Last modified: May 24, 2010

There will be an informal workshop focusing on cometric association schemes and spherical codes and designs to be held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute May 24-28, 2010. This is in conjunction with Discrete Math Day at WPI on May 23.

Schemes and Spheres

Organizers:
Edwin van Dam, Tilburg University
Tim Penttila, Colorado State University
Hajime Tanaka, University of Wisconsin
Jason Williford, University of Wyoming
William J. Martin, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Funding: We gratefully acknowledge financial support from
Provost's Office, WPI
Department of Mathematical Sciences, WPI

Workshop Themes

The plan for the workshop is to address problems of common interest in a particular area: cometric association schemes and spherical configurations. Having said that, there are a number of intriguing tangential areas and topics which are likely, but not guaranteed, to come into the discussion.

Cometric association schemes (parameters, constructions, non-existence results and applications); spherical codes and designs; constructions from and applications to finite geometry; Terwilliger algebras of cometric schemes; extremal point sets of spheres in Euclidean and complex space; connections to quantum information theory.

Draft List of Participants

  • Henry Cohn (unconfirmed), MicroSoft
  • Edwin van Dam, Tilburg University
  • Ed Hanson, University of Wisconsin
  • Elizabeth Hartung, Syracuse University (Monday and Tuesday)
  • Sylvia Hobart, University of Wyoming
  • Justin Kahn, WPI
  • William Kantor, University of Oregon (Thursday only)
  • Jianmin Ma, Emory University
  • William Martin, WPI
  • Oleg Musin (unconfirmed), University of Texas at Brownsville
  • Hiroshi Nozaki, University of Texas at Brownsville
  • Tim Penttila, Colorado State University
  • Aidan Roy, Queen Mary University of London
  • George Shakan, WPI
  • Sho Suda, WPI
  • Hajime Tanaka, University of Wisconsin / Tohoku University
  • Rie Tanaka, University of Wisconsin / International Christian University
  • Ma. Criselda Toto, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  • Jason Williford, University of Wyoming



Schedule

There will be only very few scheduled talks. A day of the meeting may look like this:
  • 9:30-10:30am Tutorial Lecture
  • 10:30-11:00am Coffee Break
  • 11:00-noon Research Lecture
  • noon-2:00pm Break for Lunch and Discussion
  • 2:00-3:00pm Problem Session
  • 3:00-4:00pm Problem Solving and Discussion
  • 4:00-5:00pm Presentations and Solutions to Problems

Wednesday Afternoon In order to allow participants time to rest, travel locally, or work independently, we will not plan anything for Wednesday afternoon, May 26.

How can I contribute? Invited participants are encouraged to come prepared not only for discussion and problem-solving but also for the following activities, on an as-needed basis:

  • carefully formulate relevant open problems and be prepared to give a brief contextual outline and to provided key references;
  • a short research talk on your recent results in this area;
  • participation in a ``big-picture'' session where we may choose to review (and re-interpret from our various viewpoints) the main results in the area.



Travel and Lodging, Logistics

In this section, I will periodically add information for participants of a non-mathematical nature.

Hotels

Sylvia was the first to notice that nearby hotels are filling up very quickly. I will find some time to search for a simple, reliable option, but for now, here are the hotels within walking distance of WPI:

Internet

I have arranged for all participants to have wireless internet access throughout campus during their stay. It may be possible to arrange a few shared offices for the week, but this is not guaranteed at this point.

Travel and Maps

WPI has a nice web page with maps of the campus and surrounding area, along with links to airport shuttles and so on.







Some Links

Back to Bill Martin's home page.