European Women in Mathematics : proceedings of the tenth general meeting, Malta, 24-30 August 2001 PDF
Preview European Women in Mathematics : proceedings of the tenth general meeting, Malta, 24-30 August 2001
European .Women This page intentionally left blank Proceedings of the Tenth General Meeting European Women in Mathematics Malta 24 - 30 August 2001 editors Emilia Mezzetti Universita di Trieste, Italy Sylvie Paycha Universite Clermont-Ferrand II, France World Scientific New Jersey • London • Singapore • Hong Kong Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: Suite 202, 1060 Main Street, River Edge, NJ 07661 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The picture of Malta and the geometric drawing on the cover — courtesy of Victor Micallef and Asia Weiss respectively. EUROPEAN WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS Proceedings of the Tenth General Meeting Copyright © 2003 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN 981-238-190-2 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Printed in Singapore by Mainland Press v CONTENTS Preface ix Introduction 1 1 About the Organization European Women in Mathematics Presentation of EWM 5 History of the EWM office A brief history of the EWM office in Helsinki, 1991-2001 by Marjata Natanen 7 History of EWM meetings A brief account of the meetings since the 5th meeting in Luminy by Emilia Mezeti and Sylvie Paycha 9 Report on EWM activities A report on activities since the 9th meeting in Locum by Laura Fainsilber 13 About EWM proceedings The mathematical part of EWM meetings by Capi Corrales Rodriganez and Laura Tedeschini Lali 17 2 Photo Gallery 3 Contributions 3.1 Mathematics applied to finance Introduction by Francine Diener 39 Derivatives: a scientific revolution of the seventies by Francine Diener 41 Why heavy tails in financial series? Estimations and tests by Monique Pontier 53 Portfolio optimization in finance by Nadine Belamy 71 Report on discussion on The ethics of using mathematics in finance by Francine Diener 93 vi 3.2 Geometry 3.2.1 Cohomology theories: a useful tool in geometry 99 Introduction by Emilia Mezzeti and Sylvie Paycha 99 Analytical and geometrical features of de Rham and Dolbeault's cohomologies by Chiara de Fabritiis 101 The McKay correspondence - A bridge from algebra to geometry by Yukari Ito 127 Total positivity, flag varieties and quantum cohomology by Konstanze Rietsch 149 3.2.2 The uses of geometry 169 Introduction by Tsou Sheung Tsun 169 Calabi-Yau manifolds and mirror symmetry by Xenia de la Osa 171 Why is there hyperbolic geometry in dynamics? by Caroline Series 191 Tessellations and related modular groups by Asia Ivic Weis 209 3.3 EMS lectures on convex polytopes Introduction to the EMS lectures by Michele Vergne by Bodil Branner 223 Residue formulae for Verlinde sums, and for number of integral points in convex rational polytopes by Michele Vergne 225 Preface 25 Lecture 1. Residue formulae for Bernoulli polynomials and Verlinde sums 27 Lecture 2. Residue formulae for volumes and number of integral points in convex rational polytopes 245 3.4 Poster session Report by Tatiana Ivanova 289 Abstracts of the posters 293 3.5 Mathematics outside the classroom: cultural differences Introduction by Laura Fainsilber, Marie-Fraiigoise Roy and Rosa Maria Spitaleri 321 Raising public awareness in mathematics: the WMY2000 experience by Mireile Chaleyat-Maurel 323 Popularization of mathematics: local and global perspectives by Franka Miriam Brickler 335 vii 3.6 Socio-political dimension of gender inequality Introduction by Laura Fainsilber, Marie-Francoise Roy and Rosa Maria Spitaleri 349 Women and science in Europe and in France by Claudine Hermann 351 Focus on Italian activities in women and science by Rosa Maria Spitaleri 359 Mathematicians' careers - analysis of a questionnaire by Ina Kersten and Emilia Mezzeti 367 Short communications Hankel operators on generalized Bergman-Hardy spaces by Betina Rehberg 375 Math-kit: a multimedia project for learning and teaching mathematics by Sabine Schiler and Luise linger 383 Appendices Appendix A Minutes of the general assembly by Riitta Ulmanen 389 Appendix B