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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260202T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260202T160000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T185600Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260126T185935Z
UID:10003816-1770044400-1770048000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Reflexive Polytopes and the Convergence of Feynman Integrals
DESCRIPTION:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Pierre Vanhove (Institute of Theoretical Physics – Saclay) \nTitle: Reflexive Polytopes and the Convergence of Feynman Integrals \nAbstract: In the parametric representation\, Feynman integrals can be viewed as Euler integrals defined by the Symanzik polynomials of a graph. The convergence properties of these integrals are intimately tied to the combinatorial geometry of their associated Newton polytopes; specifically\, finiteness is guaranteed when the polytope contains interior points. We present a classification of Feynman integrals associated with polytopes containing a unique interior point\, identifying a subset that are reflexive. Our results show that such reflexive polytopes are surprisingly scarce within the space of Feynman graphs. We conclude by computing several infinite families of these integrals and exploring their connections to mirror symmetry and toric geometry. This is based on joint work with Leonardo de la Cruz and Pavel Novichkov.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/qft_2226/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-QFT-and-Physical-Mathematics-2.2.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260202T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260202T173000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T190540Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260122T163725Z
UID:10003849-1770049800-1770053400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Bijections for hyperplane arrangements of Coxeter type
DESCRIPTION:Colloquium \nSpeaker: Olivier Bernardi\, Brandeis University \nTitle: Bijections for hyperplane arrangements of Coxeter type \nAbstract: This talk is about real hyperplane arrangements whose hyperplanes are of the form {xi −xj = s} or {xi +xj = s}. We describe a bijective framework for a large family of such arrangements which we call transitive. For each transitive arrangement A\, we give a bijection between the regions of A and a set of decorated trees. Particular cases include the families of Catalan\, Shi\, semiorder and Linial arrangements in type A\, B\, C\, D and BC. We also derive some general enumerative formulas for such families of transitive arrangements.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/colloquium-2226/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-2.2.2026.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260203T161500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260203T180000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T191910Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260202T171722Z
UID:10003852-1770135300-1770141600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:More on Kubota's spectrum of invertible states
DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeakers: Dan Freed and Bowen Yang\, Harvard CMSA \nTitle: More on Kubota’s spectrum of invertible states \nAbstract: Bowen will explain a construction aptly dubbed “Kitaev’s pump” in Kubota’s paper. Time permitting\, Bowen will demonstrate its ubiquity throughout the study of topological phases\, where it appears under various guises. In the second hour\, Dan will sketch Kubota’s construction of a spectrum from families of invertible quantum lattice systems.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_2326/
LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-2.3.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260204T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260204T140000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260130T153923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T152223Z
UID:10003885-1770210000-1770213600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Q&A Seminar: Ludmil Katzarkov\, University of Miami
DESCRIPTION:CMSA Q&A Seminar \nSpeaker: Ludmil Katzarkov\, University of Miami \nTitle: New Birational Invariants \nAbstract: We will introduce the origins of the main ideas of the theory of atoms. Applications follow. Equivariant and mixed atoms will be considered.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsaqa_2426/
LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:CMSA Q&A Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Q-A-Seminar-2.4.2026.docx-1-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260204T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260204T150000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20250128T214750Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260126T163315Z
UID:10003708-1770213600-1770217200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Automated Theory Formation and Interestingness in Mathematics
DESCRIPTION:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: George Tsoukalas\, UT Austin Dept. of Computer Science and Google DeepMind. \nTitle: Automated Theory Formation and Interestingness in Mathematics \nAbstract: Advances in modern learning systems are beginning to demonstrate utility for select problems in research mathematics. A broader challenge is that of developing new theories automatically. This area has a rich history\, and is tied to some of the earliest work in AI. In particular\, a central question in this study was measuring the “interestingness” of mathematical concepts. \nIn this talk\, I will review this historical context and present our recent work on using large language models to synthesize interestingness measures that guide theory exploration in elementary number theory from scratch. I will conclude by outlining potential future research directions in this domain. \nJoint work done at UT Austin with Rahul Saha\, Amitayush Thakur\, Sabrina Reguyal\, and Swarat Chaudhuri.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/newtech_2426/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-NTM-Seminar-2.4.2026.docx-1-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T143000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260122T151622Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T184418Z
UID:10003872-1770298200-1770301800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Index from a point
DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar  \nSpeaker: Monica Jinwoo Kang\, Texas A&M University \nTitle: Index from a point \nAbstract: We argue that protected data of 4d N=2 SCFTs admits a purely algebro-geometric characterization. We conjecture that both the Macdonald index (and hence the Schur index) and the Higgs branch are encoded by a bifiltered affine scheme determined by OPE nilpotency and decoupling relations. Focusing on Argyres–Douglas theories\, where the Higgs branch is a point\, we show that this geometric construction suffices to reconstruct the full Macdonald index. This is based on recent works with Craig Lawrie and Jaewon Song.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys__2526/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-2.5.26_1-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T144500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T154500
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260122T151728Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260202T164823Z
UID:10003873-1770302700-1770306300@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:On E7+1/2 gauge theory
DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar  \nSpeaker: Yinan Wang\, Peking University \nTitle: On E7+1/2 gauge theory\n\nAbstract: We propose that an exotic gauge theory based on the intermediate Lie algebra E7+1/2 naturally appears in the landscape of 6d F-theory. We give strong evidence of this proposal with 6d anomaly cancellation\, dual M-theory geometry and elliptic genus of the single-string worldsheet CFT. 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys2526_2/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-2.5.26_2-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260205T170000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T202550Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251223T202550Z
UID:10003861-1770307200-1770310800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Algebra Seminar
DESCRIPTION:Algebra Seminar \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/algebra-seminar_2526/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Algebra Seminar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260206T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260206T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20250203T163329Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260204T153228Z
UID:10003712-1770379200-1770382800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Lie algebra cohomology and Seiberg-Witten theory
DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Ahsan Khan\, Harvard CMSA \nTitle: Lie algebra cohomology and Seiberg-Witten theory \nAbstract: I will discuss how a certain (relative) Lie algebra cochain complex categorifies the Schur index of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory. For the special case of Seiberg-Witten theory I will provide a conjectured description of this cohomology.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-2626/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Member Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-2.6.26.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260209T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260209T160000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T185635Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T185733Z
UID:10003839-1770649200-1770652800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:On the p-curvature of quantum connections of CY threefolds
DESCRIPTION:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Shaoyun Bai (MIT) \nTitle: On the p-curvature of quantum connections of CY threefolds \nAbstract: The small quantum connection of Calabi-Yau varieties has integral coefficients\, thus admits reduction mod a prime number p. A fundamental invariant associated with flat connections over characteristic p is the p-curvature\, which lies at the heart of study of algebraic differential equations. I will explain how to identify the p-curvature of quantum connection of any compact Calabi-Yau threefold with the quantum Steenrod operation\, thereby providing a modular description of the p-curvature in this setting. I will also discuss the role of BPS invariants and the mirror symmetry context. This is based on joint work with Jae Hee Lee.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/qft_2926/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-QFT-and-Physical-Mathematics-2.9.26.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260209T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260209T173000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T190623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260203T162207Z
UID:10003850-1770654600-1770658200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Phase Transition to Chaos in Complex Ecosystems with Non-reciprocal Interactions
DESCRIPTION:Colloquium \nSpeaker: Pankaj Metha\, Boston University \nTitle: Phase Transition to Chaos in Complex Ecosystems with Non-reciprocal Interactions \nAbstract: Nonreciprocal interactions between microscopic constituents can profoundly shape the large-scale properties of complex systems. In this pedagogical chalk talk\, I will discuss recent work from our group on phase transitions and chaos in high-dimensional ecosystems with non-reciprocal interactions. Our approach builds on a generalization of MacArthur’s consumer-resource model that incorporates asymmetric interactions between species and resources. I will highlight rich connections between this problem and the mathematics of disordered systems (cavity method and DMFT)\, random matrix theory\, and constrained optimization.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/colloquium-2926/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-2.9.2026.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260211T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260211T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T192428Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260122T164632Z
UID:10003857-1770811200-1770814800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Q&A Seminar: James Eldred Pascoe\, Drexel University
