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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260310T084500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260310T101500
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20260127T153158Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T161125Z
UID:10003881-1773132300-1773137700@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Martin Bridson: Profinite rigidity: Chasing finite shadows of infinite groups
DESCRIPTION:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture \n \nDate: March 10\, 2026 \nTime: 8:45 – 10:15 am ET \nLocation: Harvard Science Center Hall A\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge MA &  via Zoom Webinar \nSpeaker: Martin Bridson FRS is the Whitehead Professor of Pure Mathematics at Oxford and President of the Clay Mathematics Institute. \nTitle: Profinite rigidity: Chasing finite shadows of infinite groups \nAbstract: There are many situations in geometry or elsewhere in mathematics where it is natural or convenient to explore infinite groups of symmetries via their actions on finite objects. But how hard is it to find these finite manifestations and to what extent does the collection of all such actions determine the infinite group?\nIn this talk\, I will sketch some of the rich history of such problems and then describe some of the significant advances in recent years. \nWe’ll pay particular attention to groups that arise in 3-dimensional geometry and topology. \n  \n\nBeginning in Spring 2020\, the CMSA began hosting a lecture series on literature in the mathematical sciences\, with a focus on significant developments in mathematics that have influenced the discipline\, and the lifetime accomplishments of significant scholars. \n  \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/mathscilit2026_mb/
LOCATION:MA
CATEGORIES:Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Mathlit_Bridson-poster.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260304T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260304T170000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20260108T200326Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T161023Z
UID:10003868-1772640000-1772643600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2026 Ding Shum Lecture: Sanjeev Arora\, Princeton
DESCRIPTION:2026 Ding Shum Lecture \nDate: March 4\, 2026 \nTime: 4:00 pm \nLocation: Harvard Science Center Hall D & via Zoom Webinar \nSpeaker: Sanjeev Arora\, Princeton \nTitle: How could a Superhuman AI mathematician come about? \n\nAbstract: Can AI systems exceed the capabilities of the human experts who provided their training data? The talk will examine the hypothesis of AI self‑improvement\, involving mechanisms such as synthetic data generation\, reinforcement learning\, and tool‑augmented reasoning with formal verification loops. \nI will also present recent work at Princeton\, including the Gödel Prover V2 for Lean‑based theorem proving and a new inference pipeline that achieved state‑of‑the‑art performance (at the time of evaluation) on IMO‑ProofBench (Advanced) at moderate inference costs ($20–$30 per problem). These will illustrate how AI systems are sometimes able to escape “cognitive wells”—local optima in a model’s reasoning capabilities. While providing evidence for the feasibility of self‑improvement\, they also highlight important hurdles and open questions. \n\n  \n\n \nSanjeev Arora is Charles C. Fitzmorris Professor of Computer Science and Director of Princeton Language and Intelligence\, a unit devoted to research and applications of large AI models. He got his Phd from UC Berkeley in 1994 and has been a faculty member at Princeton since then. He has been awarded the ACM Prize in Computing (2011)\, Fulkerson Prize in Discrete Mathematics (2012)\, Packard Fellowship\, Sloan Fellowship\, and the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Prize. He was a plenary speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2018 and is a member of the National Academy of Science and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. \n\n\n\n\n\nThis event is made possible by the generous funding of Ding Lei and Harry Shum.\n\n\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2026_dingshum/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Ding Shum Lecture,Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Ding-Shum-2026_hall-d.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250417T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250417T170000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20250108T143958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250422T182732Z
UID:10003655-1744905600-1744909200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Fifth Annual Yip Lecture | Scott Aaronson (UT Austin): How Much Math Is Knowable?
