From S.Linton@pmms.cam.ac.uk Tue Jan 19 09:33:49 1993 Received: from emu.pmms.cam.ac.uk by scss3.cl.msu.edu (4.1/4.7) id AA11003; Tue, 19 Jan 93 09:33:40 EST Received: by emu.pmms.cam.ac.uk (UK-Smail 3.1.25.1/1); Tue, 19 Jan 93 14:06 GMT Message-Id: Date: Tue, 19 Jan 93 14:32 GMT From: Steve Linton To: Mark Riordan Subject: Conference Announcement Reply-To: R.L.Silverstone@qmw.ac.uk Status: OR Please circulate this announcement to Cayley users and others who are likely to be interested. ============================================================================ FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT The CAYLEY/MAGMA Conference on Computational Algebra London, August 23 - 27, 1993 An instructional conference on Computational Algebra and the new MAGMA system for Algebra and Number Theory will be held at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, August 23 - 27, 1993. The conference is being held to mark the international launch of MAGMA and it will focus on the state of the art in algorithmic algebra. Building on a decade of experience with the CAYLEY system, the Computational Algebra Group at the University of Sydney, with the generous assistance of algebraists from many different countries, has designed the MAGMA system. This system provides an integrated facility for solving hard computational problems in the major families of algebraic structures, viz. groups, rings, fields and modules. MAGMA has a functional-style programming language in which the principal data types are sets, sequences, structures (magmas) and mappings. The kernel contains efficient implementations of many of the principal algorithms in Module Theory, Ring Theory, Group Theory, Algebraic Number Theory and Algebraic Combinatorics. Each of the morning sessions of the Conference will consist of lectures on current developments in one of the above areas of computational algebra, while the afternoons will be devoted to instructional presentations of corresponding features in the new MAGMA system. Ample opportunities will be provided for participants to gain hands-on experience with the system. Papers are sought from intending participants describing: (*) Algorithmic methods in Module Theory, Ring Theory, Group Theory, Algebraic Number Theory or Algebraic Combinatorics, (*) Research applications of CAYLEY or MAGMA, or (*) The impact of computer techniques on research in algebra and related areas. People who are interested in attending the Conference or who wish to receive further announcements should contact R.L.Silverstone@qmw.ac.uk PS A TeX version of this announcement is available on request for display. From @omega.qmw.ac.uk:S.A.Linton@qmw.ac.uk Wed Mar 3 22:39:51 1993 Received: from sun2.nsfnet-relay.ac.uk by scss3.cl.msu.edu (4.1/4.7) id AA25634; Wed, 3 Mar 93 22:39:36 EST Via: uk.ac.qmw.omega; Wed, 3 Mar 1993 20:34:58 +0000 Received: from maths.qmw.ac.uk by omega.qmw.ac.uk via JANET with NIFTP (PP) id <05322-0@omega.qmw.ac.uk>; Wed, 3 Mar 1993 16:47:23 +0000 Received: from galois by qmwms.maths.qmw.ac.uk SMTP channel id aa08560; 3 Mar 93 16:37 GMT From: Stephen A Linton Date: Wed, 3 Mar 93 16:44:34 GMT Message-Id: <2525.9303031644@galois.maths.qmw.ac.uk> Subject: Conference Announcement Reply-To: R.Silverstone@qmw.ac.uk Apparently-To: "Riordan Mark" Original-Sender: S.A.Linton@qmw.ac.uk Status: OR Please circulate this announcement to Cayley users and others who are likely to be interested. ============================================================================ SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT The CAYLEY/MAGMA Conference on Computational Algebra QUEEN MARY AND WESTFIELD COLLEGE London, August 23 - August 27 1993 An instructional conference on Computational Algebra and the new MAGMA system for Algebra and Number Theory will be held at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, August 23 - August 27, 1993. The Conference is being held to mark the international launch of MAGMA and it will focus on the state of the art in algorithmic algebra. MAGMA Recent advances in Computational Algebra have strongly emphasized the growing inter-dependence between the various branches of the field. Thus, the new Holt-Rees technique for splitting KG-modules makes heavy use of factorization of polynomials over finite fields. Bosma and H.W. Lenstra Jr have recently used the Groebner basis technique for polynomial rings to determine minimal systems of addition laws for elliptic curves. The Leedham-Green algorithm for computing the order of a matrix over GF(q) depends upon the ability to factor integers of the form p^n - 1. Up until the present, advanced algorithms for the various branches of algebra, geometry and number theory have tended to be implemented in packages designed for a very specific area: E.g. CAYLEY, COCOA, KANT, Macaulay, Pari, SAC, SIMATH. In order to provide mathematicians with the ability to write programs which may utilize the algorithmic machinery from these diverse fields, the Computational Algebra Group at Sydney University has designed a new system, known as MAGMA which provides a *unified enviroment* for efficient computation in the principal structures of modern algebra viz. groups, rings, fields and modules. This system extends the ideas of *structural computation*, successfully developed for group theory over the past two decades in the CAYLEY system, to algebra generally. MAGMA has a functional-style programming language in which the principal data types are sets, sequences, structures (magmas) and mappings. The kernel contains efficient implementations of many of the principal algorithms in Module Theory, Ring Theory, Group Theory, Algebraic Number Theory and Algebraic Combinatorics. The Conference Each day will be devoted to one of the major