The Department of Mathematical Sciences at The University of Memphis will host its fifth annual Paul Erdös Lecture Series Feb. 23-24.

The two-day event will begin with a memorial lecture, "Phase Transitions in Combinatorics and Computer Science," by Jennifer Chayes on Feb. 23 at 4 p.m. in the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Chayes is manager of the Theory Group at Microsoft Research, a collaborative research group of mathematicians, physicists and theoretical computer scientists. Since joining Microsoft in 1997, Chayes has begun to apply methods from math and physics to problems in theoretical computer science, networking and information technology. She also is a professor of mathematics at UCLA and an affiliate professor of math and physics at the University of Washington.

A series of technical talks will be held Feb. 23 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. and Feb. 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Winfield Dunn Hall. Speakers include international scholars Christian Borgs of Microsoft Research; Andrew Granville of the University of Georgia; Heiko Harborth of Germany; Michal Karonski of Poland; Gyula Katona, director of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and a visiting professor at The U of M; Imre Leader of Cambridge, England; Cecil Rousseau and Máté Wierdl, both of The U of M; and Jeff Steif of Atlanta.

The series is held in honor of the University's relationship with the late Erdös, one of the best known and most prolific mathematicians of the century, who served as an adjunct professor at The U of M.

All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, call Dr. Béla Bollobás at 678-5610.

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