The PAlmetto Number Theory Series (PANTS) is designed to exploit the large and increasing concentration of people working in number theory and number theoretic applications located in the Southeast. The primary goals include the fostering of collaboration and education rather than dissemination of new results. The meetings will provide graduate students exposure to recent research with a minimum of costs. The location of the meeting will rotate among Clemson University, University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston. The regular meetings will foster a strong regional culture of research in pure number theory as well as its applications. The creation of PANTS is especially timely as there is more and more interplay between pure number theory and applications. For instance, low-discrepancy sequences created from function fields are used by financial institutions; higher dimensional abelian varieties are being considered in cryptography to guarantee privacy of digital communications; and understanding modular towers is now very important in the construction of the best sequences of error-correcting codes. This mixture of very theoretical mathematics with applications is uniquely well-represented at the PANTS core institutions, and we intend to capitalize on this. The conferences will host many of the major names in the field. Because of its relatively central location in the Southeast, the series will attract students and faculty from several states, who would not otherwise be able to attend larger more costly conferences. In addition, the organizers will strive for a demographically diverse group of speakers and participants, including women and those from other underrepresented groups.
