Introduction: The Convex Geometry and Geometric Analysis Program MSRI, Spring 1996

Summary

During the last ten years the integral geometry of convex bodies has undergone a dramatic revitalisation, brought about by the introduction of methods, results and, most importantly, new viewpoints, from probability theory, harmonic analysis and the geometry of finite-dimensional normed spaces. The principal goal of this program was to bring together researchers from several different fields, Classical Convex Geometry, Geometric Functional Analysis, Computational Geometry and related areas of Harmonic Analysis. The main reason for doing so was that research in these areas has found considerable overlap in recent years. Several problems and classes of problems have been come upon independently from different directions, and techniques from some areas have been found important in others. This goal was achieved beyond even our most optimistic expectations.

As well as an introductory workshop, consisting of four lecture series with an educational format, the program included one full-scale research workshop and two concentrations of visitors, in addition to the regular activity during the principal five months. About 190 mathematicians attended the program in some capacity or other and there were over 150 lectures and seminars during the period. These were of several types. There was a regular educational seminar, two or three times a week which enabled participants to become acquainted with material from other fields. Three or four lectures a week dealt with recent research by members, and there was a “young research seminar” (roughly once a week) which gave postdocs and students a chance to describe their work in an informal atmosphere.