All Seminars

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Title: 576 Fermions
Seminar: Algebra
Speaker: Theo Johnson-Freyd of Perimeter Institute
Contact: John Duncan, john.duncan@emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-24 at 4:00PM
Venue: W306
Abstract:
The Stolz--Teichner conjectures predict that the generalized cohomology theory called Topological Modular Forms has a geometric model in terms of the space of 2-dimensional supersymmetric quantum field theories, and that holomorphic vertex operator superalgebras provide the geometric model for nontrivial degrees of TMF. Since TMF is periodic with period 576, these conjectures in particular predict an equivalence between holomorphic VOSAs of different central charge that had not been discovered by physicists. I will report on progress constructing this "periodicity" equivalence geometrically. Specifically, I will explain the solution to the warm-up problem of constructing geometrically the 8-fold periodicity of real K-theory: my solution realizes this periodicity as an example of super symplectic reduction. I will then explain why I believe the Conway group Co0 will play a role in the 576-fold periodicity problem, and why my recent computation of H^4(Co0) provides evidence for this belief.
Title: Survey on recent results on maximal tori of algebraic groups
Seminar: Algebra
Speaker: Philippe Gille of CNRS, Lyon
Contact: John Duncan, john.duncan@emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-24 at 5:00PM
Venue: W306
Abstract:
Prasad and Rapinchuk investigated the isopectrality problem for certain Riemannian varieties by analysing in what extent a semisimple algebraic group defined over a number field is determined by its maximal tori. We shall report advances on this topic by Chernousov/Rapinchuk/Rapinchuk, Bayer-Fluckiger/Lee/Parimala and others by discussing the case of non-archimedean fields and local-global principles.
Title: Packing nearly optimal Ramsey $R(3,t)$ graphs
Seminar: Combinatorics
Speaker: Lutz Warnke of Georgia Institute of Technology
Contact: Dwight Duffus, dwight@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-23 at 4:00PM
Venue: W302
Abstract:
TBA
Title: Backtracking-Based Accelerated Descent Methods for Large-Scale Linear Inverse Problems
Seminar: Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing
Speaker: Xianqi Li of University of Florida
Contact: Lars Ruthotto, lruthotto@emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-20 at 2:00PM
Venue: W301
Abstract:
Large-scale linear inverse problems arise in a wide range of applications such as image processing and statistical inference. However, the high dimensional (possibly dense and ill-conditioned) matrix in data fidelity term often brings significantly computational challenges when solving the formulated optimization problem and hence hindered the applicability of the sophisticated interior point method and second-order optimization methods. To tackle those challenges, first-order gradient descent method turns into a good choice. In this talk, we first review some classical first-order accelerated descent methods, then introduce our proposed backtracking based accelerated descent methods, which are capable of hunting for more aggressive stepsize via conducting fewer number of line searches. A brief convergence analysis will be presented. The numerical results on structured (low rank and/or sparsity and/or group sparsity) network learning and total-variation based image reconstruction problems indicate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
Title: You Are Already Living Inside a Computer
Seminar: Computer Science
Speaker: Ian Bogost of Georgia Tech
Contact: TBA
Date: 2017-10-20 at 3:00PM
Venue: W201
Abstract:
Futurists and philosophers have made dramatic predictions about the future of computers. Artificial intelligence might end the need for human work, or it might enslave humanity, or it might facilitate a kind of rapture into machines, where people's consciousnesses could upload and, through simulation, become immortal.\\ \\Realized or not, those future visions offer a stark contrast with the reality of computing today: One where digital machinery is embedded in the ordinary, human world rather than leading away from it. The computational aspects of ordinary things from smartphone apps to internet-connected toasters have become goals unto themselves, rather than just a means to an end. As it spreads from desktops and back-offices to pockets, cameras, cars, and door locks, the affection people have with computers transfers onto other, even more ordinary objects. And the more people love using computers for everything, the more life feels incomplete unless it takes place inside them. Reality might have beaten the futurists to the punch, by turning computing into a way of life.
