July 2018 - Categories - categories.org.au

Second Call for Papers: First Symposium on Compositional Structures (SYCO 1) **Extended Submission Deadline Monday 13 August**
by Jamie Vicary 27 Jul '18

27 Jul '18

[Extended Submission Deadline Monday 13 August] FIRST SYMPOSIUM ON COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURES (SYCO 1) School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham 20-21 September, 2018 http://events.cs.bham.ac.uk/syco/1/ The Symposium on Compositional Structures is a new interdisciplinary series of meetings aiming to support the growing community of researchers interested in the phenomenon of compositionality, from both applied and abstract perspectives, and in particular where category theory serves as a unifying common language. We welcome submissions from researchers across computer science, mathematics, physics, philosophy, and beyond, with the aim of fostering friendly discussion, disseminating new ideas, and spreading knowledge between fields. Submission is encouraged for both mature research and work in progress, and by both established academics and junior researchers, including students. Submission is easy, with no format requirements or page restrictions. The meeting does not have proceedings, so work can be submitted even if it has been submitted or published elsewhere. While no list of topics could be exhaustive, SYCO welcomes submissions with a compositional focus related to any of the following areas, in particular from the perspective of category theory: - logical methods in computer science, including classical and quantum programming, type theory, concurrency, natural language processing and machine learning; - graphical calculi, including string diagrams, Petri nets and reaction networks; - languages and frameworks, including process algebras, proof nets, type theory and game semantics; - abstract algebra and pure category theory, including monoidal category theory, higher category theory, operads, polygraphs, and relationships to homotopy theory; - quantum algebra, including quantum computation and representation theory; - tools and techniques, including rewriting, formal proofs and proof assistants, and game theory; - industrial applications, including case studies and real-world problem descriptions. This new series aims to bring together the communities behind many previous successful events which have taken place over the last decade, including "Categories, Logic and Physics", "Categories, Logic and Physics (Scotland)", "Higher-Dimensional Rewriting and Applications", "String Diagrams in Computation, Logic and Physics", "Applied Category Theory", "Simons Workshop on Compositionality", and the "Peripatetic Seminar in Sheaves and Logic". The steering committee hopes that SYCO will become a regular fixture in the academic calendar, running regularly throughout the year, and becoming over time a recognized venue for presentation and discussion of results in an informal and friendly atmosphere. To help create this community, in the event that more good-quality submissions are received than can be accommodated in the timetable, we may choose to *defer* some submissions to a future meeting, rather than reject them. This would be done based on submission order, giving an incentive for early submission, and avoiding any need to make difficult choices between strong submissions. Deferred submissions would be accepted for presentation at any future SYCO meeting without the need for peer review. This will allow us to ensure that speakers have enough time to present their ideas, without creating an unnecessarily competitive atmosphere. Meetings would be held sufficiently frequently to avoid a backlog of deferred papers. # INVITED SPEAKERS David Corfield, Department of Philosophy, University of Kent: "The ubiquity of modal type theory" Jules Hedges, Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford: "Compositional game theory" # IMPORTANT DATES All times are midnight anywhere-on-earth (https://www.timeanddate.com/time/zones/aoe) - Submission deadline: Monday 13 August 2018 - Author notification: Monday 20 August 2018 - Travel support application deadline: Monday 27 August 2018 - Symposium dates: Thursday 20 September and Friday 21 September 2018 # SUBMISSIONS Submission is by EasyChair, via the following link: - https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=syco1 Submissions should present research results in sufficient detail to allow them to be properly considered by members of the programme committee, who will assess papers with regards to significance, clarity, correctness, and scope. We encourage the submission of work in progress, as well as mature results. There are no proceedings, so work can be submitted even if it has been previously published, or has been submitted for consideration elsewhere. There is no specific formatting requirement, and no page limit, although for long submissions authors should understand that reviewers may not be able to read the entire document in detail. # FUNDING Some funding is available to cover travel and subsistence costs, with a priority for PhD students and junior researchers. To apply for this funding, please contact the local organizer Jamie Vicary at <j.o.vicary(a)bham.ac.uk> by the deadline given above, with a short statement of your travel costs and funding required. We are grateful for generous sponsorship from Cambridge Quantum Computing and the Royal Society. # PROGRAMME COMMITTEE The symposium managed by the following people, who also serve as the programme committee. - Ross Duncan, University of Strathclyde - Chris Heunen, University of Edinburgh - Aleks Kissinger, Radboud University Nijmegen - Samuel Mimram, École Polytechnique - Simona Paoli, University of Leicester - Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, Queen Mary, University of London - Pawel Sobocinski, University of Southampton - Jamie Vicary, University of Birmingham and University of Oxford (local organizer) [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Octoberfest 2018 preliminary annoucement
by Funk, Jonathon 25 Jul '18

