First Announcement

Paul Erdos and his Mathematics

Budapest, July 4-11, 1999

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Janos Bolyai Mathematical Society, The Eotvos Lorand University of Budapest and The Mathematical Institute of The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, announce that a conference dedicated to the memory of Paul Erdos will be held July 4 - 11, 1999, in Budapest, Hungary. The topics of the conference include all basic fields that Paul Erdos contributed to: Analysis (including Ergodic Theory), Combinatorics (including Combinatorial Algebra, Combinatorial Geometry and Theoretical Computer Science), Number Theory, Probability Theory, and Set Theory among others.

The main goal of the conference is to explore Paul Erdos' wide ranging contributions to mathematics, to bring us closer to an understanding of his rich oeuvre, and to attempt to survey the trends of development originating in his work.

This symposium is a satellite conference to the UNESCO-ICSU World Conference on Science to be held 26 June - 1 July 1999, in Budapest, Hungary.

Scientific Program

The program will include the following types of lectures and presentations.

Plenary lectures: These will be expository lectures on particular areas of Paul Erdos' work. We emphasize that these talks will be addressed to a broad mathematical audience. Their aim is to put the theorems and conjectures of Paul Erdos in a historical context. The plenary speakers will be N. Alon (Israel), B. Bollobas (USA, England), P. Borwein (Canada), P.D.T.A. Elliott (USA), R.L. Graham (USA), A. Hajnal (Hungary, USA), P. Komjath (Hungary), D.S. Lubinsky (South Africa), C. Pomerance (USA), I.Z. Ruzsa (Hungary), M. Simonovits (Hungary) and J. Spencer (USA).

Parallel sessions: There will be five parallel sessions in the fields listed above consisting of invited lectures of 30 minutes duration each. The emphasis will be on the influence of Paul Erdos' work. We had to put a limit on the number of lectures, but we gladly offer participants the opportunity to contribute to the poster session, the volume of short communications or to mini workshops described below.

Poster Session: All members of the conference may present their work in scheduled poster sessions provided they submit an abstract by March 31, 1999.

Volume of Short Communications: All participants are invited to submit an extended abstract [maximum: 3 pages] that is expected to be related to the mathematics of Paul Erdos. These will be refereed and the volume will be distributed at the beginning of the conference.

The deadline for submitting the extended abstracts is also March 31, 1999.

Mini Workshops: For small groups that wish to get together for specialized discussions we shall be happy to arrange the appropriate facilities.

Conference Site

The site of the conference is the magnificent l9th century main building of The Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Registration

The registration fee is $160 if paid before March 3lst, 1999; $250 afterwards. Registration fee for accompanying persons is $80. Hotel accommodation at various comfort levels and prices will be available. Details will follow in the next announcement. The registration fee will cover the volume of short communications.

Grants

Depending on the success of fund raising efforts, a limited number of grants will be available that would result in reduced registration fee and/or contribution towards local expenses for participants in one of the following two categories:
(i) graduate students or postdocs, young researchers (age limit 35)
(ii) scientists from Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR.

If you are in one of these categories and in need of assistance, please indicate this on the registration form, preferable by January 31, 1999.

Sponsors

We have received support so far from DIMACS, The Hungarian Foundation for Scientific Research (OTKA), The International Mathematical Union, and The Soros Foundation.

For so many of us working with Paul Erdos was an intensely personal experience. We sincerely believe that this conference will be an opportunity for the whole mathematical community to embrace the life and work of Paul Erdos. We hope that you will join us in this event. Please notify any of your colleagues who may be interested in attending this conference.

The organizing committee: V.T. Sos (Committee Chair), A. Sali (secretary), L. Babai, B. Bollobas, A. Hajnal, G.O.H. Katona, M. Laczkovich, L. Lovasz, P. Revesz, A. Sarkozy, M. Simonovits, J. Szabados.

The e-mail address of the conference is erdos99@math-inst.hu, the URL is http://www.math-inst.hu/~erdos99.

Local organization, accommodations, registration, etc. is done by the Office for International Cooperation of The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Director: J. Pusztai. E-mail: khajos@office.mta.hu. Fax: +36-1-3176215, phone: +36-1- 3382344/158. 

PRELIMINARY REGISTRATION FORM

Name:


Affiliation:


E-mail address:


Mailing address:



I am planning to attend the conference ( )

I don't know yet, but keep me on the mailing list ( )

I'm interested in (please check any combination of the following): 
 	( ) presenting a poster 
	( ) sending an extended abstract (deadline for submission is March
	    31st, 1999
	( ) organizing a mini-workshop in topic:

I would like to apply for grant as 
	( ) Young researcher
	( ) East-European or from the former USSR

Please send your Vita and list of publications together with the grant
application no later than January 31st, 1999 to:
e-mail: erdos99@math-inst.hu or

fax: +36-1-317-7166 or

ordinary mail: Erdos'99, Math. Inst. of HAS, 
Budapest, P.O.B. 127, H-1364 HUNGARY