IFT COLLQUIUM (NPB 2205 @ 4:00 PM)
Wed Mar 8: George Andrews (Penn State)

Title:
Partitions, Probability, and Physical Models

Abstract:
 At first glance, the theory of integer partitions
seems far removed from possible real world models. After all,
integer partitions are at bottom concerned with writing
positive integers as sums of positive integers. Such a
pasttime even the purist G. H. Hardy regarded as sufficiently
removed from applied mathematics to merit serious study.

The overarching object of this talk will be to counteract
the above view. We will begin with some history of the
important role that integer partitions have played in
probability and statistics. We then move on to an up-date
on joint work with H. Eriksson, F. Petrov, and D. Romik
that has recently arisen from the Holroyd-Liggett-Romik
paper: Integrals, partitions, and cellular automata.
(The latter was my address to the Gainesville Additive
Number Theory Conference of November 2004.)