International Conference on Singularity Theory and Applications

奇点理论是许多不同数学领域的交汇处，不同类型的思想、技术和结果融合在一起。现代奇点理论可以追溯到20世纪60年代，由Thom、Hironaka、Brieskorn、Zariski和许多其他著名数学家的开创性工作。近年来，奇点理论促进了数学领域（如代数和几何拓扑、代数几何、数论）和更多应用领域（如机器人运动规划中的构型研究）之间的蓬勃交流。由中国科学技术大学主办的国际奇点理论与应用会议将于2011年7月25日至31日在中国合肥召开。会议将以研究为导向，旨在传播最近的发展，但也将有重要的教育组成部分，包括介绍讲座，以便更好地加强代表的各种研究小组之间的联系，并为年轻的研究人员和学生提供接触点。在上个世纪，相当多的努力被用于研究流形——在每个点和每个方向上局部看起来均匀的空间。这一努力取得了巨大的成功；通过对各种不变量（例如，特征数和类）、手术程序等的研究，我们获得了相当一部分的见解。近几十年来，拓扑学家对“奇异”空间的研究越来越感兴趣，因为它们在纯数学（代数几何，数论）和纯数学（数学物理，机器人运动规划）之外的大量出现和应用。与流形相反，奇异空间可能在局部点与点之间看起来不同。奇异空间拓扑性质的研究发展到奇异理论领域。拟议的会议将集中讨论这一快速发展的研究领域的最新发展。欲了解更多会议详情，请访问：http://www.math.wisc.edu/~maxim/conf/Hefei/Hefei.html

Singularity theory is a meeting place of many disparate areas of mathematics, where different types of ideas, techniques and results merge together. The modern theory of singularities dates back to the 1960s, with the pioneering work of Thom, Hironaka, Brieskorn, Zariski, and many other renowed mathematicians. More recently, Singularity theory promoted vigorous interchanges among mathematical fields such as algebraic and geometric topology, algebraic geometry, number theory, and more applied fields such as the study of configurations in robot motion planning. An International Conference in Singularity Theory and Applications will be organized in Hefei, China, during July 25-31, 2011, and it will be hosted by the University of Science and Technology of China. The conference will be research-oriented, intended to disseminate recent developments, but it will also have a significant educational component, featuring introductory lectures so as to better strengthen connections among the assorted research groups represented and to provide access points for younger researchers and students.In the last century, considerable effort has been directed towards studying manifolds - spaces that locally look uniform, at each point and in each direction. This effort has been immensely successful; a substantial part of our insight has been gained through the study of various invariants (e.g., characteristic numbers and classes), the surgery program, etc. In recent decades, topologists have studied "singular" spaces with increasing interest, due to their numerous occurrences and applications within pure mathematics (algebraic geometry, number theory) and outside pure mathematics (mathematical physics, robot motion planning). In contrast to a manifold, a singular space may locally look different from point to point. The study of topological properties of singular spaces developed into the field of Singularity theory. The proposed conference will focus around recent developments in this fast advancing field of research.For more details about the conference, please see:http://www.math.wisc.edu/~maxim/conf/Hefei/Hefei.html