DESCRIPTION:CMSA Q&A Seminar \nSpeaker: James Eldred Pascoe\, Drexel University \nTitle: (What is) The tracial fundamental group and free universal monodromy? \nAbstract: We introduce the tracial fundamental group to classify the analytic continuation of functions that are locally behave like the trace of natural matrix valued functions. While globally defined natural matrix-valued functions (known as free noncommutative functions\, which roughly locally are defined by noncommutative power series) satisfy universal monodromy\, we show that these tracial free functions exhibit a rigid but nontrivial structure governed by the aforementioned group. We prove that the tracial fundamental group is always a torsion-free\, divisible abelian group\, standing in sharp contrast to the non-abelian fundamental groups of classical domains.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsaqa_21126/
LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:CMSA Q&A Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Q-A-Seminar-2.11.2026.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260211T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260211T150000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260126T152202Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260126T212834Z
UID:10003878-1770818400-1770822000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:ReLU and Softplus neural nets as zero-sum\, turn-based\, stopping games
DESCRIPTION:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Yiannis Vlassopoulos\, Athena Research Center \nTitle: ReLU and Softplus neural nets as zero-sum\, turn-based\, stopping games \nAbstract: Neural networks are for the most part treated as black boxes. In an effort to begin elucidating the mathematical structure they encode\, we will explain how ReLU neural nets can be interpreted as zero-sum turn-based\, stopping games. The game runs in the opposite direction to the net. The input to the net is the terminal reward of the game\, the output of the net is the value of the game at its initial states. The bias at each neuron is used to define the reward and the weights are used to define state-transition probabilities. One player –Max– is trying to maximize reward and the other –Min-\, to minimize it. Every neuron gives rise to two game states\, one where Max plays and one where Min plays. In fact running the ReLU net is equivalent to the Shapley-Bellman backward recursion for the value of the game. As a corollary of this construction we get a path integral expression for the output of the net\, given input. Moreover using the fact that the Shapley operator is monotonic (with respect to the coordinate-wise order) we get bounds for the output of the net\, given bounds for the input. Adding an entropic regularization to the ReLU net game allows us to interpret Softplus neural nets as games in an analogous fashion.\nThis is joint work with Stéphane Gaubert. \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/newtech_21126/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-NTM-Seminar-2.11.2026.docx-1-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260212T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260212T143000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260122T151823Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260206T203024Z
UID:10003874-1770903000-1770906600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Gromov-Hausdorff limits of collapsing Calabi-Yau fibrations
DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar  \nSpeaker: Gabor Szekelyhidi\, Northwestern University \nTitle: Gromov-Hausdorff limits of collapsing Calabi-Yau fibrations \nAbstract: A well studied problem is the metric behavior of Calabi-Yau metrics on a fibration in a family of Kahler classes that collapses the fibers. I will discuss recent progress showing that the Gromov-Hausdorff limit can be identified with the base of the fibration\, generalizing results of Gross-Tosatti-Zhang\, Song-Tian-Zhang and Li-Tosatti. A new ingredient is to exploit the RCD property of the Gromov-Hausdorff limit.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys_21226/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-2.12.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260213T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260213T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T204554Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T152049Z
UID:10003865-1770984000-1770987600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:A leisurely stroll through the theory of adjunctions
DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Lorenzo Riva\, Harvard CMSA \nTitle: A leisurely stroll through the theory of adjunctions \nAbstract: Adjoint functors (and\, more generally\, adjunctions in a 2-category) are ubiquitous in algebra and topology. In this talk I will give an overview of the basics of adjunctions\, with the ultimate goal being understanding the statement of the cobordism hypothesis. Time permitting\, I will talk about some recent work on a combinatorial construction yielding free adjunctions. \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-21326/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Member Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-2.13.26.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260217T161500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260217T180000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T192010Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T154218Z
UID:10003854-1771344900-1771351200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Geometric structures on gauge theoretic moduli spaces
DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeaker: Saman Habibi Esfahani (CMSA) \nTitle: Geometric structures on gauge theoretic moduli spaces \nAbstract: Motivated by Witten’s study of instantons on S3 x S1\, we survey some classical and recent results\, programs\, and conjectures on geometric structures\, such as symplectic and hyperkahler\, on moduli spaces of instantons and monopoles on various manifolds\, from a mathematical perspective. This talk serves as background for Max’s talk on 2/24.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_21726/
LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-2.17.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260218T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260218T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T192453Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260213T210947Z
UID:10003858-1771416000-1771419600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Q&A Seminar: Dan Freed\, Harvard
DESCRIPTION:CMSA Q&A Seminar \nSpeaker: Dan Freed\, Harvard \nTopic: How does one navigate the job market as a postdoc in 2026?
