A second time around the Volume Conjecture Xiao-Song Lin (1957-2007) May 30 - June 3, 2007 Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA

The works of Thurston and Jones revolutionized low dimensional topology. Thurston established the ubiquity of hyperbolic structure in low dimensions. Jones' work, via such physical notions as quantum groups and path integrals, led to vast families of topological invariants associated with diagrammatic descriptions of topological objects. This conference will focus on relationships between key geometric and quantum invariants, in particular on the generalized volume conjecture that relates the hyperbolic volume and Chern-Simons invariant, and the colored Jones polynomials of a knot.

Speakers include:
Hua Bai (UGA),
Francis Bonahon (USC),
Charlie Frohman (University of Iowa),
David Futer (Michigan State University),
Stavros Garoufalidis (Georgia Tech),
Razvan Gelca (Texas Tech University),
Matilde Lalin (UBC/University of Alberta/MPI Bonn),
Feng Luo (Rutgers),
Hitoshi Murakami (Tokyo Institute of Technology) ,
Walter Neumann (Columbia University, Barnard College),
Jessica Purcell (UT Austin),
Adam Sikora (SUNY Buffalo),
Dan Silver (University of South Alabama),
Yoshiyuki Yokota (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Susan Williams (University of South Alabama),
Christian Zickert (Columbia University)

Schedule: A (tentative) schedule
Abstract: Abstracts can be found here
Accomodations: The main conference hotel is the Lod Cook Hotel on campus.
Schedule: All talks are in Room E130 Howe-Russell-Geoscience Complex.
Directions: The local airport is Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport (BTR)
and is about 9 miles from LSU. There is currently no direct public transportation between BTR and LSU although typically there are taxis waiting outside the baggage claim area at BTR. A cab ride from BTR to LSU runs about $35. More on Ground transportation can be found here.
If you come with a car you might find these driving directions to LSU useful.
Organizing Committee: Abhijit Champanerkar, Oliver Dasbach, Effie Kalfagianni, Ilya Kofman, Walter Neumann, Neal Stoltzfus
This conference is partially supported by a Focused Research Group grant from the NSF.

Image credit: Anders Sandberg.