Geometric Scattering Theory and Applications (14w5105)

The Banff International Research Station will host the "Geometric Scattering Theory and Applications" workshop from November 2nd to November 7th, 2014.

Scattering theory is a branch of mathematics that studies how the geometry of
a physical system affects the motion of scattered waves, and how properties of
that physical system can be inferred from scattered waves. Examples of
scattered waves include gravitational waves in general relativity,
electromagnetic waves, and water waves in the ocean. For example, can water wave ripples
be used to infer information about the source of the wave and the shoreline.
Applications of scattering theory include medical imaging, geophysical
prospection, and non-destructive testing for cracks in materials.
These all rely on ideas of scattering theory to
image the human body, the Earth's crust, or large structures such as bridges.

This conference will bring together researches in scattering theory and
geometry to make further progress in \textquotedblleft geometric scattering
theory,\textquotedblright\ which studies scattering in the mathematical
setting of Riemannian manifolds. Riemannian manifolds are mathematical models
for spaces which occur naturally such as in general relativity and string theory.
The main goal is to relate
the behavior of the scattered waves to the geometry of the spaces.

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 U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Alberta's Advanced Education and Technology, and Mexico's Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).