25 Jul '18

Octoberfest 2018 will be held at City College, CUNY, New York City, October 27 and 28. If you would like to contribute a talk, please complete and submit this form: https://goo.gl/forms/A5lSkhkA9x8mswP52 . All details regarding the meeting will be ultimately posted on the conference webpage. https://ct-octoberfest.github.io/ In conjunction with Octoberfest we are pleased to announce a special occasion of the New York City Category Theory Seminar, which will be held Friday, October 26. Speaker: André Joyal Title: TBA Further details regarding accommodation in NYC, meeting program, Friday seminar, and other necessary arrangements are forthcoming. There is no registration fee. Organizers: Gershom Bazerman Jonathon Funk Pieter Hofstra Benjamin Steinberg Noson Yanofsky [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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PhD Position on ICT in Trento on "Quantum Annealing for SAT Solving"
by roberto.sebastiani＠unitn.it 20 Jul '18

20 Jul '18

-------------------------------------------------------------- [ We apologize if you receive multiple copies of this message] PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO WHOEVER YOU MAY THINK INTERESTED. -------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: July 4th 2018 One PhD Student Position in Information and Communication Technologies on the research project "Quantum Annealing for SAT Solving (QUASI)" is available at the International Doctorate School in Information and Communication Technologies (http://www.ict.unitn.it/) of the University of Trento, Italy, under the supervision of Prof. Roberto Sebastiani, DISI, University of Trento, sponsored by and in direct collaboration with D-Wave Systems Inc. (http://www.dwavesys.com) The goal of the QuaSI project is to investigate the usage of D-Wave's quantum annealers (QAs) to solve hard propositional satisfiability (SAT) problems --and related NP-Hard problems-- by exploiting quantum effects to cope with the inherent complexity of the problem. The proposed research is to develop effective and efficient encoding procedures from SAT to problems which fit into, and can be solved by, D-Wave's QAs. These procedures will be presumably based on Satisfiability Modulo theories, automated-reasoning and graph-manipulation techniques. The ultimate goal is to solve problems (e.g., from cryptanalysis) which are currently out of the reach of state-of-the-art SAT solvers). Ph.D. courses will start in Autumn 2018, and the thesis must be completed in three-four years. The selected student should be available for an internship (e.g. 3-month) at D-Wave, in Vancouver (CA). People enrolled in Ph.D. courses are expected to move to Trento, and will receive monetary support during the phases of their activity. CANDIDATE PROFILE The ideal candidate should have an MS or equivalent degree in computer science or engineering, mathematics or electronic engineering, and combine solid theoretical background (algorithms, logic) and excellent software development skills. NO BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE IN QUANTUM PHYSICS IS REQUIRED. Background knowledge and/or previous experience is requested in at least one the following areas (in order of preference): - Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) - Propositional Satisfiability (SAT) - Automated reasoning and Computational Logic - Constraint Solving and Optimization - Operational Research The candidate should be able to work in a collaborative environment, with a strong commitment to reaching research excellence and achieving assigned objectives. The position is subject to the acceptance of the assignment of the ownership of intellectual property to D-Wave Inc. of the research results. APPLICATIONS AND INQUIRIES Interested candidates should inquire for further information and/or apply by sending email to roberto.sebastiani(a)unitn.it, indicating "PHD on Quasi Project" in the subject. Applications should contain a statement of interest, with a Curriculum Vitae, and three reference persons. PDF format is strongly encouraged. Emails will be automatically processed and should have as subject the sentence: 'PHD ON QUASI PROJECT' (Emails not complying with the above format have high chances to be ignored.) Eventually they must apply to the international call of the ICT school of DISI (http://ict.unitn.it) which is expected to appear by the end of July 2018 (application deadline: end of August 2018). PROPONENT AND CONTACT PERSON Prof. ROBERTO SEBASTIANI Software Engineering & Formal Methods Research Program DISI, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, I-38100 Povo, Trento, Italy mailto: roberto[dot]sebastiani[at]unitn[dot]it url: http://disi.unitn.it/rseba/ CV: http://disi.unitn.it/rseba/inglcurr.pdf ABOUT DISI AND UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO University of Trento (http://www.unitn.it/en) has been recognized as the best university in Italy and #36 in Europe by Europe Teaching Rankings 2018 of Times Higher Education (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/europe-teaching/2018#!/page/0…) DISI (http://disi.unitn.it) has been recognized among the top three ICT University Department in Italy. DISI currently consists of ~40 faculties, ~70 research staff and support people, ~20 postdocs and ~140 Doctoral students, plus administrative and technical staff. DISI covers all the different areas of information technology (computer science, telecommunications, and electronics) and their applications. ABOUT D-WAVE INC. D-Wave (www.dwavesys.com) is the world's only commercial supplier of quantum computers. D-Wave's systems are being used by some of the world's most advanced organizations and D-Wave is the leader in the development and delivery of quantum and hybrid quantum-classical computing systems and software. D-Wave's technology is focused on annealing-based quantum computing. LOCATION Trento is a lively town of about 100.000 inhabitants, located 130 km south of the border between Italy and Austria. It is well known for the beauty of its mountains and lakes, and it offers the possibility to practice a wide range of sports. Trento enjoys a rich cultural and historical heritage, and it is the ideal starting point for day trips to famous towns such as Venice or Verona, as well as to enjoy great naturalistic journeys. Detailed information about Trento and its region can be found at http://www.trentino.to/home/index.html?_lang=en. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Vol 9 of CGASA
by Mojgan Mahmoudi 20 Jul '18

