A Mathematical Phenomenon

Because I was busy attending a grant proposal writing workshop, I only saw one talk today. (Note that at 8:30 pm, I will be going to this year's Gibbs Lecture, which is one of the big events at this meeting every year. Hence, I'll end up having attended two talks today.) The speaker was Terry Tao, who I know by reputation but whom I never actually had the chance to see speak before. His introducer described him aptly as follows: "He is a phenomenon." My mind immediately went in the expected direction...

As usual, I've already run into a lot of people I know. I also recognized a mathematician I know at the Ghirardelli chocolate and ice cream store (which is much larger than the one in Pasadena; they really had a nice setup), though I didn't talk to him. I wasn't even sure it was the guy I had in mind (i.e., I thought it might be a random person who looked kind of like him) until I saw him at the conference today. I went to lunch and worked with one of my collaborators yesterday, and I today went to lunch with someone else I know. I also made a point to drop by and see my contact at Princeton University Press in their booth in the exhibitors hall and (as always) ran into lots of people amidst the usual hustle and bustle. Finally, I went to a couple of the usual receptions I attend at this meeting and got enough free food that I won't need dinner tonight. There will be another reception after the Gibbs lecture, so hopefully I'll get to have some dessert there.

Tomorrow, I will be giving one talk and I'll also be interviewed for a podcast meant to accompany the AMS "Mathematical Moment" that is based on my research on Congress.

That's it for now.


Update: The Gibbs lecture was really good. The speaker was Avi Wigderson, and the talk concerned the relationship between randomness and computational complexity. I think that several of you (Lemming, in particular, comes to mind) would have really enjoyed the talk. Many of these lectures have had accompanying survey articles in the past, so if I'll try to pass along a link if that eventually appears.