Asia Pacific

Mathematics Newsletter
January 2011 Volume 1 Number 1

Escher’s Impossible World Origamics for Students

Interview: Terence Tao S. S. Chern and Hua Luogeng

Advisory Board

Tony F Chan Sze-Bi Hsu Zhiming Ma

Hong Kong University of Science and Department of Mathematics Academy of Math and Systems Science
Technology National Tsing Hua University Institute of Applied Mathematics, CAS
Hong Kong Taiwan China
ophkust@ust.hk sbhsu@math.nthu.edu.tw mazm@amt.ac.cn

Louis Chen Michio Jimbo Charles Semple

Institute for Mathematical Sciences Rikkyo University Department of Mathematics and Statistics
National University of Singapore Japan University of Canterbury
Singapore jimbomm@rikkyo.ac.jp New Zealand
imsdir@nus.edu.sg charles.semple@canterbury.ac.nz
Dohan Kim
Chi Tat Chong Department of Mathematics Tang Tao
Department of Mathematics Seoul National University Department of Mathematics
National University of Singapore South Korea The Hong Kong Baptist University
Singapore dhkim@snu.ac.kr Hong Kong
matcct@nus.edu.sg ttang@hkbu.edu.hk
Peng Yee Lee
Kenji Fukaya Mathematics and Mathematics Education Spenta Wadia
Department of Mathematics National Institute of Education Department of Theoretical Physics
Kyoto University Nanyang Technological University Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
fukaya@math.kyoto-u.ac.jp Singapore India
pylee@nie.edu.sg wadia@theory.tifr.res.in
Peter Hall
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
The University of Melbourne, Australia
halpstat@ms.unimelb.edu.au

Editorial Board

Ryo Chou Derek Holton Ramdorai Sujatha

1-34-8 Taito Taitou University of Otaga, New Zealand, & School of Mathematics
Mathematical Society University of Melbourne, Australia Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Japan 605/228 The Avenue Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba
msjchou@muse.ocn.ne.jp Parkville, VIC 3052 Mumbai 400005, India
Australia sujatha@math.tifr.res.in
Fuzhou Gong derek.holton@bigpond.com
Beijing Scientific University Jenn-Nan Wang
Department of Mathematics Chang-Ock Lee Department of Mathematics
Zhongguan Village East Road No.55 Department of Mathematical Sciences National Taiwan University
Beijing 100190, China KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, South Korea Taipei 106, Taiwan
fzgong@amt.ac.cn colee@amath.kaist.ac.kr jnwang@math.ntu.edu.tw

Le Tuan Hoa Yu Kiang Leong Chengbo Zhu

Institute of Mathematics, VAST Department of Mathematics Department of Mathematics
18 Hoang Quoc Road National University of Singapore National University of Singapore
10307 Hanoi S17-08-06 2 Science Drive 2
Vietnam Singapore 117543 Singapore 117543
lthoa@math.ac.vn matlyk@nus.edu.sg matzhucb@nus.edu.sg
 Asia Pacific
Mathematics Newsletter
January 2011
The views expressed in this
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ISSN 2010-3492
Volume 1 Number 1
Editorial
Spatial Realization of Escher’s Impossible World........................................................................................ 1
On the Teaching of Geometry in Russia ............................................................................................................... 6
Let’s Fold a Triangular Prism from A4 Paper and Enjoy Origamics! ...................................... 13
Industrial Mathematics: “On the Crest of a Wave” .................................................................................. 16
Industrial Mathematics: Here and Now... Positive in All Directions ..................................... 18
An Interview with Terence Tao .................................................................................................................................... 23
Hua Luogeng and I .................................................................................................................................................................. 27
Problem Corner ........................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Chern Institute of Mathematics ................................................................................................................................. 30
TIFR and IIT Bombay Sign MoU to Setup
The National Centre for Mathematics ................................................................................................................. 31
Beijing International Centre for Mathematical Research ................................................................ 32
International Congress of Mathematicians 2010 .................................................................................... 33
International Congress of Women Mathematicians 2010 ............................................................. 37
International Congress of Mathematicians 2014 .................................................................................... 39
Fifth International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians 2010 ............................................... 41
Tenth Anniversary of NUS Institute for Mathematical Sciences .............................................. 43
Joint Meeting of the Chinese Mathematical Society and
the Korean Mathematical Society ........................................................................................................................... 44
Mathematical Community Commemorates the Centennial of
the Birth of Hua Luogeng................................................................................................................................................. 45
China Won the 51st International Mathematical Olympiad ........................................................ 46
Louis Nirenberg, First Recipient of the Chern Medal .......................................................................... 47
News in Asia Pacific Region ............................................................................................................................................ 48
Conferences in Asia Pacific Region ......................................................................................................................... 55
Mathematical Societies in Asia Pacific Region ........................................................................................... 61
Editorial
Welcome to the Inaugural Issue!
W
e are pleased to welcome you to the first issue
of Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter (APMN).
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Happy reading.
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Spatial Realization of Escher’s Impossible World

Kokichi Sugihara

Abstract— M. C. Escher, a Dutch artist, created a series of endless loop of stairs can be realized as a solid model, as shown in
lithographs presenting “impossible” objects and “impossible” Fig. 1 [17], [18]. We call this trick the “non-rectangularity trick”,
motions. Although they are usually called “impossible”, some because those solid objects have non-rectangular face angles that
of them can be realized as solid objects and physical motions in
look rectangular.
the three-dimensional space. The basic idea for these realizations
is to use the degrees of freedom in the reconstruction of solids
from pictures. First, the set of all solids represented by a given
picture is represented by a system of linear equations and
inequalities. Next the distribution of the freedom is characterized
by a matroid extracted from this system. Then, a robust method
for reconstructing solids is constructed and applied to the spatial
realization of the “impossible” world.

I. I NTRODUCTION
There is a class of pictures called “anomalous pictures” or
“pictures of impossible objects”. These pictures generate optical
illusion; when we see them, we have impressions of three- (a) (b)
dimensional object structures, but at the same time we feel that
such objects are not realizable. The Penrose triangle [13] is one
of the oldest such pictures. Since the discovery of this triangle,
many pictures belonging to this class have been discovered and
studied in the field of visual psychology [9], [14].
The pictures of impossible objects have also been studied
from a mathematical point of view. One of the pioneers is
Huffman, who characterized impossible objects from a viewpoint
of computer interpretation of line drawings [10]. Clowes [2] also
proposed a similar idea in a different manner. Cowan [3], [4] and
Térouanne [20] characterized a class of impossible objects that
are topologically equivalent to a torus. Draper studied pictures
of impossible object through the gradient space [6]. Sugihara
classified pictures of impossible objects according to his algorithm
for interpretation of line drawings [15], [16].
Impossible objects have also been used as material for artistic (c)
work by many artists. One of the most famous examples is the Fig. 1. Three-dimensional realization of Escher’s endless loop of stairs: (a)
endless loop of stairs drawn by Dutch artist M. C. Escher in ordinary picture; (b) picture of an impossible object; (c) solid model realized
his work titled “Klimmen en dalen (Ascending and descending)” from the picture in (b).
[8]. Other examples include painting by Mitsumasa Anno [1] and
The resulting solid models can generate optical illusions in the
drawings by Sandro del Prete [7], to mention a few.
sense that although we are looking at actual objects, we feel that
Those activities are stories about two-dimensional pictures. On
those objects can not exist. In all of those three tricks, we need
the other hand, several tricks have also been found for realization
to see the objects from a unique special point of view. Hence
of impossible objects as actual three-dimensional structures. The
the illusion disappears if we move our eye positions. However,
first trick is to use curved surfaces for faces that look planar;
the non-rectangularity trick is less sensitive to the eye position,
Mathieu Hamaekers generated the Penrose triangle by this trick
because the objects are made in such a way that faces that look
[7]. The second trick is to generate hidden gaps in depth; Shigeo
planar are actually planar, and the parts that look connected are
Fukuda used this trick and generated a solid model of Escher’s
actually connected.
“Waterfall” [7].
The non-rectangularity trick can also be used to generate a new
In this paper, we point out that some “impossible” objects can
class of visual illusion called “impossible” physical motions. The
be realized as three-dimensional solids even if those tricks are not
basic idea is as follows. Instead of pictures of impossible objects,
employed; in other words, “impossible” objects can be realized
we choose pictures of ordinary objects around us, and reconstruct
under the conditions that faces are made by planar (non-curved)
solid models from these pictures using the non-rectangularity
polygons and that object parts are actually connected whenever
trick. The resulting solid models are unusual in their shapes
they look connected in the picture plane. For example, Escher’s
although they look ordinary. Because of this gap between the
K. Sugihara is with the University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. perceived shape and the actual shape, we can add actual physical

January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 1

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

motions that look like impossible. and faces such that is on . We call the
The artist closest to the present work is M. C. Escher. Actu- triple the incidence structure of .
ally, he created many beautiful and interesting lithographs with Let be the coordinates of the vertex , and
mathematical flavor. Among many others, his works contain two let
groups; one is related to periodic tilings and the other is related to (1)
pictures of impossible objects. The former group, works based on
be the equation of the plane containing the face . The
periodic tilings, has been studied from a computational point of central projection of the vertex onto the picture
view by many scientists [5]; Recently, in particular, Kaplan and plane is given by
Salesin constructed a method called “Escherization” for designing
Escher-like pictures based on tilings [11], [12]. (2)
From the viewpoint of computer-aided approach to Escher, the Suppose that we are given the picture and the incidence
present paper is an attack on the other group, impossible objects structure , but we do not know the exact shape of
and impossible motions. Actually, we represent a method for . Then, the coordinates of the projected vertices and are
constructing three-dimensional solid objects and physical motions given constants, while and
represented in Escher’s lithographs. In this sense, what we are de- are unknown variables. Let us define
scribing in this paper might be called “Three-Dimensionalization
of the Escher World”. (3)
The organization of the paper is as follows. In Section II, we Then, we get
review the basic method for judging the realizability of a solid
from a given picture, and in Section III, we review the robust (4)
method for reconstructing objects from pictures. In Section IV, Assume that . Then, the vertex is on the face
we study how the degrees of freedom for reconstructing the , and hence
solids are distributed in the picture. We show examples of the (5)
three dimensional realization of impossible objects and impossible
motions in Section V and give conclusions in Section VI. should be satisfied. Substituting (4), we get
(6)
II. F REEDOM IN THE BACK -P ROJECTION which is linear in the unknowns and because and
In this section we briefly review the algebraic structure of are known constants.
the freedom in the choice of the polyhedron represented by a Collecting the equations of the form (6) for all ,
picture [16]. This gives the basic tool with which we construct we get the system of linear equations, which we denote by
our algorithm for designing impossible motions. (7)
As shown in Fig. 2, suppose that an Cartesian co-
where is the vector of
ordinate system is fixed in the three-dimensional space, and a
unknown variables and is a constant matrix.
given polyhedral object is projected by the central projection
The picture also gives us information about the relative depth
with respect to the center at the origin onto the
between a vertex and a face. Suppose that a visible face hides
picture plane . Let the resulting picture be denoted by . If
a vertex . Then, is nearer to the origin than , and hence
the polyhedron is given, the associated picture is uniquely
we get
determined. On the other hand, if the picture is given, the
(8)
associated polyhedron is not unique; there is large freedom in the
choice of the polyhedron whose projection coincides with . The If the vector is nearer than the face , then we get
algebraic structure of the degree of freedom can be formulated in
(9)
the following way.
Collecting all of such inequalities, we get a system of linear
inequalities, which we denote by
(10)
where is a constant matrix.
The linear constraints (7) and (10) specify the set of all possible
polyhedron represented by the given picture . In other words,
the set of all ’s that satisfy the equations (7) and the inequalities
(10) represents the set of all possible polyhedrons represented by
. Actually the next theorem holds.
Theorem 1. [16]. Picture represents a polyhedron if and only
if the system of linear equations (7) and inequalities (10) has a
Fig. 2. Solid and its central projection. solution.
Hence, to reconstruct a polyhedron from a given picture is
For a given polyhedron , let be the set equivalent to choose a vector that satisfies (7) and (10). (Refer
of all the vertices of , be the set of all to [16] for the formal procedure for collecting the equation (7)
the faces of , and be the set of all pairs of vertices and the inequalities (10) and for the proof of this theorems.)

2 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

III. ROBUST R ECONSTRUCTION OF O BJECTS . For subset , let us define

As seen in the last section, we can characterize the set of (11)

all polyhedra represented by a given picture in terms of linear
constraints. However, these constraints are too strict if we want
to apply them to actual reconstruction procedure. This can be
understood by the next example.
Consider the picture shown in Figure 3(a). We, human beings,
can easily interpret this picture as a truncated pyramid seen from
above. However, if we search by a computer for the vectors that
satisfy the constraints (7) and (10), the computer usually judges
that the constraints (7) and (10) are not satisfiable and hence the
picture in Figure 3(a) does not represent any polyhedron.
(a) (b)
Fig. 3. Picture of a truncated pyramid: (a) a picture which we can easily
interpret as a truncated pyramid; (b) incorrectness of the picture due to lack
of the common point of intersection of the three side edges that should be
the apex of the pyramid.
This judgment is mathematically correct because of the follow-
ing reason.
Suppose that Figure 3(a) represents a truncated pyramid. Then,
its three side faces should have a common point of intersection
at the apex of the pyramid when they are extended. Since this
apex is also on the common edge of two side faces, it is also
the common point of intersection of the three side edges of
the truncated pyramid. However, as shown by the broken lines
in Figure 3(b), the three side edges does not meet at a corner
point. Therefore, this picture is not a projection of any truncated
pyramid. The truncated pyramid can be reconstructed only when
we use curved faces instead of planar faces.
By this example, we can understand that the satisfiability of
the constraints (7) and (10) is not a practical solution of the
problem of judging the reconstructability of polyhedra from a
picture. Indeed, digitization errors cannot be avoided when the
pictures are represented in a computer, and hence the picture of
a truncated pyramid becomes almost always incorrect even if we
carefully draw it in such a way that the three side edges meet at
a common point.
This kind of superstrictness of the constraints comes from
redundancy of the set of linear equations. Actually, if the vertices
of the truncated pyramid were placed at strictly correct positions
in the picture plane, the associated coefficient matrix is not of
full rank. If those vertices contain digitization errors, the rank of
the matrix increases and consequently the set of constraints (7)
and (10) becomes infeasible.
So in order to make a robust method for judging the recon-
structability of polyhedra, we have to remove redundant equations
from (10). For this purpose, the next theorem is helpful. Suppose
that we are given a picture with the incidence structure
(12)
that is, denotes the set of vertices that are on at least
one face in , and denotes the set of incidence pairs
such that . For any finite set , let denote the
number of elements in . Then the next theorem holds.
Theorem 2 [16]. The associated set of equations (10) is
nonredundant if and only if
(13)
for any subset such that .
Refer to [Sugihara 1986] for the strict meaning of “nonredun-
dant” and for the proof.
For example, the picture in Figure 3(a) has 6 vertices and five
faces (including the rear face) and hence . On the
other hand, this picture has 2 triangular faces and 3 quadrilateral
faces, and hence has incidence
pairs in total. Therefore, the inequality (13) is not satisfied and
consequently we can judge that the associated equations are
redundant. Theorem 2 also tells us that if we remove any one
equation from (10), the resulting equation becomes nonredundant.
In this way, we can use this theorem to judge whether the
given incidence structure generates redundant equations, and also
to remove redundancy if redundant.
Using Theorems 1 and 2, we can design a robust method for
reconstructing a polyhedron from a given picture in the following
way.
Suppose that we are given a picture. We first construct the
equations (7) and the inequalities (10). Next, using Theorem 2,
we judge whether (7) is redundant, and if redundant, we remove
equations one by one until they become nonredundant. Let the
resulting equations be denoted by
(14)
where is a submatrix of obtained by removing the rows
corresponding to redundant equations. Finally, we judge whether
the system of (10) and (14) has solutions. If it has, we can
reconstruct the solid model corresponding to an arbitrary one of
the solutions. If it does not, we judge that the picture does not
represent any polyhedron.
With the help of this procedure, Sugihara found that actual solid
models can be reconstructed from some of pictures of impossible
objects [17], [18].
IV. D ISTRIBUTION OF THE D EGREES OF F REEDOM
Let us concentrate on the solutions of eq. (7). This system of
equations contains unknown variables, whereas the num-
ber of essentially different equations is represented by rank .
Hence, the degrees of freedom in the choice of eq. (7) can be
represented by
rank (15)
This number can also be interpreted as the degrees of freedom
in the choice of the solid from the picture, because different
solutions of eq. (7) correspond to different solids represented by
the picture. Now, we are interested in how the degrees of freedom

January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 3

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

are distributed; in other words, we want to know how freely we

can deform each part of the solid from an ordinary shape.
We rewrite the vector
of unknowns as . Let
denote the set of all unknowns, that is,
. For each
, let be the -dimensional row vector whose th
component is 1 and all the other components are 0’s. Then, for
a real number , the equation

represents the constraints that the value of the unknown is

fixed to .
For any subset , let denote the
matrix obtained by adding the row vectors in to Fig. 4. Endless loop of stairs shown in Fig. 1(c) seen from a different
viewpoint.
the matrix , and we define as
rank rank (16)
represents the maximum number of unknowns in whose
values can be fixed arbitrarily and still can construct the solution
of eq. (7). Hence, the value can be interpreted as the degrees
of freedom of the subset of the unknowns.
From the definition, is a rank function of a matroid; indeed
is the matroid obtained from the linear matroid consisting
of all the row vectors in the matrix by (a) (b)
the contraction with respect to the row vectors in [21]. This
matroid characterizes the distribution of the degrees of freedom Fig. 5. “Impossible” columns: (a) shows an impossible structure which is
similar to Escher’s lithograph “Belvédère”; (b) shows another view of the
in the choice of a solid represented by a given picture. Hence, this same solid.
matroid gives us information about how freely we can deform a
solid from its natural shape so that we can add physical motions
that look impossible [19], as we will see by examples in the next otherwise an eternal engine could be obtained but that contradicts
section. the physical law.
However, this impossible motion is realizable partially in the
V. E XAMPLES sense that material looks running uphill a slope. An example of
this impossible motion is shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 6(a) shows a solid
The first examples of the realization of the impossible object consisting of three slopes, all of which go down from the right to
shown in Fig. 1(c) was constructed in the following manner. the left. If we put a ball on the left edge of the leftmost slope, as
First, we construct the system of equations (7) for the picture shown in Fig. 6(a), the ball moves climbing up the three slopes
in Fig. 1(b), then, removed redundant equations using Theorem from the left to the right one by one; thus the ball admits an
2 and got a non-redundant system (14) of equations. Next, we impossible motion.
got a solution of eq. (14), which represents a specific shape of
the three-dimensional solid. Finally, we computed the figure of
an unfolded surfaces of this solid, and made the paper model by
hands.
Fig. 4 shows another view of this solid. As we can understand
from this figure, some of the steps of the endless stair are not
horizontal, which makes it possible to connected the steps into
an endless loop.
Fig. 5(a) shows another example of an impossible object
constructed in a similar manner. In this object, the near-far (a) (b)
relations of the poles seem inconsistent; some poles are nearer Fig. 6. Impossible motion of a ball along “Antigravity Three Slopes”: (a) a
than others on the floor while they are farther at the ceiling. ball climbing up the slopes; (b) another view of the same situation.
This inconsistent structure is essentially similar to that represented
by Escher’s lithograph “Belvédère” in 1958. Fig. 5(b) shows the The actual shape of this solid can be understood if we see
same solid seen from a different direction. Fig. 6(b), which is the photograph of the same solid as in Fig. 6(a)
Next, let us consider “impossible” physical motions. A typ- seen from another direction. From this figure, we can see that
ical example of impossible motions is represented in Escher’s actually the ball is just rolling down the slopes according to the
lithograph “Waterval” in 1961, in which water is running uphill natural properties of the ball and the slopes.
through the water path and is falling down at the waterfall, and Still another example is shown in Figure 7. In this figure, there
is running uphill again. This motion is really impossible because are two windows that look connected in a usual manner but a

4 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

straight bar passes through them in an unusual way. [17] K. Sugihara, Joy of Impossible Objects (in Japanese), Iwanami-Shoten,
Tokyo, 1997.
[18] K. Sugihara, “Three-dimensional realization of anomalous pictures—
An application of picture interpretation theory to toy design,” Pattern
Recognition, vol. 30, no. 9, pp. 1061–1067, 1997.
[19] K. Sugihara, “A characterization of a class of anomalous solids,”
Interdisciplinary Information Science, vol. 11, pp. 149–156, 2005.
[20] E. Térouanne, “On a class of ‘Impossible’ figures: A new language for a
new analysis,” Journal of Mathematical Psychology, vol. 22, pp. 20–47,
1980.
[21] D. J. A. Welsh, Matroid Theory, Academic Press, London, 1976.
(a) (b)
Fig. 7. “Distorted Windows”: (a) a straight bar passing throw the two
windows in an unusual manner; (b) another view.
Kokichi Sugihara Kokichi Sugihara received the
B. Eng., M. Eng. and Dr. Eng. in 1971, 1973 and
1980 respectively, from the University of Tokyo.
He worked at Electrotechnical Laboratories of the
VI. C ONCLUDING R EMARKS Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Indus-
We have presented a method for creating “impossible” objects try, and Nagoya University. He is now a professor of
the Department of Mathematical Informatics of the
and “impossible” motions. In this method, the design of a solid University of Tokyo. His research interests include
admitting impossible objects and motions is formulated as a computational geometry, robust geometric compu-
search for feasible solutions of a system of linear equations and tation, computer vision and computer graphics. He
inequalities. The resulting method enables us to realize Escher’s is the author of “Machine Interpotation of Line
Drawings” (MIT Press, 1986), and a coauthor of “Spatial Tessellations—
impossible world in the three-dimensional space. Concepts and Applications of Voronoi Diagrams” (John Wiley, 1992, 2000).
The impossible objects and motions obtained by this method He is a member of Japan SIAM, Operations Research Society of Japan, ACM,
can offer a new type of optical illusion. When we see these objects IEEE, etc.
and motions, we have a strange impression in the sense that we
feel they are impossible although we are actually seeing them.
Hence it is one of our future work to study this type of optical
illusion from a view point of visual psychology. This is a reproduction with permission of the paper originally published in the
Other future problems include (1) collecting other variants of Proceedings of 8th Hellenic-European Conference on Computer Mathematics
impossible objects and motions created by the present method, and Its Applications (HERCMA 2007), Athen, Greece, September 20-22, 2007,
and (2) formulating the objective functions for selecting optimal edited by Elias A. Lipitakis.
shapes among all the solids specified by the distribution of the Kokichi Sugihara is currently Specially Appointed Professor in Meiji Institute
degrees of freedom. for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences, Organization for the Strategic
Coordination of Research and Intellectual Property, Meiji University.
R EFERENCES
Many interesting materials can be accessed at
[1] M. Anno, Book of ABC (in Japanese), Fukuinkan-Shoten, Tokyo, 1974. http://home.mims.meiji.ac.jp/~sugihara/Welcome
[2] M. B. Clowes, “On seeing things,” Artificial Intelligence, vol. 2, pp. 79– including Professor Sugihara's prize winning project “Impossible Motion:
116, 1971. Magnet-like Slopes” which won the 2010 Best Illusion of the Year Contest (see
[3] T. M. Cowan, “The theory of braids and the analysis of impossible figure below).
figures,” Journal of Mathematical Psychology, vol. 11, pp. 190–212,
1974.
[4] T. M. Cowan, “Organizing the properties of impossible figures,” Percep-
tion, vol. 6, pp. 41–56, 1977.
[5] H. S. M. Coxeter, M. Emmer, R. Penrose and M. L. Teuber, M. C. Escher
— Art and Science, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1986.
[6] S. W. Draper, “The Penrose triangle and a family of related figures,”
Perception, vol. 7, pp. 283–296, 1978.
[7] B. Ernst, The Eye Beguiled, Benedict Taschen Verlag GmbH, Köln, 1992.
[8] M. C. Escher, Evergreen, Benedict Taschen Verlag GmbH, Köln”, 1993.
[9] R. L. Gregory, The Intelligent Eye, third edition, Weiderfeld and Nicol-
son, London, 1971.
[10] D. A. Huffman, “Impossible objects as nonsense sentences,” In Machine
Entelligence, B. Metzer and D. Michie (eds.), vol. 6, Edinburgh Univer-
sity Press, 1971.
[11] C. S. Kaplan and D. H. Salesin, “Escherization,” Proceedings of ACM
SIGGRAPH 2000, ACM Press, New York, pp. 499–510, 2000.
[12] C. S. Kaplan and D. H. Salesin, “Dihedral Escherization,” Proceedings
of Graphics Interface 2004, pp. 255–262, 2004.
[13] L. S. Penrose and R. Penrose, “Impossible objects — A special type of
visual illusion,” British Journal of Psychology, vol. 49, pp. 31–33, 1958.
[14] J. O. Robinson, The Psychology of Visual Illusion, Hutchinson, London,
1972.
[15] K. Sugihara, “Classification of impossible objects,” Perception, vol. 11,
pp. 65–74, 1982.
[16] K. Sugihara, Machine Interpretation of Line Drawings, MIT Press,
Cambridge, 1986.

January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 5

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

On the Teaching of
Geometry in Russia
Alexander Karp & Alexey Werner

P
erhaps the most striking difference between the
teaching of mathematics in Russia and standard
mathematics education in the West is that the
former includes a separate course in geometry taught
over a five-year period. It has been over fifty years since
it was declared in the West that “Euclid must go” (cited
in [3]). Even aside from this, the “Western” course in
geometry was often conceived of (and continues to be
conceived of) as occupying only one year and certainly
not as constituting a constant accompaniment for
students from sixth grade on, throughout all of their
middle and high school years.
In Russia, Euclid and Euclidean geometry did not go
anywhere. Plane geometry is taught in grades 7–9 (6–8)a
for 2–3 hours per week; three-dimensional geometry is
taught in grades 10–11 (9–10), usually for 2 hours per
week. The course in plane geometry is thus intended
to occupy over 200 hours of classes, and the course in
three-dimensional geometry approximately 140 hours.
In addition, the mathematics classes in Russian elemen-
tary schools and the lower grades of the so called “basic
schools” (grades 5-6) include sections visual geometry;
in other words, students are exposed to what might be
characterised as the informal study of geometry.
The aims and objectives of such a program in
geometry have by no means always been envisioned
in the same way, and their implementation has also
varied, so it would be a mistake to suppose that the
history of teaching geometry in Russia is the history
of a kind of stagnation. On the contrary, the teaching
of geometry has been and remains the subject of
passionate debate. We will attempt to represent different
views and approaches that have existed over the past
fifty years in Russian schools. Since our account will
necessarily be limited by the size of this publication,
many mathematical and methodological details will
be skipped. On the whole we will focus mainly on the
analysis of textbooks and programs, which classroom
practices in fact follow in many respects, although it
is impossible to describe all the actual and possible
varieties of classroom practices here.
1. The Contents of the Course in Geometry
in Russian Schools
The contents of the course “Geometry” in the most
recent programs at the time of this writing ([12])
consists of the following sections (the number of hours
recommended by the program for the study of each
section is indicated in parentheses):
Grades 5–6. Visual geometry (45 hours). Students
are given a visual sense of basic two-dimensional
figures, their construction, and various ways in which
they may be positioned with respect to one another, as
well as measurements of lengths, angles, and areas. The
concept of the congruence of figures and certain trans-
formations of the plane (symmetries) are discussed.
Students are also familiarized with three-dimensional
figures, their representations, cross-sections, and
unfoldings, as well as with formulas for determining
their volumes.
Grades 7–9 are devoted to the systematic study of
plane geometry, which includes the following sections:

a
We remind readers that after Russian education officially switched to an 11-year program in the early 1990s,
the nomenclature changed: sixth grade became seventh grade, seventh grade became eighth grade, and so on.

