Workshop on Discrete Geometry and the Kepler Problem

Sunday January 17, 1999 to Friday January 22

Location Seminar Room
Simonyi Hall
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton, New Jersey

Scientific
Organizer Gabor Fejes Toth
Mathematical Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Confirmed
Participants Andras Bezdek--Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Karoly Bezdek--Eotvos University
Robert Connelly--Cornell University
John Conway--Princeton University
Samuel Ferguson--University of Michigan
Tom Hales--University of Michigan
Wu-Yi Hsiang--University of California at Berkeley
Wlodzimierz Kuperberg--Auburn University
Jeffrey Lagarias--AT&T Labs - Research
Guenter Rote--Technische Universitat Graz
Neil Sloane--AT&T Shannon Lab.
Salvatore Torquato--Princeton University
Gabor Fejes Toth--Mathematical Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The workshop starts on Sunday, January 17, 1999, at 2 p.m. and will continue until approximately 5 p.m. that day. The following days, Monday through Friday, January 22, it will begin each day at 9:30 a.m. and continue until approximately 5 p.m.
The workshop is co-sponsored by the Institute and the Annals of Mathematics.

The main subject of the workshop will be the new computer-assisted proof of the Kepler Conjecture by Tom Hales. (The Kepler Conjecture asserts that the densest packing of Euclidean three space by non-overlapping spheres of identical size is the one we all expect.) Most of the talks and working sessions will be organized and scheduled during the workshop, and will be on this subject.

Lectures will take place in the Simonyi Hall Seminar Room unless notified to the contrary. Every day at 2 p.m. there will be a more formal lecture on related subjects as follows:

Sunday
January 17

2 p.m. Tom Hales
An Introduction to the Kepler Conjecture

Monday
January 18

2 p.m. Salvatore Torquato
Random Packing of Spheres: Statistical-Mechanical Approach

Tuesday
January 19

2 p.m. Wu-Yi Hsiang
On the proof of Kepler's conjecture and the dodecahedron conjecture

Wednesday
January 20

2 p.m. Karoly Bezdek
On the isoperimetric problems for Voronoi polyhedra of unit ball packings in E^3

2:45 Wlodzimierz Kuperberg
Almost tiling the plane by ellipses

4:30 Tom Hales -- Institute Lecture in WOLFENSOHN HALL
Cannonballs and Foam

Thursday
January 21

2 p.m. Guenter Rote
Matchings between triangulations of a planar set of points

2:45 p.m. Andras Bezdek
On efficient packings of E^3 with various convex solids

Friday
January 22

2 p.m. John Conway
What are all the best sphere packings in low dimension?

Additional lectures may be scheduled as the conference progresses.

Information concerning transportation and accommodation may be found at

http://www.princetonol.com/local/
and

Please let us know by e-mail if you wish to attend. Direct all inquiries regarding workshop arrangements to:

MHayes@math.ias.edu

Last updated 19 Jan. 1999


Location	Seminar Room Simonyi Hall Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, New Jersey
Scientific Organizer	Gabor Fejes Toth Mathematical Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Confirmed Participants	Andras Bezdek--Hungarian Academy of Sciences Karoly Bezdek--Eotvos University Robert Connelly--Cornell University John Conway--Princeton University Samuel Ferguson--University of Michigan Tom Hales--University of Michigan Wu-Yi Hsiang--University of California at Berkeley Wlodzimierz Kuperberg--Auburn University Jeffrey Lagarias--AT&T Labs - Research Guenter Rote--Technische Universitat Graz Neil Sloane--AT&T Shannon Lab. Salvatore Torquato--Princeton University Gabor Fejes Toth--Mathematical Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

The workshop starts on Sunday, January 17, 1999, at 2 p.m. and will continue until approximately 5 p.m. that day. The following days, Monday through Friday, January 22, it will begin each day at 9:30 a.m. and continue until approximately 5 p.m. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Institute and the Annals of Mathematics. The main subject of the workshop will be the new computer-assisted proof of the Kepler Conjecture by Tom Hales. (The Kepler Conjecture asserts that the densest packing of Euclidean three space by non-overlapping spheres of identical size is the one we all expect.) Most of the talks and working sessions will be organized and scheduled during the workshop, and will be on this subject. Lectures will take place in the Simonyi Hall Seminar Room unless notified to the contrary. Every day at 2 p.m. there will be a more formal lecture on related subjects as follows:
Sunday January 17	2 p.m. Tom Hales An Introduction to the Kepler Conjecture
Monday January 18	2 p.m. Salvatore Torquato Random Packing of Spheres: Statistical-Mechanical Approach
Tuesday January 19	2 p.m. Wu-Yi Hsiang On the proof of Kepler's conjecture and the dodecahedron conjecture
Wednesday January 20	2 p.m. Karoly Bezdek On the isoperimetric problems for Voronoi polyhedra of unit ball packings in E^3 2:45 Wlodzimierz Kuperberg Almost tiling the plane by ellipses 4:30 Tom Hales -- Institute Lecture in WOLFENSOHN HALL Cannonballs and Foam
Thursday January 21	2 p.m. Guenter Rote Matchings between triangulations of a planar set of points 2:45 p.m. Andras Bezdek On efficient packings of E^3 with various convex solids
Friday January 22	2 p.m. John Conway What are all the best sphere packings in low dimension?
Additional lectures may be scheduled as the conference progresses.