Classification of amenable C*-algebras (10w5092)

The Banff International Research Station will host the "Classification of amenable C*-algebras" workshop from September 19 to 24, 2010.

Classification is a natural theme in mathematics, one that is particularly rich in the area of operator algebras. These algebras, which arose from attempts to give a mathematical framework to quantum physics, are naturally equipped with invariants, a sort of identification tag which encodes some structure of the algebra. It has been surprising to find that seemingly coarse invariants can encode all of the structure of the operator algebra in many important cases.

The objective of our workshop is to understand the roots of the aforementioned "classification by invariants" phenomenon in operator algebras, and to extend its validity to some natural but previously inaccessible classes of algebras. (For instance, to the case of the operator algebra associated to an arbitrary discrete time evolution of a space.) To this end we have gathered 42 of the top researchers in this field, from a pool of more than 100. The invitees have been carefully selected to ensure the presence of complementary talents, a formula that we expect will pay strong dividends.

The Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) is a collaborative Canada-US-Mexico venture that provides an environment for creative interaction as well as the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and methods within the Mathematical Sciences, with related disciplines and with industry. The research station is located at The Banff Centre in Alberta and is supported by Canada's Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), Alberta's Advanced Education and Technology, and Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT).