[cmath] 2009 CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY G. DE B. ROBINSON AWARD WINNERS

[Graham Wright]

2009 CANADIAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY G. DE B. ROBINSON AWARD WINNERS

The Canadian Mathematical Society is pleased to announce that 
Dr. Vladimir Manuilov (Moscow State University) and Dr. Klaus Thomsen (Aarhus 
University) are the winners of the 2009 G. de B. Robinson Award.

The G. de B. Robinson Award was inaugurated to recognize the publication of 
excellent papers in the Canadian Journal of Mathematics and the Canadian 
Mathematical Bulletin and to encourage the submission of the highest quality 
papers to these journals.

The 2009 G. de B. Robinson Prize is awarded to V. Manuilov and K. Thomsen for 
their paper "On the Lack of Inverses to C*--extensions related to property T 
groups" (Canadian Mathematical Bulletin 50 (2007), no. 2, 268-283).

The Connes-Higson construction [A. Connes and N. Higson, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 
Sér. I Math. 311 (1990), no. 2, 101--106] is one of the most fundamental 
constructions of E-theory. In E-theory, utilizing the notion of asymptotic 
morphism, an extension is viewed as trivial when it is asymptotically split, 
and as semi-invertible when its direct sum with some other extension is 
trivial. In earlier work [J. Funct. Anal. 213 (2004), no. 1, 154--175], V. 
Manuilov and K. Thomsen show that when dealing with a suspension, every 
extension is semi-invertible.

The authors are able to modify an example investigated by S. Wassermann [Ann. 
of Math. (2) 134 (1991), no. 2, 423--431] to get an extension which is not 
invertible up to homotopy. This paper then provides the first example of a 
C*--algebra for which the semigroup of homotopy classes of extensions is not a 
group.

Professor Vladimir Manuilov was born in Kishinev, USSR, in 1961 and obtained 
his Diploma in Mathematics in 1983 and his Ph.D. degree from Moscow State 
University in 1987, under the supervision of Alexander Mishchenko. He obtained 
a second higher doctoral degree in 2000, also from Moscow State University. He 
began teaching at the same university in 1995 and became a full professor in 
2003.  Vladimir Manuilov has lectured and worked in several other universities, 
particularly at the Harbin Institute of Technology (China). Two graduate 
students have obtained their Ph.D. degrees under Manuilov's supervision. He is 
also the author of 50 publications, including a monograph, with E. Troitsky, 
entitled "Hilbert C*--modules" which was published by the AMS in 2005. His main 
area of research has been on K-theory of C*--algebras. His collaboration with 
Klaus Thomsen on asymptotic homomorphisms and extensions of C*-algebras started 
in 1998 and has resulted in a series of 13 joint papers.

Klaus Thomsen received his Ph.D. from the University of Aarhus in 1985 and has 
been an Associate Professor since 1988.  His main interests are in operator 
algebras and dynamical systems, and, in particular, the interplay between these 
two areas. On a more personal level he is married and the proud father of two 
sons and a daughter.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Matthias Neufang
Chair - CMS Publications Committee
School of Mathematics and Statistics
Carleton University
613-520-2600 ext 2161
mneufang at math.carleton.ca

Mr. Johan Rudnick
Executive Director
Canadian Mathematical Society
(613) 733-2662  ext 721
director at cms.math.ca

*********************

About the Canadian Mathematical Society (www.cms.math.ca)

The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) is the main national 
organization whose goal is to promote and advance the discovery, 
learning, and application of mathematics. The Society's activities 
cover the whole spectrum of mathematics including: scientific 
meetings, research publications, and the promotion of excellence in 
mathematics education at all levels.  The CMS has a number of awards 
and prizes that are annually given to individuals in recognition of 
outstanding contributions to the advancement of mathematics.