Welcome to the website of
 
The Sixth International Conference on the
Electrical Transport and Optical Properties
of Inhomogeneous Media

ETOPIM 6

July 15th to July 19th 2002

Major supporters: The National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office,
Cosponsored by the Optical Society of America (OSA),
endorsed by the American Physical Society (APS)
and being held in cooperation with the
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)

at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird,
a mountain resort near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Last update: Sat Aug 3rd 2002

Note: This website is no longer being updated. For postconference information, including conference photos go to the alternative website www.math.utah.edu/etopim/.

Get ready for ETOPIM 7 which will be held in Sydney, Australia in July 2005.


The history of ETOPIM

The year 2002 will mark the 25th anniversary of the first ETOPIM conference. The meetings have been held in

These conferences have provided a unique forum for experimentalists and theorists to get together and advance our understanding of the electrical transport and optical properties of inhomogeneous media. For further information, please look at the proceedings of these meetings

ETOPIM 6 is to be held from July 15th to July 19th, 2002,at Snowbird, a mountain resort near Salt Lake City, Utah.


Topics of the conference

The topics to be covered encompass new areas as well as traditional topics. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Electrical transport and optical properties in composites
  2. Localization in non-linear periodic and non-periodic media
  3. Photonic crystals and band-gap structures
  4. Transport properties of nanostructures
  5. Semiconductor heterostructures
  6. Porous media and percolation
  7. Biocomposites (e.g., electrical activity in the heart and brain)
  8. Transport in complex biological systems (e.g., slime molds and algal colonies)
  9. Transport in geophysical media (e.g., sea ice, glacial ice, soils, and rocks)
  10. Inverse problems and imaging in inhomogeneous media in geophysics, biology and medicine
  11. Numerical methods for composites
  12. Conducting polymers
  13. Active composite systems (e.g., electro- and magneto-rheological fluids, smart composites and sensors)
  14. Optimal design of composite structures
  15. Giant magnetoresistance
  16. Magnetic nanostructures and spintronics
  17. Thin film composite structures
  18. Propagation and scattering in media with rough surfaces
  19. Quantum phenomena in composites

Invited Speakers


ETOPIM 6 will include talks (please click on the titles to see the abstracts) by the following distinguished scientists:

    David J. Bergman (Tel-Aviv University)
         Exact relations between critical exponents for elastic stiffness and electrical conductivity of percolating networks

    James G. Berryman (Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and Stanford University)
         Electrokinetic effects and fluid permeability

    Alan Bishop (Los Alamos National Laboratories )
         Modeling intrinsically complex matter: nonlinear, nonadiabatic, nonequilibrium

    Oscar P. Bruno (Caltech)
         Wave scattering by inhomogeneous media: efficient algorithms and applications

    Hui Cao (Northwestern University)
         Lasing with resonant feedback in random media

    Vicki Colvin (Rice University)
         From opals to optics: Building photonic band gaps in nanostructured materials

   Anthony Roy Day (John Carroll University)
         A spectral representation for the dielectric properties of layered materials

    Hajo Eicken (University of Alaska)
         Microstructural controls on transport phenomena in sea ice

    Alexander B. Granovsky (Moscow State University)
         Magnetic nanocomposites close to the percolation threshold: Magnetotransport and magnetooptics

    Naomi Halas (Rice University)
         The manipulation of light: One nanoparticle at a time

    James C. Hone(Caltech)
         Phonons and thermal transport in nanoscale devices and nanomaterials

    Sajeev John (University of Toronto)
         Photonic band gap materials: Semiconductors of light

    Steven G. Johnson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
         High-Q cavities without a complete photonic band gap

    Inna Kaganova (Institute for High Pressure Physics, Russia)
         The impedance boundary conditions and effective surface impedance of inhomogeneous metals

    James P. Keener (University of Utah)
         The importance of microstructure in defibrillation

    Ad Lagendijk (University of Twente, Netherlands)

