Skip to main content

Events

Stepan Paul, Harvard, Isoptics, or how to design the perfect stadium

How could you design a stadium so that a rectangular playing field looks the same size to every spectator? What about for a circular wrestling ring? In this talk, we study these and related questions, which can all be viewed as generalizations of Thales' Theorem---that a line segment L in the plane "looks the same…

Guang Lin, Uncertainty Quantification and Scientific Machine Learning for Complex Engineering and Physical Systems

SAS 1102

Experience suggests that uncertainties often play an important role in quantifying the performance of complex systems. Therefore, uncertainty needs to be treated as a core element in the modeling, simulation, and optimization of complex systems. In this talk, I will first present a review of the novel UQ techniques I developed to conduct stochastic simulations…

Andrew Papanicolaou, NYU, Principal component analysis for implied volatility surfaces

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a useful tool when trying to uncover factor models from historical asset returns. For the implied volatilities of U.S. equities there is a PCA-based model with a principal eigenportfolio whose return time series lies close to that of an overarching market factor. Specifically, this market factor is the index resulting…

Valentine’s Day Cookie Contest by the MGSA

MGSA is holding its annual cookie contest! If you would like to be entered into the contest, we ask that you bring at least 2 dozen of your best cookies to the 4th floor lounge by 12:00pm on Friday. All math faculty, staff, and graduate students are invited to stop by to try some cookies…

Dmitriy Morozov, Persistent Homology: Applications and Computation

Room 3211, Engineering Building II, Centennial Campus Raleigh, NC

Persistent homology is a key method in topological data analysis, a young but rapidly growing field at the intersection of computational geometry and algebraic topology. Persistence is used to describe the shape of data in a way that generalizes clustering: besides considering what connected components (clusters) are present in the data, it also describes their…

Paata Ivanisvili, UC Irvine, Bellman function in analysis

Many estimates in analysis  have certain “common structures” which makes it possible to obtain them with  what is now called Bellman function method. Originally the method appeared in control theory (stochastic or deterministic), however its systematic use  in harmonic analysis or probability started only recently  in works of Burkholder where he obtained the sharp constants…

Sarah Olson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Modeling the dynamics of centrosome movement

Cox 306

The mitotic spindle is a complex, dynamic machine important for cell division. The spindle is composed of a network of microtubules  and motor proteins that generate forces to form a bipolar spindle, with each pole organized around a single centrosome. Disruption in force generating activities through protein depletions or alterations to centrosome number, alter spindle…

Linh Truong, Institute for Advanced Study, Homology spheres, knots, and cobordisms

Homology 3-spheres, i.e. 3-dimensional manifolds with the same homology groups as the standard 3- sphere, play a central role in topology. Their study was initiated by Poincare in 1904, who constructed the first nontrivial example of a homology 3-sphere, and conjectured that the standard sphere is the only simply connected example. A century later, Poincare's…

2020 Math Research Competition

The AWM Chapter is organizing a Math Research Competition on Saturday, February 29, here at NCSU (the poster is attached).  The program includes 2 keynote lectures, two parallel sessions of lightning talks (one in math, and one in applied math), and a poster session. Awards will be given to top presentations and posters. Lunch is provided for all participants. Therefore,…