Title: The density of squarefree values taken by a polynomial
Colloquium: N/A
Speaker: Manjul Bhargava of Princeton
Contact: John Duncan, john.duncan@emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-20 at 4:00PM
Venue: W201
Abstract:
It is well known that the density of integers that are squarefree is $6/\pi^2$, giving one of the more intriguing occurrences of $\pi$ where one might not a priori expect it! A natural next problem that has played an important role in number theory is that of understanding the density of squarefree values taken by an integer polynomial. We survey a number of recent results on this problem for various types of polynomials - some of which use the ABC Conjecture'' and some of which do not.
Title: Jensen-Polya Criterion for the Riemann Hypothesis and Related Problems
Seminar: Algebra
Speaker: Larry Rolen of Trinity College Dublin and Georgia Tech
Contact: John Duncan, john.duncan@emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-17 at 4:00PM
Venue: W306
Abstract:
In this talk, I will summarize forthcoming work with Griffin, Ono, and Zagier. In 1927 Polya proved that the Riemann Hypothesis is equivalent to the hyperbolicity of Jensen polynomials for Riemann's Xi-function. This hyperbolicity has been proved for degrees $d\leq3$. We obtain an arbitrary precision asymptotic formula for the derivatives $\Xi^{(2n)}(0)$, which allows us to prove the hyperbolicity of $100\%$ of the Jensen polynomials of each degree. We obtain a general theorem which models such polynomials by Hermite polynomials. This general condition also confirms a conjecture of Chen, Jia, and Wang.
Title: D-optimal Experimental Design for Bayesian Inverse Problems
Seminar: Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing
Speaker: Dr. Arvind Krishna Saibaba of NC State University
Contact: Lars Ruthotto, lruthotto@emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-06 at 2:00PM
Venue: W301
Abstract:
Optimal Experimental Design seeks to control experimental conditions in order to maximize the amount of information gained about parameters of interest, subject to physical or budgetary constraints. The parameters we wish to infer are represented on fine-scale grids; consequently, the experimental design problem is extremely computationally challenging and efficient algorithms are needed. We develop a computational framework for the D-optimality criterion in PDE based inverse problems. Our approach exploits a certain low-rank structure in the covariance matrices using novel randomized estimators. This approach allows us to reduce the computational costs by several orders of magnitude compared to naive approaches. We demonstrate our algorithms on an optimal sensor placement problem from contaminant source identification.\\ \\Joint work with Alen Alexanderian, Ilse CF Ipsen (both at Department of Mathematics, NCSU)
Title: The rank of the Eisenstein ideal
Seminar: Algebra
Speaker: Preston Wake of UCLA
Contact: John Duncan, john.duncan@emory.edu
Date: 2017-10-03 at 4:00PM
Venue: W306
Abstract:
In his landmark 1976 paper "Modular curves and the Eisenstein ideal", Mazur studied congruences modulo p between cusp forms and an Eisenstein series of weight 2 and prime level N. We use deformation theory of pseudorepresentations to study the corresponding Hecke algebra. We will discuss how this method can be used to refine Mazur's results, quantifying the number of Eisenstein congruences. Time permitting, we'll also discuss some partial results in the composite-level case. This is joint work with Carl Wang-Erickson.
Title: Stabilizing Spectral Functors of Exact Categories
Seminar: Algebra
Speaker: Juan Villeta-Garcia of Emory University
Contact: John Duncan, john.duncan@emory.edu
Date: 2017-09-26 at 4:00PM
Venue: W306
Abstract:
Algebraic K-Theory is often thought of as the universal additive invariant of rings (or more generally, exact categories). Often, however, functors on exact categories dont satisfy additivity. We will describe a procedure due to McCarthy that constructs a functors universal additive approximation, and apply it to different local coefficient systems, recovering known invariants of rings (K-Theory, THH, etc.). We will talk about what happens when we push these constructions to the world of spectra, and tie in work of Lindenstrauss and McCarthy on the Taylor tower of Algebraic K-Theory.