    Ross C. McPhedran (Sydney University)
         Structural colours through photonic crystals

    Toshiyuki Nakagaki (Hokkaido University)
         Design of transportation network by an amoeba-like organism

    Dani Or (Utah State University)
         Time domain reflectometry measurement of bulk permittivity of porous mixtures containing bound water

    George C. Papanicolaou (Stanford University)
         Time reversal, imaging and communications in random media

    John B. Pendry (Imperial College)
         Refining the perfect lens

    Donald K. Perovich(CRREL)
         Complex yet translucent: The optical properties of sea ice

    Vladimir Prigodin (Ohio State)
         Quantum hopping in doped conducting polymers

    Muhammad Sahimi (University of Southern California)
         Transport of fluid mixtures in nanoporous materials

    Vladimir Shalaev(Purdue University)
         Plasmonic nanophotonics: Manipulating light and sensing molecules

    Michael Shelley (New York University)
         Coarse-grained models of the visual cortex

    Ping Sheng (Hong Kong Univ. Sci. Tech.)
         Locally resonant sonic materials

    Albert J. Sievers (Cornell University)
         Probing the spontaneous generation of nanoscale energy localization

    John Sipe (University of Toronto)
         An effective field perspective on the nonlinear optical properties of artificially structured materials

    Gerald Stringfellow (University of Utah)
         Control of nano- and micro-scale inhomogenities using surfactants in III/V alloys

    David Wilkowski (Laboratoire Ondes et Désordre, Valbonne)
         Light transport in cold atoms : The fate of coherent backscattering in the weak localization regime


Minisymposia

Percolation and related phenomena in porous media

Organized by Robert Ewing

Percolation theory was recognized from its inception as a conceptual model with application to fluid movement in porous media. But while it clearly has much to contribute to our understanding of porous media, it is currently more a curiosity than a tool in the hydrogeological and geophysical mainstream. This mini-symposium will bring together researchers in porous media and percolation theory to examine the connections between the two. What are the applications of percolation theory to porous media? What are the inherent limitations of applying the mathematical theory to physical objects, and what adaptations must be made? Are there related models and/or concepts that can be wedded to percolation theory to broaden its applicability? What critical issues in porous media are currently begging for a solution that percolation theory could provide?



This minisymposium, will be held Monday afternoon of the conference will include the following talks (please click on the titles to see the abstracts):


    R. Ewing (Iowa State Univ.)
         Correlation structure effects on edge-accessible porosity and chemical distance near the percolation threshold

    K. Golden (Univ. of Utah)
         To be announced

    P. King (Imperial College, U.K.)
         Predicting oil recovery using percolation theory

    G. Margolin (Weizmann Institute, Israel)
         Generalized conductivity scaling and transport in random networks

    T. Skaggs (U.S. Salinity Laboratory)
         Fluid permeability and DC conductivity of networks with a broad distribution of bond resistances: comparison of the critical path approximation with 3-D Monte Carlo simulations

    M. Sukop (Utah State Univ.)
         Single component, multiphase lattice Boltzmann models (LBM) in invasion percolation

Metallic photonic crystals and left handed materials

Organized by Steven Blair

This minisymposium, to be held Monday afternoon of the conference, will include the following talks (please click on the titles to see the abstracts):


    A.L. Efros (Univ. of Utah)
         Diffraction in left-handed materials and theory of Veselago lens

    V.F. Kozhevnikov (Univ. of Utah)
         Physical properties of gallium infiltrated into opal photonic crystals

    H.-Y. Park (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
         Improved transmittance in one-dimensional metallic photonic crystals

    S.-Y. Park (Ohio State Univ)
         Theory of the optical properties of DNA-modified gold nanoparticle composites

    A. Pletzer (Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.)
         Stimulating photons and plasmons in a three dimensional metallic lattice

    A.K. Sarychev (Purdue Univ.)
         Plasmons in nano-wires and left-handed plasmonic materials

    G. Shvets (Princeton Plasma Physics Lab.)
         Novel left-handed material based on a network of plasma channels

    D.R. Smith (U.C. San Diego)
         Negative refractive composite media

Mathematical methods applicable to heterogeneous media

Organized by Niklas Wellander

The topics to be covered in this minisymposium are planned to give a sample of some of the existing mathematical tools available to model heterogeneous electromagnetic and magnetic problems such as, but not limited to, the following: homogenization of linear and non-linear Maxwell's equations; bounds on the effective properties; and localization effects in periodic and non-periodic structures.