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Scott Aaronson\, Department of Computer Science\, University of Texas\, Austin \nScott Aaronson is the founding director at the Quantum Information Center at the University of Texas at Austin. \nDate: April 17\, 2025 \nTime: 4:00-5:00 pm ET  (Reception following in the Math Common Room) \nLocation: Harvard Science Center Hall A \n  \nTitle: How Much Math Is Knowable? \nAbstract: Theoretical computer science has over the years sought more and more refined answers to the question of which mathematical truths are knowable by finite beings like ourselves\, bounded in time and space and subject to physical laws.  I’ll tell a story that starts with Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem and Turing’s discovery of uncomputability.  I’ll then introduce the spectacular Busy Beaver function\, which grows faster than any computable function.  Work by me and Yedidia\, along with recent improvements by O’Rear and Riebel\, has shown that the value of BB(745) is independent of the axioms of set theory; on the other end\, an international collaboration proved last year that BB(5) = 47\,176\,870.  I’ll speculate on whether BB(6) will ever be known\, by us or our AI successors.  I’ll next discuss the P!=NP conjecture and what it does and doesn’t mean for the limits of machine intelligence.  As my own specialty is quantum computing\, I’ll summarize what we know about how scalable quantum computers\, assuming we get them\, will expand the boundary of what’s mathematically knowable.  I’ll end by talking about hypothetical models even beyond quantum computers\, which might expand the boundary of knowability still further\, if one is able (for example) to jump into a black hole\, create a closed timelike curve\, or project oneself onto the holographic boundary of the universe. \n  \nThe Yip Lecture takes place thanks to the support of Dr. Shing-Yiu Yip. \n  \n\nThe previous Yip Lecture featured Josh Tenenbaum (MIT) who spoke on How to grow a mind from a brain: From guessing and betting to thinking and talking \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/yip-2025/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures,Yip Lecture Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Yip_2025.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250408T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250408T103000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20250331T204029Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T143732Z
UID:10003731-1744102800-1744108200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Scott Sheffield (MIT): Yang-Mills theory and random surfaces
DESCRIPTION:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture \nDate: April 8\, 2025 \nTime: 9:00 – 10:30 am ET \nLocation: CMSA G10\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge MA & via Zoom \nSpeaker: Scott Sheffield (MIT) \nTitle: Yang-Mills theory and random surfaces \nAbstract: The Clay Institute famously offered one million dollars to anyone who could mathematically construct and understand a certain continuum version of “Yang-Mills gauge theory.” This theory is the basis of the standard model of physics\, and the heart of the problem is to understand the so-called “Wilson loop expectations.” Following recent work with Sky Cao and Minjae Park\, I will explain how the “Wilson loop expectations” in a lattice Yang-Mills model are equivalent to “insertion costs” of loops in a related random-closed-surface-ensemble model. In a sense\, these results allow us to convert one famously hard problem into another presumably hard problem. But the new problem is all about random surfaces and random permutations\, and it has a lot of relationships with and similarities to other problems we understand (think domino tilings\, random planar maps\, Young tableaux and symmetric group representation theory\, and the Weingarten calculus). It gives us some intuition for *why* certain things should be true like the “area law” or “exponential correlation decay” (what physicists call “quark confinement” or “mass gap”) even if we can’t prove all of them yet. \n\nBeginning in Spring 2020\, the CMSA began hosting a lecture series on literature in the mathematical sciences\, with a focus on significant developments in mathematics that have influenced the discipline\, and the lifetime accomplishments of significant scholars.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/mathscilit2025_ss/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Mathlit_Sheffield_11x17-2.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250213T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250213T170000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20240708T151711Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150436Z
UID:10003396-1739462400-1739466000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2025 Ding Shum Lecture: Irit Dinur\, IAS: Expanders from local to global
DESCRIPTION:  \n \nOn February 13\, 2025 the CMSA hosted the sixth annual Ding Shum Lecture\, given by Irit Dinur\, Institute for Advanced Study. \nLocation: Harvard Science Center  Hall A & via Zoom Webinar \nSpeaker: Irit Dinur\, Institute for Advanced Study \n\n\n\nTitle: Expanders from local to global \nAbstract: Imagine a network—like a social network\, a transportation system\, or even a biological system—where every part of the network is robustly connected to the rest. Expander graphs are the mathematical idealization of such networks. They are structures where any small group of points (nodes) has many connections to the rest of the graph\, ensuring that no part is isolated and information (or influence) spreads efficiently throughout.\nWe will begin by surveying expander graphs\, their discovery and construction\, and some fascinating applications such as error-correcting codes\, pseudorandomness\, and probabilistically checkable proofs (PCPs)\, highlighting their role as a foundation for many breakthroughs in theoretical computer science. Then\, we will shift focus to an exciting new kind of expanders called high dimensional expanders (HDXs). While expanders are well-understood and widely applied\, HDXs remain enigmatic\, with potential that we are only starting to uncover. We will talk about a fascinating local to global feature that HDXs have\, and some applications. \n\n \n\n\n\n\nThis event is made possible by the generous funding of Ding Lei and Harry Shum.\n\n\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2025_dingshum/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Ding Shum Lecture,Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DIngShum_21325.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241017T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241017T170000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20240927T150813Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T192551Z
