[Contents of the first email to the mailing list, sent 23 Dec 2003.]

Welcome to STAGE, the MIT Seminar on Topics in Arithmetic Geometry, Etc.!
(I'm not wedded to that name; alternate suggestions are welcome.) This
somewhat long message describes what my current plans are for the seminar,
and what remains to be determined.

First, a general request: if you know anyone who should be on this list 
and isn't, let me know. Also let me know if you want to get off the list. 
(I plan to send most messages using BCC, so you won't get the long header 
at the top, but this one I sent normally so everyone could see who is on 
the list.)

Another general comment: information about the seminar, including this 
email, will be posted at the seminar web page, which is currently located 
at
   http://www-math.mit.edu/~kedlaya/stage/
but may move, e.g., if we change the seminar name.

Now, about the seminar.

GOALS OF THE SEMINAR:
   -- To provide a forum for discussion of topics in arithmetic geometry, 
which might fall through the cracks between existing fora in Cambridge
and nearby (Harvard number theory seminar, Harvard/MIT algebraic geometry 
seminar, etc.)
   -- To enable participants to learn about current trends in research.
   -- To do all this in an informal atmosphere, with plenty of active student 
participation, both as speakers and as vocal audience members. In particular,
making sure everyone is "on board" (including the speaker!) will be emphasized
over making sure the speaker "gets to the end".

FORMAT OF THE SEMINAR: Probably one meeting per week for 1-1.5 hours. 
Time and place (at MIT) are to be determined: please let me know what your 
preferences are, though of course I can't please everyone. Top priority
is to avoid conflicting with seminars that may have participation overlap
(including the Harvard/MIT algebraic geometry seminar, the 
Harvard number theory seminar, the BAGS,
Johan's graduate AG seminar, and Akshay and Cathy's graduate NT seminar; 
let me know if I missed any). I'd like to announce the official meeting
time during the organizational meeting (see below).

STRUCTURE OF THE SEMINAR: I was originally thinking of focusing on a single
topic throughout the semester. Some suggestions along this line included:
   -- from me: the recent work of Abbes and Saito on ramification in extension
of local fields with nonperfect residue fields. (I think I'll hold off on this
until next fall, when I'm due to teach a topics course on rigid analytic 
geometry.)
   -- from me: topics concerning zeta functions of algebraic varieties,
perhaps with an eye towards p-adic cohomology and/or numerical computations. 
This suggestion is prompted by the facts that Alan Lauder will visit in 
April, and that this year's Arizona Winter School includes some related topics.
   -- from Max: some basic topics in log-geometry, on which Martin is our
local expert (and I know a little also).
   -- from Frans Oort: discussion of a suite of questions concerning Zariski
closures of sets of "special points" on varieties: Manin-Mumford conjecture
and generalizations, Andre-Oort conjecture, Oort's Hecke orbit conjecture
(as established by Chai-Oort).
   -- More suggestions welcome!

I haven't yet committed to any one topic. Indeed, I'm not insistent on
even having a single topic: we might instead have several "minicourses"
running through the semester, occasionally interrupted by an outside
visitor talk. This will depend on what people want to hear and can be coaxed
into talking about.

ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING: I'd like to have an organizational meeting during
IAP, at which we finalize the meeting time and the first couple of talks
and flesh out some plans for the semester. First suggestion: how about
Tuesday, January 13 at 1 PM? If that's no good, feel free to suggest a
better date/time (preferably during the same week). I'll send a separate
email once I nail down the date/time/place.

Okay, that's enough for now; more details to follow in the coming days.
Enjoy the vacation, and I look forward to seeing you in January and thereafter!

Kiran