Tired of indistinguishable seminar series? Want a forum for talking
about crazy ideas, cool constructions and fun theories? Want it in a
relaxed and informal atmosphere?

This is the motivation for NotYASS (Not Yet Another Seminar Series).
Well, one of the motivations at least. The other is to foster
interactions between people with a mathematical bent in various
departments and schools at ANU, for example RSISE and MSI. Such
interaction is both natural and desirable, given the large amount of
theoretical work done across the campus.

The proposed structure is to meet regularly at a bar, restaurant or cafe
(venue yet to be decided). The idea is that in each semester, we settle
on a broad theme for the sessions. At each session, one person will lead
the discussion on a topic related to the theme. We envisage that the
initial theme will be "The nature of proof". This is to be interpreted
broadly and includes, for example:

* Is it reasonable to make use of overly complex proofs (e.g., the
classification of finite simple groups)?
* Are proofs generated by computers to be trusted?
* What is the relationship between "formal logic proofs" and "natural
proofs"?

We plan to keep the actual NotYASS sessions fairly informal. The precise
structure will be settled on once we have a better idea of how many
people will attend. Should a more formal follow up on a session be
desired, this can be done in an existing seminar series, for example
within RSISE or MSI.

At this stage, we are seeking expressions of interest. Hopefully, we
will be able to get the series up and running within a few weeks. If you
are interested, then please email Jon with your name and affiliation.