November 2015 - Categories - categories.org.au

type theory postdoc at Dalhousie University
by Peter Selinger 22 Jan '16

22 Jan '16

Dear colleagues, I invite applications for one postdoctoral position, starting between now and January 1, at Dalhousie University under my supervision. The successful applicant will work on a project entitled "Trusted Quantum Software via a Formally Verified Functional Quantum Programming Language". Specifically, the project will involve the design of a type system for a type-safe functional programming language for quantum computing, loosely modelled on the Quipper language (http://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~selinger/quipper/) It will also involve developing the meta-theory (including categorical semantics) of the language, and eventually the formalization of some of this meta-theory in a proof assistant. Familiarity with type theory (especially dependent type theory), programming language design, and/or semantics will be a prerequisite for this postdoc. Familiarity with quantum computing will be helpful, but is neither necessary nor sufficient for this position - the main emphasis is on programming languages and type systems. Although the position will be held at Dalhousie University in Canada, it will be an asset if the candidate is able to travel, because I will be spending one semester in Germany and one semester in the U.S. next year, and ideally I would like the postdoc to be able to accompany me. Funding for the project comes from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the research project will be part of a team effort also involving collaborators from Tulane, Stanford, Oxford, the University of Iowa, and the University of Pennsylvania. The nominal start date for the project is September 30, 2015 (yes, this is today!), so the start date can be immediately, or some time in the near future. The position is initially for 1 year, and can be extended for an additional year. The salary is CAD $60,000 per year. Interested applicants should contact Peter Selinger at selinger(a)mathstat.dal.ca as soon as possible, and in any case before October 21. I can provide more details about the research project to interested applicants on request. Thanks, -- Peter [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Midlands Graduate School Christmas Seminar
by Paul B Levy 01 Dec '15

01 Dec '15

Dear all, You are warmly invited to attend: Midlands Graduate School in the Foundations of Computing Science Christmas Seminar University of Birmingham Thursday 17 December 2015 14:00-17:45 http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pbl/mgsxmas2015.html Schedule: 14:00-15:00 Paulo Oliva (Queen Mary, University of London) On pirates, treasures and monads 15:00-15:45 Refreshments 15:45-16:45 Steve Vickers (Birmingham) Topology via Logic 16:45-17:45 Nicolai Kraus (Nottingham) Higher Inductive Types without Recursive Higher Constructors 17:45- Pub and Restaurant Midlands Graduate School is jointly run by the Universities of Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield. Best regards, Paul -- Paul Blain Levy School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pbl [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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YaMCATS 5 University of Sheffield 11 Dec 2015
by Paoli, Simona (Dr.) 28 Nov '15

28 Nov '15

Dear Colleagues, The fifth meeting of the Yorkshire and Midlands Category Seminar will take place at the University of Sheffield on Friday 11 December 2015. The speakers are Manuel Barenz (University of Nottingham and University of Bamberg) Tom Leinster (University of Edinburgh) Christian Sattler (University of Leeds) Further details about the meeting will be posted at the YaMCATS website tinyurl.com/nz69ttk The meeting is open to all and everybody is welcome. Best regards, The YaMCATS organizers: Nicola Gambino, Nick Gurski, Simona Paoli. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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PSSL 99, Jirkafest, first announcement
by Jürgen Koslowski 27 Nov '15

27 Nov '15

Dear All, With pleasure, and hot on the heels of the latest announcement, we like to invite you for PSSL 99, a special PSSL in honor of Jirka Adamek's retirement. This will take place in Braunschweig, from March 11 to March 13, 2016. Due to the special nature of this event, we already have some invited speakers, so the number of slots for additional talks is limited. These will be assigned on a first-come first-serve basis. However, as we are planning to have a Festschrift, any contribution will be considered for this. All relevant information and a registration form can be found at http://www.iti.cs.tu-bs.de/~koslowj/PSSL99 This will be updated periodically, in particular with details concerning accommodation. Once these are available, we will notify you on this list. Hoping to see many of you in Braunschweig next March, -- J??rgen Koslowski Stefan Milius Henning Urbat [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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SIGPLAN John C Reynolds Doctoral Dissertation Award
by Jeremy Gibbons 22 Nov '15

