These two volumes contain 18 invited papers in honour of the 80th birthday of mathematician Israel M. Gelfand, who is considered to have played an important role in the development of functional analysis in the latter half of the 20th century. The papers cover areas in which Gelfand has a strong interest, including geometric quantum field theory, representation theory, combinatorial structures underlying various "continuous" constructions, quantum groups and geometry. The second volume contains the more "geometric" papers.
These two volumes contain eighteen invited papers by distinguished mathematicians in honor of the eightieth birthday of Israel M. Gelfand, one of the most remarkable mathematicians of our time. Gelfand has played a crucial role in the development of functional analysis during the last half-century. His work and his philosophy have in fact helped shape our understanding of the term 'functional analysis'. The papers in these volumes largely concern areas in which Gelfand has a very strong interest today, including geometric quantum field theory, representation theory, combinatorial structures underlying various 'continuous' constructions, quantum groups and geometry.
The second of the two volumes contains the somewhat more 'geometric' papers, although such a designation is to a certain extent arbitrary, because of the breadth of the papers.