The Oxford Advanced Seminar on Informatic Structures

Introduction to OASIS

Michaelmas 2004

Hilary 2005

Trinity 2005

Michaelmas 2005

Hilary 2006

Trinity 2006

Michaelmas 2006

Hilary 2007

Trinity 2007

Michaelmas 2007

Hilary 2008

Trinity 2008

Trinity 2008

A GOODBYE KISS FROM THE COORDINATOR

Talks are in the NEW Lecture Theatre B in the NEW building of the Computing Laboratory - ask at the reception for directions. The Computing Laboratory is located at the corner of Parks road and Keble road; the reception is on Parks road. Abstracts can be found at the bottom of this page. Everyone is welcome!

• Friday 16 May, 2.00 PM (week 4) [Bertfried Fauser] (University of Konstanz) Graphical calculus underlying Grassmann, Clifford, and symmetric function Hopf algebras

• Friday 6 June, 2.00 PM (week 7) [Andrei Rodin] (Ecole Normal Superieure de Paris) Euclid, Hilbert, and Functorial Semantics

• Friday 13 June, 2.00 PM (week 8) [Riccardo Pucella] (Northeastern University, Boston) TBA

• Friday 20 June, 2.00 PM (week 8+1) [Lucien Hardy] (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics) TBA

• Thursday 17 July [Rob Spekkens] (Cambridge) TBA

This is the last term the seminar is coordinated by [Bob Coecke]. From next term onward [Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh] will take over the wheel with [Samson Abramsky] and [Bob Coecke] playing an advisory role.

ABSTRACTS:

Bertfried Fauser: Graphical calculus is a categorical method to describe abstract properties of algebraic structures in a dual way to the use of commutative diagrams. I will show that behind a rather astonishing wealth of algebraic structures there is a rather simple ribbon graph category which governs these structures in a unified way. Consequent usage of this tool led to new mathematical results, like new branching rules for non-classical groups, a cohomological classification of algebraic structures in QFT etc. Perhaps more interesting is that this line of thought shows up the need to weaken the notion of a Hopf algebra to deal with subjects like Dirichlet convolution rings in number theory or renormalization in quantum field theory.

Andre Rodin: In my talk I shall compare some proposals of using Category theory for theory-building including Lawvere's Functorial Semantics and Ehresmann's Sketch theory (theorie des esquisses) with more traditional approaches presented in Hilbert's Grundlagen der Geometrie and Euclid's Elements. This historical discussion will help me to point to roots of categorical approaches in older mathematics and reconsider the standard model-theoretic setting including standard notions of syntax, semantics and theory. I shall elaborate more specifically on Lawvere's notion of theory as "generic model" and argue that it is closer to Euclid's pattern than one might likely expect.