UID:10002916-1729180800-1729184400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott: Andrew Neitzke
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Andrew Neitzke\, Yale University \nLocation: Harvard University Science Center Hall D & via Zoom webinar \nDates: October 16 & 17\, 2024 \nTime: 4:00 pm \n  \n \nWednesday\, Oct. 16\, 2024 \nTitle: Abelianization in analysis of ODEs \nAbstract: I will describe the exact WKB method for asymptotic analysis of families of ODEs in one variable\, and its interpretation as a kind of abelianization procedure\, which replaces GL(N)-connections over a Riemann surface by GL(1)-connections over an N-fold branched cover. This abelianization procedure connects exact WKB to various subjects in geometry (cluster algebras\, moduli of Higgs bundles\, enumerative geometry). One application is a conjectural description of Hitchin’s hyperkahler metric on the moduli of Higgs bundles; I will review some recent progress on these conjectures. \n  \n \nThursday\, Oct. 17\, 2024 \nTitle: Abelianization in quantum topology \nAbstract: I will describe new applications of abelianization to various related subjects: perturbative Chern-Simons invariants\, skein algebras\, and conformal blocks. The aim is to explain how abelianization gives a unifying perspective on constructions familiar in each of these subjects (e.g. dilogarithmic formulas for Chern-Simons invariants\, vertex models for computing quantum invariants of links\, and iterated-fusion constructions of conformal blocks for the Virasoro algebra)\, and also suggests various extensions\, which are just beginning to be explored. \n\n  \nRaoul Bott (9/24/1923 – 12/20/2005) is known for the Bott periodicity theorem\, the Morse–Bott functions\, and the Borel–Bott–Weil theorem. 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/mathscibott_1024-2/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Bott-Lecture_Neitzke_11x17.1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241016T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241016T170000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20240927T150643Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150459Z
UID:10002915-1729094400-1729098000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott: Andrew Neitzke
DESCRIPTION:  \nSpeaker: Andrew Neitzke\, Yale University \nLocation: Harvard University Science Center Hall D & via Zoom webinar \nDates: October 16 & 17\, 2024 \nTime: 4:00 pm \n  \n \nWednesday\, Oct. 16\, 2024 \nTitle: Abelianization in analysis of ODEs \nAbstract: I will describe the exact WKB method for asymptotic analysis of families of ODEs in one variable\, and its interpretation as a kind of abelianization procedure\, which replaces GL(N)-connections over a Riemann surface by GL(1)-connections over an N-fold branched cover. This abelianization procedure connects exact WKB to various subjects in geometry (cluster algebras\, moduli of Higgs bundles\, enumerative geometry). One application is a conjectural description of Hitchin’s hyperkahler metric on the moduli of Higgs bundles; I will review some recent progress on these conjectures. \n  \n \nThursday\, Oct. 17\, 2024 \nTitle: Abelianization in quantum topology \nAbstract: I will describe new applications of abelianization to various related subjects: perturbative Chern-Simons invariants\, skein algebras\, and conformal blocks. The aim is to explain how abelianization gives a unifying perspective on constructions familiar in each of these subjects (e.g. dilogarithmic formulas for Chern-Simons invariants\, vertex models for computing quantum invariants of links\, and iterated-fusion constructions of conformal blocks for the Virasoro algebra)\, and also suggests various extensions\, which are just beginning to be explored. \n  \n\nRaoul Bott (9/24/1923 – 12/20/2005) is known for the Bott periodicity theorem\, the Morse–Bott functions\, and the Borel–Bott–Weil theorem. 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/mathscibott_1024/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Bott-Lecture_Neitzke_11x17.1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240918T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240918T103000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20240904T181255Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150446Z
UID:10003442-1726650000-1726655400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Marc Lackenby
DESCRIPTION:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture \nDate: Wednesday\, September 18\, 2024 \nTime: 9:00 – 10:30 am ET \nLocation: Via Zoom Webinar \nSpeaker: Marc Lackenby\, University of Oxford \nTitle: The complexity of knots \nAbstract: In his final paper in 1954\, Alan Turing wrote `No systematic method is yet known by which one can tell whether two knots are the same.’ Within the next 20 years\, Wolfgang Haken and Geoffrey Hemion had discovered such a method. However\, the computational complexity of this problem remains unknown. In my talk\, I will give a survey on this area\, that draws on the work of many low-dimensional topologists and geometers. Unfortunately\, the current upper bounds on the computational complexity of the knot equivalence problem remain quite poor. However\, there are some recent results indicating that\, perhaps\, knots are more tractable than they first seem. Specifically\, I will explain a theorem that provides\, for each knot type K\, a polynomial p_K with the property that any two diagrams of K with n_1 and n_2 crossings differ by at most p_K(n_1) + p_K(n_2) Reidemeister moves. \n\nBeginning in Spring 2020\, the CMSA began hosting a lecture series on literature in the mathematical sciences\, with a focus on significant developments in mathematics that have influenced the discipline\, and the lifetime accomplishments of significant scholars.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/mathscilit2024_ml/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Mathlit_Lackenby_8.5x11.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240328T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240328T173000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20240103T175709Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T192237Z
