Janos Pach, Micha Sharir, Emo Welzl, and Guenter M. Ziegler

For the Fall, 2003 semester, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
in Berkeley is planning a half-year program in Discrete and Computational
Geometry.  This program will bring together mathematicians and computer
scientists interested in problems in this area, with two chief goals:
(1) To advance research in the field, and (2) To enhance the interaction
between the study of purely combinatorial properties of geometric
structures and the design and analysis of efficient algorithms that
construct and manipulate those structures.

Here is a sample of topics we plan to cover in which substantial activity
has recently taken place:

        Extremal and reconstruction problems for polytopes
        Lattice polytopes
          and connections to algebraic geometry and to optimization
        Geometric computing in structural molecular biology
        Volume estimation of polyhedra
        Computational questions in topology
        Oriented matroids and combinatorial convexity
        Curve and surface reconstruction
        Geometric graph theory and problems of Erdos type
        Geometric deformation, rigidity of structures, realization spaces
        Optimal triangulations and meshes
        Arrangements of surfaces

To achieve our goals, we will have several long-term senior visitors,
including most of the proposed organizers, who will coordinate the
research activities in ways that will promote the desired interaction
and synergy. This will be achieved by their own research agenda, as
well as by the organization of weekly series of seminars (e.g., a
research colloquium and a postdoc seminar). The research areas of the
organizers span most of the topics mentioned above, so that their
presence at MSRI will ensure a wide coverage of these research topics.

In addition to these ongoing activities, which will involve senior
long-term visitors, postdocs, and shorter-term visitors, we will organize
the following three workshops:

Discrete and Computational Geometry (introductory workshop):
August 18--29, 2003

Mathematical Foundations of Geometric Algorithms:
October 13--17, 2003 (tentative)

Combinatorial and Discrete Geometry:
December 15--19, 2003 (tentative)

We invite applications for long- and short-term memberships in MSRI for
the Fall, 2003 program.  Some support is available if needed, but the
deadlines are very close for some types of memberships.  For detailed
information, both about the program and about applying for a membership,
visit the MSRI Web site, at http://www.msri.org, and click on `programs'
or on `application materials', respectively.


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