This minisymposium, to be held Tuesday afternoon of the conference, will include the following talks (please click on the titles to see the abstracts):

    M. Artola (Bordeaux, France)
         Asymptotic methods and electromagnetism

    R. Alexandre (Univ. d'Orleans, France)
         Some tools from homogenization and applications in electromagnetism

   A. Babin (UC Irvine)
         Nonlinear interactions of wavepackets in a periodic media

    I. Gamba (Univ. Texas at Austin)
         Deterministic computations for acoustical-optical-phonon collision Boltzmann-Poisson systems

    C.J. Garcia-Cervera (UC Santa Barbara)
         New advances in numerical micromagnetics simulations

    S. Guenneau (Univ. Liverpool, United Kingdom)
         Properties of conically propagating electromagnetic and elastodynamic waves in periodic media

    J. Picka (Univ. Maryland)
         Estimating conductance in small samples of heterogeneous materials by random walks

    N. Wellander (UC Santa Barbara)
         Homogenization of Maxwell's equations

Conducting polymers and random lasing

Organized by Valy Vardeny

Two topics will be covered in this minisymposium. One is 'random lasers' in which there will be four talks; two talks on experimental works and the other two talks on theoretical issues. The novel and fascinating properties of random lasers are still a mystery, and these talks will give a sample of the many facets associated with this type of laser action. The other topic is 'conducting polymers' in which there will be also four talks, all on experimental works. One talk describes the electrical properties of doped polymers, the other three talks deal with optical properties of several conducting polymer films, including femtosecond transient, cw photomodulation, and spin dependent photomodulation. These talks will give a sample on the many properties of conducting polymers, the novel materials that were the subject of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

This minisymposium, to be held Tuesday afternoon of the conference, will include the following talks (please click on the titles to see the abstracts):

    V. M. Apalkov (Univ. of Utah)
         Random lasing and random resonators in disordered dielectric films

    A. L. Burin (Northwestern Univ.)
         Understanding and control of random lasing

    X. M. Jiang (Univ. of Utah)
         Morphology-dependent optical properties of substituted poly(p-phenylene-ethynylene)

    O. J. Korovyanko (Univ. of Utah)
         Photoexcitations in trans-polyacetylenes: Long-living story about short-living species

    R. Polson (Univ. of Utah)
         Random lasing in Pi-conjugated polymer films

    A. E. Semenov (Rutgers Univ.)
         Electrical transport in 2-Naphthylacetylene anode of Li+ ion battery in strong inhomogeneous electric field by UHV STM/AFM

    D. S. Wiersma (European Lab. for Non-linear Spectroscopy and INFM, Italy)
         Liquid crystal infiltrated random media: From the optical NTC-resistor to temperature tunable random lasers

    M. Wohlgenannt (Univ. of Utah)
         Measurements of spin-dependent exciton formation cross-sections in pi-conjugated oligomers and polymers

Magnetic systems

This minisymposium, to be held Thursday afternoon of the conference, will include the following talks (please click on the titles to see the abstracts):


    G.H. Demirjian (Gyumri State Pedagogical Inst., Armenia)
         The peculiarities of hydrogen-type systems in thin semiconductor films (QWS) in the presence of a transverse magnetic field

    J.S. Miller (Univ. of Utah)
         Spin glass behavior in metalloporphyrin-based magnets

