THE FIELDS INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

June 23-27, 2014 Algebraic Combinatorics: Spectral Graph Theory, Erdös-Ko-Rado Theorems and Quantum Information Theory A Conference to celebrate the work of Chris Godsil To be held at the Organizing Committee Ada Chan (York), Bill Martin (Worcester Polytechnic), Aleksandar Jurišić ( Ljubljana) Karen Meagher (Regina) Mike Newman (Ottawa) The Fields Institute University of Waterloo Department of Combinatorics & Optimization

Overview

It is surprising that the characteristic polynomial of the adjacency matrix of a graph provides a useful window onto combinatorial properties of the graph itself, but this approach to graph theory has been a source of interesting and useful results for over 80 years.

Questions on optimality of networks and extremal graph theory lead to a huge literature on distance-regular graphs and association schemes, with applications to finite geometry, coding theory, and the theory of finite simple groups. Work on the matching polynomial, an analogue of the characteristic polynomial first studied by chemists and physicists, led to the best asymptotic estimates for the number of k × n Latin rectangles. Wilson used association schemes in his fundamental work on the Erdös-Ko-Rado theorem, a central result in extremal graph theory, and more recent work has shown algebraic approaches to this topic provide a very useful viewpoint.

More recently, it has become apparent that many questions on quantum information theory give rise to problems which can be fruitfully attacked using the methods and ideas of algebraic graph theory: existence of mutually unbiased bases, SIC-POVMs, quantum colouring and homomorphisms, discrete and continuous quantum walks. Professor Chris Godsil has made many fundamental contributions to these topics. The goal of this conference is to bring together researchers in discrete mathematics whose work has been influenced by Chris's work, to share recent advances, and to forge stronger connections. The conference will be a celebration for the Canadian mathematical community and we invite researchers in combinatorics, matrix theory, and quantum information theory from all over the world to join us.

Invited Speakers

László Babai, University of Chicago
Eiichi Bannai, Shanghai JiaoTong University
Peter Cameron, University of St. Andrews
Andrew Childs, University of Waterloo
Ameera Chowdhury, Carnegie Mellon University
Sebastian Cioaba, University of Delaware
Marston Conder, University of Auckland
Gabriel Coutinho, University of Waterloo
Edwin van Dam, Tilburg University
Matt DeVos, Simon Fraser University
Peter Dukes, University of Victoria
Chris Godsil, University of Waterloo
Krystal Guo, Simon Fraser University
Junbo Huang, University of Waterloo
Willem Haemers, Tilburg University
Wilfried Imrich, Montanuniversität Leoben
Jack Koolen, University of Science and Technology of China/POSTECH
Brendan McKay, Australian National University
Karen Meagher, University of Regina
Bojan Mohar, Simon Fraser University
Dave Morris, University of Lethbridge
Joy Morris, University of Lethbridge
Akihiro Munemasa, Tohoku University
Cheryl Praeger, University of Western Australia
David Roberson, Nanyang Technological University
Martin Roetteler, Microsoft Research
Brendan Rooney, University of Waterloo
Aidan Roy, D-Wave
Gordon Royle, University of Western Australia
Simone Severini, University College London
Christino Tamon, Clarkson University
Qing Xiang, University of Delaware

Local Arrangements

(a) LOCATION
All lectures will be held on the campus of the University of Waterloo. The program will begin in the morning of June 23 (Monday) and conclude in the afternoon of June 27 (Friday). There will be a reception in the evening of June 23 and a banquet in the evening of June 26.

(b) TRAVEL:
Kitchener-Waterloo is approximately 100 km from Pearson International Airport in Toronto. We recommend that you arrive in Toronto on June 22 (Sunday) and depart on June 28 (Saturday).