20 Jul '18

Dear All This is to say that the new volume of CGASA (Categories and General Algebraic Structures with Applications) has now been published. To read the articles, you can visit: http://cgasa.sbu.ac.ir/ Best Wishes Mojgan -- ************************* Mojgan Mahmoudi; Professor Department of Mathematics, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 19839, IRAN. Telefax: (+98)(21)(22431652) E-mail: m-mahmoudi(a)sbu.ac.ir, mojganmahmoudi(a)yahoo.com http://faculties.sbu.ac.ir/m-mahmoudi/ [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Volume LIX-3 of the "Cahiers"
by Andrée Ehresmann 19 Jul '18

19 Jul '18

We are pleased to inform you that Volume LIX-3 (3eme trimestre 2018) of the "Cahiers" is now freely downloadable on the two websites of the "Cahiers: *As an entire issue on the site http://ehres.pagesperso-orange.fr/Cahiers/Ctgdc.htm *As separate papers on the new website at the address http://cahierstgdc.com/ Please don't hesitate to inform us if there is a problem. Hoping you'll enjoy reading this new issue ??Good vacations Andree Ehresmann, Marino Gran and Rene Guitart [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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announcement - Aspects of higher representation theory: quantum groups and categorification - Brussels, January 21-25 2019
by jvercruy＠vub.ac.be 19 Jul '18

19 Jul '18

Dear Colleagues, It is our pleasure to announce the school and conference "Aspects of higher representation theory: quantum groups and categorification” which will take place at the U-residence (campus of VUB/ULB in Brussels) from January 21 until January 25. The goal of this event is to connect different communities around 'Higher representation theory' in the broad sense (tensor categories and module categories, 2-categories, categorification, …) The first two days (Monday-Tuesday) of the event is a “school” consisting of 3 mini-courses that will introduce young participants and other interested researchers to the topics of the conference. During these days we also plan a poster session and short talks, to allow young researchers to communicate their results. The next three days (Wednesday-Thursday-Friday) of the event is a conference, with lectures of the invited speakers in the morning and contributed talks in the afternoon. Everyone is warmly invited to participate at both or one of these events. More information and a registration form can be found at the following website: http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~hopfalgb/Aspects The deadline for registration is November 1, 2018. Feel free to forward this information to anyone who might be interested. Best wishes, The organizers Kenny De Commer Pedro Vaz Joost Vercruysse [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Sheaf terminology question
by Andrew Pitts 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

Given a coverage on a small category, the condition for a Set-valued presheaf on the category to be a sheaf has an existence part and a uniqueness part. If only the uniqueness part holds, one says that the presheaf is separated. Is there a name out there for presheaves that only satisfy the existence part of the sheaf condition? Andy Pitts [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Two vacancies at Stellenbosch University
by Professor Zurab Janelidze 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

