IAU Colloquium No. 197 Dynamics of Populations of Planetary Systems August 31 - September 4, 2004 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

Scientific rationale: The progress in computing results in the possibility to compute numerically the orbit of a single celestial object in almost all problems, even when there are close approaches and in other highly unstable cases. This has, however, only moved forward the frontiers of research in Dynamical Astronomy. Now the goal is to study the dynamical behavior of entire populations of celestial bodies, either real (observed) or only hypothetical (simulated). Thus the contributions need to focus their presentations both on the populations (such as asteroids, comets, meteors; dust particles and rings; swarms of planetesimals; space debris; extra solar planets; virtual objects expressing the uncertainty of orbit determination) and on the methods and theoretical tools (analytical theories; chaotic diffusion; non gravitational perturbations; family classification; population modeling and transport; symplectic integration; graphic representation of the results) which can be used for one or more population. A more extensive scientific rationale and a list of suggested topics are available on the web site.

Contact address: Astronomical Observatory, Volgina 7, 11160 Belgrade 74, Serbia and Montenegro; phone/fax +381-11-2419553; col197@aob.bg.ac.yu , ipakvor@aob.bg.ac.yu

Scientific Organizing Committee: Z. Knezevic (Serbia and Montenegro) and A. Milani (Italy) (Co-chairmen), Joseph A. Burns (USA), Rudolf Dvorak (Austria), Sylvio Ferraz-Mello (Brazil), Claude Froeschle (France), John D. Hadjidemetriou (Greece), Anne Lemaitre (Belgium), Vladimir Porubcan (Slovakia), Giovanni B. Valsecchi (Italy)

Local Organizing Committee: Ivan Pakvor (Chair), Milan Cirkovic, Rade Pavlovic, Slavica Pavic, Ivana Damjanov, Natasa Todorovic

Accommodation: For all information and arrangements related to accommodation and hotel bookings, participants can contact travel agency FIN TRAVEL CLUB , 11000 Belgrade, Kosovska 51, Serbia and Montenegro,Tel: + 381 11 3347 640, Fax: + 381 11 3347 644, e-mail: office@fintravelclub.co.yu

The participants who prefer to stay in student dormitory (11-12 euro per night) are kindly requested to contact directly Local Organizing Committee. At the Student Dormitory only double rooms are available, so please indicate in the Registration Form the name of the other participant with whom you would be prepared to share the room. Please note that hotels Metropol, Slavija, Park as well as Student Dormitory are within walking distance (5-10 min) from Faculty of Civil Engineering, where the meeting is held.

Pre-registration: please fill the form at preregistration to assist us with the planning and the block reservations in the hotels. In the pre-registration form it is possible to propose a presentation, both oral and in poster form. The deadline for the submission of abstracts will be 1 June 2004. The proceedings will be published as refereed papers in a volume of the IAU Colloquia series, not later than six months after the meeting. The authors will be requested to bring the manuscript at the meeting, and will have a maximum of 4 weeks after the meeting to revise it.

Registration: the registration fee is 180 euro provided it is paid not later than 1 June, 200 euro for late registration. This includes a copy of the proceedings, the abstract book, the other material distributed to participants, and all administrative costs. Grants from the IAU are available to support a significant number of participants. The participants requiring a grant must apply through the web page grants not later than 1 April 2004.

Further announcements: the second announcement containing a program of the sessions and invited lectures will be issued before the end of 2003. It will also contain detailed instructions for registration and hotel reservation and details on sightseeing and social functions. A final announcement will be sent out as soon as the scientific program is complete (presumably early July 2004).