Workshop II “Combinatorics & Asymptotics of discrete planar structures” is a workshop of the ESI Thematic program on Statistical Mechanics and Combinatorics of Discrete Planar Structures from 19.-23. October 2026.
The purpose of this workshop is to bring together leading experts in the following fields and to discuss recent developments such as the the recently explored connections between alternating sign matrices, Grothendieck polynomials and algebraic geometry or the scaling limits of planar graph structures.
Asymptotics and Combinatorics of Planar Maps and Graphs is a very active field of research, attracting significant interest due to its connections to probability theory, statistical physics, and theoretical computer science.
Enumerative questions on tilings, plane partitions, alternating sign matrices and related objects are notorious for being easy to state but often dicult to prove. Nowadays the area benefits significantly from its increasing interactions with several other areas where these objects are studied from a di erent point of view such as statistical physics (where alternating sign matrices appear in disguise as the six-vertex model), probability (dimer model), representation theory and algebraic geometry (where alternating sign matrices appear in disguise as bumpless pipe dreams).
These connections off er new opportunities and will be central for the workshop.
Speakers will be announed soon!
The workshop is co-organised by Michael Drmota (TU Wien), Ilse Fischer (University of Vienna) and Benedikt Stufler (TU Wien).
Application
To register your interest to participate we welcome applications.
Partial support is acknowledged from the SFB F 1002 “Discrete random structures: enumeration and scaling limits” by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
The support of the following organizations is greatly acknowledged:
