The main objective of this project is to host QTS3, the third of a biennial international symposium entitled "SYMPOSIUM ON QUANTUM THEORY AND SYMMETRIES." QTS1 was held in Goslar, Germany, in 1999 and QTS2 in Krakow, Poland, in 2001. These symposia, which take place in odd numbered years are similar in format to and complement the well known biennial conferences, held in even numbered years, entitled "INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON GROUP THEORETICAL METHODS IN PHYSICS(ICGTMP)". The Conference Boards for the two symposia have several common members.
An important intellectual merit of such a symposium is that its format brings together physicists and mathematicians from diverse fields to interact on topics on frontiers of mathematical physics. Previous such meetings have enabled the participants to identify and explore common mathematical themes that unify their research efforts in fields ranging from atomic and nuclear physics, gauge theories, string theories, and foundations of quantum mechanics, to group theory, quantum groups, quantum computing, and noncommutative geometries. This is to be contrasted with the equally worthy and more frequently held symposia that are focused on a single subject such as QCD, neutrinos, supersymmetry, etc.
Among the broader impacts of this project, one is that it fills the vacuum for the conferences of this type in the United States. To our knowledge, the last of such conferences held in the United States was in mid 1980's. They are held frequently in Europe, Canada, Mexico, etc. As a result, young US theorists, such as postdocs and graduate students, who are financially more constrained, have had difficulty attending these conferences. To partially offset this trend, recently NSF provided travel funds for young US participants to a similar UNESCO conference, called International Conference on Theoretical Physics, held in Paris, France, July 22-27, 2002. One of aims of QTS3 is to facilitate the participation of young theorists from the United States.
To further strengthen the broader impacts of this Symposium and to make it a tradition, we have invited Professor Edward Witten of the Institute for Advanced Studies to deliver the Taft Lecture, sponsored by the Charles P. Taft Foundation. There will also be a public lecture on a topic of broad interest. We plan to make every effort to bring these lectures to the attention of the high schools and small colleges in the nearby Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana region and encourage their participation.
The five-day symposium will be held at University of Cincinnati, September 10-14, 2003. The local, organizing committee includes, Philip Argyres, Paul Esposito, Timothy Hodges, Alexander Kagan, Freydoon Mansouri (Chair), Joseph Scanio, Peter Suranyi, Rohana Wijewardhana and Louis Witten.
The funds needed to cover the expenses of the invited plenary speakers and the publishing of the proceedings of the Symposium is estimated at $42000.00. We already have a commitment of $20000.00 from University of Cincinnati and intend to simultaneously apply for $11000.00 from DOE. The amount requested from NSF is $11000.00.
