Leonid Petrov : Lax equations for integrable stochastic particle systems
- Probability ( 74 Views )Integrable stochastic particle systems in one space dimension, like the Totally Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process (TASEP), have been studied for over 50 years (introduced simultaneously in biology and mathematics in 1969-70). They strike a balance between being simple enough to be mathematically tractable and complicated enough to describe many interesting phenomena. Many natural questions about these systems can be generalized by introducing multiple parameters. The interplay between these parameters is powered by the Yang-Baxter equation, which brings new intriguing results to the well-traveled territory. In particular, I will discuss new Lax-type equations for the Markov semigroups of the TASEP and its relatives. Based on a joint work with Axel Saenz.
Joe Jackson : The convergence problem in mean field control
- Probability ( 101 Views )This talk will be about the convergence problem in mean field control (MFC), i.e. the challenge of rigorously justifying the convergence of certain "symmetric" $N$-particle stochastic control problems towards their mean field counterparts. On the one hand, this convergence problem is already well-understood from a qualitative perspective, thanks to powerful probabilistic techniques based on compactness. On the other hand, quantitative results (i.e. rates of convergence) are more difficult to obtain, in large part because the value function of the mean field problem (which is also the solution to a certain Hamilton-Jacobi equation on the Wasserstein space) may fail to be $C^1$, even if all the data is smooth. After giving an overview of the convergence problem, I will discuss the results of two recent joint works with Cardaliaguet, Daudin, Delarue, and Souganidis, in which we use some ideas from the theory of viscosity solutions to overcome this lack of regularity and obtain rates of convergence of the $N$-particle value functions towards the value function of the corresponding MFC problem.
Dante Bonolis : 2-torsion in class groups of number fields
- Number Theory ( 86 Views )In 2020, Bhargava, Shankar, Taniguchi, Thorne, Tsimerman, and Zhao established that, for a given number field $K$ with a degree $n\geq 5$, the size of the $2$-torsion is bounded by $h_{2}(K) \ll D^{\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{2n}}$, where $D_{K}$ is the discriminant of $K$ over $\mathbb{Q}$. In this presentation, we will introduce new bounds that take into account the geometry of the lattice underlying the ring of integers of $K$. This research is a joint project with Pierre Le Boudec.
Cole Graham : Fisher–KPP traveling waves in the half-space
- Applied Math and Analysis ( 74 Views )Reaction-diffusion equations are widely used to model spatial propagation, and constant-speed "traveling waves" play a central role in their dynamics. These waves are well understood in "essentially 1D" domains like cylinders, but much less is known about waves with noncompact transverse structure. In this direction, we will consider traveling waves of the Fisher–KPP reaction-diffusion equation in the Dirichlet half-space. We will see that minimal-speed waves are unique (unlike faster waves) and exhibit curious asymptotics. The arguments rest on the theory of conformal maps and a powerful connection with the probabilistic system known as branching Brownian motion.
This is joint work with Julien Berestycki, Yujin H. Kim, and Bastien Mallein.
Corrine Yap : Reconstructing Random Pictures
- Probability ( 73 Views )Reconstruction problems ask whether or not it is possible to uniquely build a discrete structure from the collection of its substructures of a fixed size. This question has been explored in a wide range of settings, most famously with graphs and the resulting Graph Reconstruction Conjecture due to Kelly and Ulam, but also including geometric sets, jigsaws, and abelian groups. In this talk, we'll consider the reconstruction of random pictures (n-by-n grids with binary entries) from the collection of its k-by-k subgrids and prove a nearly-sharp threshold for k = k(n). Our main proof technique is an adaptation of the Peierls contour method from statistical physics. Joint work with Bhargav Narayanan.
Wenzhao Chen : Negative amphicheiral knots and the half-Alexander polynomial
- Geometry and Topology ( 87 Views )In this talk, we will study strongly negative amphicheiral knots - a class of knots with symmetry. These knots provide torsion elements in the knot concordance group, which are less understood than infinite-order elements. We will introduce the half-Alexander polynomial, an equivariant version of the Alexander polynomial for strongly negative amphicheiral knots, focusing on its applications to knot concordance. In particular, I will show how it facilitated the construction of the first examples of non-slice amphicheiral knots of determinant one. This talk is based on joint work with Keegan Boyle.
