This award provides support to defray expenses of participants in the 2011 and 2012 meetings of the Great Plains Operator Theory Symposium (GPOTS). GPOTS 2011 will be held at Arizona State University during the period May 18-22, 2011 and GPOTS 2012 will be held at the University of Houston during the period May 30-June 30, 2012.
The meetings will be both dynamic and topical, focusing on several high-impact areas. The focus areas will include classification of C*-algebras and von Neumann algebras; wavelets, frames and their applications; operator spaces/systems and their applications; the interaction between non-selfadjoint operator algebras and function theory; dynamical systems for C*-algebras and von Neumann algebras; subfactors; and the interaction between discrete mathematics and operator algebras. The themes of the meetings demonstrate the surprising links among operator algebras, geometry, and topology; the connections between frame theory and computing; and the relationships among von Neumann algebras, mathematical physics, probability, and random matrix theory.
These GPOTS meetings will bring together both experienced and junior researchers, including graduate students, and postdocs to discuss recent work and advances in operator theory and operator algebras. GPOTS conferences are an extremely attractive and welcoming venue for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty, serving as a springboard for their future in the profession. A priority of the 2011-2012 GPOTS conferences will be to build up networks that facilitate the entry into the operator theory and operator algebras research community of graduate students, postdocs, and new faculty members who are interested in operator theory and operator algebras - with a particular emphasis on underrepresented groups. Priority for funding will be given to graduate students, other young researchers and participants without other support as well as members of groups underrepresented in mathematics. In addition to advancing areas of mathematics, the subject matter of GPOTS 2011-2012 has connections to engineering, quantum computing and mathematical physics.
This grant supported the 2012 Great Plains Operator Theory Symposium, which was held at the University of Houston. The Mathematics Department and the University matched the funds that were provided by NSF. Funds from the NSF were used to pay the costs of dormitory housing for participants and to partially defray travel costs for participants without other forms of support. The local matching funds were used to pay the costs of the invited speakers and to also contribute towards travel costs of other participants. The 32nd annual GPOTS was held at the University of Houston, May 30 – June 3, 2012. The conference web site is at www.math.uh.edu/gpots2012/GPOTS2012.html where a complete list of participants and invited speakers, event schedule, and abstracts can be found. There were 130 registered participants. From the answers to the voluntary questions on our registration form we see that our participants included at least 19 women, 15 underrepresented minorities (5 African Americans, 6 Hispanic, 4 Asian, 1 Pacific Islander), 37 students(undergraduate and graduate), and 13 Postdoc/visiting scholars. The participants came from various countries including 31 participants from 17 foreign countries. There were 17 invited speakers, including 2 women. The invited talks included 13 one hour talks and 4 half hour talks. The choices of main speakers for GPOTS 2012 were made with the following seven themes in mind: 1) Classification of C*-algebras and von Neumann algebras, 2) Frames and their applications, 3) Quantum computing and quantum information theory, 4) Interaction between non-self-adjoint operator algebras and function theory, 5) Dynamical systems for C*-algebras and von Nemann algebras, 6) Subfactors, 7) Interaction between discrete mathematics and operator algebras.
