Join us for the Public Opening of the 2017 Fields Medal Symposium, featuring a general audience presentation by Martin Hairer (Fields Medal 2014). Welcome and introductions by distinguished guests from academia and government.

Time: 7:00 pm, Monday, October 16, 2017

Location: MaRS Discovery District (101 College Street, Toronto).

This event is FREE and OPEN to the public.

RSVP through Eventbrite.

First come-first serve seating, subject to venue capacity.

PROGRAM

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Ian Hambleton, Director of the Fields Institute
The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science (written message)
The Honourable Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science
Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President and Provost, University of Toronto

Public Lecture

Introduction
Sylvia Serfaty, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, NYU 

 Lecture
Martin Hairer, Imperial College London and Fields Medal 2014
Talk Title: Taming Infinities

Abstract: Some physical and mathematical theories have the unfortunate feature that if one takes them at face value, many quantities of interest appear to be infinite! What's worse, this doesn't just happen for some exotic theories, but in the standard theories describing some of the most fundamental aspects of nature. Various techniques, usually going under the common name of “renormalisation” have been developed over the years to address this, allowing mathematicians and physicists to tame these infinities.

Reception

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The Symposium comprises four separate events:

• Student Workshop (October 15): aims to provide students with a good general exposure to probability a better understanding of what they will encounter during the Scientific Program, including regularity structures and their applications.
• Scientific Program (October 16-19): intended for a wide audience, including graduate students, mathematicians in other research areas, and scientists who use mathematics in an important way.
• Public Opening (October 16): see description above.
• Student Night (October 17): offers the opportunity for undergraduate and high school students to attend an evening talk by Martin Hairer titled On Coin Tosses, Atoms and Forest Fires — followed by networking (with plenty of time for questions/answers) and pizza.

 All events will be broadcast live online whenever possible.