Jesse Zhang : Geodesic complexity of convex polyhedra
- Mathematical Biology ( 96 Views )Geodesic complexity of the d-dimensional boundary S of a convex polytope of dimension d+1 is intimately related to the combinatorics of nonoverlapping unfolding of S into a Euclidean space R^d following Miller and Pak (2008). This combinatorics is based on facet sequences, which are lists of adjacent facets traversed by geodesics in S. Our main result bounds the geodesic complexity of S from above by the number of distinct maximal facet sequences traversed by shortest paths in S. For d=2, results from the literature on nonoverlapping unfolding imply that this bound is polynomial in the number of facets. In arbitrary dimension d, a reinterpretation of conjectures by Miller and Pak (2008) leads to the conjecture that the geodesic complexity of S is polynomial in the number of facets. The theory and results developed here hold more generally for convex polyhedral complexes. This is joint work with Ezra Miller.
Zane Li : Interpreting a classical argument for Vinogradovs Mean Value Theorem into decoupling language
- Applied Math and Analysis ( 122 Views )There are two proofs of Vinogradov's Mean Value Theorem (VMVT), the harmonic analysis decoupling proof by Bourgain, Demeter, and Guth from 2015 and the number theoretic efficient congruencing proof by Wooley from 2017. While there has been some work illustrating the relation between these two methods, VMVT has been around since 1935. It is then natural to ask: What does previous partial progress on VMVT look like in harmonic analysis language? How similar or different does it look from current decoupling proofs? We talk about a classical argument due to Karatsuba that shows VMVT "asymptotically" and interpret this in decoupling language. This is joint work with Brian Cook, Kevin Hughes, Olivier Robert, Akshat Mudgal, and Po-Lam Yung.
Max Xu : Random multiplicative functions and applications
- Probability ( 209 Views )Random multiplicative functions are probabilistic models for multiplicative arithmetic functions, such as Dirichlet characters or the Liouville function. In this talk, I will first quickly give an overview of the area, and then focus on some of the recent works on proving central limit theorems, connections to additive combinatorics, as well as some other deterministic applications. Part of the talk is based on joint work with Soundararajan, with Harper and Soundararajan (in progress) and with Angelo and Soundararajan (in progress).
Danielle Wang : Twisted GGP conjecture for unramified quadratic extensions
- Number Theory ( 90 Views )The twisted Gan--Gross--Prasad conjectures consider the restriction of representations from GL_n to a unitary group over a quadratic extension E/F. In this talk, I will explain the relative trace formula approach to the global twisted GGP conjecture. In particular, I will discuss how the fundamental lemma that arises can be reduced to the Jacquet--Rallis fundamental lemma, which allows us to obtain the global twisted GGP conjecture under some unramifiedness assumptions and local conditions.
Jimmy He : Shift invariance of half space integrable models
- Probability ( 83 Views )I'll discuss work on shift invariance in a half space setting. These are non-trivial symmetries allowing certain observables of integrable models with a boundary to be shifted while preserving their joint distribution. The starting point is the colored stochastic six vertex model in a half space, from which we obtain results on the asymmetric simple exclusion process, as well as for the beta polymer through a fusion procedure, both in a half space setting. An application to the asymptotics of a half space analogue of the oriented swap process is also given.
Mariana Olvera-Cravioto : Opinion dynamics on complex networks: From mean-field limits to sparse approximations
- Probability ( 77 Views )In a world of polarized opinions on many cultural issues, we propose a model for the evolution of opinions on a large complex network. Our model is akin to the popular Friedkin-Johnsen model, with the added complexity of vertex-dependent media signals and confirmation bias, both of which help explain some of the most important factors leading to polarization. The analysis of the model is done on a directed random graph, capable of replicating highly inhomogeneous real-world networks with various degrees of assortativity and community structure. Our main results give the stationary distribution of opinions on the network, including explicitly computable formulas for the conditional means and variances for the various communities. Our results span the entire range of inhomogeneous random graphs, from the sparse regime, where the expected degrees are bounded, all the way to the dense regime, where a graph having n vertices has order n^2 edges.