Click here for West Coast Number Theory Conference 2006 information.

West Coast Number Theory Conference 2005

December 16 (Evening Banquet) through December 20 (Lunch)

Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey (Pacific Grove), California


  • 1. Contact Information
  • 2. How to Register
  • 3. Directions to Asilomar
  • 4. Financial Support (WE'RE FUNDED!!!)
  • 5. Problem Sets
  • 6. Program from 2001
  • 7. Format of the Conference
  • 8. Service and Thanks
  • 9. Asilomar's Webpage

    1. Contact Information:

    Organizer: Bart Goddard
    3211 East Cesar Chavez
    Austin, TX 78702

    goddardb@newsguy.com


    2. How to register:

    A. Please register as soon as possible. It helps me plan and it helps us get the space we need (large enough conference room). Rooms are on a first come basis and seem to be going fast. Many people stay off grounds in local motels. (It helps the conference in general if you stay on grounds.) It would help me if the off-grounds people would also register promptly, since Asilomar is hounding me for accurate head counts already.

    B. If you are planning on staying on grounds, print this Word document, or this PDF document fill it out and send it with your payment directly to Asilomar (note that this includes four nights and all meals). Note that vegetarian meals and other dietary options are available. (Asilomar prefers that you don't make your reservations by phone, but I think some folks have done this in the past, when they were registering very late.)

    C. Whether you are staying on grounds or off grounds, download and print this Word document or this PDF documentand send it with your registration fee to me. Please note that this means that you need to write two checks and send them to two different places. Asilomar takes credit cards, but I do not. Attendees from out of the country who won't have U.S. funds until they get to the U.S. should feel free to pay the registration fee upon arrival. The registration fee is $50 per number theorist. Plus...

    Please note that Asilomar charges an $8.10 per day "daily use fee" for those staying off grounds (which I'm rounding to $8). On-grounds people shouldn't pay this fee. If you're staying off grounds, but will not be there for the entire 5 days, then feel free to make your own adjustment to this fee, by pro-rating for the number of days you'll be present. (Attending the banquet counts as a day.)

    The upside to the daily use fee is that it buys off grounds people the right to eat in the Asilomar dining hall. (Non-number theorists would have to pay the fee in order to eat at the dining hall.) Having paid the fee, prices for meals are: (Adult) Breakfast: $7.16, Lunch $9.72, Dinner $15.54 (Child 3-12 years old) Breakfast: $6.05, Lunch $6.94, Dinner $12.22, all including tax. A non-number theorist staying off grounds needs to pay the fee only on days that he eats in the dining hall.

    Because we're trying to save the "historic" rooms for those on a budget, we're not allowing those rooms to be rented for single occupancy. So if you want the luxury of a single room, then you have to also indulge yourself the luxury of a "standard" room.

    3. How to get there.

    By Air: Monterey has an airport serviced by major airlines. Taxis, rental cars and public transportation are available from there to the Asilomar Conference Grounds.

    Driving directions and maps are avialable on Asilomar's website:     Directions

    Peter Montgomery, our resident expert on California's train system, has provided these directions for getting to Asilomar without driving (caveat: These directions are now at least 6 years old): Those coming from San Francisco and San Jose airports can take the Monterey-Salinas Airbus to Monterey Transit Plaza in downtown Monterey for $30. Reservations are recommended. Greyhound also serves Monterey Transit Plaza (N.B. this is separate from the Monterey Greyhound station). Amtrak has connecting buses to Salinas and San Jose Amtrak stations. Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) route A connects Monterey Transit Plaza to the Asilomar entrance (and to Monterey Aquarium) for $2.00. MST route 21 serves Monterey airport but does not run on Sunday.

    4. Support:

    Arthur Baragar has secured the usual NSA grant to support the attendence of graduate students and certain junior faculty who are also U.S. citizens. The Number Theory Foundation has agreed to help fund the attendence of non-citizens. For more information, please visit Arthur's webpage .

    5. The Problems Sets:


    Here are PDF's of the problems sets from previous meetings.

    2004 Las Vegas

    2003 Asilomar

    2002 San Francisco

    2001 Asilomar and 2001 Cover Page

    2000 San Diego and 2000 Cover Page

    6. Program from 2003 Conference

    Here is the Word document listing the speakers and their titles from the 2003 West Coast Number Theory Conference which was held at Asilomar. I make it available to give an idea of the participant list and the wide variety and level of talks one can expect at this conference. (This document may not reflect last minute changes that were made to the program.)

    2003 Schedule of Talks


    7. Format of the Conference:

    We will begin with an opening banquet on the evening of Dec. 16 at 6 pm. Attendence at the banquet is optional, and there is an additional surcharge of $8 for the meal (which means that the cost for off-grounds attendees is $23.) After dinner, we will retire to the meeting room, which is currently assigned as Kiln (see the map in the directions link), where we'll have a quick meeting where titles are submitted and a schedule of talks is hastily assembled. People who skip the banquet are welcome to meet the rest of us at Kiln. Tentatively we'll schedule this meeting for 7:30 pm.

    (The surcharges for the special entrees for banquets are quite pricy. I'm most likely to choose "Chicken Asilomar" yet again, because it's half the price of the others. I think the idea is more the commeraderie than paying $16 +$8 daily use fee +$15 dinner fee = $39 for a plate of Asilomar's version of smoked salmon. So chicken will be the "meat entree", and there will be a vegetarian option, which is currently listed as "Vegetarian Wellington" involving white beans and fontina cheese. People wanting Kosher or Vegan or other options should contact Asilomar directly.)

    The length allowed for all talks is usually about 15 minutes, including time for questions. Dec. 17 and 19 will be full days of talks, while Dec. 18 will have talks in the morning, leaving the afternoon for our "afternoon off" for sightseeing and recreation. Dec. 20 will be another half day. Two problem sessions will be scheduled during the conference, where unsolved problems are presented. The results from previous problem sessions are given above. The second problem session will most likely be on the morning of Dec. 20.

    An overhead projector is provided for talks. The chalkboards that have been available in the past have been woefully inadequate. If you need anything like computer projection equipment or computers, then it's strictly BYO. I do bring a small supply of blank transparencies and markers, but they get snarfed up quickly by non-self-sufficient attendees. I'll try to get you whatever you need if I have enough lead time, but I recommend that you bring your own stuff, and not rely on my limited resourcefulness.

    8. Service and Thanks:

    I am happy to help in any way. If downloading the forms doesn't work, then I can e-mail or snail mail them. If you know of someone who wants to be added to the e-mail or snail mail list, then please let me know or have them mail me.

    Corrections and additions to this page are welcome.