2nd Annual Conference of
Random Geometric Systems

The conference will start in the afternoon of Monday 27 March and will end on Thursday 30 March after lunch. All lectures will take place at the DLR premises in Cologne-Porz. The programme is available below.

Invited speakers


Wilfrid Kendall

Wilfrid Kendall

University of Warwick,
United Kingdom

Emeritus professor
Department of Statistics

Joseph Brader

Joseph Brader

University of Fribourg,
Switzerland

Department of Physics

Salvatore Torquato

Salvatore Torquato

Princeton University,
United States of America

Department of Chemistry, Department of Physics
Princeton Materials Institute and Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics

Programme


Invited talks

Scale-invariant Spatial Random Networks everywhere?

Wilfrid Kendall

Scale-invariant random spatial networks (SIRSN) are remarkable random structures providing patterns of random routes that satisfy some very plausible axioms (see Aldous and Ganesan 2013, Aldous 2014) including scale-invariance, as found empirically in online maps. It is not a priori apparent that such networks can exist at all! Nevertheless Aldous (2014) constructed a SIRSN based on a dense dyadic mesh, and WSK and Kahn showed how to build a SIRSN from a dense Poisson line process. But both these constructions involve infinitely long linear paths, and in particular do not easily admit local influences. Can one do better? I shall discuss recent work showing that SIRSN can arise under far less stringent conditions, based on line segments or even stiff fibres.

Superadiabatic Dynamical Density Functional Theory for interacting Brownian systems

Joseph Brader

When a system of interacting particles is subjected to an external field, then their average one-body density becomes spatially varying. The primary tool for describing equilibrium states is the density functional theory (DFT), a well-established approach in the field of statistical mechanics. If the particles undergo Brownian dynamics, then the response of the one-body density to a time dependent external field is commonly treated using a simple dynamical extension of the equilibrium theory - the classical dynamical density functional theory (DDFT). Although widely used, this approach can often provide only a qualitative description and even fails completely in many situations of interest. However, improving the theory has turned out to be very difficult.
In this talk I will introduce and discuss a recently developed 'superadiabatic-DDFT' which identifies clearly and intuitively how to go beyond standard DDFT and which promises to become an essential method in future liquid-state theories.

Hyperuniformity of Point Processes and Its Generalizations

Salvatore Torquato (online)

The study of hyperuniform states of matter is an emerging multidisciplinary field, influencing and linking developments across the physical sciences, mathematics and biology. A hyperuniform point process in d-dimensional Euclidean space is characterized by an anomalous suppression of large-scale density fluctuations relative to those in typical disordered systems, such as liquids and amorphous solids. As such, the hyperuniformity concept generalizes the traditional notion of long-range order to include not only all perfect crystals and quasicrystals, but also exotic disordered states of matter, thus providing a unified framework to quantitatively categorize such phases of matter. Disordered hyperuniform states have attracted great attention across many fields over the last two decades because they have the character of crystals on large length scales but are isotropic like liquids. I will review briefly the hyperuniformity concept, including generalizations to two-phase media (random sets), scalar fields and vector fields. Then I will give an overview of how hyperuniformity is linked to the Epstein zeta function of number theory, sphere packing problems, eigenvalues of random matrices, nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function, spatial distribution of the prime numbers, free fermions, Laughlin's incompressible quantum states, and photoreceptor mosaics in avian retina. Finally, I will show how to generate disordered hyperuniform two-phase media that are rigorously disordered and hyperuniform.


Preliminary schedule

Monday (27/03) Tuesday (28/03) Wednesday (29/03) Thursday (30/03)
8:30 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m.
9:30 a.m. Invited talk Invited talk Project presentation
10:00 a.m.
10:30 a.m. Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break
11:00 a.m. Project presentation Project presentation Project presentation
11:30 a.m.
12:00 p.m. Lunch break Lunch break Lunch snack
12:30 p.m.
1:00 p.m. Registration
1:30 p.m. Flash talks Project presentation
2:00 p.m. Welcome address
2:30 p.m. Project presentation Project presentation Project presentation
3:00 p.m.
3:30 p.m. Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break
4:00 p.m.
4:30 p.m. Invited talk Project presentation Project presentation
5:00 p.m.
5:30 p.m. Flash talks Conference dinner Project presentation
6:00 p.m.
6:30 p.m.

Destination


Venue

The conference will take place at the DLR site in Cologne-Porz.


Accomodation

The organisers have reserved hotel rooms at Jaumanns Hotel. During the registration process, you will be able to request us to book a room for you.


Contact

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send us an email at contact@random-geometric-systems-cologne.de.

Local organisers

  • Dr. Michael Klatt
  • Dr. Till Kranz
  • Prof. Dr. Matthias Sperl