Supercomputing Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collision Physics
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
5-9 December, 2005
Local arrangements
Venue
The meeting will be held in the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. TIFR is at the extreme western end of the Homi Bhabha Road, which is in Navy Nagar, Colaba. The institute is on the left hand side of the road as you come down it, and the guest house is in the campus on the right. The meeting will be held in the ground floor of the main institute building.
The registration desk in room number AG 69 will be open from 8:45 AM to 12:00 noon on 5 December, and during breaks thereafter. The main talks are scheduled in AG 66. Focus groups will meet in AG 66 and AG 69. The public talk will be in the Homi Bhabha Auditorium.
Physics program and focus groups
The physics program consists of talks and discussions. The latter are structured around three focus groups--- (a) (b) and (c) whose coordinators will arrange discussions or further short talks as necessary. These focus group discussions will run in parallel. It is expected that each participant signs up for a focus group. If you like, you may join more than one, but consider that since they run in parallel, it would be hard for you to participate in more than one.
You can send a mail to the coordinators of these working groups by clicking on the links above. We suggest you send a mail to the group that you want to join. There are some slots available for short talks in the focus groups (roughly 15 minutes). If you wish to give a talk, please contact the coordinators of the appropriate focus group by email as early as possible, and make sure that you have an electronic copy of the talk (ppt, pdf or ps) for the web proceedings.Weather
Bombay never gets very cold. At this time the temperature is expected to be in the mid or low 20's. However, the air conditioning in the institute makes sure that you do not miss the winter. Be prepared for significantly lower temperatures inside the lecture rooms. Rain is very unlikely.
Network and talks
Wireless network access is available at all times in lecture halls AG 66 and AG 69 and its environs. Wired access has been arranged in the lobby of the Homi Bhabha Auditorium. This area will be open during regular working hours only.
Lecture halls have projectors for talks. We will copy your talks (ppt or pdf) for immediate inclusion in the web proceedings. For those who have talks on plastic, there are transparency projectors as well. If you give a transparency talk, please bring a pdf for inclusion in the web proceedings of the workshop.
Unfortunately, cell phone reception for the Airtel and Dolphin networks is good inside and in the vicinity of the lecture rooms. Please make sure that your phones are on silent mode during the meeting.
Getting around: taxis
Taxis to the institute will cost around Rs. 350 from the airport, Rs. 100 from Mumbai Central railway station, Rs. 60 from Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Mumbai CST), Rs. 50 from Ambassador hotel, and less from all the other hotels (the amount shown on the meter has to be multiplied by a factor of about 14 to compute the cost of your trip). Traffic conditions are unpredictable; allow 20--25 minutes for travel by taxi between the hotel and the institute, about an hour to the airport and under 30 minutes to the railway stations.
In order to take a taxi to the institute from the airport or the railway stations specify that you want to get to "Navy Nagar, Colaba". A landmark known to all taxi drivers is the Navy Nagar bus terminus (better known as "last stop of bus number 3") which is on Homi Bhabha Road just before the institute. The only other bus terminus in Navy Nagar is called the R.C. Church bus terminus: if you reach this then you should ask the taxi to look for the other terminus. In south Bombay most taxi drivers would know "TIFR", but if they don't then the above two directions work. Parts of Navy Nagar are closed to the public; the guards at the closure points would be able to give directions to the institute (known as "TIFR").
Getting around: arrival by train
Bus routes 3, 6 Ltd, 11 Ltd and 125 go from Mumbai CST to the Navy Nagar bus terminus. At Mumbai CST cross through the suburban railway station to arrive at the bus stops. Make sure that the bus you take goes all the way to "Navy Nagar" (some buses on these routes stop at "Electric House" or "Colaba Bus Station" — the destination is mentioned outside the bus).
Bus number 125 comes to TIFR directly from Mumbai Central; exit away from the suburban railway station for this bus. It is also possible to take a local train to Churchgate station. Then come out through the western exit, get to the main road (Veer Nariman Road) and take bus number 137 to "Navy Nagar" from the Churchgate side of the road. This is much faster than taking the 125 all the way.
If you arrive at Dadar central station, then cross over to the western local station and take the train to Churchgate. At Churchgate take bus number 137 as explained above. From Dadar you can also take the central line to Mumbai CST and then buses 3, 6 Ltd, 11 Ltd or 125 as explained above.
If you arrive at Bandra terminus, get to the western rail network, arrive at Churchgate and take 137 as explained above. If you arrive at the Kurla terminus (Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak terminus), walk across to the local station, take the train to Mumbai CST and then buses 3, 6 Ltd, 11 Ltd or 125 as explained above.
Getting around: from hotels to TIFR
There will be a vehicle in the morning to pick up participants living in various hotels. On December 5 the vehicles depart from the Taj at 08:25 AM, Strand at 08:40 AM, Ambassador at 08:25 AM and the Taj President at 08:40 AM. Traffic conditions make it impossible for vehicles to wait for any length of time, so please be there if you want to take the transport. Vehicle timings on subsequent dates will be communicated to you during the conference.
Getting around in Mumbai
For planning further travel inside Mumbai using the public transport network, try out an useful automated tool. Boats to Elephanta island leave every hour from the jettys at the Gateway of India.
Refreshments, lunch and dinner
During breaks coffee and tea will be served in the terrace outside the west canteen. Lunch will be served in the terrace behind the Homi Bhabha auditorium. Dinner is available between 7 PM and 8 PM in the east canteen for those who are interested. Bombay has a wide variety of good restaurants. A partial list of restaurants in south Bombay is available here.
Currency and tipping
Currency can be exchanged at the airport and at various places in south Bombay (ask your hotel reception for the most convenient locations). Retain your exchange receipt; you'll need it if you want to convert rupees back into another currency at the end of the stay. Currency exchange is not possible in TIFR. Credit cards are accepted at most larger restaurants and shops.
Tips are not expected for taxis. Tips are expected in restaurants, and 10% is considered to be generous.
Maps
A clickable map of Mumbai can be used to locate and zoom into interesting places like Colaba (Homi Bhabha Road is at the extreme southern end). Here is a plan of the institute (the meeting will be held in the block marked AB in the plan). Here is a map of the route taken by the TIFR bus (includes timings).
