This grant funds the participation of US-based lecturers, organizers, and students in the Apollonian Circle Packings Summer School at the Institut Mittag-Leffler, Stockholm, during June 23-27, 2014 (co-hosted by the European Women in Mathematics association and the European Mathematical Society as the 6th European Women in Mathematics Summer School). The summer school will feature lecture series by Dr. Elena Fuchs (Berkeley) and Prof. Hee Oh (Yale University) on Apollonian circle packings and related concepts such as orbits of thin groups, geometric group theory, equidistribution, the affine sieve, strong approximation and expanders. This area is on the cutting edge of current mathematics; many of the major breakthroughs have occurred in the last 5-7 years, and at least 17 papers on these subjects have appeared since 2011. Graduate students and postdocs will benefit from learning about these methods in a unified presentation that ties all of these ideas back into the irresistible beauty of Apollonian circle packings. Further information may be found on the summer school webpage:
This summer school will have potential for broad impact on the worldwide community of young number theorists, as it will provide an entry point to this fast-paced area of research, and will enrich the skills of graduate student and postdoc participants. In addition, due to its structural focus on gender parity, this summer school will serve a key role in retaining women who are already engaged in number theory, as well as in attracting more female researchers to the field. By highlighting the research of the two featured female lecturers on the international stage, the summer school will increase their visibility, particularly for younger researchers in the field. The school will also give participants the chance to gain specialized knowledge on fascinating new developments in number theory as well as an awareness of current open problems in the field. Finally, participants will learn about connections between number theory and other parts of mathematics while enlarging their mathematical toolboxes, thus supplementing their educations and aiding them in starting successful independent research programs.
