Statistical Mechanics of Game Theory

May 27, 2009, 10:00 AM → May 30, 2009, 6:00 PM Europe/Stockholm

Arne Traulsen (Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionsbiologie), Erik Aurell (KTH), John Hertz (NORDITA), Mikko Alava (HUT)

Practical information about the conference start

The conference begins on Viking Line ferry leaving Stockholm harbour May 27 2009 at 16.45 Swedish time. We will travel on the Viking Line ferries going from Stockholm to Helsinki with a stop-over in Mariehamn (where we get off).

The trip to Mariehamn from Stockholm takes almost exactly five hours. We will have a lecture room and dinner on the ship.

It is recommended that you be in the ferry terminal at 16.00, at the latest. Someone from the organizing committee (Erik Aurell or Mikko Alava) will be in the ferry terminal with the tickets from 15.30 at the latest.

To repeat: everyone should be aware of that we get off at Mariehamn, the capital of the Aland islands, at 23.40 Finnish time. The ferry continues immediately to Helsinki, on the Finnish mainland. The ferry does not turn back if you don't get off where you should, and it takes the better part of the next day to travel back to Mariehamn.

Practical information about the return trip

For the return trip from Mariehamn, this is the responsibility of the individual participants.

However, to simply things, everyone except those who have explicitly indicated a contrary preference are booked on Viking Line sailing from Mariehamn on Saturday May 30 at 14.25 (Finnish time), arriving in Stockholm at 18.55 (Swedish time).

Background and other information

This event is meant to gather together scientists interested in the applications and theory of game theory with the statistical mechanics viewpoint in mind. Thus we expect to invite and attract statistical physicists, computer scientists, and biologists.

The venue is Hotel Arkipelag in downtown Mariehamn, the capital of the province of Aland, Finland. The Aland archipelago, lying between Sweden and mainland Finland, is easily reachable by ferry from Stockholm, Turku (Finland), and Helsinki. Moreover there are flights from Sweden and Finland. The workshop will be over 2.5 full days (Thursday to Saturday noon), and we expect to start it on a ferry from Stockholm Wednesday afternoon with arrival late evening Wednesday.

The meeting is supported by NORDITA, the KTH Linnaeus Center ACCESS, and the National Graduate School for Materials Physics, Finland. There are funds for PhD students in particular from the Nordic countries (and in particular from Finland and Sweden).

</par> <par> Deadline for registration for scientists interested in participation March 15th. For those who wish to give a talk and/or obtain financial support, the decisions will be made by April 1st, at the latest. The same deadline also applies for requests for accommodation at Arkipelag/Mariehamn. Please note that the program should start on a ferry from Stockholm, so your presence on that is important information for the organizers. There is a maximum number of participants, 45, for capacity reasons.

</par> <par> There is no conference fee, and the ferry ticket from Stockholm to Mariehamn is provided as well as refreshments etc. for the participants. The dinner on the Viking Line ferry costs 28 Euros if one is interested in the buffet available. On Thursday the 28th there will be a conference dinner (for the subsidized rate of 30 Euros thanks to our financial support). Lunches at hotel Arkipelag are available at 9.50 Euros per day. The hotel options we have reserved consist of hotel Arkipelag (120 Euros/night, single; 75 Euros/ double) and hotel Pommern within a 10 minute walking distance (85 Euros, single; 50 Euros, double). We (or the hosts on Åland) will also be very happy to help you to book your ferry back, to Sweden or Finland, or to help with eventual flights out.

The current status (May 4th) is that the bookings have been done as requested by the participants. The program will be available here soon. See you at the ferry terminal or in Mariehamn directly! </par> <par> Invited speakers include (list to be completed)

Andreas Deutsch	Dresden
Erwin Frey	Munich
Doyne Farmer	Santa Fe
Tobias Galla	Manchester
Adam Landsberg	Claremont
Kristian Lindgren	Göteborg
Matteo Marsili	Trieste
Jorge Pacheco	Lisbon
György Szabo	Budapest
David Sherrington	Oxford