6 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


• Straight lines and angles (20 hours).
• Triangles (65 hours).
• Quadrilaterals (20 hours).
• Polygons (10 hours).
• The circle and the disk (20 hours).
• Geometric transformations (10 hours).
• Compass and straightedge constructions
(5 hours).
• Measuring geometric quantities (25 hours).
• Coordinates (10 hours).
• Vectors (10 hours).
• Extra time—20 hours.
In grades 10-11, geometry is studied at the basic
and advanced levels. Second-generation standards
for the upper grades are still being developed, while
according to [13], at the basic level, students in grades
10-11 were required to study the following topics in
solid geometry:
• Straight lines and planes in space.
• Polyhedra.
• Objects and surfaces of rotation.
• The volumes of objects and the areas of their
surfaces.
• Coordinates and vectors.
The content of each section is quite rich. For each
topic, the programs indicate the basic skill set that the
students must acquire. For example, in the section on
“Triangles”, students must learn:
• To identify on a geometric drawing, formu-
late definitions of, and draw the following:
right, acute, obtuse, isosceles, and equilateral
triangles; the altitude, the median, the
bisector, and the midpoint connector of a
triangle.
• To formulate the definition of congruent
triangles. To formulate and prove theorems
on sufficient conditions for triangles to be
congruent.
• To explain and illustrate the triangle
inequality.
• To formulate and prove theorems on the
properties of isosceles triangles and sufficient
conditions for them to be congruent, the
b
This and subsequent translations from Russian are by Alexander Karp.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
relations between the sides and angles of a
triangle, the sum of the angles of a triangle,
the exterior angles of a triangle, the midpoint
connector of a triangle.
• To formulate the definition of similar triangles.
• To formulate and prove theorems on suffi-
cient conditions for triangles to be congruent,
Thales’ theorem.
• To formulate definitions of and illustrate
the concepts of the sine, cosine, tangent,
and cotangent of the acute angle of a right
triangle.
• To derive formulas expressing trigonometric
functions as ratios of the lengths of the sides
of a right triangle. To formulate and prove the
Pythagorean theorem.
• To formulate the definitions of the sine,
cosine, tangent, and cotangent of angles from
0º to 180º. To derive formulas expressing the
functions of angles from 0º to 180º through
the functions of acute angles. To formulate
and explain the basic trigonometric identity.
Given a trigonometric function of an angle,
to find a specified trigonometric function of
that angle. To formulate and prove the law of
sines and the law of cosines.
• To formulate and prove theorems on the
points of intersection of perpendicular
bisectors, bisectors, medians, altitudes or
their extensions.
• To investigate the properties of a triangle
using computer programs.
• To solve problems involving proofs, computa-
tions, and geometric constructions by using
the properties of triangles and the relations
between them as well as the methods for
constructing proofs that have been studied
([12, pp. 36–37])b.
It should be noted that although algebra and geom-
etry are taught as two separate subjects, the course in
algebra addresses some topics (concepts) that pertain
to the course in geometry as well. One example is the
section of the algebra course that covers “Cartesian
Coordinates in the Plane”; another is the section on
“Logic and Sets” (10 hours) in the second-generation
Standards ([12, p. 16]), which belongs both to the
course in algebra and the course in geometry.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 7
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Comparing the recently published second-gener-
ation Standards for basic schools, cited above, with
previously published Standards ([14]) or even earlier
programs, we find few differences. The contents of the
course, in terms of the list of concepts and proposi-
tions covered, have remained stable. Naturally, thirty
years ago there was no investigation of the properties
of a triangle with the help of a computer program,
mentioned above, nor was such a problem even posed
at the time (nor is it often encountered today in actual
classrooms, by all appearances); but problems involving
proofs, computations, and constructions that require
knowledge of the many theorems studied in the course
are assigned and solved today largely as they were
years ago.
2. The Aims and Characteristics of the Course
in Geometry in Russia
“Why study geometry?” is a question that has been
discussed extensively by the international community
of mathematics educators, and many arguments have
been made in favor of studying geometry (see, for
example [5]). Russia’s official state program in math-
ematics proclaims the following:
The contents of the section “Geometry” is aimed
at developing students’ spatial imagination and
logical reasoning skills through the systematic
study of the properties of geometric shapes in
the plane and in space and through the use
of these properties in solving problems of a
computational and constructional nature. A
substantial role is also assigned to the develop-
ment of geometric intuition. The combination
of visual demonstrability and rigor constitutes
an integral part of geometric knowledge.
The sections on “Coordinates” and “Vectors”
contain material that is largely interdisciplinary
in nature and finds application in various
branches of mathematics as well as related
subjects ([12, p. 7]).
Thus, the teaching of geometry is seen to be of great
benefit precisely for the role that it plays in students’
development. Geometry is undoubtedly useful as an
applied discipline as well, as is indicated by the conclu-
sion of the quoted passage: natural scientists speak a
geometric language, and by failing to teach students
this language, we compromise their comprehension of
the natural sciences and thereby also condemn them
8 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
to a sort of second-class status in the modern world
(whatever the rhetoric employed to legitimise this fact).
Russian pedagogy, however, has traditionally harbored
the conviction that education is valuable not only and
not principally because it conveys various kinds of
skills and knowledge that may be subsequently applied
directly in practical life, but also because it facilitates the
development of students’ reasoning skills (this tradition
found expression in the works of Vygotsky [15], which
in turn became very influential).
So what is behind this general proposition
concerning the development of logical reasoning
skills and why is geometry particularly important in
this respect? The tradition of major scientists being
involved in the writing of courses in geometry, which
goes back to Euclid and Legendre, was continued in
Russia (USSR), where many outstanding research
mathematicians thought about school-level education,
wrote school-level textbooks, and, by doing so, have
left us their notions about the role and significance of
geometry.
In his programmatic article “On Geometry”,
outstanding Russian geometer academician A D
Alexandrov [1] wrote:
The logic of geometry consists not only in sepa-
rate formulations and proofs, but in the entire
system of formulations and proofs considered
as a whole. The meaning of every definition,
every theorem, every proof, is defined in the final
analysis only by this system, which is what makes
geometry a unified theory and not a collection of
isolated definitions and propositions. This idea
of an exact science with a rigorously unfolding
system of deductive conclusions, which geom-
etry conveys, is as important as the precision of
each conclusion considered on its own (p. 59).
In other words, geom-
etry teaches students how
to analyse and compre-
hend a system of propo-
sitions—how to corre-
late separate facts, how
to look for connections
and mutual influences
between them. Genuine
understanding is possible
only through an under-
standing of the system
Alexandrov as a whole. Conversely,

although thinking in a fragmentary fashion and
ignoring various facts do not entirely preclude all
kinds of reasoning, such an approach inevitably makes
reasoning more primitive. It would be misleading, of
course, to claim that only the study of geometry can
teach students a system-oriented approach, but the
historic role of geometry as the model for a systematic
program suggests that it would be wise to consider,
before rejecting geometry altogether, the possible
substitutes that might be found for it in this particular
respect within the school program (if any such substi-
tutes exist). We should point out that a comparably
systematic course in algebra or the natural sciences is
likely impossible at the school level (at least we know
of no large-scale experiment with any course of this
nature).
Another outstanding Russian geometer, A V
Pogorelov [8], wrote in the introduction to one of his
courses in Euclidean geometry:
In offering the present course, our basic assump-
tion has been that the main purpose of teaching
geometry in school is to teach students to
reason logically, to support their assertions
with arguments, to prove. Very few of those
who graduate from school will become math-
ematicians, let alone
geometers. There will
be those who, in their
professional lives, will
never once make use
of the Pythagorean
theorem. However,
it is unlikely that we
would find anyone
who will not have to
reason, analyse, prove
Pogorelov (p. 7).
At the same time, the logical aspect of geometry
stands in a complicated relationship to its visual aspect
(as is indicated in the passage from the Standards
quoted above). As A D Alexandrov wrote:
The distinctive feature of geometry, which
distinguishes it from other branches of
mathematics and from all sciences in general,
consists precisely in the indissoluble organic
conjunction of lively imagination and rigorous
logic. Geometry in its essence is spatial imagi-
nation, permeated and organised by rigorous
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
logic. In any genuinely geometric sentence, be
it an axiom, a theorem or a definition, these
two elements of geometry are inseparably
present: the visual picture and the rigorous
formulation, the rigorous logical deduction.
Where either of these sides is absent, there is
no genuine geometry ([2, p. 6]).
The student is in a sense invited to retrace the
footsteps of the ancients, who were able to pass from
observation to interpretation and abstraction. This
experience of systematic mathematical modeling also
renders geometry particularly important in the eyes of
Russian mathematics educators.
Visual ideas, even visual ideas that are not subse-
quently proven, are naturally very valuable. A N
Kolmogorov, perhaps the greatest Russian mathema-
tician of the twentieth century, criticised the then-
standard textbook by N N Nikitin [7] as follows:
[The textbook] does not sufficiently distinguish
between the two levels at which the material
is presented: the logical-deductive level and
the visual-descriptive level. The combination
of these two levels in textbooks for grades 6–8
seems to me unavoidable. In my opinion, the
body of geometric facts with which students
become acquainted purely through description
might be somewhat expanded.
And he went on:
But this must not obscure the notion of geometry
as a deductive science in the minds of the
students. This notion must already become quite
clear to them as a result of their study of geometry
in grades 6–8. This duality of the school course
in geometry must be understandable to the
students themselves. They must always know
what they are proving and on the basis of which
assumptions, what they are simply told on faith,
and which conclusions they themselves reach
on the basis of visual arguments without a clear
proof ([6, p. 26]).
A D Alexandrov saw the opportunity frankly to
indicate about virtually all propositions examined
in school geometry whether they were accepted as
unproven or rigorously grounded, as well as the oppor-
tunity for all students to establish the truth for them-
selves, without trusting to the authority of a teacher or
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 9
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
a textbook—as the enor-
mous potential benefit
that geometry had to
offer for developing
students’ minds and
worldviews. (Indeed, it
is impossible to deny
that in other school
subjects, students must
constantly or at least
very often trust cited
facts, while in geometry
Kolmogorov
classes they become convinced of everything or almost
everything on their own). As Alexandrov [1] wrote:
The deep objective of the course in geometry
consists of the assimilation of the scientific
worldview, of the formation of its foundations.
It is shaped by an unequivocal respect for estab-
lished truth, the need to prove that which is put
forward as truth, the refusal to substitute faith
or references to authoritative sources for proof.
The striving for truth, the search for a proof (or
a refutation)—this is the active, and therefore
the dominant, aspect of the foundation of the
scientific worldview...
The respect for truth and the demand for proofs
convey an extremely important ethical message.
In its simplest, but very important form, it
consists of the imperative not to judge without
proving, not to succumb to impressions, moods,
and slander where it is necessary to get to the
bottom of the facts. Scientific commitment to
truth consists precisely of the striving to justify
one’s convictions about any issue with observa-
tions and conclusions that are as objective,
as unsusceptible to subjective influences and
passions, as is humanly possible (p. 60).
Further, we will focus on differences between
conceptions of the role of geometry and approaches
to its teaching; here, we have addressed that side
of geometry about which there may be said to be a
consensus. Naturally, such complex issues as “the
scientific worldview” are almost never mentioned in
geometry classes. What an ordinary lesson looks like
to working teachers may be imagined, for example,
by looking at the methodological recommendations
put forward by Glazkov, Nekrasov, and Yudina ([4] or
later editions). Let us examine a single eighth-grade
class devoted to the rhombus.
10 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
At the beginning of the lesson, the class is asked
to solve the following two problems on the basis of
drawings that have been made on the blackboard
beforehand:
1. Find the length of two congruent sides of
an isosceles triangle whose height is equal
to 6 cm and whose vertex angle is equal to
120º.
2. The diagonals of a parallelogram are mutually
perpendicular. Prove that all of its sides are
congruent.
It is then suggested that the teacher formulate a defi-
nition of the rhombus and ask the students themselves
to define those properties of the rhombus which derive
from a definition of the rhombus as a special type of
parallelogram, and then to prove particular properties
of the rhombus on their own. The recommendations do
not stipulate who is to formulate these properties: this
may depend on the class; in one class, students may do
this independently, for example, using drawings, while
in another class it may be done by the teacher.
Thereafter, it is suggested that the students begin
solving problems, and it is recommended that the
following problems from the textbook be used for this
purpose:
• In a rhombus, one of the diagonals is congruent
to a side. Find the angles of the rhombus.
• Prove that a parallelogram is a rhombus if
one of its diagonals is an angle bisector.
At the conclusion of the lesson, it is recommended
that the students be asked to read on their own the
paragraph about squares in the textbook and then to
answer the following questions orally, but possibly
making use of suggestive drawings prepared by the
teacher beforehand:
Is a quadrilateral a square if its diagonals are:
(a) congruent and mutually perpendicular?
(b) mutually perpendicular and have a
common midpoint?
(c) congruent, mutually perpendicular, and
have a common midpoint?
As can be seen, all of the problems are quite
traditional. At the same time, it is impossible not to
notice that the lesson presupposes active and varied
involvement by the students—who, on their own,
carry out proofs, construct arguments orally and in

writing, and interpret and analyse diagrams. Students
are expected to possess a comparatively high level of
knowledge about the topics that have already been
covered; in order to solve the very first problem,
students must know the properties of an isosceles
triangle and the relations in a right triangle with a 30º
angle. In general, the lesson is conducted as a sequence
of problem-solving activities that are connected with
one another; for example, solving the problems with
which the lesson begins helps to solve the problems
that are posed later on, which, therefore, would not be
as difficult for the students.
The ability to construct lessons in which intensive
reasoning and investigative work will fall within the
students’ powers is essential for realising those aims
and objectives of the geometry course which we have
discussed above and which may be achieved only
References
[1] A. D. Alexandrov, O geometrii [On Geometry],
Matematika v shkole 3 (1980) 56-62.
[2] A. D. Alexandrov, A. L. Werner and V. I. Ryzhik,
Nachala stereometrii, 9 [Elementary Three-
dimensional Geometry, 9] (Prosveschenie, Moscow,
1981).
[3] H. F. Fehr, Geometry as a secondary school subject,
in Geometry in the Mathematics Curriculum. Thirty-
sixth Yearbook, ed. K. Henderson (National Council
of Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, VA, 1973), pp.
369-380.
[4] Yu. A. Glazkov, V. B. Nekrasov and I. I. Yudina, O
prepodavanii geometrii v 7-9 klassakh po uchebniku
L. S. Atanasyana, V. F. Butuzova, S. B. Kadomtseva,
E. G. Poznyaka, I. I.Yudinoy. Metodicheskie
rekomendatsii [On the Teaching of Geometry in
Classes 7-9 Using the Textbook of L. S. Atanasyan,
V. F.Butuzov, S. B. Kadomtsev, E. G. Poznyak, I.
I. Yudina. Methodological Recommendations]
(MGIUU, Moscow, 1991).
[5] G. González and P. Herbst, Competing arguments
for the geometry course: Why were American high
school students supposed to study geometry in the
twentieth century? International Journal for the
History of Mathematics Education 1(1) (2006) 7-33.
[6] A. N. Kolmogorov, Ob uchebnikakh geometrii na
1966/67 uchebnyi god [On the Geometry Textbooks
for the 1966-67 School Year], Matematika v shkole
3 (1966) 26-30.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
through systematic and consistent work over many
years. At the same time, the stability of the contents of
the course also helps teachers to accumulate necessary
teaching experience.
Equally important is that over literally centuries of
geometry instruction, an exceptionally rich array of
problems and educational and developmental activi-
ties has been accumulated. An enormous number of
the problems analysed by Polya ([9–11]) consisted of
problems in geometry. And this is no accident: to those
who want to know “how to solve it”, geometry offers
special possibilities. Those who believe that students
transfer what they have learned—and that by learning
to solve problems in geometry, students also learn
something beyond geometry—cannot afford to turn
their backs on geometry. That is why Russian educators
do not give up traditional Euclidean geometry.
[7] N. N. Nikitin, Geometriya 6-8 [Geometry 6-8]
(Prosveschenie, Moscow,1961).
[8] A. V. Pogorelov, Elementarnaya geometriya
[Elementary Geometry] (Nauka, Moscow, 1974).
[9] G. Polya, How to Solve It (Princeton University Press,
Princeton, NJ, 1973).
[10] G. Polya, Mathematical Discovery (John Wiley and
Sons, New York, 1981).
[11] G. Polya, Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning; Vol.
1. Introduction and Analogy in Mathematics; Vol. 2.
Patterns of Plausible Inference (Princeton University
Press, Princeton, NJ, 1954).
[12] Standards, Standarty vtorogo pokoleniya. Primernye
programmy osnovnogo obschego obrazovaniya.
Matematika [Second-Generation Standards. Model
Programs for Basic General Education. Mathematics]
(Prosveschenie, Moscow, 2009).
[13] Standards, Standart obschego obrazovaniya po
matematike [Standards of General Education in
Mathematics], Matematika v shkole 4 (2004) 9-16.
[14] Standards, Standar t osnovnogo obs chego
obrazovaniya po matematike [Standards of Basic
General Education in Mathematics], Matematika v
shkole 4 (2004) 4-9.
[15] L. Vygotsky, Thought and Language (MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA, 1986).
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 11
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Alexander Karp
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA

Alexander Karp is an associate professor of mathematics education at Teachers

College, Columbia University. He received his PhD in mathematics educa-
tion from Herzen Pedagogical University in St. Petersburg, Russia. He also
holds a degree from the same university in history and education. For many
years, Karp worked as a teacher in a school for mathematically gifted in St.
Petersburg and as a teacher educator. Currently, his scholarly interests span
several areas, including gifted education, mathematics teacher education,
the theory of mathematical problem solving, and the history of mathemat-
ics education. He is the managing editor of the International Journal for the
History of Mathematics Education and the author of over 100 publications,
including over 20 books.

Alexey Werner
Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, Russia

Alexey Werner belongs to A D Aleksandrov’s geometrical school. He is a

professor at the Geometry Department of Herzen Pedagogical University in
St. Petersburg. Werner received a candidate’s degree (PhD) in the physical-
mathematical sciences from Leningrad University and a doctoral degree (Dr.
Hab.) in the physical-mathematical sciences from Herzen University in 1969.
He has written over 150 works on modern geometry (on the theory of convex
and saddle surfaces) and on the problems of geometry education; in addition,
he has written (together with coauthors, including A D Aleksandrov, A P Karp,
V I Ryzhik, and others) several series of school textbooks in mathematics for
schools of general education, as well as for schools with an advanced course
of study in mathematics and for schools with a humanities profile. Werner
has sponsored 30 PhD dissertations; two of his students have become doctors
(Dr. Hab.) of sciences.

12 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


Let's Fold a Triangular Prism from
A4 Paper and Enjoy Origamics!
Masami Isoda and Masahiko Sakamoto
T
hrough the publication of ORIGAMICS by K
Haga, J C Fonacier and M Isoda in 2008 [1],
the mathematical exploration of origami is now
well-known for providing attractive hands-on activity
for abstract mathematics. In this short article, we would
like to describe the classroom activity conducted by
Masahiko Sakamoto at the East Asia Regional Confer-
ence on Mathematics Education (EARCOME5) 2010
[2, 3].
Origamics activities have been used for geometric
exploration. In Japan, such a tradition has already
existed before World War II. On the other hand, when
Haga, a professor of biology, began his origami investi-
gations in the 1970s, there were no mathematicians in
Japan who worked in this area. In the 1990s, scientists
and engineers began to recognise its significance for
its applications such as Miura’s folding which has been
used to simulate large solar panel arrays for space satel-
lites. The mathematical study of origami, Origamics, has
now found its way into many areas from elementary
school to mathematical sciences and engineering. It
was with this motivation that Sakamoto, who studied
with Haga, planned the topic of his classroom activity
for EARCOME5.
Using a square piece of paper, a triangular prism
can be folded as follows:
Sakamoto explored the paper folding of a triangular
prism from A4 paper. You can challenge yourself and
find out how interesting and enjoyable origamics
activities can be.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
The solution of the problem of using A4 paper,
which has the golden ratio, is well known by Haga’s
origamics approach. However, solutions of this kind of
questions are not invented by Haga only. In fact, various
solutions have been invented and re-invented by our
students. We have developed many related questions
and investigated various extensions of mathematical
problems using origami. Before we begin the folding,
we have to remember that a triangular prism has four
triangular faces. Thus, everyone would try to fold into
triangles. You may have realised that there are various
possibilities if we allow the sheet to overlap. This is the
reason why Sakamoto and his class first asked questions
about the ratio of the two sides of an A4 paper, and then
told themselves, “Let’s fold a triangular prism with a
total surface area of square root 2 from A4 paper.
First, one should know some basic procedures of
origami for folding into triangles required . If you
have some origami experience folding things such as
airplanes and cranes, you would have known the basic
strategies:
(a) Fold the paper into half along the line joining the
midpoints of opposite edgs and along the diagonals,
(b) folding at right angles to a given line,
(c) folding along an angle bisector.
The book ORIGAMICS explores further ways
of setting the meeting points and so on. But for our
purpose here, these basic strategies are enough. For
example, how many triangles can you find in the
following case?
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 13
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Even if you have no intuition for paper folding, you
will see that the number of ways of folding twice is 16
since there are only four basic strategies in origami.
With 40 students in a classroom, some of them are able
to construct triangular prisms. Indeed, in the case of
Sakamoto’s class, there was no need for him to ask them
how many triangles there were. This is because many
of his students had good intuition in finding various
answers by themselves and by teaching each other.
His experiment confirmed that the student could
construct different kinds of prisms. He would call on
a student to explain his or her construction and there
would be a discussion about it.
Instead of the usual practice of giving the solutions,
the Japanese problem solving approach does not only
aim at teaching how to solve the problems, but also
to teach how to formulate the mathematical ques-
tions, explore solutions and discuss, share and extend
14 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
mathematical ideas, and to appreciate mathematical
activities. Students thus enjoy origamics activities and
develop their mathematical thinking by themselves.
Imagine a discussion on folding an A4 paper and
how to recognise a triangular prism. While students
would try it on their own, it may be necessary for the
teacher to ask some questions like “Is it a triangular
prism?” Thus he would mention that when a yellow
triangle meets a non-yellow congruent triangle, they
will form one triangle in a plane. He would then focus
on each face of the triangular prism. After students
have done it on their own, the teacher would change
the conditions of the folding and investigate different
possibilities. In particular, it leads to the construction
of solids and tessellations.
Students already knew that a line which goes
through the intersection of the diagonals of the
rectangular divide its area into half. Based on the basic
strategy, students fold every right angle to the line PQ.
After further hints, the teacher demonstrates that one
can construct a number of different types of triangular
prisms.

Another possibility is the one shown in the diagram
below.
Even after the class has ended, students were keen
to continue their origami experiments. Using only the
basic strategies for folding, the “If not, what?” strategy
in origamics develops and enhances students’ intuition
in mathematics.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
References
[1] K. Haga, J. C. Fonacier and M. Isoda, Origamics:
Mathematical Explorations Through Paper Folding
(World Scientific, Singapore, 2008).
[2] M. Isoda, M. Stephens, Y. Ohara and T. Miyakawa,
Japanese Lesson Study in Mathematics (World
Scientific, Singapore, 2007).
[3] M. Isoda, Japanese Theories for Lesson Study in
Mathematics Education, Proc. EARCOME5,
Vol. 1 (2010) pp. 176-181.
Professor Masami Isoda is at CRICED,
University of Tsukuba, Japan. He is
well-known as a director (project
overseer) of the APEC Lesson Study
Project. His content-software was
given an award by the Minister of
Education of Japan. Isoda’s book
“Curves” received an award for being the most beautiful
book of the year in the area of natural science by the
Japan Publishers Association. He is well-known in
Japan as the Chief Editor of the journal of Japan Society
of Mathematical Education.
Masahiko Sakamoto teaches at the
Junior High School attached to the
University of Tsukuba, Japan. He has
been working with K Haga on the
topic of the lessons for classroom
study in mathematics. He is inter-
ested in various aspects of students’
learning processes on the lesson study.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 15
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Industrial Mathematics:
“On the Crest of a Wave”
Graeme Wake
T
he quote above comes from Professor John
Ockendon FRS, Founding Director of the
Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Math-
ematics (OCCAM) which was formally launched in
mid-2009, having earlier received major support from
Saudi Arabian based funders (King Abdullah University
of Science and Technology). John made this very apt
statement in his opening remarks at the European
Conference in Industrial and Applied Mathematics in
London in 2008.
The recent growth of activity in industrial math-
ematics (and statistics) world-wide is really remarkable,
with a wide variety of degree programs, study groups,
consulting frameworks and the like in existence. These
activities frequently overlap and are adapted to take
on board the local circumstances. Europe and North
America clearly lead in terms of the scale of activity, but
there are flourishing and developing activities here and
in our South-East and Northern Asian neighbours. Our
own ANZIAM Mathematics-in-Industry Study Group
(MISG) continues to flourish and moves around the
region at about three-yearly intervals. In 2010 it moved
from the University of Wollongong to RMIT University
in Melbourne. The very successful 2010 MISG was held
in early February under a team ably led by Associate
Professor John Shepherd of RMIT.
You may ask “Why is this happening now?” Perhaps
it is another timely thrust towards applications driven
by the demands of technology, often encouraged by
governments who see this as a key underpinning
framework for advancement in a highly technical
world. Whatever it is, there are a lot of opportunities
for us in our own contexts.
Over 2007–2009 the Global Science Forum (GSF) of
the Organisation for Economic Cooperative Develop-
ment (OECD) conducted a major review of industrial
mathematics world-wide. Both Australia and New
Zealand are, of course, member countries of the OECD.
The first report followed a year after an initial gathering
was held in Germany in early 2007 (which was attended
by Professor Tim Marchant from the University of
Wollongong).
16 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
The OECD report is an excellent overview docu-
ment. It makes the point that industrial innovation
is increasingly based on the results and techniques
of scientific research, and that this research is both
underpinned and driven by mathematics.
This is justified by the initial presentations at the
2007 conference. The report goes on to say that:
Given the increasingly intimate connection
between innovation, science and mathematics,
it is natural to inquire whether the interface
between all these three activities is functioning
in an optimal way
and, I add, how they can be improved.
The report concludes that, while many industrial
problems have a significant mathematical compo-
nent and the intellectual challenges they pose often
fall within topical areas of current research in the
mathematical sciences, industrial problems also often
extend well beyond the “envelope of classical topics in
mathematics”. I note that generally “industry” should
be interpreted broadly and extends into the biological,
medical, agricultural, social, and financial areas, as
well as the traditional areas of engineering and the
physical sciences. It is noted that increasingly stronger
links between mathematics and industry will be “both
beneficial to the partners and to national economies”.
These links will inspire new mathematics and enhance
the competitive advantage of companies. There are
specific recommendations made under the headings:
• Mathematics for Industrial Innovation —
options canvassed include the cre ation of
Interdisciplinary Research Centres, special
positions in industrial mathematics, the
scheduling of workshops (like our ANZIAM
Study Group), and specialist workshops to
highlight novel mathematical techniques
relevant for industry.
• Education and Training — a revision of the
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

traditional curriculum, both in content and
approach, including provision of opportuni-
ties for secondary school teachers to engage
in academic–industrial interactions.
• Interface between Mathematics and Industry
— the formation of “joint teams”, positions
for “translators”, web access for information
about problems, methods, solutions, centres
of excellence and available expertise, with
networks of experts across institutional
boundaries and the sharing of things like
model agreements on intellectual property
rights.
• Academic Infrastructure — to be changed to
support interdisciplinary activities, rewards
to be made for faculty involvement in
outreach activities, the creation of faculty
positions for researchers from industry
(which would provide much-needed role
models for students), and the maintenance
of quality control of industrial mathematics
projects.
• Industry Infrastructure — the need for the
availability of positions in industry for
qualified researchers (notwithstanding
the different perspectives industry and
researchers have in regard to the timescales
involved), the willingness of industries to
participate in workshop activities and the
like, and the provision of industry support for
the enhancement of mathematics in industry.
• National and International Coordination —
this is happening, but a more collaborative
(and less competitive) approach is needed to
maintain critical mass, the sharing of exper-
tise, and lessening of the wasteful duplication
of effort.
This is a small overview of the whole report which
can be found on the OECD website (see [1]).
It is acknowledged that Australia and New Zealand
(through AMSI, ANZIAM, CSIRO, and elsewhere)
have made some steps in this direction but much more
should and could be done.
Following the publication of this first report, the
GSF formed an “Experts’ Working Group” to review
and report on the various mechanisms used to further
activities in Industrial Mathematics around the world.
The purpose of this was to provide a blueprint that
groups interested in proceeding could follow. I was
privileged to represent Australia and New Zealand on
this small working party, thanks to a nomination by
Australia. This second report looks across the countries
of the OECD and gives representative descriptions
of activities along the lines of those advocated in the
first report. It does not pretend to be comprehensive
and was of course dependent on input from the
“small” committee (of 22 people) from all around the
world. But it is heartening to see that we are in fact
moderately active in this important area in spite of
the rather limited collaboration between institutions.
I was particularly involved in advocating the need for
“publicity” on how it works in practice and the need
for industrial leaders to become educated in the whole
process (see Section II.7 of the second report [2]). This
short article represents in part my reporting back to the
community. For the report of the Experts’ Group see
[2]. It is an evolving document and is updated regularly
as new activities are reported.

References
[1] Report on Mathematics in Industry (July 2008).
Global Science Forum, Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development, www.oecd.org/
dataoecd/31/19/42617645.pdf.
[2] Report on Mechanisms for Promoting Mathematics in
Industry (April 2009). Global Science Forum, Organisa-
tion for Economic Co-operation and Development,
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/47/1/41019441.pdf.

Graeme Wake
Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences,
Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
g.c.wake@massey.ac.nz

Graeme Wake is Professor of Industrial Mathematics at Massey University

Auckland and Director of its Centre for Mathematics in Industry since 2006.
He was Director of the ANZIAM MISG in Auckland for three years, 2004–2006.

Reproduced from Gazette of Australian Mathematical Society, May 2010

January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 17

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Industrial Mathematics:
Here and Now . . .
Positive in All Directions
David Shteinman
I
n a recent edition of the Gazette, Graeme Wake [1]
wrote of the success of industrial mathematics as
something that, like the crest of a wave, is about to
“break through”. In this article I would like to inform
AustMS members of projects already underway in
industrial mathematics and statistics through MASCOS
(the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence
for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems). To
extend the nautical metaphor — we are surfing down a
wave now, and there are more waves coming!
Since 2008 MASCOS has conducted 14 projects
in industry. Industry sectors include transport (NSW
Roads and Traffic Authority, and Vicroads), defence
(Defence Science and Technology Organisation), coal
mining (MSEC Consulting Group), medical devices
(Cochlear), mental health (the Mental Health Research
Institute) and nuclear science (ANSTO). For project
details see MASCOS annual reports at www.complex.
org.au.
MASCOS projects are not like typical consulting
projects, where a specific problem is solved using
existing mathematics, and recommendations are made.
Rather, each project starts with an open problem set
by the client. For example “design a new traffic control
system to reduce congestion”, or “design a statistical
model to predict the cost of road network simulations
based on network complexity” or “propose a new
theoretical framework to improve the confidence in
risk modelling of ground movement due to under-
ground mining”. These projects require original applied
18 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
research in a combination of mathematics, statistics
and engineering to fill the gap identified by the open
problem. Hence, in addition to the commercial value
to the industry client, each project has research value
to the professional mathematician or statistician.
Research areas covered include statistical mechanics
of non-equilibrium systems, extreme value theory,
classification of high-dimensional data, risk modelling
and more.
All these projects have been fully funded by the
industrial clients themselves. Unlike OCCAM in the
UK (Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Math-
ematics), mentioned in [1], we have not had to rely on
Saudi Arabian funding.
There are clear reasons for the successes so far, and
yet there are barriers to further success. Contrary to
popular opinion, these barriers are not due to lack of
government funding or to private industry or university
administrations. Rather the barriers lie within the
mathematics community itself, such as some cultural
attitudes partly related to the academic promotion
process (see “Barriers” below).
We now give three sample projects as illustrations.
Project 1.
Traffic Networks: The Dynamics of Congestion
The transport sector, in particular road traffic
modelling, has been the sector of greatest activity for
MASCOS projects. It has been a perfect combination

of meeting an urgent industry need (how to reduce
road traffic congestion without building new infra-
structure) and research interest (improving the
methods of mod elling non-equilibrium systems
that are constrained in a network structure). This
was verbalised by a Vicroads manager who said at a
meeting with MASCOS:
We know traffic engineering very well. Now we
want to hear from mathematicians and physi-
cists to help solve the big problem of congestion.
In the two-stage project with Vicroads “Arterial road
congestion: network modelling and improved control”,
researchers from the Critical Phenomena group of the
MASCOS Melbourne University node, led by Dr Tim
Garoni and Dr Jan de Gier, have developed a Cellular
Automata (CA) simulation model of traffic flow in
generic urban networks. The research will be published
in 2010 in Physical Review (see [2]).
The model was applied to a specific road network
in the Melbourne suburb of Kew, the objective being
to develop alternative traffic light control strategies
for the urban road networks managed by Vicroads.
Currently, the only input data for the signal control
systems is provided from induction-loop detectors, and
this information is rather limited. MASCOS’s CA model
was used to study the performance of a range of more
general adaptive traffic signal systems, which utilise more
detailed input data. The model, and its results, are being
used as support for upgrading to new traffic detection
systems for Melbourne roads.
In particular, the CA model was used to study the
relative efficiencies of two distinct types of adaptive
traffic signal systems; a system that only considers
the congestion of upstream links, versus a system
that considers the congestion of both upstream and
downstream links. The simulations suggested that the
latter system is more efficient — around 5% better in the
case of the Kew network. A 5% reduction in congestion
for no extra infrastructure cost is highly significant.
The project has raised a wide range of scientific
issues. In contrast to traffic on freeways, traffic flow
on networks is, as yet, poorly understood. The CA
model and its application have led to the following
fundamental issues being addressed in the ongoing
project [2]:
• study of parameter sensitivity and identification
of critical traffic states
• determination of phase diagrams and phase
structures, that is, what are the fundamen-
tally different behaviours of traffic on a
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
network?
• identification of critical-length scales such as
mean free paths and correlation lengths
• investigation of the existence of scaling
• investigation of non-equilibrium work
relations and fluctuation theorems: can we
describe global states of traffic using thermo-
dynamic quantities, and how do these relate
to fluctuations in density and flow?
• development of a computationally effective
traffic model on a network with about 100
intersections. This requires identification of
relevant features, so that irrelevant details
can be neglected.
• correlations between optimisation functions:
are Minimal Delay, Optimal Flow, and Total
Travel Time equivalent measures?
Project 2.
Guidelines for Designing and Analysing
Traffic Micro-simulations
The expense of designing and building new road infra-
structure or testing alternative traffic scenarios can run
to billions of dollars. Therefore, all design changes are
first assessed using traffic micro-simulation software.
In 2009, MASCOS identified a need for rigorous
statistical analysis of the outputs of these simulations.
In 2010 MASCOS is nearing completion of a three-stage
project with the NSW Road and Transport Authority’s
Network Performance Development Group to design
and build a rigorous statistical framework to analyse
the outputs of traffic micro-simulations. The project is
being conducted by the author, on behalf of MASCOS’s
UNSW node, assisted by Dr Sandy Clarke of Melbourne
University’s Statistical Consulting Centre.
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) techniques,
traditionally used in industrial quality control, have
been adapted to the analysis and design of traffic micro-
simulations. EDA techniques have been used to gain
insight into the salient features of the output of a wide
range of traffic simulations, ranging from small arterial
networks to freeways and entire suburbs. The EDA has
shown, for example, the importance of extreme events
or “outliers”. Outliers are being used as a diagnostic
tool when correlated with other inputs to distinguish
between model errors and a real occurrence of a rare
event (for example, a major accident).
Once high-quality simulation data is obtained, the
sources of variability in the simulations are considered,
using ANOVA, as well as the implications of this for
the precision of estimates of network characteristics,
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 19
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
such as vehicle hours travelled. This informs the choice
of run size and comparisons between different traffic
scenarios.
The final stage of the project will seek to find func-
tional relationships between network features, output
precision, the number of simulation runs and the
complexity of the network being simulated. Network
complexity is described by features such as the number
of zones, number of road links per intersection, size
and shape of the network, total number of vehicle trips,
time duration of simulation, and boundary congestion
effects (the effect of delayed or “unreleased” vehicles
that could not enter the network due to congestion or
incomplete trips, and of vehicles that could not exit the
network due to congestion).
The MASCOS/RTA project is unique in its
application of advanced statistical methods to traffic
micro-simulation. It has aroused great interest in the
RTA and the wider traffic-modelling community. A
technical paper and special session on its applications
to policy evaluations in transport will be presented
at the 17th World Congress on Intelligent Transport
Systems in Busan, Korea in October 2010 (see [3]).
Project 3.
Mining and Geo-mechanics
MASCOS has established a three-stage project with
MSEC Pty Ltd (Mine Subsidence Engineering Consult-
ants) of Sydney, to develop statistical methods using
Extreme Value Theory (EVT) in order to improve
prediction of the magnitude of ground subsidence due
to underground coal mining, and the consequential
impacts on structures (see [4]).
The first stage of this work was completed by Dr
Scott Sisson of the School of Mathematics and Statistics,
UNSW. This involved exploratory statistical analyses
to quantify the probability that a future ground strain
caused by mining exceeds a specified maximum
tolerable subsidence (that is, a trigger point). It was
demonstrated that using EVT-motivated models to
describe the extreme tails of MSEC’s observed strain
data resulted in more credible fits than those based on
alternative models originating from the full dataset.
As a consequence, the predictions of future extreme
subsidence in excess of the trigger points are more
reliable.
The second stage of this project is being conducted
by MASCOS post-doc Dr Yaoban Chan, who will
20 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
develop the statistical models more precisely. This
involves the use of regression methods to improve
accuracy and precision by the inclusion of relevant
explanatory variables, such as the distance from the
point of interest to the mine (a “far field” analysis), and
the modelling of the relationship of subsidence strain
and curvature. Dr Chan is also simplifying the imple-
mentation of the EVT methods by supplying MSEC
with programs written in the “R” software package,
with documentation for easy application.
In 2010, work on the third and final stage of the
project will aim to incorporate the effect of multiple
“longwalls” (the mines excavated by drilling equip-
ment moving underground), as well as smoothing
raw curvature data. The application of statistical EVT
to predict ground subsidence is a new application of
the theory; it is also the first time that state-of-the-art
statistics has been used in this particular industry
sector [3].
The project hopes to establish, in a statistically rigorous
manner, the extent to which factors (such as geology, valley
width, distance to the leading edge of the longwall) known
to influence ground movements in general, primarily drive
the process of extreme strains or “upsidence” (upwards
movement of a valley floor), and the extent to which these
can then be used to predict future ground maximum
movements at new locations.
The results from Stage 1 were used in MSEC’s 2009
submissions to the NSW Government. Stage 2 and 3
results will assist MSEC in its consultancy advice to
Government and mining companies on the effects of
proposed underground mines.
Reasons for Success
By analysing the most successful projects, and how
they evolved, we can discern some characteristics that
may contribute to the success of industrial mathematics
projects in general.
Firstly the majority of the large-scale projects
were created by the MASCOS industry division
itself. We did not wait for a company to come to us
with a problem. Rather, MASCOS approached an
industry sector with the general outline of a project.
For example, the idea of applying the methods of
statistical mechan ics and critical phenomena to
traffic flow dynamics was presented to the traffic
management divisions of the RTA and Vicroads.
By taking this proactive approach of targeting industry
sectors for specific projects we are able to satisfy the
“double” demand of commercial benefit to the industry

partner and genuine research value for the mathematician.
Furthermore this approach allowed us a significant role in
shaping the project structure with respect to duration (all
projects span a minimum of six months) and skill level
(PhD level and above).
A second feature contributing to success was the
researchers’ familiarisation with the domain of the
problem at hand. Researchers on traffic projects learnt
the basic elements of intersection control systems, traffic
engineering principles and terminology. Researchers on
the ANSTO project became familiar with the basics
of nuclear research reactor operation, control and
safety systems, regulations, and instrument calibration
requirements. A mathematical modelling project that
is devoid of such engineering and technology content
would be of dubious value.
Project familiarisation was coupled with a willingness
to “get one’s hands dirty” with real data. Surprisingly, this
has been an obstacle when staffing projects. Patience and a
degree of worldliness are required to accept that real-world
data is never like the “toy” data presented in text books
that students are trained on. However, that patience is
repaid many times over with the intellectual satisfaction
of subjecting theory to a reality test in a project that also
makes a difference in the world.
Barriers
The single greatest barrier to further success in indus-
trial projects has been a shortage of willing mathemati-
cians and statisticians to participate in the projects.
The reasoning behind this reluctance usually goes as
follows:
Objection 1: Industry-based projects are mere
consulting and of little scientific
value
Objection 2: Industry-based projects only lead
to B-grade publications, at best
Conclusion: Working on an industry project is
bad for my career advancement.
Earlier in this article I presented the scientific value
of just three of our fourteen projects. Moreover, the
history of mathematics and statistics is full of cases
where work on a real-world problem led to a major
advance in mathematics. Without the motivation and
“raw data” of the problem the theoretical advance may
never have occurred. Here is a sample in chronological
order.
• Euler initiated Graph Theory from his solu-
tion to the Koenigsberg bridge problem
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
• Gauss developed and demonstrated the
Method of Least Squares as a way to predict
the position of the asteroid Ceres
• Fourier developed what we know as “Fourier
analysis” from trying to solve the heat equa-
tion, which is of fundamental importance to
all thermodynamics
• Heaviside step functions were developed to
model electric current
• R A Fisher developed the Analysis of Variance
and the entire basis of Designed Experiments
to improve the efficiency of experiments on
farming methods at Rothamsted Experi-
mental Station
• Dantzig developed the Simplex Algorithm
— the basis of linear programming and
subsequent optimisation methods — as a way
to solve very complex military scheduling
problems that had arisen in World War II.
I trust no reader of Gazette would claim that the
careers of Gauss, Euler, Fourier, Heaviside, Fisher or
Dantzig were degraded by the applied projects that
resulted in their discoveries, nor that their work led to
B-grade publications.
Projects in the real world can present a challenge
to existing theory and that challenge can be idealised
into new theory. Also, an industrial project may
present as a novel application of existing theory. That
is also a scientific contribution, as the use of new tools
advances the domain area of the problem; see the traffic
and mining examples above and [3] and [4]. In both
cases the initial motivation came from a real physical
problem.
There is a continuing strong demand for mathemati-
cians and statisticians to perform applied research
to solve industrial problems. At the very least this
guarantees the mathematical sciences community a
large and continuous source of serious problems to
work on. What is required is some overcoming of false
perceptions (within the mathematics community) on
scientific value and publication prospects. Starting with
a small project can often lead to bigger things. MASCOS
researchers have two Linkage Grant applications
submitted in 2010 that arose from industry projects.
Engagement with industry through successful
projects brings a range of “spin-off ” benefits; for
example, improved public recognition for the impor-
tance and value of the discipline. That in turn should
enhance the view of the mathematical sciences in the
eyes of many, including, most importantly, prospective
students.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 21
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Finally, engagement with industry has one other
major benefit — it reduces the de pendence of the
mathematical sciences on government funding (profes-
sional mathematicians’ biggest source of complaint).
So, engaging with industry really is positive in all
directions!
Those interested in participating in industry-based
projects that require skills in mathematics or statistics
should contact the author at davids@complex.org.au
and see www.complex.org.au.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank those
members of MASCOS and UNSW School of Math-
ematics and Statistics who made comments on an
earlier draft of this article.

References
[1] G. Wake, Industrial mathematics: ‘On the crest of
a wave’; Gaz. Aust. Math. Soc. 37 (2010) 88–90.
[2] J. de Gier, T. Garoni, and Z. Zhou, Autocorrela-
tions in the totally asymmetric simple exclusion
process and Nagel–Schreckenberg model, Phys.
Rev. E 82 (7) (2010) 021107, arXiv:001.2081.
[3] D. Shteinman, S. Clarke, C. Chong-White, F.
Johnson and G. Millar, Development of a statis-
tical framework to guide traffic simulation studies,
Proceedings 17th Intelli gent Transport Systems
World Congress, Busan, Korea (2010), www.
itsworldcongress.kr (accessed 26 August 2010).
[4] Extreme situations call for extreme theory.
Australian Journal of Mining May/June 2010.
On line at http://www.theajmonline.com.au/
mining news/news/2010/may-jun-print-edition/
extreme-situations-call-for-extreme-theory
(accessed 26 August 2010).

David Shteinman
davids@complex.org.au

David Shteinman is a professional engineer and industrial entrepreneur with

25 years experience in manufacturing, mineral processing and the commercial
applications of industrial mathematics and statistics. Since 2008 he has been
the Industry Projects Manager of MASCOS (The Australian Research Council’s
Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems), and
is based at the UNSW School of Mathematics and Statistics.

Reproduced from Gazette of Australian Mathematical Society, September 2010

22 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


An Interview with
Terence Tao
Gazette: Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Tao: I was born here, in Australia, in 1975, in Adelaide.
I grew up and stayed here in Adelaide for 16 years.
When I was a kid, I was accelerated. I skipped five
grades in primary school. This meant that I started high
school at age 8. But I was already taking more advanced
maths classes (Year 11), even when I was in primary
school I took some high-school maths classes. And
when I was at high school I took some maths classes
at uni. My mother and father had to arrange this with
the headmaster and the head of department, so it was
very complicated. But it all worked out. When I got my
Bachelor degree at Flinders University, Garth Gaudry,
my advisor, recommended very strongly that I study
abroad, so I went to Princeton and completed a PhD.
My advisor in Princeton recommended I stay in the
States. I’ve been with UCLA ever since, pretty much.
Except I’ve spent a few summers in Australia, at ANU
and UNSW.
Gazette: When you skipped all these grades, did you
skip them in all disciplines or just maths?
Tao: It was staggered. At age 8 I was in Year 8 for things
like English, PhysEd, etc. But for maths I was in Year
11 or 12.
Gazette: Did your parents encourage you to become
a mathematician?
Tao: I think initially they were at a loss. They didn’t
know what it was that you do as a mathematician. Once
they realised that I liked maths more than physics,
they were happy to let me do what I liked and I’m very
grateful for that. They didn’t push me into something.
In Asian cultures, there’s always a big pressure to do
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
something prestigious like medicine or law, but for
some people this is not the best career. I’m happy that
they didn’t mind that I liked maths.
Gazette: Are your parents still in Adelaide?
Tao: Yes. I’m staying with them while I’m here. It’s
good to be back. Adelaide hasn’t changed much, and
my parents haven’t changed much.
Gazette: Have you got any brothers and sisters?
Tao: I have two brothers, both younger than me. One
is still in Adelaide and works for the Defence Science
and Technology Organisation, and the other is in
Sydney and works for Google. It was his dream job.
He lobbied quite hard. He even had a web page at one
stage explaining why he should be hired by Google, with
his resume, etc. It probably helped him getting the job.
Google likes that kind of thing.
Gazette: Have you ever considered working for Google
yourself?
Tao: Not really. I like academic maths too much. They
do some interesting problem-solving but most of it is
programming. I can program, but I’m not as good at
that as I am at maths.
Gazette: What do you like most about academia?
Tao: I like academic freedom. You can work on your
research, and it doesn’t have to be directed. It doesn’t
have to be what your boss is telling you to do. It is very
flexible. And I like teaching, when you get the students
to learn something that they couldn’t see before. Their
eyes light up: “Ah, I get it now”. And this makes you
feel like you’re doing something very useful. I like the
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 23
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
culture: talking to other mathematicians. Everyone
who does mathematics does it because they like math-
ematics. They are not doing it for the money.
Gazette: Do you do much teaching?
Tao: Nowadays I mostly teach graduate courses. I also
have my own graduate students, six graduate PhD
students. They are quite mature. I’ve been gone all
month now, and they’ve been looking after themselves.
So they’ve just sent me an email with feedback for the
last three weeks of what they have done. That’s great. In
my students I look for someone who is independent and
mature and hard-working. As long as they have some
sense of mathematics, they don’t have to be amazing.
They can always pick this stuff up later.
Gazette: Did you always like maths?
Tao: Yes, ever since I can remember. My parents tell
me that at age 2 I was trying to teach other kids how to
count using number blocks. Although as a kid I had a
different idea of what mathematics was than I do now. I
thought it was always puzzles and games. I didn’t really
understand why we do mathematics until a lot later.
I certainly enjoyed doing the abstract. I also enjoyed
doing arithmetic.
Gazette: Do you still like doing puzzles?
Tao: Not so much. I think I get enough of it at work.
Gazette: What made you choose to study maths at
school or uni?
Tao: It was what I enjoyed doing. As I said before, I
really liked solving puzzles. I really liked it when the
rules were very clear: what was right and what was
wrong. So I had a lot of trouble with English. English
was the subject I couldn’t get the point of. “Write
whatever you feel like?” – what does that mean?
Gazette: Have you ever considered doing anything else?
Tao: When I was a kid I didn’t know what maths
research was. I thought there was someone who gave
you problems to do and you do them, like a giant
homework project. When I was told you have to come
up with your own research problems, I had no idea.
How does anyone do that? I remember thinking I’d be
a shopkeeper. This was something I understood. You
could have inventory, and you’d buy things and keep a
record. That seems to make sense. I’ve done a little bit
of consulting for government agencies. This was nice,
but I do like the academic environment much better.
24 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
Gazette: Why do you do mathematics?
Tao: It is rewarding. When you discover something and
it makes sense, you can explain it to other people. You
get this good feeling, like when you solve a crossword
puzzle. You didn’t understand it before, now you do.
You feel smarter. You’ve really made some achievement.
I really like the fact that you can always build on what
you did before and on what other mathematicians did
before. It’s not like fashion for example, where each year
you do something very different from the previous year.
I’ve only been doing research mathematics for 15 years,
but I can see how much the fields I’ve been working in
have advanced and how our tools are getting better. It’s
great to be part of this progress.
Gazette: You’ve contributed quite a bit!
Tao: Not just me. There are a lot of really good mathema-
ticians out there. Every time there’s a breakthrough it’s
great to hear about. I’m talking at the plenary lecture here
about Perelman’s work on the Poincare Conjecture. It’s a
really great achievement, and I had nothing to do with it!
Gazette: Is it difficult to combine the life of a Fields
Medal winner with family life with your son and wife?
Tao: The Fields Medal doesn’t impress them. It is a big
deal in mathematics and right after I got it there was
some media attention. But 99% of people in the world
have not heard of the Fields Medal. And even if they did,
Los Angeles has so many celebrities, I think it wouldn’t
be a big deal. This is one reason why I like living in LA,
I can be anonymous — no-one cares. I wouldn’t want
to be a celebrity anyway. I give a public lectures, say
500 people show up, and I sometimes wonder if they
show up because they want to learn some maths or if a
lot of them just come because they’ve heard that’s this
famous person. A little bit of this is good, but being a
celebrity shouldn’t be the main aspect of yourself. You
should focus on the content.
Gazette: Has the medal changed your life in any way?
Are you busier than ever?
Tao: I was already busy, and I’m still busy. I’m just
busy in slightly different ways. It means that I get in-
vited to more events. And I do feel I have more of a
responsibility of being a spokesperson or role mod-
el for mathematics. I’ve noticed sometimes when I
talk to other mathematicians, and I say something
I didn’t really think carefully about and people take
what I say off-hand much more seriously. “Oh, this
is very deep”, if I’m making some simple observa-
tion. Sometimes you have to watch what you say a
bit more.