Commite members 397 Cordinators 39 List of participants 405 This page intentionally left blank IX PREFACE The 10th International Meeting of the EWM took place in Sliema, Malta, 24-30 August, 2001. There were 65 participants from outside of Malta, and 11 participants from Malta, giving a total of 76 participants coming from 21 countries and 4 continents. The conference took place at the Plaza Hotel, where most of the par- ticipants were housed, except for two lectures which were given at the University of Malta in Msida. There were 5 main sessions: 3 EMS lec- tures given by Michele Vergne; the pure session on "Cohomology theo- ries" with 2 main lectures (Chiara de Fabritiis and Yukari Ito) and one short contribution (Barbara Fantechi); the applied session on "Mathemat- ics applied to finance" with 3 main lectures (Francine Diener, Monique Pontier and Nadine Bellamy); the inter-disciplinary session on "The uses of geometry" with 3 main lectures (Asia Weiss, Xenia de la Ossa and Caroline Series) and one short contribution (Konstanze Rietsch); and the socio-political session on "Mathematics outside the classroom" with 2 main lectures (Mireille Chaleyat-Maurel and Claudine Hermann) and one short contribution (Rosa-Maria Spitaleri). There were in addition two short con- tributed talks (Sabine Schiller and Bettina Rehberg). There were 3 poster sessions, comprising some 35 posters. Also there was a report by Ina Ker- sten and Emilia Mezzetti on the EMS Questionnaire Project. Irene Sciriha gave us a lesson in Maltese, which generated a lot of interest in the local culture. The EWM General Meeting took place in the afternoon of 26th August. The new Standing Committee was elected, with Ljudmila Bordag as Con- venor. Some members of the Organizing Committee were also elected, the remaining vacancies to be filled later once the place for the next meeting in 2003 is decided. Topics for that meeting and also for workshops in the even years were discussed. Regional coordinators were elected. The usual business was successfully conducted. A day trip to Gozo was organized for participants and accompanying persons on Tuesday 28th August. We received financial support from the EU (Contract HPWS-2001-0007 in the framework of the programme "Improving the Human Research po- x tential and the Socio-Economic Knowledge Base" - Accompanying Measure 2) and the EMS. An application to UNESCO (UVO-ROSTE) is still pend- ing. In addition we received material and personnel assistance from the University of Malta. Ms Annabelle Attard from their mathematics depart- ment supplied much needed secretarial help. Air Malta was the official carrier. World Scientific Publishing Company (Singapore) and Discovery Bookstore (Malta) donated material and offered discount on their books. The staff at the Plaza Hotel was very helpful to us throughout the meeting. A particular note of thanks is due to Irene Sciriha, the EWM Convenor and local member of the Organizing Committee. Without her very consid- erable help this meeting could not have taken place. Equally vital was the unceasing work of Emilia Mezzetti (and the secretaries of her department Liviana Grassi Ravalico and Cinzia Pizzali) and Catherine Hobbs (EWM Treasurer) to secure the EU funding. The meeting provided plenty of opportunity for participants to renew friendships and make new ones. There were a lot of small discussion groups, mathematical and otherwise. In particular, there was a spontaneously gen- erated round-table on the ethics of using mathematics in finance, which was indeed very timely. A small group of mathematicians and physicists with common interest in the areas of geometry and topology applied to quantum field theory and string theory was formed to promote better networking. Members of the Organizing Committee were: Christine Bessenrodt (Germany), Laura Fainsilber (Sweden), Tatiana Ivanova (Russia), Emilia Mezzetti (Italy), Marie-Francoise Roy (France), Irene Sciriha (Malta), and Tsou Sheung Tsun (United Kingdom). The editors for the proceedings are Emilia Mezzetti and Sylvie Paycha. Tsou Sheung Tsun Chair of the Organizing Committee
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