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsaqa_21826/
LOCATION:Common Room\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:CMSA Q&A Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Q-A-Seminar-2.18.2026-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260219T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260219T143000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260122T151851Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T153656Z
UID:10003875-1771507800-1771511400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Topics in the Relation of Four-Manifold Invariants and Supersymmetric Field Theory
DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar  \nSpeaker: Greg Moore\, Rutgers University \nTitle: Topics in the Relation of Four-Manifold Invariants and Supersymmetric Field Theory \nAbstract: We will begin with a review of topological twisting as a choice of background fields. We then review the standard paradigm for the formulation of Donaldson invariants as correlation functions in twisted supersymmetric N=2 d=4 quantum field theory\, together with the quantum field theory (QFT) derivation of the relation of the Donaldson invariants to Seiberg-Witten invariants. We then consider what can be said using other twisted QFTs. We present some new results on the four-manifold invariants derived from N=2 supersymmetric QCD. We then move on to 5d theories and the “K-theoretic Donaldson invariants” and comment briefly on the 6d theories and the “elliptic Donaldson invariants.” In the unlikely event that time permits we finish with the extension to families of four-manifolds\, where the coupling to a suitably twisted and truncated superconformal gravity is expected to produce invariants valued in the cohomology of the classifying space of the diffeomorphism group of the four-manifold.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys_21926/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-2.19.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260219T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260219T163000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260209T003754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260209T193802Z
UID:10003891-1771515000-1771518600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Constructing oriented TQFTs from twisted pivotal tensor categories
DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeaker: William Stewart \nTitle: Constructing oriented TQFTs from twisted pivotal tensor categories \nAbstract: The cobordism hypothesis classifies n-dimensional oriented TQFTs in terms of SO(n) homotopy fixed point data. An SO(2) homotopy fixed point structure on a finite tensor category gives rise to a twisted pivotal structure (a more general notion than a pivotal structure). In this talk\, I will illustrate how the usual skein theory (also called string nets) of a pivotal tensor category can be generalized to the twisted pivotal setting\, yielding new 2d oriented TQFTs. This is joint work with Ben Haioun and Filippos Sytilidis.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_21926/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-2.19.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260220T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260220T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T204654Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T154410Z
UID:10003866-1771588800-1771592400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Theory of Task-Adapted Dynamics in Large Recurrent Neural Networks
DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Blake Bordelon\, CMSA \nTitle: Theory of Task-Adapted Dynamics in Large Recurrent Neural Networks \nAbstract: Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) encode expressive and flexible dynamical systems which can adapt to perform tasks by modifying the internal connections between neurons. In this work we analyze the structure of the dynamical systems encoded in RNNs after being trained to perform a learning task. We derive a mean field theory of the dynamics of RNNs before and after learning. Our theory predicts heterogeneous activity and tuning of single neurons\, but precise\, deterministic predictions for population level autocorrelation and outputs of the network. Further\, our theory enables us to interpolate between different operating regimes for RNN learning including (1) reservoir computing regime where internal adaptations do not adapt to data as the model outputs fit the provided data and (2) a feature-learning where the internal dynamics of the network change significantly due to task learning and reflect temporal properties of the learning task. These different regimes exhibit different levels of chaotic activity\, oscillatory behaviors\, and length generalization properties as feature learning enables maintenance of temporal patterns over longer periods than the supervision period. We apply this theory to a biologically grounded motor learning task where a recurrent population is trained to output EMG signals from macaque motor units during an oriented reaching task. We find that many levels of feature-learning strength give rise to high quality fits of the EMG data\, resulting in a family of solutions that are compatible with the neural data. Based on work with David Clark\, Jacob Zavatone Veth\, and Cengiz Pehlevan.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-22026/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Member Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-2.20.26.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260224T161500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260224T180000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T192031Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260223T151346Z
