SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES

August 2-4, 2011 Workshop on Positivity: Positivity in the classification of operator algebras and dynamical systems, in finite- and infinite-dimensional linear algebra, and its outgrowths hosted by the Fields Institute, held at the University of Toronto, Bahen Building, Room 1200 Map Organizer: Thierry Giordano, Vladimir Pestov

Overview:

The notion of positivity, whose study is motivated by deep questions in operator algebras, has important applications in a large number of areas of mathematics, for example

• connections among commutative algebra, positive multiplications of polynomials and characters (of compact groups), partially ordered abelian groups (especially dimension groups), and special random walks
• C*-algebra theory and in the classification of compact group actions on AF algebras;
• classification in measure-theoretic ergodic theory, especially dealing with approximate transitivity and matrix-valued random walks
• classification in topological ergodic theory, via ordered K₀-theory

These research directions and their outgrowths have been and remain particularly active in Canada, with David Handelman having been a major contributor over past decades. In particular, he has established profound connections between these areas. The goal of this workshop, timed to mark David's 60th birthday, is to present and further develop these connections.

Invited Speakers:

B. Blackadar (University of Nevada, Reno)
M. Boyle (University of Maryland)
M.-D. Choi (University of Toronto)
G. A. Elliott (University of Toronto)
V. Kaimanovich (University of Ottawa)
D. Kerr (Texas A&M)
B. Marcus (University of British Columbia)
J. Renault (Université d'Orléans)
B. Reznick (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
K. Schmidt (University of Vienna)
C. Skau (Norwegian University of Science & Technology)
A. Toms (Purdue University)

Schedule

Tuesday, August 2 (Bahen Room 1200)
9:45- 10:30	On-site Registration and Morning Coffee
10:30-11:30	George Elliott, University of Toronto Not every functor is manifestly covariant
11:30-12:30	Bruce Blackadar, University of Nevado, Reno Recent results on semiprojectivity
12:30-14:30	Lunch Break
14:30-15:30	Andrew Toms, Purdue University The Cuntz semigroup, mean dimension, and the structure of crossed products
15:30-16:00	Coffee Break
16:00-16:45	Aaron Tikuisis, University of Toronto Representing dimension groups in real vector spaces
16:45-17:15	Wadii Hajji, University of Ottawa Compact inverse semigroup representation
17:30-18:30	Reception at the Fields Institute
Wednesday, August 3 (Bahen Room 1200)
9:00-9:30	Morning Coffee
9:30-10:30	Mike Boyle, University of Maryland The Generalized Spectral Conjecture, and the Williams Conjecture for positive matrices over unital subrings of the reals
10:30-11:00	Coffee Break
11:00-12:00	Vadim Kaimanovich, University of Ottawa Rate of escape on groupoids
12:00-12:30	Charles Starling, University of Ottawa Finite Group Actions on C*-algebras Associated to Tilings
12:30-14:00	Lunch Break
14:00-15:00	Brian Marcus, University of British Columbia A complex Hilbert metric with application to entropy of Hidden Markov Chains
15:00-15:30	Termeh Kousha, University of Ottawa Asymptotic behavior and moderate deviation principle for the maxi- mum of a Dyck path
15:30-16:00	Coffee Break
16:00-17:00	Klaus Schmidt, University of Vienna Entropy and periodic points of algebraic group actions
18:30-	Banquet (John's Italian Cafe, 27 Baldwin St.)
Thursday, August 4 (Bahen Room 1200)
9:00-9:30	Morning Coffee
9:30-10:30	Jean Renault, Université d'Orléans Conditionally negative type functions on groupoids
10:30-11:00	Coffee Break
11:00-12:00	David Kerr, Texas A&M University Topological dynamics and crossed products: finite approximation and paradoxicality
12:00-12:30	Catalin Rada, University of Ottawa On crossed products by Z of algebras arising from reduced free group C*-algebras
12:30-14:00	Lunch Break
14:00-15:00	Man-Duen Choi, University of Toronto Positive linear maps through quantum computers
15:00-15:30	Ion Nechita, University of Ottawa and CNRS Positivity as a tool in quantum entanglement theory
15:30-16:00	Coffee Break
16:00-17:00	Christian Skau, Norwegian University of Science & Technology Toeplitz flows and their K-theory

Financial support:

Partial financial support will be available for graduate students and postdocs. The deadline to apply was Friday May 27 and the funding decisions have been made.

List of Confirmed Participants as of July 25, 2011:

Full Name	University Name
Al-Nuwairan, Muneerah	University of Ottawa
Belinschi, Serban	University of Saskatchewan
Blackadar, Bruce	University of Nevada, Reno
Boyle, Mike	University of Maryland
Choi, Man-Duen	University of Toronto
Elliott, George	University of Toronto
Giordano, Thierry	University of Ottawa
Hajji, Wadii	University of Ottawa
Handelman, David	University of Ottawa
Ivanescu, Cristian	MacEwan University and University of Alberta
Kaimanovich, Vadim	University of Ottawa
Katz, Alexander A.	St. John's University
Kerr, David	Texas A&M University
Kousha, Termeh	University of Ottawa
Li, Zhiqiang	Fields Institute
Marcus, Brian	University of British Columbia
Nawata, Norio	Kyushu University
Nechita, Ion	University of Ottawa
Pestov, Vladimir	University of Ottawa
Rada, Catalin	University of Ottawa
Renault, Jean	University of Orleans
Reznick, Bruce	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Schmidt, Klaus	University of Vienna
Skau, Christian	Norwegian University of Science & Technology
Starling, Charles	University of Ottawa
Tekle, Yohannes	Ivytech Community College
Tikuisis, Aaron	University of Toronto
Toms, Andrew	Purdue University
Viola, Maria Grazia	Lakehead University-Orillia
TO BE CONFIRMED:
Kaimanovich, Vadim	University of Ottawa
Lawrence, John W.	University of Waterloo