This award supports the participation of American scientists in a U.S.-Japan seminar on Operator Algebras and Applications, to be held in Fukuoka, Japan from July 5-9, l999. The co-organizers are Professors Bruce Blackadar at the University of Nevada, Reno and Hideki Kosaki at Kyushu University in Japan. Operator algebras is an exceedingly important area of analysis. Very significant breakthroughs have been made in the last decade that not only increase our understanding of the field, but also demonstrate the wide range of applications of the subject to topology, geometry, and mathematical physics. Much of this progress has been made by investigators in the U.S. and Japan.
The seminar program will be composed of three main categories. These are: 1) theory of subfactors and related topics; 2) classification and structure of C* -Algebras; and 3) applications of operator algebras to geometry, topology, and physics. Seminar organizers have made a special effort to involve younger researchers as both participants and observers. The exchange of ideas and data with Japanese experts in this field will enable U.S. participants to advance their own work, and will set the stage for future collaborative projects. ***