Airways Transit connects Toronto Pearson airport with the Waterloo area providing 24/7 door-to-door shared ride service. For Toronto Pearson airport transfers we have obtained a reduced conference rate of $69.00 per person, one way, tax included. To receive the reduced fare you must book in advance and identify yourself as a Godsil65 delegate when making your reservation. You can book online at http://conferences.airwaystransit.com (the conference code is Godsil65). You can also book by phoning 519-886-2121 and identifying yourself as a Godsil65 delegate; the phone line is staffed 24 hours a day.

(c) ACCOMMODATIONS:
A block of rooms has been set aside on a first-come first-serve basis at the KING STREET RESIDENCE (Wilfrid Laurier University). Some attendees may wish to stay at the WATERLOO INN, THE WATERLOO HOTEL, or the COMFORT INN. Please make your reservation as early as possible.

KING STREET RESIDENCE (Wilfrid Laurier University) Web: www.laurierconferences.ca/summerAccommodations.htm Reservation: www.wlu.ca/hotel or call 1-519-884-0710 x2771 Rate: $45 Cdn plus taxes/night with semi-private washroom. $70 Cdn plus taxes/night with private washroom. Location: 20-25 minute walk to lecture room. Cut-off-date: none. Name of booking: "Godsil65".	WATERLOO INN CONFERENCE HOTEL Web: www.waterlooinn.com Rate: $145 Cdn plus taxes Name of booking: "Godsil65". Location: 45-55 minute walk from the lecture room. (shuttle available)
THE WATERLOO HOTEL Web: thewaterloohotel.ca Rate: $150 Cdn plus taxes Name of booking: "Godsil65". Location: 25-30 minute walk from the lecture room.	COMFORT INN Web: www.choicehotels.ca/en/comfort-inn-waterloo-hotel-cn314 Rate: $109 Cdn plus taxes Name of booking: "Godsil65". Location: 30-40 minute walk from the lecture room.