Gazette: You have developed into a spokesperson for
mathematics in Australia.
Tao: Yes. I got a lot out of my education in Australia. I
do feel like I want to give something back.
Gazette: What was the best career advice you have
ever received?
Tao: Mostly people have led by example other than
explicitly giving advice. I do remember one thing my
advisor told me once, which was very useful. I was
writing my first paper, and I put a little joke in it. I
thought I was being smart. He took a look at me and
said: “When you write a paper, this is something that
will stay in the record for ever. Thirty years from now
people will still read it. What you think is funny now,
may not be funny thirty years from now”. He told me
not to put jokes in my papers. Looking back, that was
actually pretty good advice: don’t be a smart alec when
you write. And it wasn’t a very good joke anyway.
Gazette: You’ve worked across so many areas. Is there
a specific area you enjoy the most?
Tao: I find myself doing different things in different
years. My work grows organically. If I find something
interesting and I can make some progress, I follow
that. At some point, I can’t proceed any further and
something else is interesting instead. It depends a lot
on who I talk to. Most of my work is joint with other
people, from other fields and through them I learn what
the interesting problems are. For example, right now I’m
focusing more on number theory and combinatorics
and random matrices, but five years from now I’d be
doing something very different. If there are problems
that look like they are within reach of doing, and
something that I really know may be useful, I really
need someone in that area to talk to.
Gazette: Who are your main collaborators?
Tao: That keeps changing. Nowadays I work a lot with
three people: Ben Green, a number theorist who works
at Cambridge, Tamar Ziegler who is an ergodic theorist
in Israel, and Van Vu who is a probabilist at Rutgers.
When I worked in Australia, I worked with people at
UNSW and ANU.
Gazette: What achievement are you most proud of?
Tao: I don’t really look back. I always have many things
on my plate. You can solve one problem and feel great,
and there are these other fourteen problems and you
still can’t solve them.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Gazette: What did the Fields Medal mean to you?
Tao: My first reaction was “Wow”! There were some
rumours that I would get it, but I didn’t think I would
actually get it in 2006. I had talked to a friend of mine,
another Fields Medalist, and he said he was notified in
April. The meeting when they announce the winner
is in July. April went past and they never called me.
Then I got the call in May. The president of the IMU
called and asked, “Is this Terence Tao?”. I said, “Yes”.
He said, “Congratulations. You have won the Fields
Medal”. I don’t remember what I said, but I was quite
stunned. I wasn’t expecting it. I feel I have to live up
to the standard of all the other Fields medalists. You
become a representative of mathematics.
Gazette: Do you see a broader involvement in the
Australian mathematical community as an important
part of your role?
Tao: I try to help out where I can. I live in LA. A lot
of what I know about the situation in Australia is
second-hand. I have a lot of friends and contacts here
[in Australia] of course. One good thing about coming
here is that I can see it first-hand. I’m on the scientific
advisory board of AMSI. I did meet with the Australian
Olympiad team in Bremen this year. I’m an expat, and
would much prefer if Australians based here [Australia]
took a lead. But I’d help out where I can.
Gazette: Is there any advice you could give to early
career mathematicians?
Tao: Doing mathematics is a long-term thing. I’ve
had grad students who said, “OK, I’m doing my PhD,
and at the end of the four years, I’ll have learnt every-
thing I need to know, and I’ll be a leader in the field”.
It doesn’t work that way! You have to work through
undergraduate, and through graduate, and even after
you finish, there is still a lot more to learn. Mathematics
is huge. You have to keep pushing yourself and not be
content with doing just one or two things and sit in
this niche of mathematics and never venture out of
it, if you want to really progress. I’d describe it as like
running a marathon. You can’t just sprint right through
it. You have to keep learning, and really enjoy doing
mathematics. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t have the
stamina to keep at it. But it is very rewarding if you
keep at it.
Gazette: What are the differences between the situa-
tions of mathematics in the US and in Australia?
Tao: There are a lot of differences. I think the
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 25
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Australian high-school level is still a little bit better. organisations that do that, of course. But that’s one
It has its own problems, but the US system has been thing we need – high-school students have no idea what
struggling a lot longer with the issues of not enough mathematics really is. There’s the education afternoon
qualified maths teachers, which I guess is just begin- at this conference, which is good, but maybe a bit more
ning to happen now in Australia. I’ve taught both in in that direction.
Australia and the US and the Australian students are
better prepared. In Australia, universities are mostly Gazette: Have you got any hobbies?
funded through the Government and they have to
Tao: I used to. But since I’ve had a child, all my free
comply with Government directives. Their priorities
time has gone away. First I had a wife, and certain
are set by Government policies, for instance to increase
hobbies started to become less and less important, and
enrolments. In the US, there are public and private
then the kid!
universities. Even in the public universities, where the
Government provides some funding to support student Gazette: Can you tell us something about your blog?
tuition, the running of it is left to the administration
Tao: This is something I started two years ago. I used
at university level. And much of the administration
to just have a web page to keep updates on my papers.
comes from academia. A lot of very good academics
But then I decided to make it 21st century and make
have decided to move into administration, so there
a blog. I’m really happy with the way it’s gone. I get a
are people there who really understand the value of
lot of comments. For example, all the talks I gave in
research. There’s a bit less bureaucracy in the US.
Australia I put on the blog weeks before, and I’ve been
Universities don’t compete to get a certain level of
getting feedback and corrections. It’s forced me to
students or of publications, they compete for general
change my culture a little bit. I was always inclined to
prestige. They want a good name to attract students.
keep everything secret until it’s all published. It’s good
For this reason they value research more, and outreach
for me, and a lot of people follow. It’s also a good way
and service. They don’t focus just on numbers, which
to tell people some news.
unfortunately is the focus in Australia.
Gazette: You’ve published a book about your blog.
Gazette: What direction would you like the AustMS
Tao: Actually, two books now. Every year, the idea is
go into?
to take the mathematical content of the blog (http://
Tao: They do a good job with the resources that they terrytao.wordpress.com/) and turn it into a book. I
have. I’m very impressed with this meeting, it seems put my lecture notes for the classes I teach on the blog,
to be well organised. [I’d like to see] more outreach and they get corrected and proofread. I get to publish
to high-school teachers or students. There are other a book a year!

Terence Tao
UCLA Department of Mathematics, Los Angeles
tao@math.ucla.edu
This interview took place during the 2009 AustMS conference at the
University of South Australia in Adelaide.

Terence Tao was born in Adelaide, Australia in 1975. He has been a professor
of mathematics at UCLA since 1999, having completed his PhD under Elias
Stein at Princeton in 1996. Tao’s areas of research include harmonic analysis,
PDE, combinatorics and number theory. He has received a number of awards,
including the Salem Prize in 2000, the Bochner Prize in 2002, the Fields
Medal and SASTRA Ramanujan Prize in 2006, the MacArthur Fellowship and
Ostrowski Prize in 2007, and the Waterman Award in 2008. Terence also cur-
rently holds the James and Carol Collins chair in mathematics at UCLA, and
is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Australian Academy of Sciences (Corre-
sponding Member), and the National Academy of Sciences (Foreign member).

Reproduced from Gazette of Australian Mathematical Society, September 2010

26 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


Hua Luogeng and I
Shiing-Shen Chern
(Guangming Daily March 26, 2001)
This is the text of a talk given by Shiing-Shen Chern
on December 18, 2000 at the opening ceremony of
the International Mathematical Conference held to
commemorate the 90 th birthday of Hua Luogeng.
The last two additional passages were given by Chern
on March 9. To preserve the style of the original
presentation, minimal editorial changes have been
made to the text, and notes have been added. This is
the first time that this article has made public. The
original version was first published in chinese in
Guanming Daily March 26, 2001. I had a friendship and
connection with the late Mr Hua Luogeng that stretched
over many years. I first met him 70 years ago on the
campus of Tsinghua University at the start of classes in
the fall of 1931. During those 70 years, we were at times
in the same department and we were destined to have
an enduring connection. He was born in 1910 and less
than a year my senior.
I remember that when he first joined us in 1931, he
had only graduated from junior high school, but his
mathematics thesis had attracted much of our attention.
Tsinghua was very different from other universities.
Not only did it ask him to come but also offered him
a position. It was very unusual for a university of that
time to do so. Because of his academic background,
his position was that of an “assistant” when he first
came. At that time the Mathematics Department was
called the Arithmetic Department and only became
the Mathematics Department later. I was an “assistant
lecturer” in the Arithmetic Department one year ago.
The offices of the Arithmetic Department comprised
4 rooms and were situated on two sides of the corridor
of a “Gong”(工)-shaped hall with two rooms on each
side. On one side was the office of Mr Xiong Qinglai,
Head of Department. I also had a table in another place
and was his assistant lecturer. Another office had two
tables, those of Mr Zhou Hongjing and Mr Tang Peijing.
When Luogeng came, he shared my office table. Because
I was made a “research student” in 1931, he became an
assistant and was given the use of this table. Thus our
relationship then was of one succeeding another.
Luogeng was an excellent mathematician and hence
did not need the general prerequisite mathematical
training. Very soon he was able to discuss the problems
of mathematics on the same level with everyone else,
with research students and even with lecturers. Though
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
he was officially an assistant, he was, in effect, a research
student. I was also a research student and we interacted
with each other often and attended the same classes.
It was an extremely happy period of my student life.
I should add that Tsinghua’s Arithmetic Department
was a very small department at that time but it had a
great influence on the development of arithmetic in
China and constitutes an arguably significant chapter
in the history of Chinese mathematics. Other than Mr
Hua, our classmates at that time included Zhuang Qitai
and Shih Xianglin (who later became professors at
Peking University and Nanjing University respectively)
and also classmates who would become professors
at Nankai University. Though Tsinghua operated on
a somewhat small scale at that time, it produced a
considerable group who would exert some influence on
Chinese mathematics. Later, Tsinghua expanded and
invited foreign professors, not so much for the purpose
of giving seminars as for socialising and showing a few
transparencies. They would stay in Tsinghua for a year.
The world renowned French mathematician Hadamard
and the American Wiener came and gave lectures at
Tsinghua. Such arrangements nowadays may not be
easy. Starting on a small scale, Tsinghua was able to
produce some positive effect on the development of
mathematics in China.
In 1934 I left Tsinghua upon graduation and went
to Germany for further studies. In 1936 Luogeng went
to Cambridge University in England to work with the
great mathematician Hardy. He took the Trans-Siberia
railway from Beijing to Berlin. I was in Hamburg at
that time and so we met in Berlin in the summer of
1936. Coincidentally, the [Summer] Olympics were
held in Berlin that year, and Hitler was at the stand.
Interestingly, the fastest runner in the 100-metre sprint
and 200-metre sprint was a black man [the American
Jesse Owens]; this was a big blow to Hitler. Regrettably,
the Chinese team did not perform well in the Berlin
Olympics. The most well-known team member was the
swimmer Yang Xiuqiong, but she did not get any award.
The highest ranked member Fu Baolu was in pole vault,
but he also did not get any medal. In contrast, China has
now made great strides and her athletes have achieved
glorious results in international Olympics. I think that
similarly China has the potential in mathematics but
mathematics requires more time [for development].
Luogeng and I would watch the Olympics as well as
discuss a lot of things.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 27
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
After the 1936 Olympics, I went to Cambridge
and was together with Luogeng. His work at that
time was in analytic number theory, and its most
important tool was the “circle method”. It is strange
that though number theory is about the properties
of integers, it needs complex variables to unravel the
deep properties of integers. The connection between
complex variables and prime numbers is mysterious
and fascinating. Luogeng has done much work in
this area to which he has made contributions. He
applied the circle method to the Waring Problem and
the Tarry Problem. One of the main contributors to
the circle method is the Indian mathematical genius
Ramanujan, and the first paper on it was a paper by
Hardy and Ramanujan. A very big advance was next
made by the Soviet Union mathematician Vinogradov.
Luogeng made much improvements and advances on
Vinogradov’s method. His own work on the estimation
of trigonometric sums was a significant contribution. I
believe that Luogeng made his deepest contributions to
mathematics during his stay in Cambridge from 1936
to 1938. His contributions to analytic number theory
were numerous.
When he returned to China in 1938, the Sino-
Japanese War had begun. Peking University, Tsinghua
University and Nankai University were then grouped
together in Kunming as the South-West United
University (SUU). As a professor of Tsinghua, he was
a staff of the SUU. Nowadays we like to complain about
facilities being inadequate or support inadequate. In
fact, at that time we had nothing, even the existing
books were all packed in boxes. Since we did not know
when we would have to move again, the library staff
was reluctant to unpack the boxes. However, in spite
of those circumstances, we had a high spirit and good
disposition and there was camaraderie at the SUU in
Kunming. For example, we held a seminar with Mr
Wang Zhuxi of the Physics Department, in 1940 or
so. The SUU at that time produced some outstanding
students like Wang Xianzhong, Zhong Kailai, Yan
Zhida, Wang Hao, and Wu Guanglei. Thus, if we have
the people and this spirit, we can still do many things
even if the environment is a little unfavourable.
I was with Luogeng [in Kunming] for about five
years from 1938 to 1943. When our group first went to
Kunming, we did not have any place to stay. Because
the original school was not at that place, we had to
“borrow” the rooms of a middle school. The school was
very generous and offered some rooms for SUU staff
to stay in temporarily. So professors like Hua Luogeng,
Wang Xinzhong and I stayed in one room (Wang was
an expert on Japanese history). Each of us had a bed,
a desk, a bookcase and a chair. So the room was rather
congested, but life was purposeful. Even before we got
out of bed, we would joke with each other. Although
28 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
Shiing-shen Chern (left) and Hua Luogeng (right).
there were material hardships, life was nevertheless
purposeful. Nowadays, we wish for unceasing material
progress, but I think that there is joy amidst hardship.
In the summer of 1943, I went to the Institute for
Advanced Study at Princeton, while Luogeng remained
in Kunming. However, we wrote to each other often.
When the war effort was victorious and the country
was rebuilding itself, I knew that he would be involved
in various societal activities. We would only meet in
Shanghai in 1946. I had then just returned from the US
and he was about to go to US on official business. But
we still managed to talk a fair bit of mathematics; our
mathematical interests had become closer. In 1950 I left
for the US and was at the University of Chicago while
he was at the University of Illinois, which was quite
nearby. He once came to the University of Chicago to
lecture on an elementary proof of the Brauer–Cartan–
Hua Theorem; it was a beautiful proof. He returned to
China in the summer of 1950. He had to pass through
Chicago in order to board a ship at San Francisco. We all
admired his deep patriotism. When we parted company
this time, our two worlds would become worlds apart
with hardly any mutual contact. I would only know
about some of his activities through the occasional
media reports about him.
It was not until 1972 when I was invited by the
Chinese Academy of Sciences that we met again in
Beijing after a hiatus of 22 years. It was like a dream as
we reminisced the past. In 1980 he led a team to the
US. When he passed through Berkeley, he stayed at
my place for two days. We chatted like in the old days;
it was a happy time. In 1983 he visited the California
Institute of Technology. I then drove over 400 miles
from Berkeley to visit him. That was our last meeting.
Translated by Y.K. Leong
January 17, 2011
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Problem Corner

O
ver the next few newsletters I have been given
the job of coming up with three problems.
I’ll do my best to make them interesting but
it will be hard to always make them totally new. I will
acknowledge any source I know in the following news-
letter. I’ll hope you’ll get some pleasure out of tackling
them and to increase the pleasure World Scientific has
agreed to give three book prizes. One book each will
be awarded to the first correct answers to any of the
problems; a second book will go to the first correct
answer to either of the other two problems; and the
final book will be given to the “nicest” solution of any
of the three problems.
Before I give the first set of problems, let me say
that I would be glad to see your problems too. Please
send in your favourite problem with a solution and
I’ll run an acknowledged set of readers’ problems
along with mine.

First Problem Set

Problems 1.1: A solitaire game is played with a survivor.

rectangular set of pieces on a rectangular board. The
player is allowed to remove pieces by jumping pieces
over neighbouring pieces into an empty square of the
board (as in the game Chequers). The jumped piece
is removed from the board. Some of these moves are
shown below — I have not included the symmetrically
opposite moves.
It should be noted that, for any fixed array of pieces,
the board is always big enough to allow any of these
moves at any time during play.
Now a player wins if she can reduce the numbers
of pieces to one by the moves above. But it’s a special
win if the last piece ends up on its original square of
the board. In this case the last piece is called a fixed
Given a 16 by 17 rectangular array, is it possible for
there to be a fixed survivor?
Problem 1.2: To continue the theme above, place a 3 by
3 array of pieces on the usual 8 by 8 board. The pieces
can move as in Problem 1.1 but this time no pieces are
taken from the board. The 9 pieces are initially in the
bottom left-hand corner of the board. Is it possible for
the pieces to be moved to (a) the bottom right-hand 3
by 3 sub board of the board; or (b) the top right-hand
3 by 3 sub board?
Problem 1.3: Using only functions that are known to
secondary students, find the equation of the square with
vertices (1, 0), (0, 1), (-1, 0), (0, -1).

Derek Holton

A fter an academic career lasting for over 40 years, Derek retired from his
position as Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of Otago in early
2009. During that time he published about 130 papers on mathematics and
mathematics education; about 20 books ranging from school texts to popular
books on mathematics to tertiary texts; about 20 chapters in books, largely
involving research into aspects of mathematical education; and about 90 articles
for teachers and students on mathematics.
He participated actively in the training of New Zealand International
Mathematical Olympiad teams and was New Zealand’s IMO Team Leader for
several years between 1988 and the turn of the century. He was involved in
the mathematics curriculum at the national level, and chaired the Numeracy
Projects Reference Committee and initiated, with Gill Thomas and Joe Morrison,
the web site www.nzmaths.co.nz.

January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 29

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Chern Institute of Mathematics

Hongqin Li & Yiming Long

T
he Chern Institute of Mathematics (CIM) at
Nankai University, Tianjin, China was founded
by Prof. Shiing-Shen Chern in 1985. CIM is a
research institute opening to mathematicians from
inside China and overseas. Its goal is to promote the
mathematical research in China, improve communi-
cations between mathematicians inside and outside
China, and contribute to the developments of the
pure and applied mathematics. The current academic
committee of CIM consists of 25 well known math-
ematicians from universities and research institutes in
China. CIM has also built close relationships with many
mathematical institutes in the world.
They have stimulated exchange and cooperation
Since 1985, CIM has organised many academic
between experts and young researchers from diverse
activities including academic years, international
mathematical fields. The organisers received much
conferences and workshops in various fields and on
positive feedback on the quality and accessibility of the
different topics, and trained a large number of young
lectures and discussions.
mathematicians. Continuing the tradition, currently
Further information on activities of CIM can be
each year CIM holds about 10–14 mathematical activi-
found at www.cim.nankai.edu.cn.
ties. Participants include many experts and students
from whole China. Every year CIM supports also many
Chern Centennial Conference
academic visitors from the whole China as well as
abroad to CIM to do researches. In 2010, Chern Insti- The Chern Institute of Mathematics (CIM), in collabora-
tute has held so far the following nine conferences and tion with the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
workshops successfully in the mathematical sciences. (MSRI) in Berkeley, USA, organizes Chern Centennial
Altogether more than 650 mathematicians have Conference to commemorate the birth of Shiing-Shen
joined these activities. The participants came from Chern, one of the greatest geometers of the 20th century
US, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan, Korea and CIM's founder. This conference will take place at
and China, etc. Those activities have brought together CIM during 24–28 October 2011; and at MSRI the
experts around the world in the related area to report following week (30 October–5 November). For more
recent progresses and discuss further developments. details, visit http://www.nim.nankai.edu.cn/activities/
conferences/Chern-Centennial-20111024/index.htm
Some recent conferences held at CIM:
Conference Date Participants Main Organisers
Sino-German Workshop on Analysis of Partial
1 Apr 5–9, 2010 80 Hua Chen
Differential Equations and Applications
International Conference on Symplectic Yiming Long, Yongbin Ruan,
2 May 17–21, 2010 100
Geometry and Physics Gang Tian
International Conference on Representation Jingsong Huang, Zixin Hou,
3 Jun 6–11, 2010 60
Theory and Harmonic Analysis Ke Liang
Xiaohuan Mo, Zhongmin Shen,
4 International Conference on Finsler Geometry Jun 21–25, 2010 60
Yibin Shen, Shaoqiang Deng
Chengming Bai, Molin Ge, Li
5 Operads and Universal Algebra Jun 28–Jul 9, 2010 70
Guo, J. L. Loday
Summer School on Mathematical Economics Shige Peng,
6 Jul12–Aug 6, 2010 130
and Finance Ivar Ekeland, Yiming Long
7 Summer School for Dynamical Systems Aug 9–20, 2010 85 Chungen Liu
Joint Workshop of AIM–CIM
8 Aug 22–28, 2010 35 Victor Bangert, Yiming Long
on Geodesics
Categorical Methods in Geometry and Gauge
9 Aug 29–Sep 3, 2010 60 Chengming Bai, Ugo Bruzzo
Theory

30 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


TIFR and IIT Bombay sign MoU to setup
The National Centre for Mathematics
T
wo of the premier institutes of India, Indian
Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR),
have jointly agreed to collaborate to establish a National
Centre for Mathematics (NCM) in the premises of IIT
Bombay. The two institutes will enter into a Memo-
randum of Understanding (MoU) for an initial period
of ten years to facilitate the establishment of NCM.
Mumbai has the largest concentration of math-
ematicians in India with majority of them at TIFR,
IIT Bombay and Mumbai University. IIT Bombay and
TIFR are therefore, in a unique position to establish
a National Centre for Mathematics. The institutes
possess well-developed mathematics departments with
international reputation. Moreover, faculty members in
these two departments have strong research groups who
will help organise various programmes of the Center
throughout the year.
NCM will be modelled largely on the famous
Oberwolfach Mathematics Research Institute (MFO),
Germany that started in 1944 and played an important
role in re-establishing Germany as a leading nation
in mathematics, post the Second World War. There
are about 50 week-long international workshops
and conferences per year at Oberwolfach. NCM
aims to have workshops, conferences, instructional
About TIFR
Established in 1945, the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research today is a multi-disciplinary institute engaged in
research in frontline areas of the fundamental sciences. TIFR
is recognised as the National Centre of the Government of
India for Nuclear Science and Mathematics and has played
a key role in the development of the basic sciences in the
country. The work done here has had a high impact both
nationally and internationally. Several of our staff members
have been bestowed prestigious awards such as Padma Shri,
Shanti Swarup Bhatanar Prize, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, the
TWAS Prize and Fellowship of the Royal Society, London, to
mention a few. Apart from its main campus at Mumbai, TIFR
has three National Centres in different parts of India engaged
in research on the biological sciences, radio astrophysics and
science education; a new Centre on theoretical sciences is
presently under construction at Bangalore. Further, work is
on towards the establishment of a large new campus of TIFR
in Hyderabad, with an initial thrust on interdisciplinary sci-
ence and an emphasis on the training of young scientists. TIFR
offers an attractive programme leading to the PhD degree.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
schools year-round for students, young teachers and
researchers.
Professor Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT Bombay
said, “Research and advanced education in Mathematics
are vital for the development of science and industry
in India. The National Centre for Mathematics,
which we are establishing today, together with TIFR
will contribute to these by conducting workshop and
conferences, drawing upon the expertise of leading
scholars from India and abroad. We hope that the
centre will become a vibrant hub for discussion of new
ideas, will catalyse research and a vehicle to promote
collaborative research.”
Dr Mustansir Barma, Director, TIFR said, “Math-
ematics and its applications are vital for the progress
of our country. We hope and expect that the National
Centre for Mathematics will make a useful contribution
to the mathematical life of the scientific community
in various ways, ranging from conducting research
conferences at the highest level, to conducting training
programs for PhD students as well as for scientists and
engineers engaged in applications of mathematics. The
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) shares
these goals with IIT Bombay, and looks forward to a
long and fruitful collaboration with IIT Bombay in
setting up and running this joint Centre.”
About IIT Bombay
IIT Bombay, the second IIT to be set up in 1958, is recog-
nised worldwide as a leader in the field of engineering edu-
cation and research. It is reputed for the quality of its faculty
and the outstanding calibre of students graduating from its
undergraduate and post graduate programmes. The institute
has a total of 15 Academic Departments, nine Centres, one
Schools and three Interdisciplinary Programmes. Over the
last five decades, more than 37,000 engineers and scientists
have graduated from the institute. It is served by more than
495 faculty members considered not only amongst the best
within the country, but is also highly recognised in the world
for achievements in the field of education and research.
Nine Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar awardees, 31 INAE (Indian
National Academy of Engineering) awardees, two INAE
Young Engineer awardees, 17 INSA (Indian National Science
Academy) awardees, one Young Scientist awardee, 21 NAS
(National Academy of Sciences) awardees, 19 IAS (Indian
Academy of Sciences) awardees and seven Swarnajayanti
fellows are currently or have previously been affiliated with
the institute.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 31
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Beijing International Centre for
Mathematical Research
T
he Beijing International Centre for Mathemat-
ical Research (BICMR) at Peking University is
an institution funded by the central government
of China for the purpose of mathematical research,
education and exchange. The centre was set up in 2005
by decree of national government. Its main office build-
ings are located in several Chinese classical houses with
gardens on the north shore of the famous Weimin Lake
on the beautiful campus of Peking University. This used
to be a part of the royal palace, Yuanmingyuan Palace.
BICMR’s mission is to conduct highest level research
in all disciplines of mathematics; train a new generation
of world-class mathematicians and provide a platform
for exchanging mathematical ideas and results. BICMR
serves the mathematical community both inside
and outside China. It also encourages women and
minority mathematicians to engage in mathematics.
BICMR runs its academic activities either inde-
pendently or in association with other institutions,
especially with the School of Mathematical Sciences
of Peking University. Each year, BICMR hosts more
than 200 mathematicians from all over the world.
The center sets up the Advisory Committee, the
Scientific Committee and the Executive Committee.
The Advisory Committee provides the guidance for
the development of BICMR. The Scientific Committee
is in charge of the talents recruitment and academic
activities. The Executive Committee is responsible for
the daily work in the Centre.
Scientific staff:
Director: Gang Tian
Deputy Directors: Jiping Zhang, Weinan E,
Changping Wang
Faculty and their research areas:
Wei Cai, Advanced algorithms and engineering simula-
tions in electrical, optical and biological systems
Weinan E, Applied mathematics
Huijun Fan, Symplectic geometry, mathematical
physics
Yizhi Huang, Representation theory, mathematical
physics
32 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
Ming Jiang, Biomedical imaging, image reconstruction,
image processing
Xiaobo Liu, Differential geometry, mathematical
physics
Gang Tian, Geometric analysis
Jiajun Wang, Topology
Changping Wang, Differential geometry
Jiping Zhang, Groups and representation theory
Xiaohua Zhu, Differential geometry, geometric
analysis
Xiao-Hua Andrew Zhou, Diagnostic medicine,
categorical data analysis, health services research, etc
BICMR Scientific Committee
Honorary Chairmen
Steve Smale: City University of Hong Kong
Andrew Wiles: Princeton University
Chairman
Gang Tian: Peking University & Princeton University
Members (in alphabetical order)
John Ball: Oxford University
Jean-Michel Bismut: University of Paris XI, France
Weinan E: Princeton University & Peking University
Phillip Griffiths: IAS, Princeton University
Martin Groetschel: Berlin University
Lei Guo: Chinese Academy of Mathematics and
Systems Science
Anmin Li: Sichuan University
Jianshu Li: Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology & University of Maryland
Andrei Okounkov: Princeton University & Columbia
University
Shige Peng: Shandong University
Tao Tang: Hong Kong Baptist University
Enge Wang: Peking University
Efim Zelmanov: University of California San Diego
Weiping Zhang: Nankai University
ICM
International Congress
of Mathematicians 2010
Madabusi S Raghunathan
A
ugust 19, 2010 is an important date in the
history of Indian mathematics. It was the day
on which the President of India inaugurated
the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM)
in the city of Hyderabad. The ICMs have a hundred-
year-old history: since the first Congress was held in
Zurich in 1897, they have been held regularly every
four years except for breaks during the two world wars.
India was holding it for the first time (and it was only
the third time that an Asian country was hosting this
most prestigious of mathematical events).
The Indian bid to hold the Congress was initiated by
the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM),
an agency set up by the Government of India for the
promotion of mathematics in the country. A Provisional
Organising Committee (POC) consisting of some 30
members, most of them mathematicians, drawn from
all over the country was formed (by NBHM) before
submitting the bid. A subcommittee of the POC
prepared the bid and designed a logo for ICM 2010.
The logo is a depiction of the standard fundamental
domain for the modular group acting on the upper half
plane with the famous Ramanujan conjecture written
along the rim of the unit circle.
The Executive Committee of the International
Mathematical Union (IMU) recommended the accept-
ance of India's bid to the General Assembly (GA) of the
IMU held at Santiago de Compostela, Spain in August
2006 and the GA endorsed it. The Government of
India's enthusiastic support expressed in a letter from
the Indian Prime Minister to the President of the IMU
welcoming the holding of the ICM in India and an
informal pledge of financial support to the tune of 40
million Rupees by the Department of Atomic Energy
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
(DAE) of the Government of India were perhaps crucial
to our winning the bid.
Immediately after this, the Indian Organising
Committee started on the organisational work in
earnest. A compact subcommitee of the Organising
Committee — the “Executive Organising Committee”
(EOC) — was set up to ensure efficient functioning. The
members of the Committee were: M S Raghunathan
(Chair), S G Dani (Vice Chair), Rajat Tandon (Secre-
tary), T Amarnath (Treasurer), R Balasubramanian, S
Kesavan, S Kumaresan, Gadadhar Misra, P Mukherjee,
R N Puri, G Rangarajan, Rahul Roy and Dinesh Singh.
Several subcommittees were formed and assigned
specific responsibilities. The subcommittees always
had some members of the EOC on them. The Editorial
Committee for the Proceedings of the Congress was
chaired by Rajendra Bhatia. An EOC member of each
of the committees (other than the Editorial Committee)
was given the charge of implementing the decisions
taken by the Committee.
The first task taken up by the Organising Committee
was to ensure that adequate funding will be available
for the Congress. DAE made a firm commitment to
provide sixty million Rupees for the Congress, thereby
becoming the principal sponsor of the ICM. The IMU
provided four million Rupees. The Department of
Science Technology was approached to fund a project
under which some twenty satellite meetings were to be
supported and also some 1,000 Indian mathematicians
and students could be fully supported for participa-
tion in the Congress. Approaches were also made to
corporate organisations as well as individuals. Among
the major contributors were Shri R Thyagarajan of
Chennai who donated six million Rupees and Shri
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 33
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
All the prize winners for a photograph with President of India, Governor of Andhra Pradesh & Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Narayanamurthy of Infosys who, apart from a cash
grant of two million Rupees, made available the
excellent guesthouse run by Infosys in Hyderabad free
of cost. More than 500 of the delegates were accom-
modated in the guesthouse.
Next the EOC held discussions with the Vice
Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad who kindly
agreed to the proposal by the EOC that the University
undertake the organisation of the ICM as a project to
be implemented under the direction of the EOC. The
principal sponsor DAE also accepted this arrangement
and the funds for the organisation of the ICM were
released to the University as and when required.
The Chair H W Lenstdra of the Programme
Committee appointed by the IMU EC provided the
EOC with the list of invited plenary and sectional
speakers and also the panel participants in March 2009.
Invitations were sent out by M S Raghunathan (Chair
EOC) in April 2009. All invited sectional speakers were
offered free registration and were requested to submit
the absracts and texts of their talks by March 15, 2010.
The plenary speakers and panelists were requested
to submit abstracts by that date and manuscripts by
July 15, 2010. About ten invitees declined and were
replaced by other names by the Programme Committee.
The IMU EC also wanted two additional lectures in
the programme: the Abel Lecture sponsored by the
Norwegian Academy to be given by S R S Varadhan,
the 2006 Abel Laureate and the Noether Lecture to be
given by Idun Reiten and these were included in the
programme.
*See a separate report on this meeting in page 37.
34 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
The European Women in Mathematics approached
the EOC for support to organise a two-day meeting
focusing on contributions of women to mathematics
to be held just ahead of the ICM in Hyderabad.* The
EOC responded favourably to the request and formed
a local organising committee chaired by Shobha Madan
of IIT Kanpur for the purpose. The EOC also extended
financial support of two million Rupees for organising
the meeting which was given the name International
Congress of Women Mathematicians. It was to be
held during August 16–18, 2010 at the University of
Hyderabad.
It is a long tradition that the prestigious Fields
Medals instituted by the IMU are given away at the
inaugural function of the ICM by the Chief Guest.
The prizes instituted later, the Nevanlinna Prize and
the Gauss Prize are also given to the winners by the
Chief Guest on this occasion. The IMU EC informed
the EOC that a new prize called the Chern Prize was
being instituted and was also to be given away for
the first time at the inaugural function of the ICM
in Hyderabad. The EOC approached the President of
India, Shrimathi Prathibha Devisingh Patil with the
request that she inaugurate the ICM on August 19, 2010
and give away the Prizes. The President accepted the
EOC's invitation and the inaugural function was held
at 11 am on August 27, 2010.
The President was received on her arrival at the
venue by S Hasnain (Vice Chancellor, University of
Hyderabad), Laszlo Lovasz and M S Raghunathan.
Also seated on the dais were the Governor and the

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Martin Grotschel
(Secretary, IMU), Laszlo Lovasz, M S Raghunathan, S
Hasnain, Louis Nirenberg (the recipient of the Chern
Medal Award), and Rajat Tandon.
The proceedings began with the playing of the
national anthem. Raghunathan welcomed the President,
other dignitaries and the delegates to the Congress.
Lovasz then addressed the gathering as the President
of the IMU. This was followed by the President of India
giving away the prizes after Grotschel announced the
composition of each of the prize committees followed
by the name of the prize winner and the citation.
Altogether seven prizes were given away: four Fields
Medals, Nevanlinna Prize, Gauss Prize and Chern Prize.
The President then addressed the gathering. She spoke
on India's long engagement with mathematics and its
active role in international cooperation. She offered
congratulations to the prize winners and welcomed the
delegates wishing them a pleasant and fruitful stay in
India. The Chief Minister also extended his welcome
to the delegates. Rajat Tandon proposed the vote of
thanks. The function ended with the playing of the
national anthem again. The programme was conducted
by Chandna Chakraborthy.
The inaugural function continued after the Presi-
dent left when Lovasz and Martin briefed the delegates
about the various initiatives connected with the ICNS
taken by the EC since the previous congress in Spain in
2006. The passing away of V Arnold and H Cartan who
were both involved with IMU activities in the past was
observed with condolences. Raghunathan was named
President of ICM 2010 by Lovasz. The meeting ended
with a brief reply by Raghunathan.
In the afternoon, there were laudations of the Fields
Medallists: H Furstenberg was the Laudator for E
Lindenstrauss, J Arthur for Ngo Bao Chau, H Kesten
for S Smirnov and H T Yau for C Villani.
This was followed by the laudation for the Nevan-
linna Prize winner D Spielman by G Kalai. The
academic programme for the day ended with the Abel
Lecture by Varadhan. K R Parthasarathy was in the
chair. In the evening the EOC hosted a dinner in honour
of the invited speakers. The three hundred odd invitees
were people involved in the organisation of the ICM.
On the second day, there were special sessions (9 am
to 12:30 pm) devoted to the Gauss and Chern Prizes.
There was a talk on the work of Yves Meyer, the Gauss
Prize winner by Ingrid Daubechies. The session on the
Chern Prize was more elaborate. There was a talk about
Chern's work and a video film on him was also shown.
May Chu, Chern's daughter spoke about her father. Yan
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Yan Li spoke on the work of Louis Nirenberg, the (first)
Chern Prize winner.
In the evening, there was an Indian Classical Dance
Programme by Nrityashree, a dance troupe led by
a renowned Baharat Natyam dancer Professor C V
Chandrasekhar. The dance-drama titled “Panchama-
habhuthangal” was a depiction through dance of the
functioning of the five “bhutas”—Bhumi (earth), Jalam
(water), Akasha (sky), Vayu (air) and Agni (fire). Later
in the evening, the EOC also hosted a dinner at Shilpa
Kala Vedika for all the delegates and accompanying
persons.
From the third day onwards, there were four plenary
lectures each day from 9 am to 2:45 pm with a break
for lunch. The 1:45 pm to 2:45 pm slot was exclusively
reserved for lectures by the Fields Medallists and the
Nevanlinna Prize winner. As many as 8 parallel sessions
were held for the sectional talks and the contributed
papers/posters. The 45-minute sectional talks were held
from 3 pm to 6:30 pm. The plenary and sectional talks
were chaired by distinguished mathematicians, most
of them were from India.
The EOC organised a chess event on August 24.
Viswanathan Anand, the world chess champion
played simultaneous chess against 40 delegates. (A
month before the event on-line application was open
for delegates desirous of playing against Anand. Forty
delegates were chosen on a first-come first served basis.
There was a fee of 4,000 Rupees.) Except for a solitary
draw by a 14-year-old, Anand won all the other games.
Each player received a box of chessmen and the board
on which he or she played autographed by Anand.
Other spectators could also collect Anand's autographs
after the event.
Another cultural event organised by the EOC was
a performance of the play “A Disappearing Number”
by the well known theatre company Complicite of
London. The play was performed on two consecutive
days August 21 and 22. It was open to the general public
of Hyderabad, but the delegates could book their tickets
on-line a week ahead of the public. It was performed
at the Global Peace Auditorium and both shows were
sold out.
On August 25, there was a Classical Hindusthani
music concert by Ustad Rasheed Khan, one of India's
great exponents. EOC had also organised two lectures
on music appreciation by Sunil Mukhi on August 22
and 24 for the benefit of the delegates who may be
unfamiliar with Indian music.
In June 2010 the EOC instituted a one-time inter-
national prize called the “Leelavati Prize” (with a value
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 35
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

of one million Rupees) for public outreach work for
mathematics. Nominations for the prize were sought
from mathematical societies around the world and also
from mathematics departments of many universities
and research institutions. The Prize Committee chaired
by M S Narasimhan awarded the prize to Simon Singh,
citing among other things the book as well as the
documentary film he had produced on Fermat's Last
Theorem. Singh gave a public lecture on August 25 on
the making of the documentary.
There were several panel discussions all of which
were held during the late afternoons.
In the morning of the August 27, Idun Reiten gave
the Noether Lecture, chaired by Claire Voisin. The
closing ceremony was held in the afternoon. At this
ceremony, on behalf of the International Commission
on History of Mathematics, Kim Plofker handed the
2009 Kenneth O'May Prize for History of Mathematics
to R C Gupta, the first Indian to be awarded this
prestigious prize.
Lovasz handed the Leelavati Prize to Simon Singh.
Lovasz also announced that Ingrid Daubechies will
take over from him as President of the IMU from
January 2011. It was also announced that a permanent
secretariat for the IMU was being set up in Berlin. It
was also formally announced that Korea would host
the 2014 Congress in Seoul. The Korean delegation
was congratulated by those on the dais and the Korean
delegate on the dais extended a warm welcome to all
present to ICM 2014. The meeting ceremony ended
with a vote of thanks by Rajat Tandon.
The Norwegian, German, French, Korean and Viet-
namese embassies and the Canadian High Commission
held receptions during the Congress: The US National
Committee and the London Mathematical Society as
well as the Indo–French Institute for Mathematics
also hosted receptions, mainly in honour of the prize
winners and invited speakers. People involved in the
organisation of the ICM were also invited.
Dr Ramachandran, a physicist turned journalist
helped the EOC with publicity for the ICM during the
run-up to the Congress as well as during the Congress
itself. He ran a daily bulletin for the delegates during
the Congress and which carried interviews with prize
winners and other distinguished mathematicians. There
was extensive coverage of the Congress by the media
in general.

Madabusi S Raghunathan
Madabusi S Raghunathan joined the School of Mathematics at the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research as a Research Scholar in 1960, and obtained his doctorate
in January 1966. The same year he joined the Faculty at the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research. His principal contributions to mathematics are in the area
of Algebriac Groups and Discrete Groups. His book “Discrete Subgroups of Lie
Groups” published in 1972 is now a standard reference work in the subject. In
1970 he gave one of the prestigious invited sectional talks at the International
Congress of Mathematicians in Nice, France. Raghunathan is a Fellow of all the
three national science academies in India and also of the Royal Society (London).
He has also been actively engaged in promotional activities for mathematics. During
1983–2006, he was the Chairman of the National Board for Higher Mathematics,
an apex body set up by the Government of India to oversee the development of
mathematics; he continues to be a member of the board. He also served on the
Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union during 1999–2006.
He retired in 2006 as Professor of Eminence from the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research, but continues to work there as the DAE - Homi Bhabha Professor.

36 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


International Congress of
Women Mathematicians 2010
R. Sujatha
T
he Association for Women in Mathematics
(AWM) (www.awm-math.org) has now been in
existence for close to 40 years, while the EWM
(European Women in Mathematics, www.european-
womeninmaths.org) was conceived at the International
Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) held in Berkeley in
1986 (see the article by Caroline Series on the history
of EWM). In 2008, the EWM Conference took place in
Cambridge, UK where a few of us discussed the idea of
spreading “Women in Mathematics” further eastwards,
and Caroline Series was particularly supportive of the
idea. ICM 2010 was to be held in Hyderabad, and given
the emergence of the Asian conti-
nent in science and technology in
the recent decades, it seemed like
an idea whose time had come. A
conclave of women mathemati-
cians with particular focus on
encouraging women mathemati-
cians and younger students from
the developing countries and other
Asian countries was planned,
and it took final shape as the
International Congress of Women
Mathematicians (ICWM 2010),
a two-day event that was held
at Hyderabad on August 17–18,
2010, prior to the ICM.
The funding for this event
came partly from the National Board for Higher Math-
ematics, India, and the Schlumberger Foundation.
The Central University of Hyderabad was the venue
for the meeting. The local anchor of the Organising
Committee, B. S. Padmavathy did a diligent job of
ensuring the smooth coordination of the different
events. As a run-up to this event, Riddhi Shah from
the School of Physical Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi, had organised a three-day Inter-
national Conference on “Advances in Mathematics:
Focus on Women in Mathematics”, during October
5–7, 2009. There was a groundswell of enthusiasm
created already then among the participants, for
similar future events.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
The Local Organising Committee for ICWM
2010 consisted of Shobha Madan (Indian Institute of
Technology, Kanpur), Chair, S. G. Dani (Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research, Mumbai), Mahuya Datta
(Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata), Jaya N Iyer
(Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai and
University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad), B. Sri Padmavati,
(University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad), Rahul Roy
(Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi) and Geetha Venkata-
raman (St. Stephen’s College, Delhi). The Scientific
Committee consisted of Ulrike Tillmann (Oxford, UK),
Chair, Viviane Baladi (ENS, Paris, France), Eva Bayer
(Lausanne, Switzerland), Chris-
tine Bernardi (Paris VI, France),
Christine Bessenrodt (Hannover,
Germany), Antonella Grassi (U
Penn, USA), Ursula Hamenstaedt
(Bonn, Germany), Dusa McDuff
(Stony Brook, USA), Ragni Piene
(Oslo, Norway), Mythily Ramaswami
(TIFR Bangalore, India), Sujatha
Ramdorai (TIFR Mumbai, India),
Vera Sos (Renyi Institute, Budapest,
Hungary), Nina Uraltseva (St. Peters-
burg, Russia), Michele Vergne (Ecole
Poly-technique, Paris, France). The
conference poster was well received.
The conference was inaugurated
by Professor Syed Hasnain, Vice
Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, with the
traditional lighting of the lamp. In the Indian cultural
tradition, this simple act symbolises the dispelling of
Darkness and Ignorance, and marks the ushering in of
Light and Knowledge. This was indeed what followed
in the lectures that were presented. The speakers and
titles are as follows:
• Frances Kirwan (Oxford): Moduli spaces and
quotient spaces in algebraic geometry.
• Neela Nataraj (IIT Bombay): Mixed continuous and
discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods for
biharmonic equation.
• R. Parimala (Emory): A Hasse principle for quadratic
forms.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 37
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

• Nathalie Wahl (Copenhagen): Homo-

logical stability for geometric groups.
• Julie Déserti (Université de Paris 7):
Some properties of the Cremona group.
• Mar yam Mirzakhani (Stanford):
Dynamics over moduli spaces of
surfaces.
• Yana Di (Chinese Academy, Beijing):
Adaptive finite element methods for
computational fluid.
• Mythili Ramaswamy (TIFRCAM, Banga-
Carol Wood (USA) speaking at the Panel Discussion. From left: Betrice Pelloni
lore): Importance of weighted eigenvalue panel discussion. (UK), Vera Spinadel (Argentina), Motoko Kotani
problems. (Japan), Sylvie Pacha (France).

There was also a Poster Session with 33 exhibits that
spanned recent research in diverse areas and topics
such as mathematics education and popularisation.
A dinner was organised on the evening of August
17, 2010. Another highlight of the meeting was the
Round Table discussion held in the second session
on the first day, on the subject “Women Mathemati-
cians around the World”. This interesting discussion,
conceived and planned by Caroline Series, was
chaired by Beatrice Pelloni from Reading University,
UK. The other panelists were Basabi Chakraborty
(Japan), Rashida Adeeb Khanum (Pakistan), Marie
FranÇoise Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso), Kyewon Koh
Park (Korea), Sylvie Pacha (EWM), Vera Spinadel
(Argentina), Geetha Venkataraman (India) and
Carol Wood (AWM). The short presentations by the
panelists brought into focus important statistics on
the percentage of women mathematicians at different
stages in their academic and research careers, and
other specific social and cultural issues prevalent in
different parts of the world in relation to women in
academic careers. It was enlightening to hear varied
women’s voices with some common themes related to
their careers from nations across the globe. A lively
and animated discussion, with wide participation from
the audience, followed with some concrete ideas and
suggestions evolving at the end of the session. We refer
to Beatrice Pelloni’s report on the discussion in the 17th
newsletter of the EWM for more details.
It is globally recognised now that the decades ahead
will be part of “Asia’s Century”. Many Asian nations are
rediscovering their intellectual vibrancy and given the
healthy demography prevalent in Asia, we are bound to
witness increasing numbers of women in science and
technology and in research and academic careers. The
IMU has just elected Ingrid Daubechies as its President,
and Christiane Rousseau as its Vice President. ICM
2014 is going to be held in Seoul, Korea. Confluence
of events in the years ahead augurs well for more
cooperation between Asian countries and especially
in forming networks for women mathematicians in
Asian countries, which can develop organic links with
other existing organisations. With the next ICME
(International Conference of Mathematics Education)
slated to be held in Seoul in 2012 as well, one hopes that
the vision of an Eastern Sorority of Mathematicians
gets realised soon. Can ICM 2014 formally herald
the healthy birth of “Asian Women in Mathematics”?
Through this nascent newsletter, the mathematics
fraternity in Asia is kindly invited to make this event
possible.
Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank
B S Padmavathy, Beatrice Pelloni and Ulrike Tillmann
for help with material in preparing this article.

R. Sujatha
School of Maths TIFR, Mumbai, India
sujatha@math.tifr.res.in

S
ujatha Ramdorai is a Professor of Mathematics at Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bombay, India. Her research interests
are in the areas of Iwasawa theory and the categories of motives. She
served as a Member of the National Knowledge Commission of India from
2007 to 2009. She is currently at University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
on leave from TIFR.

38 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


International Congress of
Mathematicians 2014
Overview
A global festival of mathematics, International Congress
of Mathematicians (ICM) will be held in August 13–21,
2014 in Seoul, Korea. It is held once every four years
under the auspices of the International Mathematical
Union (IMU) with over 4,000 mathematicians from all
over the world. The Fields Medals — often called “Nobel
Prizes in Mathematics” are given to mathematicians not
over 40 years old, the Nevanlinna Prize, the Gauss Prize,
and the Chern Medal are awarded during the congress’
opening ceremony. Each congress is memorialized by
printed proceedings recording academic papers based
on invited talks intended to reflect the current state of
science.
The decision has been ratified at the 16th IMU
General Assembly in Bangalore, India, in August 2010.
And it is a glorious pleasure for the people of Korea that
the most prestigious academic meeting in mathematics
will take place in Seoul. The government, corporations
and the mathematical community in Korea have great
expectations for the coming congress and stand ready
to provide all possible support for a successful congress.
Under the blessing and approval of the Korean
Mathematical Society (KMS) Board, nine subcommit-
tees of the Organising Committee (ICM-OC) have been
formed to oversee various aspects of the organisation
of SEOUL ICM 2014.
The ICM-OC is busy working to establish the Seoul
ICM Travel Fellowship to invite 1,000 mathematicians
from developing countries to Korea, many of whom
would not have been able to visit an ICM otherwise,
and will now stand to bring the ICM excitement and
new knowledge back to their home countries. The
potential positive impacts their experiences will have
on future generations in their respective countries will
be huge and will surely linger for many years to come.
Within the IMU, the level of participation and activity
of traditionally passive member countries is expected
to increase, and a closer collaborative and harmonious
mathematics community is likely to ensue.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Satellite Conferences are one of the most important
scientific activities surrounding the celebration of ICM.
There will be around 60 Satellite Conferences before
and after the SEOUL ICM 2014. The ICM-OC expects
to draw 60 scientific meetings and workshops on the
occasion of SEOUL ICM 2014. About half of them will
take place across the host country, and others will take
place in neighbouring countries. And as part of the
social programs, many cultural events prepared by the
ICM-OC will make the visit to Korea more memorable.
Korea’s Efforts to Host ICM 2014 in Seoul
In 2006, three Korean mathematicians — Prof. Jeong
Han Kim (Yonsei Univ., Korea and Microsoft Research,
USA), Prof. Yong-Geun Oh (Univ. of Wisconsin
Madison, USA and KIAS (Korea Institute for Advanced
Study), Korea), and Prof. Jun-Muk Hwang (KIAS) —
gave invited lectures at the Madrid ICM. In that year,
Korea submitted an application to IMU for its IMU
group level to be raised to Group IV. In 2007, IMU
raised Korea’s group level to Group IV, making Korea
the first country whose IMU group level has been raised
by two steps at once.
With its newly gained confidence stemming from
a series of accomplishments, the KMS has made the
hosting of ICM 2014 a prime objective and all members
are vigorously applying their energy to ensure that
the society will continue to be fully recognised and
acknowledged in the international world. Korea, despite
a relatively short history in modern mathematical
research, has made significant progress in quality and
quantity of research in mathematics. In terms of 2008
SCIE publications in mathematics, it was ranked 11th
in the world, more than doubling its publications in
less than 10 years. Being a late starter, based on its own
experience, the KMS understands the challenges met
by mathematicians in many IMU member countries
where mathematical research, by modern standards,
has a relatively short history. Thus SEOUL ICM 2014
will have a positive impact on them in practical and
symbolic ways.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 39
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
At the Hyderabad ICM 2010, two Korean math-
ematicians — Prof. Jongil Park (Seoul National Univ.,
Korea) and Prof. Hee Oh (Brown Univ., USA and
KIAS, Korea) — gave invited lectures, and the KMS
and SEOUL ICM 2014 Organising Committee hosted
a Korean Reception (Korean Math Night for SEOUL
ICM 2014). Around 230 mathematicians including
the IMU Executive Committee members, 2010 Fields
medalists Elon Lindenstrauss, Ngô Bao Châu, Stanislav
Smirnov, and Cédric Villani, presidents of the math-
ematics societies around the world, and mathematicians
from Korea have come to celebrate Korea’s successful
bidding for the next ICM. Starting with the welcome
speech by Prof. Dohan Kim (Seoul National Univ.,
Korea), the president of the KMS, Prof. Hyungju Park
(POSTECH, Korea), the Chair of SEOUL ICM 2014
Organising Committee briefly introduced the status of
the mathematics in Korea and described the concerted
efforts to host ICM in Seoul in 2014.
Host City and Venue
Seoul is the capital of Korea in which the Han River
flows through, from east to west, and is surrounded by
great mountains, and the city contains both of history
and tradition, as well as the latest IT technology, making
it a kind of a city which is quite rare anywhere on the
globe. All events of the congress will take place at the
COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul.
General Assembly of the International Mathematical Union 2014
Overview
The 17th General Assembly (GA) of the IMU will take
place in Gyeongju, Korea on August 10–11, 2014 prior
to the SEOUL ICM 2014. The GA normally meets once
in four years, usually at a place and date close to ICM,
and consists of delegates appointed by the Adhering
Organisations, together with the members of the
Executive Committee and observers. Observers are
persons whom the IMU President (with the approval
of the Executive Committee) may invite to participate
for purposes of consultation upon specific items on
the GA agenda. Only delegates have voting rights. At
the General Assembly of the IMU there will be a large
number of important decisions to be made which will
help shape the future of the Union. At every General
Assembly, resolutions concerning the development of
40 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
Emblem
The logo for SEOUL ICM
2014 comprises of two golden
spirals that grow and expand
at the rate of golden ratio. It
represents growth with math-
ematical order, and symbolizes
the dreams and hopes for the
late starters. The S-shaped logo
is reminiscent of the S in Seoul,
and also the “Tae-Geuk” image in the Korean flag that
symbolises the harmony of Yin and Yang. The red
color is Yang, love and passion. The blue color is Yin,
intelligence and dream. The Yin & Yang, however,
begin with the same color and shape, representing the
oneness of the universe.
SEOUL ICM 2014 Homepage
The ICM-OC has newly opened the homepage of
SEOUL ICM 2014, where pre-registration is now
available. Those who pre-register at the homepage
will receive periodic ICM e-news which will provide
important dates and updated information about
SEOUL ICM 2014.
For more information, please visit the homepage
of SEOUL ICM 2014 (http://www.icm2014.org).
mathematics and international cooperation are made
and published in the IMU Bulletin that appears directly
after the General Assembly.
Host City
Gyeongju will be the location of the IMU GA in 2014.
The history of Gyeongju dates back to ancient times
when the city was the capital of the Silla Dynasty (BC
57–935), the longest period of reign in the history of
Korea. Today, more than 1,000 years later, evidence of
its rich cultural heritage is still evident in every corner
of the city. Since the ancient relics are such an integral
part of the area, the whole city has been designated as
a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage under the name
“Gyeongju Historic Areas”. As such, Gyeongju is often
referred to as a “roofless museum”.

Fifth International Congress of
Chinese Mathematicians (ICCM 2010)
Group photograph of all award recipients and award presenters.
T
he Fifth International Congress of Chinese
Mathematicians (ICCM), hosted by Tsinghua
University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
and the Morningside Group, took place at the Great
Hall of the People in Beijing during December 17–22,
2010. Over 1,000 Chinese mathematicians from all
over the world gathered to share their ideas on new
results in mathematics during this triennial meeting.
The Morningside Medal of Mathematics, the most pres-
tigious prize for mathematicians of Chinese descent,
was awarded during the opening ceremony. Yongxiang
Lu (Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee
of the National People's Congress and President of
the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Binglin Gu
(President of Tsinghua University) addressed the
conference during the opening ceremony. Prof. Shing-
Tung Yau (Chairman of the ICCM and Director of the
Tsinghua Mathematical Sciences) and Mr. Ronnie C.
Chan (founder of the Morningside Group), the two
persons who established the Morningside Medal of
Mathematics, also delivered speeches. Mr. Hao Ping
(Vice Minister of Education) presented the award to
the winners.
Prof. Mu-Tao Wang (Columbia University) and
Prof. Sijue Wu (Robert W and Lynne H Browne
Professor, Michigan University) were awarded the
Morningside Gold Medal of Mathematics. Sijue Wu
received the medal for her outstanding contributions
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
to the global well-posedness of the two and three
dimensional water wave problems. Mu-Tao Wang was
cited for his important contributions in differential
geometry and geometric partial differential equations.
Sijue Wu became the first female mathematician to win
the Morningside Gold Medal. Prof. Jun Liu (Harvard
University) received the Morningside Gold Medal for
Applied Mathematics, for his important work on Monte
Carlo inference.
Recipients of the Morningside Silver Medal of Math-
ematics were: Prof. Jung Kai Chen (National Taiwan
University), Prof. Meng Chen (Fudan University),
Prof. Jixiang Fu (Fudan University) and Prof. Juncheng
Wei (The Chinese University of Hong Kong). Jung Kai
Chen and Meng Chen achieved breakthrough in their
joint research in the birational geometry of algebraic
3-folds. It was the first time for Morningside Medal of
Mathematics to be awarded to collaborative researchers
from the Mainland China and Taiwan. Each Morning-
side medalist received a certificate, a medal and cash
award of US$25,000 dollars for gold and US$10,000
dollars for silver.
Three mathematicians were awarded the Chern
Medal. They were Jiaxing Hong (Director of Math-
ematics Institute of Fudan University), Naichung
Leung, Editor of New York Journal of Mathematics and
Asian Journal of Mathematics (The Chinese University
of Hong Kong) and Wenching Li (Director and Head
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 41
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
of the Mathematics Division of the National Center
for Theoretical Sciences in Taiwan). Prof. Richard M.
Schoen received the 3rd ICCM International Coop-
eration Award for his contribution to the training of
Chinese mathematicians.
In his welcoming speech, Binglin Gu mentioned
that the Department of Mathematical Sciences in
Tsinghua University had achieved great progress in
recent years. The department had been the national first
class key subject; it founded three national competitive
courses, and obtained the National Prize for Natural
Sciences and achieved the Top Ten Science and Tech-
nology Progress Award of Chinese Universities. With
the enthusiastic support from Prof. Shing-Tung Yau,
Tsinghua University had established the Mathematical
Sciences Center last year. Binglin Gu pointed out that
ICCM2010 was also among one of the important activi-
ties of Tsinghua University's centenary celebration.
Prof. Shing-Tung Yau said in his speech that it was
really a grand meeting for Chinese mathematicians. As
the Chairman of Selection Committee for Morningside
Medal of Mathematics, he believed that the selection
process was fair and objective, and all the medalists
have produced extraordinary achievements in their
respective fields.
In his speech, Prof. Yongxiang Lu congratulated the
Morningside Medal of Mathematics which had stead-
fastly developed and established itself for 12 years. He
recalled that in 1998, Prof. Shing-Tung Yau, Mr. Ronnie
C. Chan and he discussed the establishment and
objective of the Morningside Medal of Mathematics,
also known as the “Chinese Fields Medal” which was
not only to award outstanding Chinese mathemati-
cians, but also to serve as an encouragement to young
mathematicians.
The gold and silver medalists were mathematicians
under the age of 45 and have achieved exceptionally
good accomplishment in pure and applied math-
ematics, and were awarded during International
Congress of Chinese Mathematicians which is the
largest, most influential and important event for all
Chinese mathematicians.
In addition to Chinese mathematicians, many presi-
dents and deans from various world-class universities
or institutes, leaders and experts from research insti-
tutes in the fields closely related to mathematics such
as physics, biology and statistics, etc., also attended the
conference and delivered speeches. During December
18–22, many sessions of academic presentations and
discussions on mathematical sciences were held in the
42 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
Tsinghua campus. Profs. Sijue Wu, Hongze Yao and five
other outstanding mathematicians were invited to the
“Morningside Seminar”. More than 30 mathematicians
delivered keynote speeches and 200 mathematicians
gave invited talks in 30 parallel sessions. The number
of the participants for this congress was estimated to
be 1,800.
A meeting was also held in honour of the 100th
and 99th anniversaries of the birth of the renowned
mathematicians Hua Luogeng and Shiing-shen Chern.
Both of them have contributed significantly to the
development and education of Chinese mathematics.
The descendants of Hua Luogeng and Shiing-shen
Chern also attended the meeting that was chaired
by Zongkai Shi (Deputy Party Secretary of Tsinghua
University).
Wang Yuan (Academy of Chinese Sciences) and
Shing-Tung Yau affectionately recalled the lives and
work of the two masters. Wang Yuan paid tribute to Hua
Luogeng by saying, “In addition to his contributions to
research, Mr. Hua made great efforts to train others.
Forty or fifty scholars under his influence had become
academicians now.”
According to Shing-Tung Yau, “My teacher Prof.
Shiing-shen Chern made a profound impact on my
career development and mathematical research.” E.
Cartan, the grandfather of differential geometry, and
Shiing-shen Chern, the father of modern differential
geometry, together created a beautiful and rich subject
which influenced every branch of mathematics and
physics. Before his death, Chern said that he was going
to meet with the great geometers of ancient Greece.
Without any doubt, his achievements had put him on
par with those great geometers.
Binglin Gu said at that meeting that both Hua
Luogeng and Shiing-shen Chern were world famous
mathematicians and respectable alumni of Tsinghua
University. In addition to their great achievements
in mathematics, they had contributed greatly to the
development of mathematical sciences in Tsinghua
University. During the past century, Tsinghua Univer-
sity had achieved tremendous improvement of scientific
knowledge and culture. Such achievements could only
be possible due to the presence of renowned masters
and scholars. He stressed the importance to inherit
and develop this fine tradition, and learn from their
noble characters, and to work hard to make Tsinghua
University a first class university in the world.
Adapted from Tsinghua University News

Tenth Anniversary of NUS Institute for
Mathematical Sciences
O
n June 24, 2010 the Institute for Mathematical
Sciences (IMS) of National University of
Singapore (NUS) celebrated its 10th anniversary
in one full-day event with formal speeches, musical
performance, video presentation and invited lectures,
culminating in an informal appreciation dinner.
The day’s celebration began at 9.30 am in the
Institute’s auditorium with a welcome speech by the
Director, Louis Chen who revealed how the Institute
was modeled after successful institutes like the
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Institute
for Mathematics and its Applications and the Newton
Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
This was followed by a speech by the Chairman of the
Institute’s Management Board, Chong Chi Tat. He gave a
personal account of the long road he had travelled, both
scientifically and physically, in search of an ideal model
for an establishment for mathematical research activities
within the National University of Singapore.
Next, the Chairman of the Institute’s Scientific
Advisory Board, Roger Howe of Yale University gave a
historical and paradigmatic perspective of some of the
achievements of the local mathematical community.
He cited three important examples of research break-
throughs and activities as evidence of the successful
and positive role of the Institute in the mathematical
development of Singapore.
In his speech as the guest of honour, the President
of NUS, Tan Chorh Chuan showed an empathetic
understanding of the mathematical mind and an
Group photograph at the 10th Anniversary of NUS IMS [photo in courtesy of IMS, NUS and Centre for Instructional Technology, NUS]
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
appreciation of the mathematical spirit of enquiry.
After the speeches were made, the Director
presented the President, with a token of appreciation – a
copy of the commemoration volume Creative Minds,
Charmed Lives consisting of interviews published in
the Institute’s newsletter Imprints.
A musical performance of two compositions for the
flute and harp by two budding musicians transformed
the atmosphere of the auditorium for some intangible
magical moments. A short video presentation then gave
the audience an informative glimpse of the collective
efforts that have contributed to the progress of the
Institute.
The proceedings in the auditorium were witnessed
by more than 90 participants, among them local
dignitaries and distinguished scholars from overseas. A
reception was held in the modest grounds of the Insti-
tute for people to renew old ties or make new contacts.
The day’s celebration would have been incomplete
without an intellectual offering to stimulate the mind.
Three invited talks were given – one following the recep-
tion and the other two in the afternoon after the lunch
break. The invited speakers were Tony Chan (the recently
appointed President of Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology), Hugh Woodin of the University of
California, Berkeley and Sun Yeneng of NUS.
A more detailed account of the celebration is
available from Issue 17 of the IMS Newsletter
“Imprints”, which may be accessed at http://www.
ims.nus.edu.sg.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 43
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Joint Meeting of the Chinese Mathematical

Society and the Korean Mathematical Society

T
op Officials Meeting of the Chinese Mathematical
Society (CMS) and the Korean Mathematical
Society (KMS) was held in Chongqing Beibei
Haiyu Hotspring Hotel at 4pm on May 19, 2010.
Korean representatives who attended the meeting
were: Prof. Dohan Kim (Chairman of KMS), Vice
Chairman Prof. Jong Hae Keum, Prof. Kil Hyun Kwon,
Prof. Sun Yong Jang, General Secretary Prof. Dosang
Joe and Prof. Q-Heung Choi. Chinese representatives
included: Prof. Zhiming Ma (Chairman of CMS), Vice
Chairman Prof. Shicheng Wang, Prof. Anmin Li, Prof.
expressed wish that the Chinese would give some support
Fuzhou Gong, Prof. Zongmin Wu, Prof. Zhiming Chen,
on the arrangement of seminars.
General Secretary Prof. Changping Wang.
Chinese and Korean officials discussed about holding
Prof. Guiyun Chen (Chairman of Chongqing
joint meetings in the future to encourage academic
Mathematical Society and assistant to the President
exchanges between the Chinese and Korean math-
of Southwest University), Prof. Jiazu Zhou (Southwest
ematical graduate students and the youth workers, and
University, and the Chinese Secretary of the 1st Joint
to provide support (including financial support) on the
Meeting of CMS and KMS), and Prof. Young Jin Suh
seminars and other learning activities among universities
(Kyungpook National University, and the Korean
and institutions in China and Korea.
Secretary of the 1st Joint Meeting of CMS and KMS),
Both parties also reviewed the long history of friend-
also attended this meeting.
ship and collaboration between mathematical societies
Prof. Shicheng Wang and Prof. Jong Hae Keum, Vice
of two countries. They reached a consensus to encourage
Chairman for CMS and KMS, respectively, co-chaired
mathematical associations of Chinese provinces to
this Top Officials Meeting.
communicate with Korean mathematical societies before
Prof. Zhiming Ma delivered the first speech. He
reporting to CMS. The two sides made an agreement, that
welcomed the KMS officials and Korean mathematical
the General Secretaries of CMS and KMS will keep in
scientists on behalf of CMS. He highly valued the friend-
touch with each other.
ship and collaboration between Chinese and Korean
At last, the top officers of CMS and KMS expressed
mathematical communities. He also introduced CMS
sincere thanks to Chongqing Mathematical Society and
organisational structure, institutions, functions, and etc.
Southeast University for organising the 1st Joint Meeting
Then Prof. Dohan Kim gave his speech. He
of CMS and KMS. They thanked Chongqing govern-
thanked for the invitation by Prof. Zhiming Ma, and
ment and Southeast University for the great support,
the hospitality by CMS, Chongqing Mathematical
and conference organisers for the effort of organising,
Society, and Southwest University. He also expressed
and conference workers including the volunteers for
his appreciation towards the key support given by Prof.
the warm service.
Zhiming Ma and Prof. Le Yang during the application
After the meeting, Prof. Zhiming Ma invited Prof.
of KMS for holding 2014 International Congress of
Naiqing Song (the Executive Vice President of Southwest
Mathematicians (ICM). Prof. Jong Hae Keum expressed
University, and committee member of the 1st Joint
that KMS would like to hold the 2nd Joint Meeting of
Meeting of CMS and KMS) and the officials of this Top
CMS and KMS in 2014. Prof. Dosang Joe introduced
Officials Meeting for dinner. Prof. Guiyun Chen, Prof.
KMS organisational structure, institutions, functions,
Jiazu Zhou and Prof. Young Jin Suh also attended the
professional journals, and etc.
dinner.
Korea had been recommended by the IMO Executive
Committee as host country of ICM 2014. The Korean From Min Chang of the Mathematics and Statistical School
representatives introduced the preparation of ICM, and of Southeast University

44 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


Mathematical Community
Commemorates the Centennial
of the Birth of Hua Luogeng
J
une 18, 2010 marks the centennial of the birth of the
famous Chinese mathematician Hua Luogeng (also
known as Hua Lo-keng). Recently the Hua Luogeng
Mathematics Key Laboratory at the Chinese Academy
of Sciences organised the “Mathematics Forum in
Commemoration of the Centennial of the Birth of
Hua Luogeng”. The lecturers of the forum highlighted
Hua Luogeng’s contributions to the advancement of
mathematics of China and of the world while Hua’s
students recalled with deep feeling his tireless efforts
in teaching.
Members of the audience participating in the forum
were mainly young mathematicians and postgraduates
with the Chinese Academy of Sciences while those who
gave lectures at the forum were notable figures in the
international mathematics circle, e.g. Wang Yuan, Wan
Zhexian, Lu Qikeng, Yang Le, plus two members of the
U.S. National Academy of Sciences — Prof. Yum-Tong
Siu of Harvard University and Prof. Ivanic of Rutgers
University.
In China, Huo Luogeng’s story is known to all, but
not many people have a full knowledge of his contri-
butions to mathematics. The purpose of holding the
forum, as described by Wang Yuefei, Deputy Director
of the Institute of Systematic Sciences at the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, “is to use this opportunity to
let young people feel and understand Hua’s academic
contributions and academic thinking.”
Hua Luogeng was the founder and pioneer in many
fields in mathematical research. He wrote more than
200 papers and monographs, many of which became
classics. Since his sudden death while delivering a
lecture at the University of Tokyo, Japan, many math-
ematics secondary education programs have been
named after him. His book on additive prime number
theory influenced many subsequent number theorists
in China, including the renowned Chen Jingrun who
obtained the best result so far on the binary Goldbach
conjecture. Hua also made contributions to the
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
In China, Hua Luogeng’s story
is known to all, but not many
people have a full knowl-
edge of his contributions to
mathematics.
development of college education in China. He was the
first Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Vice
President of the University of Science and Technology
of China (USTC), a new type of Chinese university
established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in
1958, which was aimed at fostering skilled researchers
necessary for economic development, defense and
education in science and technology.
Hua’s father was a small businessman. Hua met a
capable math teacher in middle school who recognised
his talent early and encouraged him to read advanced
texts. Hua was partially paralysed in his late teenage
years, due to mistreatment of a prolonged illness
during which he stayed in bed for half a year. His
first significant result was concerned with a paper
written by Dr. Su Jiaju who claimed to have a closed
form radical solution of the quintics. Hua studied
Abel’s original paper on the unsolvability of quintics
and found a miscalculation in a 13x13 matrix in Su’s
paper. So Hua published his rebuttal in an influential
mathematics journal in China, and this was noticed
by some professors at Tsinghua University, especially
Dr. Xiong Qinglai.
Hua did not obtain a formal degree from any
university. Although awarded several honorary PhDs,
he never got a formal degree from any university.
Reproduced from News of China Association for Science
and Technology.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 45
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

China won the 51st International

Mathematical Olympiad

T
he 51st International Mathematical Olympiad
(IMO 2010 Kazakhstan) was held during July The top 10 teams were
2-14, 2010 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
1 P. R. China 197
A total of 517 students from 98 countries and regions
participated in this competition. China won the 2. Russia 169
1st position with the score of 197. All six Chinese 3. United States of America 168
contestants won the gold medal. Zipei Nie from China 4. Republic of Korea 156
was the only participant to obtain a perfect score. 5. Kazakhstan 148
6. Thailand 148
The Chinese team officials consisted of: 7. Japan 141
Captain: Bin Xiong, East China Normal University 8. Turkey 139
Deputy Captain: Zhigang Feng, Shanghai High School 9. Germany 138
Observer A: Weigu Li, Peking University 10. Serbia 135
Observer B: Xun Li, Fuzhou No.1 High School

The Chinese team members were:

Zipei Nie, Shanghai High School, 42 points (full marks),
Gold Medal
Jialun Li, Zhejiang Yueqing Yuecheng Public Boarding
High School, 36 points, Gold Medal
Yikang Xiao, Hebei Tangshan No.1 High School, 34
points, Gold Medal
Min Zhang (female), No.1 Middle School attached to
Central China Normal University, Hubei province,
30 points, Gold Medal
Li Lai, Chongqing Nankai Middle School, 28 points,
Gold Medal
Jun Su, Fujian Fuzhou No.1 High School, 27 points,
Gold Medal
The cut-off mark for Gold medal was 27 points, with
silver 21 points and bronze 15 points.
Reported by the 51st International Mathematical
Olympiad Chinese team

46 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


Louis Nirenberg,
First Recipient of the
Chern Medal
L
ouis Nirenberg is the first
recipient of the newly
created Chern Medal of
the International Mathematical
Union, which also awarded the
prestigious Fields Medals, Nevan-
linna Medal and Gauss Medal at its
International Congress of Math-
ematicians held in Hyderabad,
India in August 2010. The official
citation of his award is “for his role Nirenberg receives the 2010 Chern Medal from in linear and non-linear partial
in the formulation of the modern President Pratibha Patil.
theory of non-linear elliptic partial
differential equations and for
mentoring numerous students and
post-docs in this area.”
Born on February 25, 1925 in
Hamilton, Canada, Nirenberg had
his undergraduate education in
McGill University and graduate
studies in New York University
Chern and Nirenberg in discussions. (Photo taken
(NYU). He then joined the faculty in 1989)
of NYU and was one of the original
members of the Courant Institute of Mathematical
Sciences, where he established his distinguished career
up till his retirement in 1999 and where he is now an
Emeritus Professor.
Nirenberg has received many prestigious awards
and honours, notably the Bôcher Prize of the American
Mathematical Society (AMS), Jeffrey-Williams Prize
Shortly after the award of the Chern Medal, Professor
Nirenberg responded to the three questions posed to
him by the Chairman of World Scientific, Professor
KK Phua.
Question: What is your impression of the late
Professor S S Chern’s contribution in mathematics?
Nirenberg: Professor Chern made many deep contri-
butions in differential geometry over half a century,
during which he was the world’s leading geometer. To
mention just a few contributions: His generalisation
of the Gauss–Bonnet Theorem to higher dimensions,
the Chern–Weil characteristic classes (a fundamental
result used by many); Chern–Simons characteristic
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
of the Canadian Mathematical
Society, Steele Prize of the AMS,
Crafoord Prize of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences,
and the United States National
Medal of Science.
He is world renowned not
only for his research but also
for his lecturing and expository
writing. His fundamental work
differential equations and related
aspects of complex analysis and
differential geometry exerted a
great influence in analysis and
geometry. He has also applied his
expertise to fluid dynamics and
the study of physical phenomena.
His influence is further extended
through his numerous doctoral
students, post-docs and research
collaborators. His view of math-
ematics as a collective intellectual
as well as enjoyable social activity is proverbial. His
influential and extensive collaboration may be gleaned
from mathematical household terms such as Agmon–
Douglis–Nirenberg’s extension, the Gagliardo–Nirenberg,
John-Nirenberg and Caffarelli–Kohn–Nirenberg inequali-
ties, Gidas–Ni–Nirenberg symmetry theorem, Brézis–
Nirenberg solutions.
classes (used also in physics in recent years) and Finsler
geometry. His work had enormous influence on others.
Question: Do you have any collaboration or overlapping
of research interest with the late Professor S S Chern?
Nirenberg: With H Levine, we wrote a paper together
on norms for cohomology classes on complex
manifolds.
Question: How do you feel to be the 1st Chern Medal
recipient?
Nirenberg: Of course, I am honoured and delighted,
especially since Professor Chern and I had been good
friends for many years.
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 47
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
News from Australia
• Dr Bronwyn Harch of CSIRO recently received
Queensland’s Outstanding Woman in Technology
2010 award in recognition of her outstanding
achievements in embedding informatics into agri-
environmental research. Bronwyn’s informatics
research impacts over the past 15 years have been
in the area of the statistical design of landscape
sampling protocols and monitoring programs, as
well as the spatio-temporal statistical modeling of
complex landscape systems.
• Dr Frank de Hoog is one of four CSIRO scientists
to be recognised as a CSIRO Fellow for 2010. The
award is made to “exceptional scientists who have
displayed eminence in a significant field of science
or engineering”. Frank received this designation
for his achievements that have resulted in major
impacts on key processes in manufacturing and
mining, and for seminal contributions to applied
and computational mathematics research.
• Professor Kate Smith-Miles, Head of School of
Mathematical Sciences, Monash University, was
awarded the 2010 Australian Mathematical Society
Medal. Each year the Medal is presented to a
member of the Society under the age of 40 years
for distinguished research in the mathematical
sciences.
• Professor Peter Hall, University of Melbourne,
was awarded the 2010 George Szekeres Medal.
The Medal is awarded in even numbered years to
a member of the Australian Mathematical Society
for an outstanding contribution to the mathematics
sciences in the 15 years prior to the year of the
award.
• Anita Ponsaing, Melbourne University, was awarded
the B.H.Neumann Prize for the best student talk at
the 2010 annual meeting of the Australian Math-
ematical Society.
• Internet giant Google has recognised Dr Chris
Tisdell from University of New South Wales for
his OpenCourseWare video project on YouTube
by making him a YouTube Partner in Education
(Australia). He is the first educator in Australia to
receive such honour.
48 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
News from China
• Yiming Long Elected to IMU Council
Professor Yiming Long, Vice-President of Chinese
Mathematical Society, was elected to be a council
member of International Mathematical Union
(IMU) during the IMU 2010 General Assembly
held on August 17, 2010 in Bangalore, India.
• Dictionary of Mathematics
D i c t i o n a r y o f Ma t h -
ematics was published by
the Science Press, Beijing
in August 2010. This is
the first ever authori-
tative and large scale
mathematics dictionary
c ompi l e d by C hi nes e
authors. The Chief Editor
of this monumental work
is Professor Wang Yuan, member of Chinese
Academy of Sciences. There were 17 editorial
committees, each basically under the charge of a
mathematical department or institute. Editorial
members were from the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Institute of Mathematics and System
Sciences, Peking University, Nankai University,
Fudan University, Zhejiang University, Beijing
Normal University and other renowned math-
ematics institutes and centers. It involved nearly
300 contributors and 200 proof-readers and took
nearly 5 years to complete since its inception in
2005.
This dictionary has 17 sections covering foun-
dation of mathematics, mathematical logic, number
theory, algebra, real and complex analysis, ordinary
and partial differential equations, functional
analysis, dynamical systems, combinatorics, graph
theory, geometry, topology, differential geometry,
mathematical statistics, probability theory, compu-
tational mathematics, information theory, control
theory, operations research, and other topics of
mathematics. This comprehensive work of 1,214
pages has altogether about 9,000 entries which come
up to three millions words. The dictionary also
includes bilingual (Chinese and English) indexes
of all the mathematical terminologies. Wang Yuan
hopes that this important and useful work will be
translated into English in near future.

• CMS Held Hua Luogeng Centennial Memorial
Meeting
Chinese Mathematical Society (CMS) held the
Hua Luogeng 100 years memorial meeting at the
Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences
in the afternoon of September 1, 2010. Former
chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries of the CMS,
and academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS) in Beijing attended this meeting. CMS
Chairman Zhiming Ma presided over the meeting.
He said that Mr Hua was the Chairman of the 1st,
2nd, 3rd CMS Council. Under his guidance, CMS
had grew to become a relatively strong and active
academic association. Many participants in the
meeting paid tribute to Hua Luogeng and talked
about their encounter with him.
• Inauguration Ceremony of National Center of
Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences
The inauguration ceremony of the National
Center of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary
Sciences (NCMIS), Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS) was held in Academy of Mathematics and
Systems Science (AMSS) on December 2, 2010.
Liu Yandong, member of Political Bureau of the
CPC Central Committee and State Councilor, and
Lu Yongxiang, Vice-Chairman of the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress and
the President of CAS, were present at the ceremony
and made important speeches respectively. Bai
Chunli, Vice-President of CAS presided over the
ceremony. Guo Lei, President of AMSS, introduced
the NCMIS' targets, research models and so on.
In their speeches, Liu Yandong, Lu Yongxiang
and Guo Lei pointed out the importance of basic
research in mathematics and its applications to
applied sciences. They emphasised that basic
research guides the development of science and
technology, and it is the source of innovation.
The main target of NCMIS, as indicated in CAS
“Innovation 2020”, is to provide a top level research
platform in mathematics and its applications to
multidisciplinary sciences such as information
technology, economy and finance, biomedical and
physical sciences, engineering, etc. Cooperation
between research institutes and universities should
be strengthened; new ways for collaborative
research and joint training should be explored. High
level international cooperation and communication
focused on the important subjects in science and
technology should be encouraged with the aim of
achieving world class level research.
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
News from Hong Kong
• Shaw Prize 2010
In November 2002, a prize
called the “Shaw Prize” was
established by the well-known
Hong Kong entrepreneur
and philanthropist Run Run
Shaw to honour individuals
who have made “significant
breakthroughs in academic and scientific research
or application and whose work has resulted in a
positive and profound impact on mankind.” The
Prize is given annually with a monetary award
of one million US dollars for each of the three
categories: astronomy, life science and medicine,
and mathematical sciences.
In September 28, 2010, the Shaw Prize in
Mathematical Sciences was awarded to Jean
Bourgain of the Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton “for his profound work in mathematical
analysis and its application to partial differential
equations, mathematical physics, combinatorics,
number theory, ergodic theory and theoretical
computer science.”
Born in 1954 in Oostende, Belgium, Bourgain
obtained his PhD from the Free University of
Brussels in 1977. He has worked in the Free
University of Brussels, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, USA and the Institut de
Hautes Édtudes Scientifiques, Paris, and is now
at the Institute for Advanced Study, USA. He is a
Foreign Member of the Academies of Science of
France, Poland and Sweden.
Bourgain has written over 350 papers that span
and have great impact and applications in numerous
areas such as analysis, functional analysis, ergodic
theory, partial differential equations, mathematical
physics, combinatorics and theoretical computer
science. The following is a sample of his deep and
extensive contributions: the embedding, with
least distortion, of finite metric spaces in Hilbert
space; extending Birkhoff ’s ergodic theorem to
very general sparse arithmetic sequences; the
boundedness in Lp of the circular maximum
function in two dimensions, the “local” version
of the Erdös–Volkmann conjecture in arithmetic
combinatorics, theory of sum-products in estimation
of algebra-geometric character sums, representations
of linear groups and applications to number theory,
aperiodic tilings of 3-dimensional space, spectral
theory of lattice Schrödinger operators modeling
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 49
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
transport in inhomogeneous media, and explicit
construction of pseudorandom objects (extractors).
The past Shaw Prize recipients (2004–2009) in
the mathematical sciences have been Shiing-Shen
Chern, Andrew Wiles, David Mumford, Wentsun
Wu, Robert Langlands, Richard Taylor, Vladimir
Arnold, Ludwig Faddeev, Simon Donaldson and
Clifford Taubes.
News from India
TWAS 2010 Prize
• Vivek Borkar, School of Technology and Computer
Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,
Mumbai, India, and Edgar Zanotto, Vitreous
Materials Laboratory, Federal University of São
Carlos, Brazil, share the 2010 TWAS Prize in the
Engineering Sciences. Borkar is honoured for his
seminal contributions to the theory and the algo-
rithms for time-averaged (“ergodic”) control, inclu-
sive of situations involving additional constraints,
noisy observations or model uncertainty. Zanotto
is recognised for his fundamental contributions to
the understanding of glass crystallisation and the
development of novel glass-ceramics.
• Manindra Agrawal, Department of Computer
Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Tech-
nology Kanpur, India, and Carlos Gustavo Tamm
de Araujo Moreira, Instituto de Matemática Pura
e Aplicada, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, share the 2010
TWAS Prize in Mathematics. Agrawal is honoured
for his discovery of a novel characterisation of prime
numbers leading to a deterministic and efficient
way of testing primality of a number. Moreira is
recognised for his fundamental contribution to the
study of the interplay between fractal geometry and
dynamical bifurcations.
News from Japan
• Michio Jimbo Awarded 2010 Wigner Medal
Michio Jimb o has b een
awarded 2010 Wigner Medal.
The medal presentation cere-
mony will be held during
the international meeting
“XXVIII International Collo-
quium on Group-Theoretical
Methods in Physics” which
will take place in Northum-
bria University in UK from July 26. The medal is
50 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
awarded to recognise the outstanding contribution
to understanding of Physics through group theory.
Prof. M. Jimbo at Rikkyo University was awarded
the medal for his introduction of quantum groups
and his study of affine Lie algebras, in connection
with classical and quantum integrable systems.
• MSJ Algebra Prize
The 2010 Algebra Prize was awarded to the
following members of MSJ.
Nobuo Tsuzuki (Professor at Tohoku University)
Fundamental and outstanding contribution to
the theory of p-adic cohomology and p-adic
differential equations, a most important subject of
present arithmetic geometry over a field of positive
characteristic.
Hiroaki Terao (Professor at Hokkaido University)
Fundamental and outstanding contribution to
the algebraic and geometric theory of hyperplane
arrangements, connecting various branches of
modern mathematics, including algebraic geom-
etry, topology, Lie groups, etc.
• MSJ Analysis Prize
The 2010 Analysis Prize was awarded to the
following members of MSJ.
Shu Nakamura (The University of Tokyo)
Microlocal analysis for Schrödinger equations and
spectral theory.
Hideo Nagai (Osaka University)
Study on large deviation probability minimisation
for long time via risk-sensitive control.
Toshitaka Nagai (Hiroshima University)
Mathematical analysis for models of chemotaxis.
• MSJ Geometry Prize
The 2010 Geometry Prize was awarded to the
following member of MSJ.
Kazuo Akutagawa (Tohoku University)
Studies on the Yamabe invariant
Nobuhiro Honda (Tohoku University)
Studies on twistor spaces of self-dual manifolds
• MSJ Iyanaga Spring Prize
The 2010 MSJ Spring Prize was awarded to Osamu
Iyama, a professor at the Graduate School of
Mathematics, Nagoya University. Osamu Iyama
is recognised for his outstanding contributions to
“Studies on representations of finite-dimensional

