Vaughan Jones to Give Lecture at VUW

Professor Vaughan Jones from the University of California at Berkeley is giving a lecture on "Why Flatland is a Great Place to do Algebra" at Victoria University on Friday 16th March. The lecture will be held in Maclaurin 102 (near Gate 5, Kelburn Pde) at 7pm, with refreshments from 6:30pm.

Vaughan Jones is Co-director of the NZIMA. He received the Fields Medal (the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize) in 1990, and many other honours for his work. Among these, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1986, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1990. In 1993 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Science, and in 2002 he was made a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand.

Prof Jones says about his talk; "Thinking about the dimensions of things, we recognise that the algebra we learned at school is pretty much a one dimensional affair. We will consider a new form of algebra based on two-dimensional configurations."

"We will have a quick look at places in mathematics and physics, such as quantum computing, where this 'planar algebra' appears to be necessary. The talk will be illustrated with copious anecdotes and pictures."