VIth OPORTO MEETING

on

GEOMETRY, TOPOLOGY AND PHYSICS

July 4-7, 1997

Contents

VIth Oporto Meeting on Geometry, Topology and Physics
Main Speakers and Planned Courses
List of Seminars
Programme
Information for Prospective Participants
Hotel Information
Travel and Accomodation Form (urgent)
Provisional List of Participants
Photos and Pictures of Oporto
Organizing Committee
Financial Support
On-line registration
City Map
Site with information about Oporto

Faculty of Science Building of Oporto University

(at P. Gomes Teixeira )


VIth OPORTO MEETING on GEOMETRY, TOPOLOGY and PHYSICS

The VIth Oporto Meeting on Geometry, Topology and Physics (formerly known as the Oporto Meetings on Knot Theory and Physics) will take place in Oporto, Portugal, from July 4th to July 7th, 1997. The aim of the Oporto meetings is to bring together mathematicians and physicists interested in the inter-relation between geometry, topology and physics and to provide them with a pleasant and informal environment for scientific interchange.

As in previous years, we are aiming to focus to some extent on certain themes. The main topics for this year will be "Topological Quantum Field Theory and Knot Theory" and "Strings and Duality". The meeting will consist largely of short courses, of approximately three lectures each, given by the main speakers, supplemented by a limited number of seminars, details of which will be announced later. The talks are at the advanced graduate or postdoctoral level, and should be of interest to all researchers wishing to learn about recent developments in the overlap between geometry, topology and physics.


MAIN SPEAKERS and PLANNED COURSES

Matthias Blau (Lyon): Functional Integrals and Topological Field Theory (see hep-th/9501075 and hep-th/9612143).

Robbert Dijkgraaf (Amsterdam): Strings, Gauge Fields & Matrix Theory (for relevant reviews see hep-th/9703136 and hep-th/9611050).

Pietro Fre (Turin): U duality, Solvable Lie Algebras and BPS Saturated States in String Theory (see hep-th/9702167).

Louis Kauffman (Chicago): Combinatorial Knot Theory


LIST of SEMINARS

Nafaa Chbili (Paris): The Homfly Polynomial of Free Periodic Knots
Louis Crane (Kansas): A Proposal for The Quantum Theory of Gravity
Dirk Kreimer (Mainz): Numbers, Knots, and Field Theory: a pedagogical Introduction
Yuri Kubyshin (Moscow and Barcelona): Calculation of Wilson loops in 2D Yang-Mills theories


PROGRAMME

Time FRIDAY - 4 SATURDAY - 5 SUNDAY - 6 MONDAY - 7





9h30-10h30 FRE DIJKGRAAF FRE DIJKGRAAF
10h30-11h Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee
11h-12h CRANE FRE DIJKGRAAF BLAU
12h10-13h10 KREIMER BLAU BLAU KUBYSHIN
13h10-15h30 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch
15h30-16h30 KAUFFMAN KAUFFMAN
KAUFFMAN
16h40-17h20 CHBILI








RECEPTION - 18h
DINNER - 20h


INFORMATION for PROSPECTIVE PARTICIPANTS

Those wishing to participate should complete and return the application form below as soon as possible.

Participants should aim to arrive by the 3rd of July, since the meeting will start in the morning on the 4th. The meeting will continue until the middle or end of the afternoon of the 7th of July.

The meeting will be held in the Faculty of Science building of the University of Oporto, in Oporto's historical centre. Accommodation is available in good quality hotels near the Faculty of Sciences.

There are many international direct flights to Oporto (Pedras Rubras) airport. If no convenient flight to Oporto is available participants from abroad may fly to Lisbon and catch an internal connecting flight or take a train to Oporto. The train journey from Lisbon to Oporto lasts a minimum of 3 hours.

TRANSPORT FROM THE AIRPORT TO OPORTO CENTRE:
Due to the substantial number of participants arriving by plane we will not be able to meet most people at the airport, except for the main speakers. There are however good connections from the airport to the centre of Oporto.
By bus:
Number 56: every 15 to 30 minutes; journey lasts approximately 45 minutes. Price of ticket: 160 escudos.
Number 87: every 30 minutes during rush-hour; journey lasts aproximately one hour. Price of ticket: 160 escudos.
The buses will have as their destination Carmo, or Cordoaria, or Praca de Lisboa. These are all in the immediate vicinity of the Faculdade de Ciencias and the Hotel Malaposta.
By taxi:
Price around 2500 escudos. A small tip of around 5 percent is appreciated but not essential.

Due to the limitations of the budget it is unlikely that financial support will be available except for the main speakers and some Portuguese students. There is no registration fee.

The meeting is to be held in Oporto, Portugal's (see also) second-largest city, offering many attractive sightseeing possibilities. Recently Oporto's historical centre was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. Local food and wine is excellent, and in particular Oporto (Porto in Portuguese) is the home of Port wine (see also).


HOTEL INFORMATION

  1. HOTEL MALAPOSTA: Rua da Conceicao, 80 - 4050 PORTO
    Telefs.: (351)-2-2006278; (351)-2-2006947; (351)-2-2007980; (351)-2-2004852
    Fax: (351)-2-2006295

    Single Room: 5520$00, Double Room: 6.800$00 both with breakfast (these prices include a 20% discount for conference participants!). All rooms with bathroom/lavatory. Very close to the conference venue (about 5 minutes walk). The organisers have made a block booking here which means that rooms should be available.

  2. RESIDENCIAL S.GABRIEL: Rua da Alegria, 98 - 4050 PORTO
    Telefs.: (351)-2-323932
    Fax: (351)-2-323957

    Single Room: 5.520$00 Double Room: 6.720$00 both with breakfast (these prices include a 20% discount for conference participants!). All rooms with bathroom/lavatory. 15-20 minutes walk from the venue. This hotel has parking facilites for those coming by car.

  3. PENSAO MONUMENTAL: Avenida dos Aliados, 151, 4 - 4050 PORTO
    Telefs.: (351)-2-2005794
    Fax: 351-2-2003964

    Single Room: 3.000$00 Double Room: 4.000$00 without breakfast. With breakfast 500$00 extra. Some rooms with own bathroom. About 10 minutes walk from the venue. The more economical prices should appeal to participants on a tight budget.


ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

José Mourão (Lisbon, IST): jmourao@calvin.ist.utl.pt
Roger Picken (Lisbon, IST): picken@math.ist.utl.pt
Eduardo Rego (Oporto, FCUP): jntavar@fc.up.pt
João Nuno Tavares (Oporto, FCUP): jntavar@fc.up.pt
Home page address: http://alfa.ist.utl.pt/~jmourao/om/om97.html


FINANCIAL SUPPORT

JNICT, Fundo de Apoio à Comunidade Científica
Projecto "Física Matemática" PRAXIS/2/2.1/MAT/19/94
Projecto "AGCQ" PBIC/C/MAT/2150/95
Centro de Matemática do Porto
Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Centro de Matemática Aplicada, Instituto Superior Técnico
Human Capital and Mobility ERB-CHRX-CT93-0362.


APPLICATION FORM

On-line registration Application Form (Latex file)


Last modified in 20/06/97