algebras and Cohen–Macaulay
modules”. The Spring Prize
and the Autumn Prize of the
Society are the most prestigious
prizes awarded by the MSJ
to its members. The Spring
Prize is awarded to those of age
below 40 who have obtained
outstanding mathematical results.
The Prize Presentation Ceremony was held
on March 25 on Hiyoshi Campus, Keio University
during the 2010 Spring Meeting of the Math-
ematical Society of Japan.
• MSJ Iyanaga Autumn Prize
The 2010 Mathematical Society
of Japan Autumn Prize was
awarded to Masaki Izumi, a
professor at Graduate School
of Science, Kyoto University.
Masaki Izumi is recognised for
his outstanding contributions
to “Operator Algebras and Noncommutative
Analysis”. The Spring Prize and the Autumn Prize
of the Society are the most prestigious prizes
awarded by the MSJ to its members. The Autumn
Prize is awarded without age restriction to people
who have made exceptional contributions in their
fields of research. The Prize Presentation Ceremony
was held on September 23 at Higashiyama Campus,
Nagoya University during the Autumn meeting of
MSJ.
• Masanao Ozawa Awarded Prize
for Science and Technology
Masanao Ozawa was awarded
2010 Prize for Science and
Technology in Research Cate-
gory by the Commendation for
Science and Technology by the
Minister of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology. Masanao Ozawa,
a professor at Nagoya University is recognised
for his outstanding contributions to “pioneering
research on quantum measurement theory”. The
purpose of the prize in Research Category is to
recognise researchers who have done highly original
researches or developments which can contribute
to the development of Science and Technology in
Japan.
Masanao Ozawa also received the International
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Quantum Communication Award 2010, which was
presented to him at the International Conference
on Quantum Communication, Measurement and
Computation held in Brisbane, Australia during
July 19–23, 2010.
• Takuro Mochizuki Awarded
Japan Academy Medal
Takuro Mochizuki was awarded
the 6th Japan Academy Medal
by the Japan Academy. Takuro
Mo c h i z u k i , a n a s s o c i at e
professor at the Research Insti-
tute for Mathematical Sciences,
Kyoto University is recognised for his outstanding
contributions to “Study on the Asymptotic Behav-
iour of Harmonic Bundles”. The Purpose of the
Medal is to give formal recognition to outstanding
young researchers, while encouraging them in their
future work. In the FY 2009, 6 awardees are selected
among the recipients of the JSPS Prize.
• JSPS Prize for Narutaka Ozawa
Narutaka Ozawa was awarded
the 6th JSPS Prize by Japan
Society for the Promotion
of Science (JSPS). Narutaka
Ozawa, an associate professor
at the Graduate School of Math-
ematical Sciences, University of
Tokyo is recognised for his outstanding contribu-
tions to “Theory of Discrete Groups and Operator
Algebras”. The objective of JSPS Prize is to recognise
and support excellent young researchers under 45
years of age.
• Yoshiko Ogata Received Inoue Science Research
Award
Yoshiko Ogata was awarded the 2nd Inoue Science
Research Award by Inoue Foundation for Science.
Yoshiko Ogata, an associate professor at the Grad-
uate School of Mathematical Sciences, University of
Tokyo is recognised for her outstanding contribu-
tions to “Large deviations in nonequilibrium and
equilibrium states of quantum systems”. The objec-
tive of the award is to support promising young
researchers, who have already achieved remarkable
results in basic research in natural sciences, to
develop pioneering research achievement in a very
original and independent way.
Yoshiko Ogata was an awardee of the MSJ
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 51
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

2007 Takebe Katahiro Prize for Encouragement Univ.). Other notable

of Young Researchers. invited speakers included
Carsten Carstensen
• Toshiyuki Kobayashi Awarded Inoue Prize for (Humboldt University),
Science Youri Egorov (Paul Saba-
Toshiyuki Kobayashi was tier University), Baohua
awarded 27th Inoue Prize for Fu (Chinese Academy of
Science by Inoue Founda- Science), Young-Hoon
tion for Science. Toshiyuki Kiem (Seoul National
Kobayashi, a professor at the Un ive rs it y ) , Miy u k i
University of Tokyo is recog- Koiso (Kyushu Univer-
nised for his outstanding sity), and Kang-Hyurk
contributions to “analysis of Lee (KIAS). In addition, there was an invited lecture
infinite-dimensional symmetry”. given by Hyun Dae Lee (Inha Univ.), the winner of
• Makiko Sasada Received First JSPS Ikushi 2009 Sangsan Prize for Young Mathematician.
Prize A total of 169 presentations were delivered in 9
Makiko Sasada was awarded the first JSPS Ikushi special sessions, poster session, plenary and invited
Prize by Japan Society for the Promotion of sessions.
Science. Makiko Sasada, a PhD student in the
Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, • 2009 SCI Impact Factors of the Journal of KMS
the University of Tokyo, is honoured for her and the Bulletin of KMS
work on “hydrodynamic limit for non-gradient
systems”. JSPS Ikushi Prize has been established
upon an imperial donation to encourage young
researchers, especially PhD students.

News from Korea * Eigenfactor™ Score (EF): A measure of the overall

value provided by all of the articles published in a given
journal in a year.
• New President for Korean
Mathematical Society (KMS)
• AMC 2013
Professor Dong Youp Suh
The Asian Mathematical Conference (AMC) series is
(KAIST) was elected as the
held every 4-5 years and hosted by countries in Asia.
twenty-first President of KMS.
The first AMC was held in Hong Kong (1990), the
His term of office is January 1,
second in Thailand (1995), the third in the Philip-
2011-December 31, 2012.
pines (2000), the fourth in Singapore (2005), and the
latest was Malaysia (2009). The 6th AMC will take
• KMS hoste d 2010 Global KMS Interna-
place in Busan, Korea in June, 2013. This will be the
tional Conference
first time the AMC will be held in a country outside
2010 Global KMS International Conference,
Southeast Asia and it is expected to draw over 300
the fall meeting of the KMS, was successfully
mathematicians from the region. One of the most
held from October 22 to 23, 2010 at POSTECH
important factors to consider during the preparation
in Pohang, Korea. The aim of the 2010 Global
process for AMC 2013 is the International Congress
KMS International Conference was to bring
of Mathematicians (ICM), the largest mathematics
together researchers working in various areas of
conference in the world. Since Seoul, the capital of
Mathematics to foster exchange of new ideas, and
Korea has been recommended to host the ICM in
to promote international collaborations.
2014, the hosting of AMC 2013 is expected to help
Plenary speaker of the conference was Paul H. Korea to assess the effectiveness and adequacy of its
Rabinowitz (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison), and preparation for ICM 2014. It will also have a posi-
there was a special lecture by the 2010 Korean tive impact on Asian mathematics community in
Science Award winner, Hyeonbae Kang (Inha expanding its activities to the scale of the European

52 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1


Congress of Mathematics (ECM). The venue for
ACM 2013 will be BEXCO, the Busan Exhibition
and Convention Center, Busan.
• KMS–MSJ Joint Meeting
The Korean Mathematical Society (KMS) and
Mathematical Society of Japan (MSJ) plan to
organise a KMS–MSJ joint-meeting covering
vast area of mathematics in September, 2012 at
Kyushu University in Japan. Prof. Takashi Tsuboi,
the President of MSJ, proposed this event under
the academic exchanges agreement between KMS
and MSJ. The Board of Trustees of MSJ and the
professors at Kyushu University responsible for the
2012 fall annual meeting of MSJ had approved this
project.
News from Malaysia
• Recent Events
Malaysian Mathematical Society just held its 18th
National Symposium on Mathematical Sciences
during December 8–10, 2010.
National Mathematical Olympiad competition, June
26, 2010.
• Activities in 2011
Frank Morgan, Atwell Professor of Mathematics,
Williams College Vice-President, American Math-
ematical Society will be visiting Malaysia for a week
to speak on popularisation of mathematics during
first quarter of 2011.
National Mathematical Olympiad competition will
be held in May/June 2011.
19th National Symposium on Mathematical Sciences
will be held in July or December 2011.
There will be several Mathematics Camps for Junior
and High Schools in 2011.
News from New Zealand
• New Jones Medal
A new medal for excellence
in mathematics was awarded
by the Royal Society of New
Z ealand at their annual
research honours celebration
in Christchurch on November
10, 2010. The medal is named
after Professor Sir Vaughan
Jones, a world-renowned New
Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
Zealand mathematician now living in the USA.
The first Jones Medal was presented to
Professor Emeritus John Butcher FRSNZ of The
University of Auckland and recognises his lifetime
achievement in mathematics. Dr Garth Carnaby,
president of the Royal Society of New Zealand, said
Professor Butcher’s exceptional work on numerical
methods for solving differential equations is
regarded as some of the best work ever done in
this area. “This work has remained at the forefront
of international research for more than 45 years.
John Butcher has also been a tremendous leader for
developing mathematical sciences in New Zealand.”
Professor Sir Vaughan Jones, after whom the
medal is named, also presented Professor Butcher
with $5000 in prize money and praised him for his
work, saying he owed a ‘personal mathematical
debt’ to Butcher. “I believe we are living in a
Golden Age for New Zealand mathematics. There
is ample evidence for this. Our disproportionate
representation at the International Congress of
Mathematics, and a remarkable performance at
the Mathematics Olympiad are but two instances.
I believe this Golden Age was ushered in by John
Butcher.”
• 2010 NZMS Research Award
Congratulations to Charles Semple of the University
of Canterbury who has received the 2010 NZMS
Research Award for landmark contributions to
combinatorics, and in particular matroid theory,
as well as leading work in phylogenetics and
computational biology. This annual award was
instituted in 1990 to foster mathematical research in
New Zealand and to recognise excellence in research
carried out by New Zealand mathematicians.
• 2010 NZMS Early Career Award
Congratulations to Mihály Kovács of the University
of Otago who has received the 2010 NZMS Early
Career Award for his innovative research in the
field of stochastic partial differential equations,
particularly their numerical approximation. This
award was instituted in 2006 to reward early career
New Zealand mathematicians.
News from Singapore
• The Distinguished Visitor Programme
In this annual programme, a distinguished math-
ematician/mathematics educator interacts with
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 53
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter
both mathematicians/mathematics educators at
the Singapore universities as well as teachers and
pupils at the schools. The aim of the programme is
to expose as large and diverse an audience as possible
to the excitement and relevance of mathematics,
thereby enhancing the awareness of mathematics
in the society. For the year 2011, the distinguished
visitor is Professor Frank Morgan of Williams
College, USA. His visit programme from May 1-7
will consist of a public lecture, as well as lectures/
workshops at the National University of Singapore,
the National Institute of Education and Teachers’
Academy.
• The Singapore Mathematical Olympiad
The Singapore Mathematical Olympiad is the largest
and oldest mathematics competition in Singapore.
Its predecessor was the Inter-School Mathematical
Competition in the mid-1950. This annual competi-
tion is held in June and it consists of junior, senior
and open sections. In recent years about ten thou-
sands students from all over Singapore took part in
SMO.
News from Taiwan
• TMS Society Award
Professor Jing Yu, Department of Mathematics,
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Research Interests: Number Theory, Algebra,
and Arithmetic Geometry. In particular Arithmetic
of Function Fields in positive Characteristic. As a
descendent of the Artin school, Jing Yu is interested
in all phases of Number Theory and Arithmetical
Algebraic Geometry. In recent years he has done
major works in the arithmetic of function fields,
especially transcendence theory. He is also interested
in doing symbolic computations with computer.
• TMS Academic Award
Professor Shuenn-Jyi Sheu, Institute of Mathematics,
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Research interest: stochastic control theory,
k large deviation, and stochastic partial differ-
ential equations. Fundamental contributions to
the stochastic control approach to mathematical
finance, using stochastic analysis to study POE,
large deviations and MCMC. Just to highlight two
achievements of his: 1. Shuenn-Jyi and collaborators
open up a new research direction, the asymptotic
analysis of non reversible Markov processes. Its
54 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
related topics including the analysis of antisym-
metric perturbations of Laplacian on Riemannian
manifolds. 2. Uses a probabilistic approach (a
stochastic control method) to estimate of the transi-
tion density of diffusions. This original work caught
Daniel Stroock by surprise.
• TMS Young Mathematician Award
Assistant Professor Jeng-Daw Yu, Department of
Mathematics, National Taiwan University, Taipei,
Taiwan.
Research interest: algebraic geometry and of
number theory. Roughly speaking, much of the work
can be described as the investigation of extracting
useful information of varied geometric objects from
their associated differential equations. In some
sense, the occurred differential equation (or the
collection of its solutions) measures and controls the
way how the pieces of the varied geometric objects
are glued together to form a parametrised family.
News from Vietnam
• One full professor and eight associate professors
titles in Mathematics were awarded in November
2010 in Vietnam. In Vietnam the professor and
associate professor titles are awarded once per year
by a National Council for all subjects. No restriction
on the numbers of awarded titles, but many criteria
should be fulfilled. There are committees at different
levels to examine if a concrete candidate fulfils these
criteria. In this year the following mathematicians
got new promotion:
Professor: Nguyen Quoc Thang (Number
Theory, Institute of Mathematics Hanoi)
Associate professors: To Anh Dung (Prob-
ability, College of Natural Sciences in Vietnam
National University in Hochiminh city), Nguyen
Viet Hai (Algebra, Hai Phong University), Dang
Khanh Hoi (Differential and Integral Equations,
University of Hoa Binh), Nguyen Thieu Huy
(Differential and Integral Equations, Polytechnic
University of Hanoi), Ho Dang Phuc (Statistics,
Institute of Mathematics Hanoi), Mai Duc Thanh
(Analysis, International College in Vietnam
National University in Hochiminh city), Nguyen
Van Trao (Analysis, Hanoi National University of
Education) and Tran Van Tan (Differential Geom-
etry, Hanoi National University of Education).
 Conference CALENDAR

Conferences in Asia Pacific Region

8 – 9 Jan 2011 18 – 22 Jan 2011
JANUARY 2011 2nd IIMA International Conference Arithmatic and Algebraic geometry 2011
on Advanced Data Analysis, Business Tokyo, Japan
3 – 5 Jan 2011 Analytics and Intelligence http://kak.k.hosei.ac.jp/conference
ICMS 2011 — International Conference Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
on Mathematical Sciences in Honour http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/icadabai2011/ 20 – 21 Jan 2011
of Professor A. M. Mathai Combinatorial Representation Theory and
Kerala, India 10 – 13 Jan 2011 Integrable Models
http://www.cmsintl.org/ The 7th East Asian School of Knots Melbourne, Australia
and Related Topics http://sites.google.com/site/corethinmo2010/
Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan
4 – 7 Jan 2011
http://www.math.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/top/ 21 – 23 Jan 2011
Chiang Mai University International
conf/2011EastAsia7/index.html ACCT11 — International Conference on
Conference 2011 CMIC-2011
Chiang Mai, Thailand 10 – 14 Jan 2011 Advanced Computing & Communication
http://math.science.cmu.ac.th/CMIC2011/ Nonlinear Phenomena: A view from Technologies
index.htm Mathematics and Physics Rohtak, India
Taipei, Taiwan http://rgconferences.com/acct11/
4 – 8 Jan 2011 http://www.tims.ntu.edu.tw/ch/index/php
COMSNETS 2011 — The 3rd International 21 – 22 Jan 2011
Conference on Communication Systems 10 Jan – 4 Feb 2011 National Conference on Recent Frontiers
and Networks Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute in Applied Dynamical Systems
Bangalore, India (AMSI) Summer School Coimbatore, India
http://www.comsnets.org/ Adelaide, Australia http://www.karunya.edu/sh/maths/
http://www.math.adelaide.edu.au/amsi2011 ncrfads2011/
5 – 7 Jan 2011
MMM 2011 — The 17th International 11 – 14 Jan 2011 24 – 28 Jan 2011
Conference on MultiMedia Modeling Miniworkshop of Algebra GCOE Conference “Derived Categories 2011
Taipei, Taiwan Taipei, Taiwan Tokyo”
http://mmm2011.org/ http://www.tims.ntu.edu.tw/ch/index/php Tokyo, Japan
http://faculty.ms.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~kawamata_lab/
derived/
5 – 9 Jan 2011 12 – 16 Jan 2011
JSPS-VAST Japan-Vietnam Bhubaneshwar Symposium on
Bilateral Joint Projects Noncommutative Geometry, Mathematical 25 – 27 Jan 2011
Sendai, Japan Physics and Number Theory International Conference on Mathematical
http://www.math.tohoku.ac.jp/~ishikawa/ Bhubaneshwa, India and Statistical Science
jvsendai/ http://sites.google.com/site/ncgconference/ Dubai, United Arab Emirates
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/dubai/
icmss/
7 Jan 2011 14 – 21 Jan 2011
Conference in Dynamical Systems: A Postech Winter School: Serre’s Modularity
Celebration in Honor of Kenneth James 26 – 28 Jan 2011
Conjecture
Palmer of His Retirement IEEE ICIET 2011 — 2011 IEEE International
Pohang, Korea
Taipei, Taiwan Conference on Information and Education
http://math.postech.ac.kr/~pntag/
http://math.cts.ntu.edu.tw/ Technology
Guiyang, China
17 – 20 Jan 2011 http://www.iciet.org/index.htm
7 – 8 Jan 2011 ACE 2011 — The 13th Australasian
International Conference on Mathematics and Computing Education Conference
Computer Science ICMCS 2011 26 – 28 Jan 2011
Perth, QLD, Australia
Tamil Nadu, India ORO 2011 — International Conference on
http://www.sci.usq.edu.au/conferences/
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Operations Research and Optimization 2011
ace2011/
http://www.loyolacollege.edu/ICMCS2011/ Tehran, Iran
icmcs2011.htm 17 – 22 Jan 2011 http://www.scadasummit.com/
CATS 2011, Computing — The Australasian Event.aspx?id=376200
7 – 9 Jan 2011 Theory Symposium
ICCMS 2011 — 2011 3rd International Perth, Australia 30 Jan – 3 Feb 2011
Conference on Computer Modeling http://cats.it.usyd.edu.au/ The 2011 Annual Australian and New Zealand
and Simulation Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Mumbai, India 17 – 28 Jan 2011 Conference
http://www.iccms.org/cfp.htm CIMPA-UNESCO-MICINN-Vietnam Research Adelaide, Australia
School on Braids in Algebra, Geometry and http://anziam2011.adelaide.edu.au/
7 – 10 Jan 2011 Topology
Third Hope Conference Hanoi, Vietnam
Tokyo, Japan http:www.cimpa-icpam.org/spip.php?article295
http://www.hopemeetings.jp/eng/2011/index.
html
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 55
 Conference CALENDAR

FEBRUARY 2011
1 – 2 Feb 2011
CCCA 2011 — International Conference on
Computers, Communications, Control and
Automation
Hokkaido, Japan
http://www.sit-association.org/ccca2011/
6 – 11 Feb 2011
The Annual Mathematics and Statistics-in-
Industry Study Group (MISG) Workshop
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.rmit.edu.au/maths/misg
7 – 11 Feb 2011
International Conference in Harmonic Analysis
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.amsi.org.au/index.php/events/415-
international-conference-in-harmonic-analysis
9 – 12 Feb 2011
ICDCIT – 2011 The Seventh International
Conference on Distributed Computing and
Internet Technology
Odisha, India
http://www.icdcit.ac.in
9 – 12 Feb 2011
WSDM 2011 — 4th International Conference
on Web Search and Data Mining
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.wsdm2011.org/wsdm2011/home
10 – 12 Feb 2011
ICCSP 2011 — International Conference on
Communications and Signal Processing
Kerala, India
http://iccsp2011.nitc.ac.in/
19 – 20 Feb 2011
ICDC 2011 — The 2011 International MARCH 2011
Conference on Digital Convergence
Hyderabad, India 1 – 2 Mar 2011
http://www.iacsit.org/icdc/cfp.htm MathWest Workshop
Perth, Australia
21 – 25 Feb 2011 http://www.maths.uwa.edu.au/community/
NCTS(Taiwan)-CPT(France) Joint Workshop year-of-maths/mathwest-workshop-2011/_
on Symplectic Geometry and Quantum nocache
Symmetries in Mathematical Physics
Hsin-Chu, Taiwan 8 – 11 Mar 2011
http://math.cts.nthu.edu.tw/ Challenges in Statistics and
Mathematics/2011Taiwan-FranceWorkshop.htm Operations Research
Kuwait City, Kuwait
22 – 23 Feb 2011 http://conf.stat.kuniv.edu/
Mathematics Beyond Formulas and Theorems
Delhi, India 9 – 10 Mar 2011
http://sites.google.com/site/ Third Conference and Workshop on Group
nationalconferencemathematics Theory
Tehran, Iran
23 – 24 Feb 2011 http://www.grouptheory.ir/tehran2011/
CNC 2011 — 2nd International Conference
on Advances in Communication, Network,
9 – 11 Mar 2011
and Computing
ICISIL 2011 — International Conference on
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Information Systems for Indian Languages
http://cnc.engineersnetwork.org/2011/
Patiala, India
http://www.icisil2011.org/
23 – 25 Feb 2011
4th International Conference on Science and
Mathematics Education in Developing 10 – 11 Mar 2011
Countries ITC 2011 — Second International Conference
on Recent Trends in Information,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Telecommunication and Computing
http://www.cambmathsociety.org/conf/HOME.
Kochi, Kerala, India
html
http://itc.engineersnetwork.org/2011/
23 – 25 Feb 2011
International Conference on Computer 13 – 17 Mar 2011
Mathematics and Natural Computing SAC'11 — The 2011 ACM Symposium
Penang, Malaysia on Applied Computing
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/ TaiChung, Taiwan
penang/iccmnc/ http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2011

12 – 14 Feb 2011 23 – 25 Feb 2011 13 – 16 Mar 2011

International Conference on Communication, ISWPC 2011 — IEEE International Symposium CYBER 2011 — IEEE International Conference
Computing & Security (ICCCS2011) on Wireless Pervasive Computing 2011 on Cyber Technology in Automation, Control,
Odisha, India Hong Kong, China and Intelligent Systems
http://nitrkl.ac.in/conference/icccs2011 http://www.iswpc.org/2011/ Kunming, China
http://www.ieee-cyber.org/2011/
14 – 18 Feb 2011 24 – 26 Feb 2011
First Biennial International Group Theory International Conference on Multi Body 14 – 17 Mar 2011
Conference 2011 Dynamics Low Dimensional Topology and Number
Johor Bahru, Malaysia Andhra Pradesh, India Theory III
http://www.ibnusina.utm.my/bigtc2011/ http://www.kluniversity.in/icmbd2011/index.htm Fukuoka, JAPAN
http://www2.math.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~morisita/
15 – 16 Feb 2011 25 – 26 Feb 2011 workshop.html
ICEBDIS'11 — International Conference on
International Conference on Logic
E-Business & Digital Information System 14 Mar – 10 Jun 2011
Information, Control & Computation 2011
Kathmandu, Nepal Probability and Discrete Mathematics
Gandhigram, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India
http://www.icebdis.com/ in Mathematical Biology
http://iclicc2011.co.in/
Singapore
18 – 20 Feb 2011 25 – 27 Feb 2011 http://www2.ims.nus.edu.sg/Programs/
WALCOM 2011, Workshop on Algorithms 011mathbio/index.php
2011 International Conference on Logic,
and Computation
Information, Control & Computation
New Delhi, India
Tamil Nadu, India
16 – 18 Mar 2011
http://www.cse.iitd.ac.imitk/ DATICS-IMECS'11 — DATICS-IMECS'11
http://iclicc2011.co.in/
Workshop
18 – 20 Feb 2011 Hong Kong, China
EAIT 2011 — 2nd International Conference 26 – 28 Feb 2011 http://datics.nesea-conference.org/datics-
on Emerging Applications of Information 2011 3rd International Conference on imecs2011/
Technology, 2011 Machine Learning and Computing:
Kolkata, India ICMLC 2011 Singapore
https://sites.google.com/site/csieait2011/ www.icmlc.org/cfp.htm

