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Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI)
The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) and the University of California, Berkeley Department of Mathematics invite you to join the following events taking place this weekend and Monday, December 9th in honor of the 100th birthday of mathematician Julia Robinson.
Photo credit: George Bergman

MSRI Symposium in Honor of Julia Robinson’s 100th Birthday


Date: Monday, December 9, 2019
Time: 9:15 AM - 4:15 PM 
Location: MSRI, 17 Gauss Way, Berkeley, California (Directions)

The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute will host a Symposium on the occasion of Julia Robinson’s 100th birthday on Monday, December 9, 2019 at MSRI. Julia Robinson (1919-1985) was an internationally renowned logician of the twentieth century. She was a trailblazer in mathematics as well as in many other ways: she was the first woman president of the American Mathematical Society, and the first woman mathematician elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences.

Julia Robinson's most celebrated work, together with Martin Davis and Hilary Putnam, led to Yuri Matiyasevich's solution of Hilbert’s Tenth Problem, showing that  there are no general algorithmic solution for  Diophantine equations. Robinson made several additional contributions to mathematics. For example, her 1948 thesis linked the undecidability of the field of rational numbers to Godel’s proof of undecidability of the ring of integers.

Organizing Committee: Hélène Barcelo (MSRI - Mathematical Sciences Research Institute), Thomas Scanlon (University of California, Berkeley), Carol Wood (Wesleyan University)

This symposium is free and open to the public.

If you would like to participate, please register online or onsite on Monday 12/9.

Register Online

EVENT SCHEDULE

9:15 AM - 9:30 AM
Welcome

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

From existential definability and differential equations to transseries
Lou van den Dries (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Definability, in particular existential definability, is a central concept in Julia Robinson’s work. I will discuss its dual role in relation to (algebraic) differential equations. This leads naturally to the idea of transseries. My work on this is joint with Matthias Aschenbrenner and Joris van der Hoeven, and has resulted in a complete theory of solving differential equations with initial conditions in the differential field of transseries. I will also briefly talk about the connection to Hardy fields that we have established recently.

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Break

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Decidability and definability in number fields and connections to Julia Robinson's work
Kirsten Eisentraeger (Pennsylvania State University)

In 1970, Yuri Matiyasevich, building on work by Martin Davis, Hilary Putnam and Julia Robinson, proved that Hilbert's Tenth Problem over the integers is undecidable. The analogue of Hilbert’s Tenth Problem over the rationals, and over number fields in general, remains open. A diophantine definition of the integers over the rationals, together with a standard reduction argument, would show that Hilbert’s Tenth Problem over the rationals is undecidable. A diophantine definition of the integers over the rationals seems out of reach right now, but one can also consider the problem of defining the integers inside the rationals or number fields with a first-order formula. Julia Robinson showed that this is possible, and we will discuss her proof as well as recent improvements and extensions of her result.

We will also discuss examples of sets that can be shown to be diophantine in number fields and in global function fields, such as the set of quadratic non-norms and the set of non-squares.

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Lunch Break (Food available for purchase onsite)

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Julia Robinson: Colleague and Friend
Martin Davis (Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University)


Over a 25 year period, Julia and I worked on the same problem, mostly in parallel, but sometimes as collaborators. I will talk about this, including samples from our correspondence.

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Tea Break

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Around Hilbert's eighth and tenth problems
Yuri Matiyasevich (St. Petersburg Department of V.A. Steklov Mathematical Institute and Euler International Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

The name of Julia Robinson is inseparable from Hilbert's tenth problem. This was one of the 23 mathematical problems selected by David Hilbert in 1900, problems  which the pending XX century was to inherit from the passing XIX century. The eighth had, at first sight, little in common with the tenth problem. However, when the latter was solved (in the negative) it turned out that the two problems are connected, in a way which was not anticipated by Hilbert.

In my talk I'll briefly outline the history of proving the undecidability  of the tenth problem,  the role played by Julia Robinson, my collaboration with her and Martin Davis, and a relationship between Hilbert’s  tenth and eighth problems.


See below for public lecture details following the symposium. The UC Berkeley Hill Shuttle will depart MSRI at 4:25 PM for those wishing to attend this event.

UC BERKELEY PUBLIC LECTURE

Photo: Lenore Blum

Julia Robinson: Personal Reflections, Her Work and Times 

 

Featuring Dr. Lenore Blum, Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

Date: Monday, December 9, 2019
Time: 5:00-6:00 PM (Doors open 4:45 PM)
Location: Bechtel Engineering Center: Sibley Auditorium, University of California, Berkeley (Google Maps)

Cost: Free and open to the public. No advance registration is required.

The UC Berkeley Department of Mathematics and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) invite you to join Dr. Lenore Blum (Carnegie Mellon University) to celebrate the legacy of UC Berkeley mathematics professor Dr. Julia Robinson. 

"I knew Julia Robinson from 1968, when I arrived as a postdoc at Berkeley to work with her, until her death in 1985. As a grad student at MIT, her beautifully written paper, 'The decision problem for fields,' was a constant reference while I was developing a model theory and axioms for differentially closed fields (ch 0). When I arrived in Berkeley, I was shocked that this famous mathematician who signed her papers with the address, Berkeley, California, had never had a regular position at the university. Perhaps because of the times, I got to see Julia in ways that others had not. I will reflect on her work and this perspective."

This talk will be accessible to a general audience as well as of interest to those with an undergraduate-level background in mathematics.
Learn More

Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival at UC Berkeley

 
Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival

Date and Time: Saturday, December 7th from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Alumni House, UC Berkeley 
To register for free tickets or sign up to volunteer: jrmf.org/event-details/julia-robinson-centennial

K-12 students are invited to join fellow math and puzzle enthusiasts to visit over 20 tables with various games, problems, and activities centered on creative, collaborative inquiry. 

A Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival offers students advanced and thought-provoking mathematics in a social and cooperative atmosphere. Students choose among several tables offering problem sets, games, or puzzles with mathematical themes. They work as long as they wish, while a facilitator provides support and encouragement. Motivation comes from the social interaction, rather than from any prize, grade, medal, or ranking. They can address any level of student, from those struggling with mathematics to those soaring in achievement.


Documentary Film


For information and viewing links for the documentary film Julia Robinson and Hilbert's Tenth Problem, featuring many of the MSRI symposium participants, visit Zala Films
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