areas of computational algebra with invited lectures, contributed talks and workshop sessions on the corresponding MAGMA features. In each area, leading researchers have been invited to survey the key algorithms and discuss the most recent advances. Particular stress will be placed on the growing interactions between the various branches of Computational Algebra. Short submitted talks will provide an opportunity to describe recent progress on specific problems. The MAGMA workshop sessions will be designed to provide insight into the practical implementation of the ideas covered by the talks and on how to use the available features. Ample opportunities will be provided for participants to gain hands-on experience with the system. Invited Lectures An asterisk indicates that the speaker has not yet been confirmed. Commutative Algebra and Geometry - George Collins (Linz) - Speakers in Finite Geometry to be announced Finitely Presented Groups, Soluble Groups and p-Groups: - George Havas (Brisbane) - Charles Leedham-Green (London) - Eamonn O'Brien (Canberra) - Charlie Sims (New Brunswick, NJ)* Number Theory - Wieb Bosma (Sydney) - Henri Cohen (Bordeaux) - Michael Pohst (Berlin) Modules and Group Representations - Jon Carlson (Athens, GA)* - Derek Holt (Warwick) - Stephen Linton (London) - Gerhard Schneider (Karlsruhe) Permutation Groups - Greg Butler (Montreal) - John Cannon (Sydney) - Bill Kantor (Eugene, OR) Call for Papers Papers are sought from intending participants in the following areas: (*) Algorithmic methods in Algebraic Coding Theory, Algebraic Graph Theory, Algebraic Number Theory, Associative Algebras, Cryptanalysis, Design Theory, Finite Fields, Finite Geometry, Group Theory, Group Representations, Homological Algebra, Lattice Theory, Lie Algebras, Linear Algebra, Module Theory, Number Theory, Ring Theory and Semigroup Theory; (*) Research applications of CAYLEY or MAGMA; (*) The use of CAYLEY or MAGMA in University teaching; (*) The impact of computer techniques on research in algebra, geometry, number theory and related areas. Intending contributors should forward an extended abstract to arrive before 1 June, 1993. If significantly more contributions are offered than can be fitted into the time-slots available, poster sessions may be organized. It is planned to publish a proceedings for the Conference. We have been fortunate to obtain excellent on-site accommodation for eighty participants, at the very low price of 20 pounds a night. Additional places are available further away from the College. We will allocate places on a first come first served basis. (A queue rather than a stack.) Planning the Conference will be greatly facilitated if applications are received as soon as possible. The registration fee for the Conference is 50 pounds sterling. Please send your payment for this amount to the address below. We regret that we will have to raise the registration fee to 60 pounds sterling from June 1st to cover the deposit for accommodation. The price of 20 pounds per night for College accommodation includes breakfast. The rooms are single. Members of the Conference may book a second room, on the payment of an extra 10 pounds registration fee. If you wish for any help in booking hotel rooms we will make the necessary arrangements. It is reasonable to expect a charge of at least 50 pounds a night for a double room. There are no hotels close to the College. Your registration fee will be an adequate deposit on the accommodation; please be prepared to pay the cost of your accommodation on arrival. It is hoped that the registration fee will include a copy of the Proceedings, which we intend to publish either as Queen Mary and Westfield College Mathematical Notes, or with a commercial publisher. If we choose a commercial publisher it is more likely that we will have to make a charge. We do not expect to be able to subsidise the Conference dinner. This may cost about fifteen pounds sterling plus wine. We have not heard the result of all our grant applications; the financial details should be clearer when we issue the third announcement. We may be able to offer support from the Royal Society for conference members from the ex-Soviet Union. Please inform us at once of any applications under this heading. We are grateful to the London Mathematical Society for a generous grant. -------------------------------------------- REGISTRATION FORM The CAYLEY/MAGMA Conference on Computational Algebra Queen Mary and Westfield College London, August 23 - August 27, 1993 If you wish to participate in this Conference, please return the following form (by e-mail, or ordinary mail), after replacing the dots and deleting the lines that are not applicable. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to attend the CAYLEY/MAGMA Conference on Computational Algebra, August 23 - August 27, 1993. I would like to present a contributed talk under the title: ...................................................... I may not attend the Conference, but please put me on the mailing list. Please book me College accommodation for the nights of .............. Name: ................................... Address: ................................... ................................... ................................... Phone: ................................... E-mail: ................................... Signature: ................................... Mail the completed form to: Ms. R. L. Silverstone The School of Mathematical Sciences Queen Mary and Westfield College Mile End Rd. London E1 4NS England E-mail R.L.Silverstone@qmw.ac.uk and make your cheque, bank draft or international money order payable to: Queen Mary and Westfield College. We have no arrangements for payment by credit card. Payment should be in pounds sterling.