Statistical Mechanics Study Group

Autumn 2008

Time:  Thursdays of "odd" weeks at 5pm (note new time!)
Location:  Maths Room 513

General Idea: The aim of these meetings is to provide a forum to discuss both our own work and other recent (or not-so-recent) developments in statistical mechanics. This is intended to be a "study group" not a "seminar" – speakers are asked to proceed slowly and audience participation is actively encouraged. After each talk there is also the opportunity for further informal discussions in more relaxed surroundings.

Schedule: The list below gives a provisional outline of talks planned for this semester. Please note, however, that our schedule is fairly flexible to allow for the evolving interests of the group. As term progresses, the titles will be updated to link to any relevant resources (abstract, notes/slides, references etc.).

Organizer: Rosemary Harris; if you want to be on the group's mailing list, or perhaps want to give a talk yourself, please email me at

Date	Speaker	Title
9 October	Mark Walters (QMUL)	Rigorous confidence intervals for critical percolation probabilities
23 October	Oscar Bandtlow (QMUL)	A bluffer's guide to spectral theory
30 October (extra session!)	Oscar Bandtlow (QMUL)	The spectral theorem: burn your bras and kets
6 November Room 410	Friedrich Lenz (Dresden / QMUL)	Modelling traffic with Fokker-Planck equations
20 November	Baowen Li (National University of Singapore)	Anomalous heat conduction and anomalous diffusion in low dimensional systems: A challenge problem for mathematicians
4 December	Tobias Galla (University of Manchester)	Stability, complexity and diversity in random replicator models of ecology and evolutionary game theory