56 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1

 Conference CALENDAR

16 – 18 Mar 2011 29 – 30 Mar 2011 25 – 27 April 2011

IMECS 2011 — International Multi Conference International Workshop on Mathematical and The 4th International Conference on
of Engineers and Computer Scientists 2011 Physical Foundations of Discrete Time Modelling and Simulation (ICMS2011)
Hong Kong, China Quantum Walk Phuket Island, Thailand
http://www.iaeng.org/IMECS2011/ Tokyo, Japan www.wjms.org.uk/icms2011
http://www.th.phys.titech.ac.jp/~shikano/dtqw/
17 – 21 Mar 2011 25 – 29 Apr 2011
International Conference on K-Theory and Its 29 – 31 Mar 2011 Stochastic Partial Differential Equations and
Applications (in Honor of the 70th Birthday of International Conference on Computer Related Topics
Professor Aderemi Oluyomi Kuku) Science and Applied Mathematics Tianjin, China
Nanjing, China Manila, Philippines http://www.nim.nankai.edu.cn/activities/
http://www.numbertheory.org/ntw/ http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/ conferences/hy20110425/index.htm
announcements.html#nanjing_conference manila/iccsam/
27 – 28 Apr 2011
20 – 23 Mar 2011 29 – 31 Mar 2011 The Third Conference on Mathematical
ISCI 2011 — IEEE Symposium on International Conference on Mathematics, Sciences
Computers & Informatics Statistics and Scientific Computing Zarqa, Jordan
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Manila, Philippines http://www.zpu.edu.jo/CMS/cms.htm
http://www.mypels.org/isci2011 http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
manila/icmssc/ 29 – 30 Apr 2011
20 – 23 Mar 2011 ICAPM 2011 — 2011 International Conference
The Mathematical Society of Japan Spring 29 – 31 Mar 2011 on Applied Physics and Mathematics
Meeting 2011. International Conference on Computational Chennai, India
Tokyo, Japan and Mathematical Engineering http://www.icapm.org/cfp.htm
http://mathsoc.jp/en/meeting/waseda11mar/ Manila, Philippines
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
21 – 25 Mar 2011 manila/iccme/ MAY 2011
SAC'11 — The 2011 ACM Symposium
on Applied Computing
TaiChung, Taiwan 2 – 4 May 2011
http://oldwww.acm.org/conferences/sac/ APRIL 2011 ICNCI 2011 — 2011 International Conference
sac2011/ on Network and Computational Intelligence
11 - 15 Apr 2011 Chongqing, China
21 – 25 Mar 2011 Workshop in Complex and Algebraic http://www.icnci.org/cfp.htm
ACM-SAC 2011 Conference Track on Geometry
Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Beijing, China 2 – 6 May 2011
Biology (BIO) http://www.math.ac.cn/WICAG2011/home.htm SAMPTA 2011 — The 9th International
TaiChung, Taiwan Conference on Sampling Theory and
http://www.nrcbioinformatics.ca/acmsac2011/ 12 – 14 Apr 2011 Applications
AIML 11 — ICGST International Conference on Singapore
http://sampta2011.ntu.edu.sg/
22 – 24 Mar 2011 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
ASIACCS 2011 — The 6th ACM Symposium Dubai, United Arab Emirates
http://www.icgst.com/con11/aiml11/index.html
9 – 11 May 2011
on Information, Computer and
IEEE ICIME — 2011 3rd IEEE International
Communications Security
Conference on Information Management
Hong Kong, China 12 – 14 Apr 2011 and Engineering
http://www.cs.hku.hk/asiaccs2011/ International Conference on Mathematical and Zhengzhou, China
Computational Biology 2011 (ICMCB 2011) http://www.icime.org/
24 – 26 Mar 2011 Malacca, Malaysia
International Conference on Quantum Optics http://einspem.upm.edu.my/icmcb2011 14 – 15 May 2011
and Quantum Computing (ICQOQC-11) CMSP 2011 — International Conference
Utar Pradesh, India 14 – 16 Apr 2011 on Multimedia and Signal Processing
http://www.jiit.ac.in/jiit/ICQOQC%20’11/index. ICMFII 2011 — The 1st International Guilin, China
htm Conference on Multidimensional Finance, http://ncis-cmsp2011.gxnu.edu.cn/
Insurance and Investment
25 – 27 Mar 2011 Hammamet, Tunisia 15 – 28 May 2011
The Seventh International Conference on http://icmfii.com/ CIMPA-UNESCO-MICINN-Thailand Research
Number Theory and Smarandache Notions School on Spectral triples and their
Weinan, China 15 – 17 Apr 2011 Applications
Contact wpzhang@nwu.edu.cn ICDIP 2011 — 2011 3rd International Bangkok, Thailand
http://www.ams.org/meetings/calender/2011_ Conference on Digital Image Processing http:www.cimpa-icpam.org/spip.php?article305
mar25-27_shaanxi.html Chengdu, China
http://www.icdip.org/cfp.htm 18 – 19 May 2011
26 – 27 Mar 2011 Second International Conference on
ISAC 2011 — International Symposia in 19 – 21 Apr 2011 Recent Trends in Information Processing
Advance Computing ICMSAO 2011 — 4th International Conference & Computing IPC 2010
Lucknow, India on Modeling, Simulation and Applied Tamil Nadu, India
http://www.myprayas.co.in/ Optimization http://ipc.engineersnetwork.org/2011/
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
28 – 31 Mar 2011 http://webkl.utm.my/icmsao2011/
Mathematical Modelling and Applications
to Industrial Problems
Kerala, India
http://mmip.nitc.ac.in/
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 57

22 – 27 May 2011
36th IEEE International conference on
Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing
ICASSP2011
Wuhan, China
http://www.icassp2011.com
23 – 25 May 2011
TAMC 2011, 8th Annual Conference on Theory
and Applications of Models of Computation
Tokyo, Japan
http://www.tamc2011.com/
23 – 25 May 2011
CCDC 2011 — Chinese Control and
Decision Conference
Mianyang, China
http://www.ccdc.neu.edu.cn/
24 – 27 May 2011
The 15th Pacific-Asia Conference on
Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining
Shenzhen, China
http://pakdd2011.pakdd.org/
25 – 27 May 2011
International Conference on Mathematics and
Computational Science
Tokyo, Japan
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
tokyo/icmcs/
25 – 27 May 2011
International Conference on Computational
Statistics and Data Analysis
Tokyo, Japan
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/tokyo/
iccsda/
25 –27 May 2011
International Conference on Applied
Mathematics and Scientific Computing
Tokyo, Japan
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
tokyo/icamsc/
25 – 27 May 2011
International Conference on
Mathematical Biology and Ecology
Tokyo, Japan
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/tokyo/
icmbe/
25 – 27 May 2011
International Conference on
Computational Mathematics
Tokyo, Japan
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
tokyo/iccm/
25 – 27 May 2011
International Conference on Fuzzy
Systems and Neural Computing
Tokyo, Japan
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/tokyo/
icfsnc/
29 May – 1 Jun 2011
ISNN 2011 — 8th International
Symposium on Neural Networks
Guilin, China
http://isnn2011.mae.cuhk.edu.hk/
58 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
Conference CALENDAR
30 May – 3 Jun 2011 27 Jun – 1 Jul 2011
International Conference on 2nd Istanbul Design Theory, Graph Theory
Asymptotics and Special Functions and Combinatorics Conference
Hong Kong, China Istanbul, Turkey
http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/rcms/ICASF2011/ http://home.ku.edu.tr/~eyazici/Research/
index.html Design2011/conference-organizers.htm
27 Jun – 15 Jul 2011
JUNE 2011 Sino-French Summer Institute 2011 in
Arithmetic Geometry
1 – 2 Jun 2011 Tianjin, China
ICOMLAI 2011 — International Conference on http://www.nim.nankai.edu.cn/activities/
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence conferences/hy2011067/index.htm
Penang, Malaysia
http://www.icss-edu.tw/icomlai2011/index.htm 28 – 29 Jun 2011
DMO 2011 — 3rd Conference on
1 – 3 Jun 2011 Data Mining and Optimization
ICCS 2011 — 11th International Conference Bangi, Malaysia
on Computational Science http://dmo.ukm.my/DMO11/
Tsukuba, Japan
http://www.iccs-meeting.org/ 28 – 30 Jun 2011
2011 IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy
4 – 5 Jun 2011 Systems
The 9th Takagi Lectures Taipei, Taiwan
Kyoto, Japan,. http://fuzzieee2011.nutn.edu.tw/
http://www.ms.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~toshi/takagi/
29 Jun – 1 Jul 2011
6 – 10 Jun 2011 ICSDM 2011 — IEEE International Conference
International Workshop on Representation on Spatial Data Mining and Geographical
Theory and Harmonic Analysis Knowledge Services
Tianjin, China Fuzhou, China
http://www.ssr.nankai.edu.cn/ http://www.icsdm2011.org/
13 – 15 Jun 2011 30 Jun – 2 Jul 2011
2011 International Conference on Applied CISIS 2011 — CISIS-2011-Track:
Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Research Artificial Intelligence and Agent Technology
Tianjin, China Seoul, South Korea
http://www.isam.nakai.edu.cn/ http://dslab.ci.seikei.ac.jp/conf/cisis/2011
17 – 19 Jun 2011
CSIE 2011 — 2nd World Congress on JULY 2011
Computer Science and Information
Engineering 3 – 6 Jul 2011
Changchun, China The Second IMS Asia Pacific Rim Meetings
http://world-research-institutes.org/ Tokyo, Japan
conferences/CSIE/2011/ http://www.sonic-city.or.jp/modules/english/
20 – 24 Jun 2011 3 – 7 Jul 2011
The 7th International Conference on AAMT-MERGA Conference 2011:
“Mathematical Methods in Reliability” — Mathematics: Traditions and New Practices
Theory, Methods, Applications Alice Spring, Australia
Beijing, China http://www.aamt.edu.au/conferences/
http://www.mmr2011.cn/ AAMT-MERGA-conference
21 – 25 Jun 2011 3 – 7 Jul 2011
2011 IFSA World Congress, AFSS International Mathematics Education Research
Conference Group of Australia (MERGA)
Surabaya and Bali, Indonesia Alice Springs, Fremantle, Australia
http://ifsa2011.eepis-its.edu/ http://www.merga.net.au/conferences
21 – 25 Jun 2011 4 – 6 Jul 2011
The 6th International Conference in Abstract The 2nd Institute of Mathematical
harmonic Analysis Statistics Asia Pacific Rim Meeting
Tianjin, China Tokyo, Japan
http://www.nim.nankai.edu.cn/activities/ http://www.ims-aprm2011.org/
conferences/hy20110621/index.htm
4 – 10 Jul 2011
27 – 29 Jun 2011 International Conference on Topology
The 7th East Asia SIAM Conference: and Its Applications (ICTA), 2011
EASIAM 2011 Islamabed, Pakistan
Tokyo, Japan http://ww2.ciit-isb.edu.pk/math/
http://oishi.info.waseda.ac.jp/~easiam2011/
 Conference CALENDAR

8 – 11 Jul 2011 21 – 23 Jul 2011 14 – 15 Sep 2011

IMS — China International Conference The Seventh IMT-GT International Conference ARTCom 2011 — 3rd International
on Statistics and Probability 2011 on Mathematics, Statistics and its Applications Conference on Advances in Recent
Xian, China (ISMSA 2011) Technologies in Communication and
http://www.stat.umn.edu/~statconf/ Bangkok, Thailand Computing
imschina2011/ http://icmsa2011.nida.ac.th Bangalore, Karnataka, India
http://artcom.engineersnetwork.org/2011/
10 – 13 Jul 2011 27 – 29 Jul 2011
2011 International Conference on Wavelet International Conference on Mathematics and 17 – 21 Sep 2011
Analysis and Pattern Recognition Mathematical Sciences Ubicomp'11 — The 2011 ACM
(ICWAPR2011) Singapore Conference on Ubiquitous Computing
Guilin, China http://landrd.com2011/icmms-2011- Beijing, China
http://www.icmlc.com international-conference-on-mathemati-2/ http://www.ubicomp.org/ubicomp2011

10 – 15 Jul 2011 28 – 30 Jul 2011 19 – 23 Sep 2011

35th Conference of the International Group International Conference on Special Functions The 16th Asian Technology Conference
for the Psychology of Mathematics Education & their Applications (ICSFA 2011) in Mathematics (ATCM 2011)
PME35 Jodhpur, India Bolu, Turkey
Ankara, Turkey http://www.ssfaindia.webs.com/conf.htm http://atcm2011.org/
http://www.arber.com.tr/pme35.org/index.php/
home 31 Jul – 5 Aug 2011 26 – 29 Sep 2011
ISIT 2011 — IEEE International The 5th Sino-Japan Optimization Meeting
Symposium on Information Theory Beijing, China
10 – 15 Jul 2011
Saint Petersburg, Russia http://lsec.cc.ac.cn/~sjom/index.htm
Conference for the International Federation
of Operational Research Societies http://www.isit2011.org/
Melbourne, Australia 28 – 30 Sep 2011
http://www.ifors2011.org/ International Conference on Applied
Mathematics, Mechanics and Physics
AUGUST 2011 Singapore
10 – 16 Jul 2011
International Conference on Analysis http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
1 – 12 Aug 2011 singapore/icammp/
and Its Applications
CIMPA-UNESCO-MICINN-Indonesia Research
Aligarh, India
http://www.amu.ac.in/conference/icaa2011/
School on Geometric Representation Theory 28 – 30 Sep 2011
Bandung, Indonesia International Conference on Sensor Networks,
10 – 16 Jul 2011 http:www.cimpa-icpam.org/spip.php?article309 Information, and Ubiquitous Computing
International Conference on Rings and Singapore
Algebras in Honor of Professor Pjek-Hwee Lee 22 – 24 Aug 2011 http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
Taipei, Taiwan The 3rd International Conference on Control singapore/icsniuc/
http://moonstone.math.ncku.edu. and Optimization with Industrial Applications:
tw/2011AlgConference/index.html COIA 2011 28 – 30 Sep 2011
Ankara, Turkey International Conference on Applied
11 – 13 Jul 2011 http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~coia2011 Mathematics and Computer Sciences
NDT 2011 — 3rd International Conference Singapore
on Networked Digital Technologies 24 – 26 Aug 2011 http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
Macau, China International Conference on singapore/icamcs/
http://www.dirf.org/ndt Distributed and Grid Computing
Tokyo, Japan 28 Sep – 1 Oct 2011
12 – 15 Jul 2011 http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/japan/ The Mathematical Society of Japan Autumn
The 6th SEAMS-GMU 2011 icdgc/ Meeting 2011
International Conference on Fukuoka City, Japan
Mathematics and Its Applications 24 – 26 Aug 2011 http://mathsoc.jp/meeting/
Yogyakarta, Indonesia International Conference on Applied
http://seams2011.fmipa.ugm.ac.id/index.htm Mathematics and Mathematical Engineering
Tokyo, Japan
OCTOBER 2011
18 – 22 Jul 2011 http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/japan/
Geometry & Topology Down Under — icamme/ 19 – 21 Oct 2011
A Conference in Honour of Hyam Rubinstein 2011 Fourth International Workshop on
Melbourne, Australia Advanced Computational Intelligence
www.amsi.org.au/index.php/past-events/534- SEPTEMBER 2011 Wuhan, China
hyamfest-geometry-and-topology-down-under http://www.iwaci.org
7 – 9 Sep 2011
18 – 22 Jul 2011 International Conference on Nonlinear 26 – 28 Oct 2011
Workshop on Non-abelian Class Field Theory mathematics for Uncertainty anf Its International Conference on Hadron Physics
Pohang, Korea Applications Bali, Indonesia
http://math.postech.ac.kr/~minhyong/nacftws. Beijing, China http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
htm http://www.caas.org.cn/NLMUA2011/ bali/ichp/

18 – 29 Jul 2011 26 – 28 Oct 2011

12 – 21 Sep 2011
CIMPA-UNESCO-MICINN-Indonesia Research International Conference on Computer
The 4th MSJ-SI — Nonlinear Dynamics
School on Non-linear Computational and Applied Mathematics
in Partial Differential Equations
Geometry Bali, Indonesia
Fukuoka, Japan
Yogyakarta, Indonesia http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
http://www2.math.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~tohru/
http:www.cimpa-icpam.org/spip.php?article313 bali/iccam/
msjsi11/
January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 59
 Conference CALENDAR

26 – 28 Oct 2011 12 – 16 Dec 2011 25 – 30 Mar 2012

International Conference on Mathematics
and Mathematical Sciences
Bali, Indonesia
http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
bali/icmms/
MODSIM 2011— International Congress
on Modelling and Simulation
Perth, Australia
http://www.amsi.org.au/index.php/past-
events/415-international-conference-in-
harmonic-analysis
37th IEEE International conference on
Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing
ICASSP2012
Kyoto, Japan
http://www.icassp2012.com

NOVEMBER 2011 14 – 18 Dec 2011 JUNE 2012

International Conference on Integral and
4 – 6 November 2011 Convex Geometry Analysis and Related Topics
Workshop on Algebra, Geometry and 4 – 8 Jun 2012
Tianjin, China
Topology Arithmatic Geometry Week in Tokyo
http://www.nim.nankai.edu.cn/activities/
Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam Tokyo, Japan
conferences/hy20111217/index.htm
http://www.math.ac.vn/conference http://www.ms.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~t-saito/conf/
agwtodai/agwto
15 – 20 Dec 2011
7 – 11 Nov 2011 Twelfth Asian Logic Conference
The 8th International Conference on Wellington, New Zealand 19 – 22 June 2012
Numerical Optimization and Numerical Linear http://msor.victoria.ac.nz/Events/ALC2011 7th World Congress of
Algebra Bachelier Finance Society
Xiamen, China Sydney, Australia
21 – 23 Dec 2011 http://www.bfs2012.com
http://lsec.cc.ac.cn/~icnonla/index.htm International Conference on Applied
Mathematics and Engineering Mathematics
10 – 11 Nov 2011 Phuket, Thailand
AUCC 2011 — Australian Control Conference http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/ JULY 2012
Melbourne, Australia phuket/icamem/
http://www.aucc.org.au/ 8 – 15 Jul 2012
21 – 23 Dec 2011 ICME 12 International Congress on
19 – 21 Nov 2011 International Conference on Computational Mathematical Education COEX
International Conference on Mathematics, Statistics and Data Engineering Seoul, Korea
Analysis and Its Applications Phuket, Thailand http://www.icme12.org/
Aligarh, India http://www.waset.org/conferences/2011/
http://www.amu.ac.in/conference/icaa2011/ phuket/iccmsde/ 9 – 12 Jul 2012
8th World Congress in Probability and
19 – 23 Nov 2011 28 – 30 December 2011 Statistics
International Workshop on Advanced Statistical Concepts and Methods Istanbul, Turkey
Computational Intelligence and Intelligent for the Modern World http://www.worldcong2012.org/
Information Colombo, Sri Lanka
Suzhou, China http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/shelton/ 9 – 13 Jul 2012
http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc./eds/imw/ SLSC2011/ 20th International Symposium on
Mathematical Theory of Networks and
28 – 30 Nov 2011 28 – 31 Dec 2011 Systems
2011 First Asian Conference on Pattern International Conference on Advances in Melbourne, Australia
Recognition Probability and Statistics — Theory and http://mtns2012.eng.unimelb.edu.au/
Beijing, China Applications
http://www.acpr2011.org Hong Kong, China 30 July – 3 August 2012
http://faculty.smu.edu/ngh/icaps2011.html 24th International Conference on Formal
Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics
29 – 30 Dec 2011 Nagoya, Japan
DECEMBER 2011 2011 International Conference on Applied http://www.math.nagoya-u.ac.jp/fpsac12/
Physics and Mathematics – ACAPM 2011 index.html
1 – 3 Dec 2011 Chennai, India
The 10th WSEAS International Conference on http://www.icapm.org/cfp.htm
Computational Intelligence, Man-Machine
Systems and Cybernetics (CIMMACS’11) NOVEMBER 2012
Jakarta, Indonesia
JANUARY 2012
http://www.wseas.us/conferences/2011/jakarta/ 7 – 9 Nov 2012
cimmacs/ Joint International Workshop on Structural
17 – 19 January 2012 and Syntactic Pattern Recognition and
7 – 9 Dec 2011 ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Statistical Techniques (SSPR2012)
19th International Symposium on Intelligent Algorithms (SODA12) Sendai, Japan
Signal Processing and Communication Kyoto, Japan http://www.icpr2012.org
Systems (ISPACS) http://www.siam.org/meeting/da12/
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.ispacs2011.org DECEMBER 2012
MARCH 2012
9 – 11 Dec 2011 1 – 31 Dec 2012
CiSE 2011 — International Conference 5 – 9 Mar 2012 24th International Conference on
on Computational Intelligence and 5th International Conference on High Computational Linguistics
Software Engineering Performance Scientific Computing Mumbai, India
Wuhan, China Hanoi, Vietnam http://www.coling2012-iitb.org
http://www.ciseng.org/2011/ http://hpsc.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/
HPSCHanoi2012/
60 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1
 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Mathematical Societies in Asia-Pacific Region

Australian Mathematical Society Address: Department of Mathematics,
The Hong Kong Baptist University,
President: P. G. Taylor
FSC1102, Fong Shu Chuen Building,
Address: Department of Mathematics and
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Statistics, The University of Melbourne,
Email: ttang@hkbu.edu.hk
Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
Tel.: 852 3411 5148
Email: President@austms.org.au
Fax: 852 3411 5811
Tel.: +61 (0)3 8344 5550
http://www.hkms.org.hk/
Fax: +61 (0)3 8344 4599
http://www.austms.org.au/
Mathematical Societies in India:
Bangladesh Mathematical Society The Allahabad Mathematical Scociety
President: D. P. Gupta
President: Md. Abdus Sattar
Address: 10, C S P Singh Marg,
Address: Bangladesh Mathematical Society,
Allahabad - 211001,UP, India
Department of Mathematics,
Email: ams10marg@gmail.com
University of Dhaka,
http://www.amsallahabad.org/
Dhaka - 1000, Bangladesh
Email: bdmathsec@yahoo.com
Calcutta Mathematical Society
Tel.: +880 17 11 86 47 25
President: B. K. Lahiri
http://bdmathsociety.org/
Kalyani University
Address: AE-374, Sector I, Salt Lake City,
Cambodian Mathematical Society Kolkata - 700064, WB, India
President: Chan Roath Email: calmathsoc@yahoo.com
Address: Khemarak University, Tel.: 0091 (33) 2337 8882
Phnom Penh Center Block D Fax: 0091 (33) 376290
Email: camb.res.journal@gmail.com http://www.calmathsoc.org/
Tel.: (855) 642 68 68
(855) 11 69 70 38 The Indian Mathematical Society
http://www.cambmathsociety.org/ President: R. Sridharan
Address: Department of Mathematics,
University of Pune,
Chinese Mathematical Society Pune - 411007
President: Zhiming Ma India
Address: Zhongguan Road East No. 55, Email: rsridhar@cmi.ac.in
Beijing 100080, China http://www.indianmathsociety.org.in/
Email: mazm@amt.ac.cn
Tel.: 0086 62562362 Ramanujan Mathematical Society
http://www.cms.org.cn/cms/ President: M. S. Raghunathan
Address: School of Mathematics,
Tata Institute of Fundamental
Hong Kong Mathematical Society
Research,
President: Tao Tang Homi Bhaba Road, Colaba,
Director of Joint Research Institute for Mumbai, India
Applied Mathematics, Email: msr@math.tifr.res.in
Department of Mathematics, http://www.ramanujanmathsociety.org/
The Hong Kong Baptist University

January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 61

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Vijnana Parishad of India Malaysian Mathematical Society

President: V. P. Saxena
President: Mohd Salmi Md. Noorani
Contact: R.C. Singh Chandel
Address: School of Mathematical Sciences,
Secretary, Vijnana Parishad of India
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
D.V. Postgraduate College,
43600, Selangor D. Ehsan, Malaysia
Orai - 285001, UP, India
Email: msn@ukm.my
Email: rc_chandel@yahoo.com
Tel.: +603 8921 5712
Tel.: + 91 11 27495877
Fax.: +603 8925 4519
http://vijnanaparishadofindia.org/
http://www.persama.org.my/

Indonesian Mathematical Society

Mongolian Mathematical Society
President: Widodo
President: A. Mekei
Address: Fakultas MIPA Universitas Gadjah Mada,
Address: P. O. Box 187, Post Office 46A,
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Email: widodo_math@yahoo.com
Email: mekei@yahoo.com
http://www.indoms-center.org

Nepal Mathematical Society

Israel Mathematical Union
President: Bhadra Man Tuladhar
President: Louis H. Rowen
Address: Nepal Mathematical Society,
Address: Israel Mathematical Union,
Central Department of Mathematics,
Department of Mathematics,
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur,
Bar Ilan University,
Kathmandu, Nepal
Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
Email: tuladhar@hotmail.com
Email: rowen@macs.biu.ac.il
Tel.: 9841 639131
Tel.: +972 3 531 8284
00977 1 2041603 (Res)
Fax: +972 9 7418016
http://www.nms.org.np/
http://www.imu.org.il/

New Zealand Mathematical Society

The Mathematical Society of Japan
President: Charles Semple
President: Takashi Tsuboi
Contact: Alex James
Address: Taitou 1-34-8 Taito-ku,
(Secretary, a.james@math.canterbury.
Tokyo110-0016, Japan
ac.nz)
Email: president@mathsoc.jp
Address: Department of Mathematics and
Tel.: + 81 03 3835 3483
Statistics,
http://mathsoc.jp/en/
University of Canterbury,
Private Bag 4800,
The Korean Mathematical Society Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
President: Dong Youp Suh http://nzmathsoc.org.nz
KAIST
Address: The Korean Mathematical Society, Pakistan Mathematical Society
Korea Science and
President: Qaiser Mushtag
Technology Center 202, 635-4,
Department of Mathematics,
Yeoksam-dong, Kangnam-gu,
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
Seoul 135-703, Korea
Contact: General Secretary
Email: dysuh@ math.kaist.ac.kr
Dr. Muhammad Aslam
dysuh@kaist.ac.kr
http://www.kms.or.kr/eng/

62 January 2011, Volume 1 No 1

 Asia Pacific Mathematics Newsletter

Address: Department of Mathematics, Singapore Mathematical Society

Qauid-i-Azam University,
President: Chengbo Zhu
Islamabad, Pakistan
Address: Department of Mathematics, National
Email: aslamwasim@yahoo.com
University of Singapore,
Fax: 92 51 4448509
2 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117543
http://pakms.org.pk/
Email: mathzhucb@nus.edu.sg
Tel.: +65 6516 6400
Mathematical Society of the Philippines http://sms.math.nus.edu.sg/
President: Jumela F. Sarmiento
Ateneo de Manila University Southeast Asian Mathematical Society
Address: Mathematical Society of the Philippines,
President: Fidel Nemenzo
c/o Department of Mathematics,
Address: Institute of Mathematics,
University of the Philippines,
University of the Philippines,
Diliman, Quezon City, 1101, Philippines
Diliman, QC, Philippines
Email: jumela@mathsci.math.admu.edu.ph
Email: fidel@math.upd.edu.ph
Fax: 632 920 1009
http://seams.math.nus.edu.sg/
http://www.mathsocietyphil.org/

The Mathematical Society of Republic of

Mathematical Societies in Russia:
China
Moscow Mathematical Society
President: Sze-Bi Hsu
President: S. Novikov
Department of Mathematics, National
Address: Landau Institute for Theoretical
Tsing Hua University
Physics,
Address: No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road,
Russian Academy of Sciences,
Hsinchu, 30013, R.O.C., Taiwan
Kosygina 2 1,
Email: sbhsu@math.nthu.edu.tw
1 7 940 Moscow GSP-1, Russia
Tel.: +886 3 571 5131 ext. 31052
Contact: John O'Connor
Fax: +886 3 572 3888
joc@st-andrews.ac.uk
http://tms.math.ntu.edu.tw/
Prof Edmund Robertson
efr@st-andrews.ac.uk
Thailand Mathematical Society
St. Petersburg Mathematical Society Director: Yongwimon Lenburi
President: Yu. V. Matiyasevich Address: Department of Mathematics,
Address: St. Petersburg Mathematical Society, Faculty of Science,
Fontanka 27, Mahidol University,
St. Petersburg, 191023, Russia Bangkok, Thailand
Email: matob@pdmi.ras.ru Email: scylb@mahidol.ac.th
Tel.: +7 (812) 312 8829, 312 4058 http://www.math.or.th/mat/
Fax: +7 (812) 310 5377
http://www.mathsoc.spb.ru/
Vietnam Mathematical Society
Voronezh Mathematical Society President: Le Tuan Hoa
President: S. G. Krein Address: Institute of Mathematics, VAST
Address: ul. Timeryaseva 6 a ap 35 18 Hoang Quoc Vietnam, Hanoi,
394 043 Voronezh, Russia Vietnam
Email: ethoa@math.ac.vn
http://www.vms.org.vn/english/vms_e.htm

January 2011, Volume 1 No 1 63