22 Nov '15

Dear All, I would like to draw your attention to the SIGPLAN John C. Reynolds Doctoral Dissertation Award. If you are (or will be) a 2015 PhD graduate with a great thesis or a supervisor of such a graduate can I suggest you consider applying? Obtaining such an award makes a person stand out when applying for positions. The nomination process is straightforward and nominations are due on the 5th of January. Details of the award can be found at http://www.sigplan.org/Awards/Dissertation/ . If you have any questions, please contact Susan Eisenbach (CC'd). Cheers, Jeremy Jeremy.Gibbons(a)cs.ox.ac.uk Oxford University Department of Computer Science, Wolfson Building, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QD, UK. +44 1865 283521 http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/jeremy.gibbons/ [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Unexampled richness
by John Baez 22 Nov '15

22 Nov '15

Dear Categorists - pjf wrote: Jim Holt wrote in his "Diary" on Slate, 2000--11--27 > > Category theory is a ridiculously abstract framework that takes all > the meaning out of mathematics. > > In his review of Michael Harris's "Mathematics Without Apologies: > Portrait of a Problematic Vocation" (Princeton University Press, 2015) > Holt writes (The New York Review of Books, 2015--12--03): > > ...Grothendieck made [category theory] sing. Between 1958 and 1970, > he used category theory to create novel structures of unexampled > richness. > Given the first quote, I wonder if Holt is making a subtle dig at Grothendieck here, hinting that he doesn't consider enough examples! I suppose you all know this joke: One striking characteristic of Grothendieck’s mode of thinking is that it > seemed to rely so little on examples. This can be seen in the legend of the > so-called “Grothendieck prime”. In a mathematical conversation, someone > suggested to Grothendieck that they should consider a particular prime > number. “You mean an actual number?” Grothendieck asked. The other person > replied, yes, an actual prime number. Grothendieck suggested, “All right, > take 57.” > http://www.ams.org/notices/200410/fea-grothendieck-part2.pdf Best, jb [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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a question
by Vladimir Voevodsky 19 Nov '15

19 Nov '15

Hello, could anyone point me out to a proof that the category F whose objects are natural numbers and morphisms are morphisms of finite sets is a free category with coproducts where the associativity and unity isomorphisms are identities generated by one object? Thank you in advance, Vladimir. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Springer violates copyright!
by Michael Barr 19 Nov '15

19 Nov '15

As most of you know, Charles Wells and I published Toposes, Triples, and Theories in 1984. Several years later, the book was sold out and, in accordance, I believe, with the 1980 copyright law, they had to reprint or return the copyright to the authors. They chose the latter option. They sent us letters saying that we were now the owners of the copyright. Unfortunately, neither of us has saved the letter. Nonetheless they did return the copyright. Browsing their web site a couple months ago, I noticed that they are selling the book again, just as though they still own the copyright. They are selling an electronic version, as well as what they describe as a paperback version, which is almost surely print-on-demand. I haven't looked (I would have to pay to) but I assume that what they are selling is a scan of the inferior printed version. (It is inferior owing to the use of a poor quality printer.) Needless to say that have not offered either of us any royalties. They have also ignored a complaint I wrote them. Most of you probably know that a slightly revised and corrected version is available free as TAC reprint #12 as well as on both Charles's and my web sites. And any copy shop will print and bind you a copy more cheaply than Springer. Michael [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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98th PSSL -- first announcement
by Oosten, J. van 18 Nov '15

18 Nov '15

Dear all, We are happy to announce the 98th Peripatetic Seminar on Sheaves and Logic, which will take place during the weekend of 8-10 January 2016. As usual, we invite talks on every aspect of category theory or its applications in mathematics. We have booked a conference centre in a wooded area near the University of Utrecht, which offers full board and lodging and lecture room facilities. We can use some grant money so that the local expenses for the participants will be kept to a minimum. The web site of the centre is http://www.kaapdoorn.com/ (but precise travel instructions will be given in a further announcement). However, we could only make this arrangement for a maximum of 40 participants. We therefore ask participants to register NO LATER than December 17, by an e-mail sent to Benno van den Berg: bennovdberg(a)gmail.com. Registration will be dealt with on a first come first serve basis. We look forward to seeing you in the new year! Benno van den Berg Ieke Moerdijk Jaap van Oosten [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Seminar - today
by Robert Pare 17 Nov '15

17 Nov '15

@CAT Seminar Colloquium Room 2:30-3:30 Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Bob Paré Intercategories of Superspans Abstract: After a quick review of intercategories, I will give a method of constructing non trivial and (hopefully) interesting examples.

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