FIFTH SHANGHAI CONFERENCE ON COMBINATORICS
LECTURES May 14–18, 2005

The Fifth Shanghai Conference on Combinatorics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, took place at three locations. We stayed at Faculty Club of Jiao Tong University, in Shanghai. Friday's registration and the Sunday talks were held there at the "Xuhui" Campus. Saturday talks took place at the new (Minghang) campus, about a half hour away. Monday to the final Wednesday lectures were given where we stayed at the Taihu Lake Mandarin Hotel lecture hall, a couple of hours outside of Shanghai, near Suzhou. All lectures are given in English.

Don't forget about me, says Dinky! I was there too! I was the only bear that attended talks at all three sessions! Yes, Dinky, we know. In fact you were the only bear at ANY of the sessions, as far as we know. (One student has admitted to carrying a Mickey Mouse purse, but that is completely different.)

Oh no, says Dinky it looks like he's talking about me! They won't make me leave, will they? No, Dinky, you're famous now. Everyone loves you. Now listen to Rick...he's not talking about you. He's talking about Revisiting the (t,k)-subset inclusion matrices!
Right, says Dinky. I hope he includes me!

Besides, I ride around in a purse too! Dinky that is very distracting, and it has nothing to do with this. Now let Rick talk!

Okay, well why is it so dark in here? Because Rick is giving a computer talk. There are three kinds of presentations given at these conferences now. And most lecture halls are equipped for all of them.

Some very elegant talks are still given using a classic blackboard. This is Joseph Thas, from the University of Ghent, talking about Subquadrangles of generalized quadrangles.
Wow, says Dinky! I think he's designing a hat for me. (It won't fit, tell him!) You have a very limited perspective, Dinky. You take everything too personally. Now try to think mathematically!

This is Lihua Liu, from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, giving her talk.

I know her says Dinky! She's the one with the Mouse purse! Is she talking about her mouse? No Dinky, if you would just be quiet and read, you would see she is talking about Cryptanalysis of One Fair E-cash System. Nothing to do with her mouse.

Oh, I thought I would understand this one. He said it would be "Super-simple!" and I can't understand a thing!"
 Oh Dinky, I don't know if you should be coming to these lectures...That is Frank Bennett, from Mount Saint Mary's University, in Halifax, Canada. And he is talking about Super-simple Steiner Pentagon Systems and Related Designs. It's way over your head.In fact, his talk is being presented on transparencies, displayed on the screen by an overhead projector. That's the third kind of talk.

Oh goody, pictures! He's got pictures...I am going to understand this one! And I heard him ask "What designs does nature like?" Nature...that's me! He's waving to me, I know it!

Well, Dinky, you do recognize him. That is our friend Michel-Marie Deza, from the Ecole-Normale Superieure in Paris. He has been in Tokyo these days. But I don't think he is waving to you. There is something surprising and exciting for us about his talk, Face-regular two-faced spheres and tori (And I hope you don't take that title personally, Dinky.) But actually, there is something we understand about this, and it IS personal! He is talking about his mathematical extension of the Frank-Kasper Polyhedron. John Kasper a physicist-crystallographer, is close family relative of Kathy's! At age 90, he lives at home in Scotia, New York and we talk to him often. It is unusual for the work of a crystallographer to be mentioned at a combinatorics conference. We were so excited to tell Michel Deza about this afterwards, and to tell Dad (John Kasper) about this great coincidence!

Hey, I thought you said he was talking about "matrices"! That's a lion he's talking about. Well, Dinky, as I was telling you, Rick gives a talk with using his computer for text and images, so he is able to incorporate a few of our photos. He always ends with an interesting picture taken on the trip that people recognize. This one is the "welcoming lion" statue, outside the Faculty Club where we are staying, taken the rainy night of our arrival in Shanghai. Why doen't he show a picture of ME? Well, maybe next time, Dinky!

Here is Rick with our host, Hao Shen, of Shanghai Jiao Tong Univerity, outside our hotel, just after Rick's talk at Lake Taihu.

Here we are with the graduate students of Hao Shen.
First row from left to right: Jun Shen, Dameng Deng, Hao Shen, Rick and Katty, Yuan Zhang, and Liqun Pu.
Back row: Jun Ma, Shanhai Li, Lihua Liu, and Weixia Li.
(Yes, Dinky, you are there too, but you're just too small to see! You get enough photo opportunities, don't you think?)

By the way, Dinky, what's that you're drinking? That glass is bigger than you!
It's tea, they keep filling up my glass all day long! This region is famous for tea.
I have to tell you about all the tea in China next time!

MORE ON CHINA

TAIWAN

  • (part 1) ARRIVAL IN TAIWAN(May 18);
    (above includes a ride on the fastest train in the world!)
  • THE CTS Conference on Combinatorics and Its Applications
    at National Chiao Tung University IN HSINCHU, TAIWAN (May 19-21)
  • TAIWAN CONFERENCE CELEBRATIONS PHOTO ALBUM
  • TAIWAN BANQUET FOOD ALBUM
  • RICK'S TAIWAN LECTURE(other conference photos to come)
  • A WALK IN THE GARDENS OF HSINCHU(May 21)
  • Our Karaoke Bus Ride to Tapei, Taiwan (May 22, 2005)
  • THE PALACE MUSEUM IN TAIPEI, TAIWAN(Saturday, May 22, 2005)

  • TAPEI 101 (visiting the world's tallest building)
  • Newest update (June, 2005): INSIDE TAPEI 101 (The Food Court) (Taiwan)
  • Read Dinky's Best of Taiwan Reviews
  • (May 22)OUR FLIGHT HOME

    TIME DIFFERENCE: WE WERE 15 hours ahead of California time,
    12 hours ahead of New York time

    check on the time and weather in Shanghai

    • READ KATHY'S SHANGHAIKU
    (written during our last trip to Shanghai, for the FOURTH SHANGHAI CONFERENCE on COMBINATORICS

    Kathy&Rick Home Page