A workshop on "Cohomology and Support in Representation Theory and Related Topics" will be held at the University of Washington, Seattle, on August 1 - 5, 2012. Following seminal work of Daniel Quillen, cohomological support varieties have been studied and seen numerous applications to the development of the representation theory of a wide array of structures: finite groups, Lie algebras (and superalgebras), finite group schemes, Hopf algebras, small quantum groups, and general self-injective algebras. In recent years, there has been tremendous progress in unifying the theories for different structures. Further, the notion of "support" itself has evolved considerably from its initial definition in terms of the cohomology of a finite group to a much more category theoretic concept. The workshop "Cohomology and Support in Representation Theory and Related Topics," following on the footsteps of the summer school on the same topic, will be an opportunity to summarize the history of this theoretical tool, to report on recent progress on multiple fronts, and to prepare a new cadre of mathematicians to continue the extensive development and applications of supports in many different areas of mathematics. Additional information on the workshop can be found at www.math.washington.edu/~pischool/
The workshop "Cohomology and Support in Representation Theory and Related Topics" will bring mathematicians from different areas together to foster interaction and find new connections between multiple fields united by their use of the concept of "support" and will introduce a new generation of young researchers to the field. The organizers of the workshop are Christopher Bendel (University of Wisconsin-Stout), Henning Krause (Universitat Bielefeld), and Julia Pevtsova (University of Washington). There are twenty four confirmed/tentatively agreed speakers which include leading researchers in several different areas of representation theory, commutative algebra, and triangulated categories from around the world. The workshop will follow directly on the footsteps of a summer school for graduate students and recent PhDs to be held one week prior at the same location. The summer school will present three series of lectures introducing young mathematicians to several active directions of research within the broad field to be covered more deeply during the workshop. Such a juxtaposition will provide the junior participants with a valuable opportunity to take the foundational knowledge they acquire during the summer school and use it to delve into current problems during the workshop. Taken together, the summer school and the workshop are aimed to be both a thorough survey on the exciting recent developments in the field and the venue for an active discussion of future prospects and open problems.
" which was preceded by a week-long summer school on the same subject. The event was held at the University of Washington, Seattle, July 27 - August 5, 2012. The theme of this two week conference was a survey of the state of the art in the use of cohomology and support in the study of representation theory, commutative algebra, triangulated categories, and various related topics. All of these are currently very active areas of mathematical research. One of the successfully achieved goals of the workshop was to raise awareness among both the experts and the newcomers of the geometric techniques shared by all these areas of study. As an outcome, the discoveries of new connections and the further development of the existing ones followed. The preparatory summer school was intended for graduate students, recent doctoral recipients, or others new to the field as an introduction to some of the fundamental ideas. Three experts presented a series of lectures each followed by active group discussion and problem solving sessions. The second week of the conference consisted of talks on the latest progress in the subject providing a thorough retrospective on the exciting recent developments and the venue for a live discussion of future prospects and open problems. Ample time was allowed for discussion and collaboration. As an outcome, several new research teams were established and new results followed. Including the workshop and summer school speakers, more than 110 people participated in project events. Of those, roughly one third consisted of graduate (or undergraduate) students and another quarter was made of post-doctoral level mathematicians. With the high ratio of junior to senior mathematicians, junior mathematicians were afforded a comfortable opportunity to interact with experts in the field. Broader impact. The juxtaposition of the preparatory summer school and the subsequent workshop provided the junior participants with a unique opportunity to take the foundational knowledge they acquired during the summer school and use it to delve into current problems during the workshop. As a result, the workshop had a significant impact on training the future experts in several areas of mathematics and establishing vitally important early connections between them. The format of the workshop provided ample time for discussion encouraging interactions between junior participants well represented due to the summer school and the leading experts in the field. The organizers strove to encourage diverse representation among the workshop participants and speakers: in particular, about 20% of the presenters and 30% of the graduate student participants were women.
