February 1908 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Elie Cartan's paper Les Sous-Groupes des Groupes Continus de Transformations and the introduction to the Method of Equivalence–Cartan's tremendously powerful machinery for uncovering geometry. Thanks in large part to the contributions of two subsequent masters of this mathematics, S.-S. Chern and Robby Gardner, Cartan's Method of Equivalence and his theory of Exterior Differential Systems have found applications from pure mathematics to mechanics, engineering, and computer science. This workshop brings together leading practitioners in Exterior Differential Systems and the Method of Equivalence to explore recent developments including: the study of Riemannian submersions, holonomy, almost complex manifolds, representation theory and mathematical physics, integrable systems and conservation laws, partial differential equations, including Backlund transformations and solitons, control theory and a new central limit theorem. May 2008 also marks the 10th anniversary of Robby Gardner’s untimely death and this workshop is held in his honor.

Accommodations: A block of rooms has been reserved at the Rose Garden Inn. Reservations may be made by calling 1-800-992-9005 OR directly on their website. Click on “Reservations and Availability” then click on “Corporate” at the bottom of the screen and enter the word “math”. Enter Group Code CGMS59 in the “Guest Comment” box, and provide requested information The cut-off date for reservations is April 8, 2008. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hotel Durant. Please mention the workshop name and reference the following code when making reservations via phone, fax or e-mail: BJ0000. The cut-off date for reservations is April 4, 2008. Session Chairmen (PDF 23KB)