INHOMOGENEOUS RANDOM SYSTEMS Systèmes Aléatoires Inhomogènes Wednesday 28 January 2004 Institut Henri Poincaré , Amphi Hermite 11, rue Pierre et Marie Curie Paris

The aim of this annual workshop is to bring together mathematicians and physicists working on extended random systems, and to discuss recent developments on themes of common interest. Time does not allow for oral communications other than the invited lectures. The `` Rencontre de Physique Statistique'' taking place in Paris 29 and 30 January 2004 welcomes short communications.

The 2004 session will be devoted to:

Moderator: Christian Maes (Leuven)

The theory of interacting particle systems was originally motivated by statistical physics, and quickly found natural applications in other contexts such as biology and economy. As a branch of probability, the theory constructs global Markov processes for spatially extended systems with local interactions. It allows a stochastic dynamical theory of equilibrium and nonequilibrium processes, addressing questions on phase transitions, metastability, hydrodynamical behavior and ergodic properties.
Among the directions that have been pushed forward recently, we will focus on:

* rigourous mathematical approach to the thermodynamic limit for non-Feller processes, and for more complicated, even dynamically involved, architectures.

* notions of Nash equilibria and strategies as in game theory, which ask for spatially extended versions, partially replacing the concepts of (local) detailed balance and thermodynamic equilibria.

For applications, inspiration is also sought in evolution processes, both microscopic and macroscopic, coming from biology and economy. In the conference, some of these recent trends will be presented and illustrated both from a purely mathematical and in an enlarged applied perspective.

List of speakers: B. Derrida (ENS, Paris), P. Hogeweg (Bioinformatics, Utrecht), A. Jarai (CWI, Amsterdam), V. Malyshev (INRIA, Rocquencourt), R.W.J. Meester (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam), J. Miekisz (Wydzial Matematyki, Warszawa), L. Triolo (Dipartimento di Matematica, Roma).

Titles and abstracts - Schedule

The conference is free and open to all. To facilitate local organization, please register.

Organizers: Thierry Gobron, Ellen Saada

Programme and proceedings of previous sessions: 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003