Pan American Advanced Studies Institute on Topics in Percolative and Disordered Systems; Argentina and Chile; January 1-15, 2012

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

PASI: Topics in Percolative and Disordered Systems This Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) award, jointly supported by the NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE), will take place from January 1 to 15, 2012; the first week at the Pontificia Universidad Católica (PUC) de Chile, in Santiago, Chile, and the second week at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Organized by Dr. Charles M. Newman of New York University together with Dr. Vladas Sidoravicius of IMPA, Brazil and CWI, the Netherlands, this PASI will address important and long-standing problems at the interface of mathematics and statistical physics. The PASI is scheduled around 12 mini-courses in various research areas of percolation and disordered systems, some of them providing training in state-of-the-art techniques, and others addressing important open problems in probability and statistical physics. The study of percolation itself provides a convenient ground to develop techniques and increased understanding of phenomena like growth and pattern formation in complex interacting systems. Such techniques can be applied in a variety of fields, including hydrology, materials science, neural science, theoretical computer science, hydrology and petroleum engineering. Lectures and activities for this PASI will be led by an outstanding group of researchers. Participants will include 30 graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty from the hemisphere, half of which will be from the United States. The PASI will likely also attract additional prominent researchers from Latin America. The format will allow young researchers to enter challenging subjects with the guidance of active researchers in the community. This award will also greatly broaden the international workshop program of Dr. Newman's NSF PIRE project by providing a cutting-edge, international experience to many more U.S. and Latin American students, postdocs, and junior faculty members. Results from the PASI will be disseminated through a published version of the mini-courses and appropriate web sites.