d) For further information, please send email to godsil65<at>uwaterloo.ca

Participants

	Full Name	University/Affiliation
	Abiad, Aida	Tilburg University
	Alamri, Sultan	Taibah University
	Aldred, Robert	University of Otago
	Au, Yu Hin	University of Waterloo
	Babai, Laszlo	University of Chicago
	Bahmanian, Amin	University of Ottawa
	Bailey, Robert	Grenfell Campus, MUN
	Bang, Sejeong	Yeungnam University
	Bannai, Eiichi	Shanghai Jiao Tong University
	Bannai, Etsuko
	Barrera-Cruz, Fidel	University of Waterloo
	Bisson, Terrence	Canisius College
	Boutin, Debra	Hamilton College
	Breen, Jane	University of Manitoba
	Butler, Steve	Iowa State University
	Cameron, Peter	University of St Andrews
	Campbell, Rutger	University of Waterloo
	Chan, Ada	York University
	Changiz Rezaei, Seyed Saeed	Simon Fraser University
	Chen, Da Qi	University of Waterloo
	Cheng, Eddie	Oakland University
	Cheriyan, Joseph	University of Waterloo
	Childs, Andrew	University of Waterloo
	Chowdhury, Ameerah	Carnegie Mellon
	Cioaba, Sebastian	University of Delaware
	Cole, Samuel	University of Illinois at Chicago
	Conder, Marston	University of Auckland
	Coutinho, Gabriel	University of Waterloo
	DeVos, Matt	Simon Fraser University
	Dukes, Peter	University of Victoria
	Dyck, Adam	University of Regina
	Ellingham, Mark	Vanderbilt University
	Feder, David	University of Calgary
	Fiol, Miquel Angel	Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
	Foniok, Jan	University of Warwick
	Gao, Wenbo	University of Waterloo
	Gavrilyuk, Alexander	Tohoku University
	Geelen, Jim	University of Waterloo
	Gibbons, Courtney	Hamilton College
	Godbout, Jonathan	Worcester Polytechnic
	Godsil, Chris	University of Waterloo
	Gosselin, Shonda	University of Winnipeg
	Goulden, Ian	University of Waterloo
	Greaves, Gary	Tohoku University
	Guo, Krystal	Simon Fraser University
	Haemers, Willem	Tilburg university
	Hamel, Angele	Wilfrid Laurier University
	Herchen, Jim	US DoD
	Hobart, Sylvia	University of Wyoming
	Huang, Junbo	University of Waterloo
	Hunt, Sean	University of Waterloo
	Ihringer, Ferdinand	Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen
	Imrich, Wilfried	Montanuniversitaet Leoben
	Jurisic, Aleksandar	University of Ljubljana
	Kirkland, Steve	University of Manitoba
	Koolen, Jack	University of Science and Technology of China
	Kothari, Nishad	University of Waterloo
	Kotsireas, Ilias	Wilfrid Laurier University
	Lange, Alexander	University of Waterloo
	Lee, Edward	University of Waterloo
	Lee, Jae-Ho	University of Wisconsin-Madison
	Leonard, Douglas	Auburn University
	Li, Weiqiang	University of Delaware
	Lin, Jason	University of Waterloo
	Liu, Henry	University of Waterloo
	Malconado, Alejandra	Universidad de Concepcion
	Maltais, Elizabeth	University of Ottawa
	Martin, William	Worcester Polytechnic Institute
	McKay, Brendan	Australian National University
	Meagher, Karen	University of Regina
	Menezes, Alfred	University of Waterloo
	Minchenko, Marsha	Monash University
	Mohar, Bojan	Simon Fraser University
	Mollahajiaghaei, Mohsen	The University of Western Ontario
	Morris, Dave	University of Lethbridge
	Morris, Joy	University of Lethbridge
	Mosca, Michele	University of Waterloo
	Mullin, Ronald	University of Waterloo
	Munemasa, Akihiro	Tohoku University
	Murty, U.S.R.	University of Waterloo
	Nayak, Ashwin	University of Waterloo
	Nelson, Peter	University of Waterloo
	Newman, Mike	University of Ottawa
	Petrie, Tara	University of Regina
	Pivotto, Irene	University of Western Australia
	Poirier, Antoine	University of Ottawa
	Postle, Luke	Emory University
	Praeger, Cheryl	The University of Western Australia
	Purdy, Alison	University of Regina
	Ramkumar, Ritvik	University of Waterloo
	Richmond, Bruce	University of Waterloo
	Roberson, David	Nanyang Technological University
	Roetteler, Martin	Microsoft Research
	Rooney, Brendan	University of Waterloo
	Roy, Aidan	D-Wave Systems
	Royle, Gordon	University of Western Australia
	Sajjad, Alia
	Sankey, Alyssa	University of New Brunswick
	Schade, Tilla	Hochschule Harz (university of Applied Sciences)
	Schanck, John	University of Waterloo
	Seifter, Norbert	Montanuniversität Leoben
	Severini, Simone	University College London
	Shuldiner, Pavel	York University
	Soltani, Abolghasem	University of Regina
	Soltani, Ziba	Azerbaijan Shahid Madani University
	Szestopalow, Michael	University of Waterloo
	Szollosi, Ferenc	Tohoku University
	Tait, Michael	University of California, San Diego
	Tamon, Christino	Clarkson University
	Tan, Yin	University of Waterloo
	Tardif, Claude	Royal Military College of Canada
	Täubig, Hanjo	Technische Universität München
	Teng, Valerie	Elsevier
	Tuncel, Levent	University of Waterloo
	van Dam, Edwin	Tillburg University
	van der Holst, Hein	Georgia State University
	Verret, Gabriel	The University of Western Australia
	Wagner, David	University of Waterloo
	Wang, Xiaojing	University of Waterloo
	Wanless, Ian	Monash University
	Williford, Jason	University of Wyoming
	Xiang, Qing	University of Delaware
	Xie, Miaolan	University of Waterloo
	Xu, Yan	University of Waterloo
	Younger, Dan	University of Waterloo
	Yu, Roger	Thompson Rivers University
	Zhan, Hanmeng	University of Waterloo

 

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