The 2008 BLAST meeting will be the first in a series of yearly meetings devoted to logic and related areas of mathematics based in the mountain/western midwest region. The first meeting will take place August 6-10, 2008, at the University of Denver. The PI's are Natasha Dobrinen and Nikolaos Galatos.
The meeting is to rotate on a yearly basis between the following universities: New Mexico State University - Las Cruces, University of Colorado - Boulder, University of Denver, University of Kansas - Lawrence, University of Missouri - Kansas City, and University of Nebraska - Omaha. The researchers at these universities, who form the Core Group of BLAST and who will be in turn organizing future BLAST meetings, are the following: Richard Ball, Guram Bezhanishvili, Natasha Dobrinen, William Fleissner, Nikolaos Galatos, Eric Hall, John Harding, Keith Kearnes, Richard Laver, Donald Monk, Jack Porter, Judith Roitman, Andrzej Roslanowski, and Agnes Szendrei.
The conference will focus on the areas of logic in which the above researchers work: Boolean Algebra, Logic/Lattice Theory, Universal Algebra/Algebraic Logic, Set Theory, Set-theoretic Topology; thus the name BLAST. Together, these areas form a cohesive sub-unit of logic and have strong connections with other mathematical disciplines such as Algebra, Combinatorics, General Topology, and Mathematical Physics. Some combinations of these areas, such as Boolean Algebra/Set Theory/Set-theoretic Topology or Algebraic Logic/Lattice Theory/Universal Algebra, have well-established histories of drawing from and propelling each other. More recently, applications of Set Theory to Algebraic Logic have proven fruitful. BLAST will provide a forum for furthering research in these interdisciplinary combinations, and for developing more cross-pollination between other pairs of the research areas of BLAST. In addition to this, the goals of BLAST include building and strengthening collaborations between Core Group members and other researchers from around the world, inviting at least one specialist from each of the six fields to give a plenary talk, and providing a venue for graduate students and young researchers to showcase their work, interact with leading researchers, and provide exposure to other areas of logic early in their careers.
The BLAST 2008 program includes 9 invited speakers, 4 tutorials, and 30-60 contributed talks. There will be substantial funds designated to supporting travel and lodging for graduate students and postdocs
