Support is being provided for a conference on the representation theory of p-adic groups that will take place at the University of Iowa from October 19, 2006 to October, 22, 2006. Professor David Manderscheid, Principal Investigator on this grant and Chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Iowa, is the local organizer for the conference. The Scientific Committee for the conference consists of Prof. Colin Bushnell (Kings College, University of London), Prof. Guy Henniart (University of Paris - Orsay), Prof. Freydoon Shahidi (Purdue University) and Prof. Manderscheid. The conference will focus on the recent developments in the representation theory of p-adic groups that are arithmetic in nature. In particular the conference will focus on the use of the theory of types and covers due to Bushnell and Kutzko.
The conference is particularly timely as the study of the representation theory of p-adic groups has proved critical in the solution of important problems in number theory through what is called the Langlands Program. These results included the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and, more recently, the proof of the Local Langlands Conjecture for the general linear group. In awarding support for conference attendance, preference will be given to graduate students and recent Ph.D.'s. Approximately seventy mathematicians will attend the conference. The conference will attract national and international attention and it will help set the research agenda for the field.