Dear Colleagues, I would like to bring to the attention of young category theorists two vacancies at my university (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) at the level of lecturer/senior lecturer. We are interested to hire strong candidates in a variety of fields of abstract mathematics, including Category Theory. The closing date for applications is 31st of July 2018, with commencement of duties from 1 October 2018 (or as soon as possible thereafter). Stellenbosch is a beautiful place. If you think you might be interested, please email me (zurab(a)sun.ac.za) for additional information. With best regards, Zurab Janelidze [http://cdn.sun.ac.za/100/ProductionFooter.jpg]<http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Pages/Water-crisis.aspx> The integrity and confidentiality of this email is governed by these terms. Disclaimer<http://www.sun.ac.za/emaildisclaimer> Die integriteit en vertroulikheid van hierdie e-pos word deur die volgende bepalings gereël. Vrywaringsklousule<http://www.sun.ac.za/emaildisclaimer> [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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Reminder: Workshop on Algebra, Logic and Topology
by Jorge Picado 17 Jul '18

17 Jul '18

=================================== *Workshop on Algebra, Logic and Topology* http://www.mat.uc.pt/~workalt* * September 27-29, 2018 Department of Mathematics, University of Coimbra, PORTUGAL =================================== This is a workshop organised by the "Algebra, Logic and Topology" research group of CMUC (http://www.mat.uc.pt/~cmuc) ??in honour of our colleague and friend Ale?? Pultr, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. *Invited Speakers:* * Richard N. Ball (University of Denver, Denver, USA) * Mai Gehrke (CNRS and Universit?? C??te d'Azur, Nice, France) * Javier Guti??rrez Garc??a (University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain) * Dirk Hofmann (University of Aveiro, Portugal) *Scientific Committee:* Bernhard Banaschewski, Maria Manuel Clementino, Jorge Picado, Manuela Sobral. *Organizing Committee: *Maria Manuel Clementino, Maria Jo??o Ferreira, Jorge Picado, Sandra Pinto, Manuela Sobral. *Abstract Submission:* In addition to invited one-hour talks there will be 30 minute contributed talks (25 min talk duration / 5 min questions resp. break). To submit an abstract send both the tex source and the resulting pdf file to Jorge Picado (picado(a)mat.uc.pt) Deadline for abstract submission: July 22. *Registration: *Please register not later than July 22, by sending an e-mail to picado(a)mat.uc.pt with the following information: First Name: ......................... Family Name: ...................... Institution: .......................... Country:?? ............................ E-mail address: ................... I plan to give a 30-min talk: Yes/No. I would like to attend the Workshop Dinner: Yes/No. There is no registration fee. We will organize a Workshop Dinner on Friday 28 (to be paid in cash at arrival). More details soon. *Special Volume:* TOPOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATIONS will publish a special volume in honour of Ale?? Pultr, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, with the proceedings of the workshop. The guest editors are Bernhard Banaschewski, Maria Manuel Clementino and Jorge Picado. How to submit: Send a pdf file of your manuscript to picado(a)mat.uc.pt, possibly suggesting one of the Guest Editors to be assigned to the paper. All submissions should be within the scope of the Journal and will be carefully refereed following the standards of Topology and its Applications. Deadline for submissions: October 31, 2018 For updated information consult the workshop webpage at http://www.mat.uc.pt/~workalt On behalf of the Organizing Committee, - looking forward to seeing you in Coimbra in September, Jorge Picado -- Jorge Picado :: www.mat.uc.pt/~picado [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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"Sketches for arithmetic universes" (list arithmetic pretoposes)
by Steve Vickers 13 Jul '18

13 Jul '18

I'm pleased to announce that my paper "Sketches for arithmetic universes" has now been accepted for the Journal of Logic and Analysis. You can see a preprint on my web page ?? http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~sjv/papersfull.php#AUSk The purpose of the paper is to describe in a purely finitary way a 2-category Con of generalized (in the sense of Grothendieck) point-free topological spaces and continuous maps, with the aim of providing a foundationally neutral setting for topos theory. The essential trick is to use the internal nno and list objects in arithmetic universes to capture countable colimits in Grothendieck toposes; and then to use some novel techniques adapted from sketch theory to use sketches to stand in for geometric theories. In case you're unfamiliar with "generalized spaces", much of their flavour can be understood from domain theory a la Scott. The topological structure of domains comes from order and directed joins, and in the generalized spaces these become morphisms and filtered colimits. What in set theory appears as various proper classes (e.g. of sets, or of groups) become here generalized spaces (object classifier, group classifier), so universes of various kinds appear. But we also have ungeneralized topological structures such as Euclidean space or Cantor space. It remains to be seen whether this work can capture all the topological invariants for which toposes were invented, though that is my dream, but meanwhile some deep connections with toposes are explored in a companion paper, "Arithmetic universes and classifying toposes". My student Sina Hazratpour's thesis work is on technical results concerning (op)fibrations in Con, which we believe are important for issues of local compactness, exponentiability, and "bagtoposes". All the best, Steve. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]

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