    X.-Z. Wang (Harbin Normal Univ., China)
         Nonlinear polaritons of antiferromagnetic superlattices

    W. Wen (HKUST, China)
         Two and three dimensional ordered structures in electro-magneto-rheological fluids

    L.-J. Zou (ICTP, Italy)
         Role of the orbital ordering on the molecular magnet Mn{12}Ac

Percolation and critical behavior

This minisymposium, to be held Thursday afternoon of the conference, will include the following talks (please click on the titles to see the abstracts):


    K.K. Bardhan (Saha Inst. Nuclear Physics, India)
         Critical behaviour of thermal relaxation in composites

    F. Carmona (Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, France)
         To what extent is the structure of a random composite compatible with a percolation model?

    A.N. Lagarkov (Inst. for Theoretical and Applied Electromagnetism, Russia)
         Influence of concentration fluctuation on mv properties of composites

    D.S. McLachlan (Univ. of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)
         The correct modeling of the second order terms of the complex ac conductivity results for continuum percolation media, using a single phenomenological equation



Nanostructures Session

The aim of this session, to be held on Friday July 19th, is to highlight this burgeoning research area, and to stimulate in depth discussion. The session will consist of four (invited) 30 minute lead talks:

    Naomi Halas (Rice University)
         The manipulation of light: One nanoparticle at a time

    James C. Hone(Caltech)
         Phonons and thermal transport in nanoscale devices and nanomaterials

    Vladimir Shalaev(Purdue University)
         Plasmonic nanophotonics: Manipulating light and sensing molecules

    Gerald Stringfellow (University of Utah)
         Control of nano- and micro-scale inhomogenities using surfactants in III/V alloys

followed by six 20 minute presentations:

   V.I. Boev (Univ. do Minho, Portugal)
         Dipole-dipole interaction effect on the optical response of quantum dot ensembles

    A.A. Lazarides (Northwestern Univ.)
         Dynamic effective medium theory of nanosphere materials

    A.B. Pakhomov (HKUST, China)
         Resistance switching and memory in a metal-dielectric nanocomposite system

    A.M. Satanin (Nizhny Novgorod Univ.)
         Resistance of size-quantized inhomogeneous films

    M.I. Stockman (Georgia State)
         Femtosecond energy concentration in nanosystems: coherent control

    H.-G. Zhou (Xiamen Univ. China)
         The study of 5CB absorbed on nano-roughened Ag and Au electrodes by surface-enhanced raman scattering

Please click on the titles to see the abstracts. Additionally there will be other talks during the conference which relate to nanostructured materials.


Deadlines

  1. March 31st 2002: Submit title and abstract for contributed presentations
  2. June 14, 2002: Book accomodation at Snowbird
  3. June 14, 2002: Students and postdocs to enter the Elsevier Science competition
  4. At the conference: Regular registration payment, $400
  5. August 31, 2002 : Submit Paper



Scientific Advisory Committee:

International Advisory Subcommittee:

    Ruben G. Barrera (Mexico)
   David J. Bergman(Israel)
   Haydn Chen (Hong Kong, China)
   Jacques Lafait (France)
    Andrey N. Lagarkov (Russia)
   Ad Lagendijk (Netherlands)
    Ross C. McPhedran (Australia)
    Ping Sheng (Hong Kong, China)

U.S. Advisory Subcommittee:

    Alexei Efros
    Alexei Maradudin
    Donald K. Perovich
    Pabitra N. Sen
    Albert J. Sievers
    Vladimir Shalaev
    David G. Stroud
    David Tanner
    Eli Yablonovitch
 

Minisymposia Organizers

    Steven Blair
    Robert Ewing
    Valy Vardeny
    Niklas Wellander
 

Local Organizing Committee

    Steven Blair
    Andrej Cherkaev(Conference webmaster)
    Elena Cherkaev(SIAM representative)
   David Dobson
    Ken Golden (Co-chairman)
    Chris Johnson
    Jim Keener
    Graeme Milton (Chairman)
    Valy Vardeny

Conference Coordinator

    Eleen  Collins


Conference Schedule

The conference schedule includes invited talks, six minisymposia, contributed talks, a two-hour poster session, and, a nanostructures session. For more details please click here.


