Report for the academic year - Libraries - Institute for Advanced Study

] rUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY
and calculation of the number of essentially different ideal numbers in concrete, ele-
mentary terms. In future years, Professor Langlands would like to continue the lectures
with a series on classical fluid mechanics and turbulence. The final series of lectures
would address the analytical problems suggested by renormalization in statistical mechan-
ics and quantum field theory.
With the appointment to the Faculty of Avi Wigderson, this past year also saw the School of
Mathematics establish an ongoing presence in- theoretical computer science, a field last
explored at the Institute during John von Neumann's tenure as a Faculty member. Professor
Wigderson's specialty is theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics; during this
past year he led a weekly seminar on combinatorics and complexity theory. The Institute is
one of the very few academic institutions where work in mathematics and computer
science takes place in one School, and is not divided into separate academic departments.
This is a period of great excitement — perhaps even a golden age — in physics and
astronomy. Both are currently at a point where great progress seems possible,
where major breakthroughs may be within our grasp. A new program supported by the
W.M. Keck Foundation will help to train theoreticians in an area — the interface
between astronomy and physics — in which progress is explosive and qualified scientists
are scarce.
Frank Wilczek, the J. Robert Oppenheimer Professor in the School of Natural Sciences
at the Institute for Advanced Study, has been appointed the first Herman Feshbach
( 1942) Professor of Physics at MIT. Professor Wilczek joined the MIT physics faculty in
September 2000.
The Program in Theoretical Biology, led by Martin Nowak, completed its second year at
the Institute for Advanced Study. Five Members worked with Dr. Nowak on research
that included the mathematical modeling of infectious agents, viral population genetics,
antiviral treatment, and the complex interaction between viruses and the immune sys-
tem. More recent research includes work on cell signaling and mathematical models of
tumor progression and chemotherapy. The Biology Lecture Series continued this year,
and included eleven public lectures on topics ranging from the evolution of cooperation
to the neurobiology of sensory information processing. Walter Fontana, Research Pro-
fessor at the Santa Fe Institute, was a visiting Member for the year, and led a special pro-
gram in genomics.
The Institute Concert Series, organized by Artist-in-Residence Robert Taub, once again
welcomed full houses to each of it> nine performances (three programs, each performed
three times). In addition to his pre-concert lectures for the Institute community, Dr
l.nil' initiated a second series of talks on new music, t;iven as a series ot conversations
with invited masts: composers Jonathan Dawe and Jane O'Leary, and pianist Bruce
Brubaker. In addition to his responsibilities as Artist-in-Residence, Robert Taub has
maintained an active international performance schedule during his years at the Insti-
tute. Must recently, he gave
.1 solo pi. mo concert in May 2000 at the Library ot c \mgrev.,
where the J00' h anniversary of the piano was celebrated with programs that related CO
autograph scores in the Library's collections. Following this performance, faub joined
James Levine and the Munich Philharmonic on an eight concert tour of Germany.
Robert Taub will complete bis term .is the Institute's Artist-in-Residence in June 2001,
and the Institute b.is appointed [on Magnussen
Magnussen
.is the nexl Artist-in-Residence. Dr.
is .1 composer of music tor the concert hall, dance, and drama. His scholarly
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