IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute The IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI) was founded in 1991 as part of the “Regional Geometry Institute” initiative of the National Science Foundation. In mid-1993 the program found an in- stitutional home at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Prince- ton, New Jersey. The PCMI continues to hold summer programs in Park City, Utah. The IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute encourages both re- search and education in mathematics and fosters interaction between the two. The three-week summer institute offers programs for re- searchers and postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergradu- ate students, high school teachers, mathematics education research- ers, and undergraduate faculty. One of PCMI’s main goals is to make all of the participants aware of the total spectrum of activities that occur in mathematics education and research: we wish to involve pro- fessional mathematicians in education and to bring modern concepts in mathematics to the attention of educators. To that end the sum- mer institute features general sessions designed to encourage interac- tion among the various groups. In-year activities at sites around the country form an integral part of the High School Teacher Program. Each summer a different topic is chosen as the focus of the Re- search Program and Graduate Summer School. Activities in the Un- dergraduate Program deal with this topic as well. Lecture notes from the Graduate Summer School are published each year in the IAS/Park City Mathematics Series. Course materials from the Undergraduate Program, such as the current volume, are now being published as ix
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