In the Tradition of Ahlfors-Bers, IV: Ahlfors-bers Colloquium May 19 - 22, 2005 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Ahlfors-Bers Colloquia commemorate the mathematical legacy of Lars Ahlfors and Lipman Bers. The core of this legacy lies in the fields of geometric function theory, Teichmuller theory, hyperbolic manifolds, and partial differential equations. However, the work of Ahlfors and Bers has impacted and created interactions with many other fields, such as algebraic geometry, mathematical physics, dynamics, geometric group theory, number theory, and topology. The triannual Ahlford-Bers colloquia serve as a venue to disseminate the relevant work to the wider mathematical community and bring the key participants together to ponder future directions in the field. The present volume includes a wide range of articles in the fields central to this legacy. The majority of articles present new results, but there are expository articles as well