Submission of abstracts

The deadline for submitting titles and abstracts for contributed presentations is March 31st 2002 The corresponding author will be notified by April 10th 2002 if the paper is accepted. To submit your abstract please use the form found by clicking here . If using this form is a problem please send your title and half page abstract to etopim@math.utah.edu.


Abstracts

Here are the preliminary abstracts of the minisymposia presentations, contributed talks and posters, ordered alphabetically according to the surname of the presenter. The abstracts of the Invited Speakers have not yet been inserted into these files, although we plan to include them shortly. Those abstracts can be found by clicking on the titles in the invited speaker list.

Special thanks go to Nelson Beebe and Eleen Collins for their considerable help in processing these abstracts.


Registration

The registration fee for the conference is US$400. It includes the book of abstracts, a copy of the conference proceedings, refreshments during coffee breaks, and the banquet. Although we prefer payment via money order or check, payment over the internet via credit card is also possible using paypal; for details click here. Paypal payments should be made before submitting the registration form. To register please use the form found by clicking here . If for some reason using this form is a problem please an email to etopim@math.utah.edu. Please note that we will not have the facilities to process credit card payments at Snowbird.

There is a reduced registration fee of US$150 for students and postdocs, who should use the form found by clicking here . This does not include the banquet but does include a copy of the conference proceedings and refreshments during the coffee breaks. Tickets to the banquet can be purchased separately.


Proceedings

Previous ETOPIM proceedings represent an outstanding collection of leading research that includes some landmark papers. Following this tradition the proceedings of ETOPIM6 will be published as a special issue of Physica B. The guest editors are David Dobson, Ken Golden, Graeme Milton, and Valy Vardeny. Invited speakers and participants with accepted contributed presentations are required to hand in the manuscripts before or during, but absolutely no later than, August 31st. The manuscripts will go through the usual review process. Twenty-five offprints of each contribution will be mailed, free of charge, to the first or corresponding author. Additional offprints can be ordered in accordance with the standard prices of the journal. An offprint order form will be sent to the authors together with the proofs.

Papers for the minisymposia, oral presentations and poster presentations are limited to four journal pages. Papers for the invited presentations are limited to six journal pages. Guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts and calculating the manuscript length in journal pages have been sent to authors.

For those of you preparing the manuscript for the proceedings using latex see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/latex for instructions and style files. For your convenience, these files along with sample tex files can be found at http://www.math.utah.edu/etopim/articles (Thanks to Nelson Beebe for providing these). The latex files (or word document if you are using microsoft word) can be submitted via email to the conference coordinator Eleen Collins, collins@math.utah.edu. We prefer the original latex file rather than the final postcript file in case corrections have to be made. Please use standard latex or latex2e with no additional style files beyond the Elsevier ones. If you use bibtex please also submit the .bbl files, and if you have figures please submit the associated .eps files. For refereeing purposes please mail three hardcopies of your manuscript to Eleen Collins, University of Utah, Department of Mathematics, 155 South 1400 East room 233, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090. Note that there will be a charge if you use color figures: $600 for one page of color figures and $300 per additional page.


Information for students and postdocs

We welcome the participation of students and postdocs in the meeting. Postdocs and students whose research is sufficiently complete are strongly encouraged to submit abstracts, followed by a paper if their abstract is accepted for presentation. All students and postdocs are eligible for the reduced registration fee of $150 which includes a copy of the conference proceedings and refreshments during the coffee breaks. Please use the form found by clicking here .

We have reserved a limited number of rooms at Snowbird for students at a special discounted rate. These will be made available to postdocs if they are not all taken by students. Any student or postdoc wanting further information should email us .