UID:10003855-1771949700-1771956000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Bi-HKT Manifolds\, Sigma Models\, Large N=4 and their String Constructions
DESCRIPTION:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar \nSpeakers: Max Hübner\, CMSA \nTitle: Bi-HKT Manifolds\, Sigma Models\, Large N=4 and their String Constructions \nAbstract: We continue our review of Witten’s paper “Instantons and the Large N=4 Algebra”. We discuss the realization of large N=4 supersymmetry in the context of supersymmetric sigma-models\, and discuss and motivate string theoretic duals to these sigma models. This talk aims to supply physical insight building on Saman’s talk from last week 2/17.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/quantumgeo_22426/
LOCATION:Science Center 507\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Geometry-Quantum-Theory-2.24.26.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260225T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260225T150000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260210T192336Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T194238Z
UID:10003894-1772028000-1772031600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Scaling Stochastic Momentum from Theory to LLMs
DESCRIPTION:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar \nSpeaker: Courtney Paquette\, McGill University \nTitle: Scaling Stochastic Momentum from Theory to LLMs \nAbstract: Given the massive scale of modern ML models\, we now often get only a single shot to train them effectively. This limits our ability to sweep architectures and hyperparameters\, making it essential to understand how learning algorithms scale so insights from small models transfer to large ones. \nIn this talk\, I present a framework for analyzing scaling laws of stochastic momentum methods using a power-law random features model\, leveraging tools from high-dimensional probability and random matrix theory. We show that standard SGD with momentum does not improve scaling exponents\, while dimension-adapted Nesterov acceleration (DANA)—which explicitly adapts momentum to model size and data/target complexity—achieves strictly better loss and compute scaling. DANA does this by rescaling its momentum parameters with dimension\, effectively matching the optimizer’s memory to the problem geometry. \nMotivated by these theoretical insights\, I introduce logarithmic-time scheduling for large language models and propose ADANA\, an AdamW-like optimizer with growing memory and explicit damping. Across transformer scales (45M to 2.6B parameters)\, ADANA yields up to 40% compute savings over tuned AdamW\, with gains that improve at scale. \nBased on joint work with Damien Ferbach\, Elliot Paquette\, Katie Everett\, and Gauthier Gidel.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/newtech_22526/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-NTM-Seminar-2.25.2026.docx-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260226T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260226T143000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20260122T151917Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T171301Z
UID:10003876-1772112600-1772116200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Higher Symmetries\, Eta Invariants and Anomaly Theories 
DESCRIPTION:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar  \nSpeaker: Mirjam Cvetic\, University of Pennsylvania \nTitle: Higher Symmetries\, Eta Invariants and Anomaly Theories \nAbstract: In recent years\, much progress has been made in understanding the extra-dimensional origin of higher symmetry structures of many quantum field theories (QFTs) obtained via geometric engineering. Among others\, our understanding of anomaly structures in QFTs has been significantly improved. Key in these considerations is the asymptotic boundary of the internal dimensions which geometrizes many topological QFT features. Within this context we present explicit results for anomaly coefficients in five-dimensional supersymmetric QFTs that are engineered in M-theory on Calabi-Yau three-folds\, and show that eta-invariants of the asymptotic boundary of the engineered geometry are key to determine 1-form self-anomaly coefficients. The results both for orbifolds with isolated and non-isolated orbifold singularities are presented. \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/dgphys_22626/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DG-Physics-Seminar-2.26.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260227T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260227T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T222510
CREATED:20251223T204714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260223T194128Z
UID:10003867-1772193600-1772197200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Gauge theory\, from low dimensions to higher dimensions and back
DESCRIPTION:Member Seminar \nSpeaker: Saman Habibi Esfahani\, CMSA \nTitle: Gauge theory\, from low dimensions to higher dimensions and back \nAbstract: Almost thirty years ago\, Donaldson and Thomas proposed extending powerful ideas from gauge theory\, which had transformed the study of three- and four-dimensional manifolds\, to higher dimensions\, with the goal of defining new invariants of special holonomy manifolds. In this talk\, I will outline the main ideas behind this program\, mention some recent progress\, and describe the key obstacles that remain\, most notably non-compactness phenomena that make the analysis difficult.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/member-seminar-22726/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Member Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Member-Seminar-2.27.26-scaled.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR