Workshops on Duality and Probabilistic Systems

14th March to 21st March 2014

There will be two worshops during the week: one focussed on duality and one focussed on probabilistic systems. We will arrange it so that only half the time will both meetings run simultaneously so that people can maximize attendance at both meetings if they want. We hope that there will be some cross fertilization of ideas across the two meetings. There will also be ample time for discussions and working groups.

The workshop on Duality will be on topics related to duality in its various manifestations. These include Stone-type dualities, Gelfand duality, duality theorems in logic, algebra, formal language theory, denotational semantics, Markov process theory, quantum mechanics and whatever else may appeal to the audience. So far the following people have confirmed their participation: Filippo Bonchi, Corina Cirstea, Martin Escardo, Robert Furber, Mai Gerhke, Neil Ghani, Helle Hansen, Bart Jacobs, Achim Jung, Toshiki Kataoka, Bartek Klin, Dexter Kozen, Clemens Kupke, Alexander Kurz, Radu Mardare, Stefan Milius, Prakash Panangaden, Dirk Pattinson, Daniela Petrisan, Alexandra Silva, Alex Simpson and Luca Spada.

The workshop on Probabilistic Systems will be on topics related to probabilistic systems in verification, semantics and logic. This includes topics like probabilistic bisimulation, logics for probabilistic processes, algorithms for model checking, approximation, metrics etc. So far the following people have confirmed their participation: Giorgio Bacci, Christel Baier, Henning Basold, Franck van Breugel, Josee Desharnais, Ernst-Erich Doberkat, Holger Hermanns, Henning Kerstan, Barbara Koenig, Tyler Marker, Matteo Mio, Joel Ouaknine, Prakash Panangaden, Bas Westerbaan and Glynn Winskel.

The workshop organizers are Prakash Panangaden and Alexandra Silva. Attendance is by invitation only.

The practice at these workshops has been to allow the speaker ample time to get to technical details. There should be lots of opportunities for extensive discussions; we will not cram the schedule with lots of short talks. The talks are given on primitive chalkboards. Please do not prepare slides for a data projector or plastic transparencies.

The workshop period runs from 14th March 2014 to 21st March 2014 and will take place at the Bellairs Research Institute in Barbados. The actual meeting dates are from the 16th March (Sunday) to 20th March (Thursday). Here is the schedule of talks. We can hold impromptu talks on Thursday.

Directions and things to know: The airport is on the east-south point of the island and Bellairs is on the west side in the Parish of St. James (about a 40 minute taxi drive).

Here is a map of Barbados. Tell the taxi drivers to take you to Bellairs Research Centre in Holetown. Holetown is small and Bellairs is on the main (only) street - it is just north of Folkstone Park. The taxi ride should cost about $35 U.S. Barbados is safe and one shouldn't worry about travelling alone during the day. US currency is freely accepted at 2 Barbadian dollars per US dollar. Other currencies (Pound sterling, Canadian dollars) are not accepted; you will have to change them at banks or at the airport.  People had trouble using their bank cards from Europe, but Canadian and US cards seem to work fine. At the airport if you go around to the departures side just after you arrive you will find cash machines that will work.

Good things to bring are suntan lotion or dark skin, mosquito repellent, swimwear, papers/books/stationary and light clothing (it will be pleasantly warm). There is wireless hookup for laptops so you can bring your own laptop. There is a small fee for using the internet. The cost of a room will depend on the room. Dinners will be served on site for US $25 per meal and breakfasts for US $7 per meal; slightly more for the weekend. Payment can be made by credit card. The room allocations are made by the organizer, please do not contact the Bellairs staff to make room bookings.