This workshop will be devoted to the study of a variety of topics in geometric and asymptotic group theory, with special emphasis on statistical methods and their applications (in theoretical cryptography). We have contributed to the organization of three similar conferences: in Manresa (Spain) in 2006, in Dortmund (Germany) in 2007, in New York in March 2008. We plan to gather leading specialists in various aspects of geometric, asymptotic, and algorithmic group theory. More specifically, the workshop topics will include quasi-isometries, isoperimetric functions, function growth, asymptotic invariants, random walks, algorithmic problems, etc.

We will also concentrate on some new aspects of solvable groups: geometric, asymptotic, and computational. Algorithmic results on solvable groups were for a long time the real pearls of combinatorial group theory, revealing remarkable relations with computational commutative algebra and number theory. It seems timely to look again at the general classes of solvable groups, but this time from asymptotic, geometric, and computational perspectives.

Lectures at the Leading Edge
Alex Lubotzky (Hebrew University) and Efim Zelmanov (UC San Diego)

Mini-courses
Asymptotic cones
D. Osin (CUNY) and M. Sapir (Vanderbilt)

Quasi-isometric rigidity
A. Eskin (Chicago)