Algebraic Topology: Old and New -- M.M. Postnikov Memorial Conference

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This is a proposal to fund travel (especially by young Americans) and marginal subsistence to attend an international conference on algebraic topology at the Stefan Banach International Mathematical Center in Bedlewo, Poland, June 18-24, 2007. This is planned as a substantial conference, with over 100 participants. There will be ten plenary talks and three parallel sessions focusing on (A) low dimensional topology; (B) homotopy theory---conformal algebraic topology and elliptic cohomology; and (C) manifold topology. One of the intents of the conference is to stimulate exchange of ideas between these areas. This conference aims at bringing together groups which have drifted apart. During its first great flowering---during the first half of the last century---topology was a unified subject. Around the middle of the century techniques became specialized and the subject broke up into low-dimensional, geometric, and algebraic branches. M. M.Postnikov (1927-2004) was one of the great figures from the second half of the 20th century trying to preserve the unity of the subject. In this new century we see a resurgence of use of techniques from other branches. This conference takes this re-convergence as its theme. It also aims to bring topologists from eastern European and former Soviet Union countries together with researchers from the United States and Western Europe. More information about the conference can be found on the web page: http://at2007pm.org/