International Conference on Modern Algebra, May 21 - 24, 2002, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose of the project is to organize the International Conference on Modern Algebra in Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, May 21-24, 2002) in conjunction with the 19th Shanks lectures. Professor Efim Zelmanov (Yale University), has agreed to deliver the Shanks lecture. The conference will focus on several fundamental areas of modern algebra and its applications: group and semigroup theory, lattice theory and ordered tructures, model theory and universal algebra. Current and future trends in modern algebra will be the general theme. This grant will provide partial support for speakers, graduate students, post-doctoral students, and younger faculty. At a fundamental level, group theory, lattice theory, and model theory, the topics of this conference, are tools for understanding and analyzing symmetries and patterns in the world around us. For example, crystallography, the study and analysis of crystals, used once for inproving transistors and used today for studying protein structures, has advanced as group theory and lattice theory have advanced. As another example, codes may be thought of as man-made patterns, and as such advances in group theory, lattice theory, and model theory lead to advances in cryptography and cryptanalysis.