We are applying for funds to support the expenses of graduate students studying in the United States for travel to the conference. Students wishing to be considered for this support should send an email to etopim@math.utah.edu The selection of qualified students will be based on their abstract or otherwise on a letter of recommendation from their thesis advisor if they are not planning to submit an abstract.

Schlumberger-Doll has given a small amount of funds to help offset the costs of women graduate students and/or women postdocs attending the conference. If you wish to be considered for this support please send us an email on or before May 31st.

Elsevier Science is providing two awards of $500 each to the two undergraduate students, graduate students, or postdocs (who may be American or foreign) registering at and attending ETOPIM6 who make the best assessment of Physics Connect (www.physicsconnect.com). The competition deadline is June 14th, 2002. For details click here.


Location and weather

Snowbird is a resort complex near the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, located 29 miles from Salt Lake International Airport. The conference will be held in the Cliff Lodge, which is a modern, first class resort and business hotel and conference center. It is set at an elevation of about 8000 feet (2440 meters) amidst the spectacular alpine beauty of the Wasatch Mountains, with surrounding peaks reaching to over 11,000 feet (3350 meters). Temperatures and weather conditions during July are generally pleasant, yet in this environment they can be quite variable, with an average daily high of about 85 F (30 C) and an average daily low of about 45 F (8 C). Afternoon mountain thunderstorms are a possibility. The average rainfall in July is about 1.6 inches (40 mm).


Accomodation

We have booked a block of rooms at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird for the reduced nightly rate of $104.00 plus state tax, currently 10.1% per night. Additionally we have reserved a smaller block of rooms at the Lodge at Snowbird for a nightly rate of $94.00 plus state tax. These blocks of rooms will be reserved until June 14th, 2002, but we urge you to make reservations early since there are a limited number of rooms at these rates. After June 14th Snowbird will continue to accept reservations at these rates on a space available basis.

Reservations should be made directly with Snowbird's Central Reservation Office by phoning 1(800)453-3000. Overseas participants may prefer to make reservations by emailing cres@snowbird.com or by faxing 1(801)947-8227. To get the discounted rates please mention that your booking is in connection with the ETOPIM conference. Airline reservations and canyon transportation can also be arranged through the Snowbird Central Reservation Office (see Travel to Snowbird on the main menu). A one-night deposit per room by credit card or check is required within seven days of booking. Other methods of payment can also be arranged. For early arrivals and late departures Snowbird can provide guest rooms from July 12th 2001 through July 20th 2001 at the group rate on a space available basis.

We also have reserved a limited number of rooms for students at a special discounted rate. These will be made available to postdocs if they are not all taken by students. Any student or postdoc wanting further information should email us .


Flights to Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is a major hub of Delta airlines, and is serviced by over 600 daily flights from most major US cities and by many airlines, including United, American, Continental, Southwest and Northwest.


Transport between the airport and Snowbird

Snowbird is 29 miles from Salt Lake International Airport and located near the town of Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Canyon Transportation vans provide transportation between the Salt Lake City Airport to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort on a daily basis. The trip each way takes about 45 minutes.

Reservations can be made through Snowbird Central Reservations Lodging, telephone 1(800)453-3000. Overseas participants may prefer to make reservations by emailing cres@snowbird.com or by faxing 1(801)947-8227. They should be made 48 hours in advance, and the roundtrip cost is currently $44. The express vehicle to Snowbird runs every 30 minutes, 8am to 10pm, while the return vehicle to the airport runs every hour on the hour, 6am to 8pm. Reservations are preferred for arrivals and required for departures.

If you arrive without a reservation, let the driver know you are attending the ETOPIM conference and you should be able to get the rate of currently $22 each way. If you are arriving or departing outside the normal hours of operation of the express vehicle please contact Canyon Transportation directly at 1(800)255-1841 to make reservations; the one way cost is currently $66 for 1 to 3 passengers, and $22 for each additional passenger.


