We propose to organize an International Workshop on Special Functions, Orthogonal Polynomials, Quantum Groups and Related Topics dedicated to Richard Askey on his 70th birthday. Date: 18--22 October 2003. Location: Hotel Hochwiesmuehle, Bexbach/Saarland, Germany. International Organizing Committee: Erik Koelink (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands), Tom Koornwinder (KdV Institute, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Jasper Stokman (KdV Institute, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Andreas Ruffing (Munich University of Technology, Germany), Sergei Suslov (Arizona State University, United States). Local Organizing Committee: Andreas Ruffing (Chair), Kristine Ey, Clemens Lindemann (President of Saarpfalz District), Heinz Mueller (Mayor of the Town of Bexbach).
The area of special functions, in general and q-series in particular, has seen major and significant advances in the last thirty years. Recently the subject is being applied in different areas of mathematics and physics. The focus of the proposed workshop will be on the active research areas in special functions and their applications influenced by Richard Askey. This is especially important at a time, like the present, when the subject is being applied in many areas including quantum group, combinatorics, number theory, completely integrable systems, mathematical physics.
The main emphasis of the meeting will be the theory of special functions and their applications. A point of emphasis will be on recent developments in classical orthogonal polynomials, or Askey--Wilson polynomials and their special and/or limiting cases, biorthogonal rational functions, Leonard's pairs, integral transforms including q-Fourier transform and Askey--Wilson function transform, q-Fourier series, Askey--Wilson operators and their inverses, quantum groups and special functions, q-harmonic oscillators, and others.
The workshop will have truly international character; it will bring together all ``generations'' of Askey's mathematical family: from the world top leaders to young researchers and graduate students who are engaged in development of modern theory of special functions, q-series and their applications.