Attractions in the area

Recreational opportunities in summer at Snowbird include hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, tennis, swimming, extensive spa facilities, and the Aerial Tram which takes passengers to the top of Hidden Peak in 6 minutes. Deer, elk, mountain goats, and the occasional moose may be seen in the vicinity of Snowbird. Alpine flowers are abundant. There are many other options in the surrounding areas, including bird watching, golf, fishing, boating, hot air ballooning, horseback riding, mountain biking, mountaineering and canyoning, and river rafting.

In Salt Lake City itself there is a wide selection of restaurants, microbreweries, bars, dance clubs, entertainment and shopping. In the downtown area, popular tourist attractions include Temple Square, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Ballet West, and the Utah Symphony. Outside downtown the Hansen Planetarium, the Utah Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Red Butte Garden, Deseret Village, Tracy Aviary and the Hogle Zoo are worth visiting. Salt Lake City and the surrounding areas hosted the Winter Olympics in February 2002.

Within reasonable driving distance of Salt Lake City are many of America's best National Parks and National Monuments; including to the east (about 4 hours drive) Dinosoar; to the southeast (about 4.5 hours drive) Arches, Canyonlands, and, further away, Mesa Verde; to the south (about 6 to 8 hours drive) Bryce, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Natural Bridges, Rainbow Bridge (boat trips leave from Wahweap near Page, Arizona), and Zion; to the southwest Great Basin; to the north (about 7 to 10 hours drive) Grand Teton and Yellowstone; and nearby (about 1 hour drive) Timpanogos Cave.

Also worth visiting are a number of State Parks including Antelope Island (see also these photos) in the The Great Salt Lake , Dead Horse Point, Goblin Valley (see also the nearby Little Wild Horse Canyon), and Kodachrome Basin and other playgrounds such as the Bonneville Salt Flats, Cataract Canyon, Desolation and Grey Canyons, Labyrinth Canyon, Little Sahara, Monument Valley, Nine Mile Canyon, the San-Rafael swell, and Westwater Canyon.

Additional attractions include Antelope Canyon, the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine, Buckskin Gulch, Flaming Gorge, Glen Canyon and Lake Powell , the The Great Salt Lake , and the Uinta mountains, and the Wind River Range, and resort towns such as Deer Valley, Jackson Hole, Moab, Park City, and Sundance Resort, and there are also a number of ghost towns and hot springs. In Cedar City there is Utah Shakespearean festival with outdoor play performances during the summer. Further afield, but still within a day driving distance one way by car or bus is Las Vegas

In general the desert areas are very hot in summer and you should be careful to carry plenty of water when driving on remote roads or hiking, and be aware of danger of flash floods in the desert canyons caused by thunderstorms upstream and not necessarily where you are. Be aware of rattlesnakes in the wilderness. Mountains and other high elevation areas (including Bryce, Zion and the north rim of the Grand Canyon) are pleasant during summer.

We hope to arrange an afternoon excursion and several post-conference tours which cover some of the above attractions. More information about Snowbird, Salt Lake City, and Utah can be found at www.snowbird.com, utah.citysearch.com, www.visitsaltlake.com, and www.utah.com. Tickets for many performances in Salt Lake can be obtained through www.arttix.org. A collection of outstanding Utah photos can be found at http://utahpictures.com.


Post Conference Trips

Exploring the Wild West is a remarkable experience! There are several possibilities:

How to contact us

Contact conference secretariat:

    Eleen Collins
    Address: University of Utah
    155 S 1400 E Room 233
    Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090
    U.S.A.
    Phone: (801) 585-6036
    Department Fax: (801) 581-4148
    Email: etopim@math.utah.edu

Contact conference chairs:
    K. Golden     G. Milton

Contact conference webmaster:
    A. Cherkaev

If you would like to be placed on our email mailing list for updated conference information please send an email to etopim-list-request@math.utah.edu with subscribe in the subject heading. If you wish to receive the conference flier please send an email indicating this to etopim@math.utah.edu and include your postal address.