UID:10001105-1711643400-1711647000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2024 Ding Shum Lecture: Yann LeCun: Objective-Driven AI: Towards AI systems that can learn\, remember\, reason\, and plan
DESCRIPTION:LECTURE SLIDES (pdf) \nOn March 28\, 2024\, the CMSA will host the fifth annual Ding Shum Lecture\, given by Yann LeCun. \nTime: 4:30–5:30 pm ET \nSpeaker: Yann Lecun\, New York University & META \nLocation: Harvard Science Center  Hall A & via Zoom Webinar \nTitle: Objective-Driven AI: Towards AI systems that can learn\, remember\, reason\, and plan \n\n\nAbstract:  \nHow could machines learn as efficiently as humans and animals? \nHow could machines learn how the world works and acquire common sense? \nHow could machines learn to reason and plan? \nCurrent AI architectures\, such as Auto-Regressive Large Language Models fall short. I will propose a modular cognitive architecture that may constitute a path towards answering these questions. The centerpiece of the architecture is a predictive world model that allows the system to predict the consequences of its actions and to plan a sequence of actions that optimize a set of objectives. The objectives include guardrails that guarantee the system’s controllability and safety. The world model employs a Hierarchical Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture (H-JEPA) trained with self-supervised learning. The JEPA learns abstract representations of the percepts that are simultaneously maximally informative and maximally predictable. The corresponding working paper is available here: https://openreview.net/forum?id=BZ5a1r-kVsf \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis event is made possible by the generous funding of Ding Lei and Harry Shum. \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2024_dingshum/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Ding Shum Lecture,Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Ding-Shum-2024_8.5x11.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240229T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240229T170000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20240103T185919Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T192246Z
UID:10001107-1709222400-1709226000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Fourth Annual Yip Lecture | Josh Tenenbaum | How to grow a mind from a brain: From guessing and betting to thinking and talking
DESCRIPTION:Josh Tenenbaum gave the Fourth Annual Yip Lecture on February 29\, 2024. \nTitle: How to grow a mind from a brain: From guessing and betting to thinking and talking\nTime: 4:00-5:00 pm ET \nLocation: Harvard Science Center \nThe Yip Lecture takes place thanks to the support of Dr. Shing-Yiu Yip. \n \n\nThe previous Yip Lecture featured Andrew Strominger (Harvard)\, who spoke on Black Holes.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/yip-2024/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures,Yip Lecture Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Tenenbaum-1_MIT-768x513-1.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240220T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240220T173000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20240301T093539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150527Z
UID:10002892-1708444800-1708450200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott: Maggie Miller: Fibered ribbon knots vs. major 4D conjectures
DESCRIPTION:Fibered ribbon knots vs. major 4D conjectures \nLocation: Harvard University Science Center Hall A & via Zoom webinar \nDates: Feb 20 & 22\, 2024 \nTime: 4:00-5:30 pm \nMaggie Miller is an assistant professor in the mathematics department at the University of Texas at Austin and a Clay Research Fellow. \nThis is the fourth annual Math Science Lecture Series held in Honor of Raoul Bott. \nTalk topic:  Fibered ribbon knots vs. major 4D conjectures\n  \n \nFeb. 20\, 2024 \nTitle: Fibered ribbon knots and the Poincaré conjecture \nAbstract: A knot is “fibered” if its complement in S^3 is the total space of a bundle over the circle\, and ribbon if it bounds a smooth disk into B^4 with no local maxima with respect to radial height. A theorem of Casson-Gordon from 1983 implies that if a fibered ribbon knot does not bound any fibered disk in B^4\, then the smooth 4D Poincaré conjecture is false. I’ll show that unfortunately (?) many ribbon disks bounded by fibered knots are fibered\, giving some criteria for extending fibrations and discuss how one might search for non-fibered examples. \n  \n \nFeb. 22\, 2024 \nTitle: Fibered knots and the slice-ribbon conjecture \nAbstract: The slice-ribbon conjecture (Fox\, 1962) posits that if a knot bounds any smooth disk into B^4\, it also bounds a ribbon disk. The previously discussed work of Casson-Gordon yields an obstruction to many fibered knots being ribbon\, yielding many interesting potential counterexamples to this conjecture — if any happy to bound a non-ribbon disk. In 2022\, Dai-Kong-Mallick-Park-Stoffregen showed that unfortunately( ?) many of these knots don’t bound a smooth disk into B^4 and thus can’t disprove the conjecture. I’ll show a simple alternate proof that a certain interesting knot (the (2\,1)-cable of the figure eight) isn’t slice and discuss remaining open questions. This talk is joint with Paolo Aceto\, Nickolas Castro\, JungHwan Park\, and Andras Stipsicz. \n  \nTalk Chair: Cliff Taubes (Harvard Mathematics) \nModerator: Freid Tong (Harvard CMSA) \n\nRaoul Bott (9/24/1923 – 12/20/2005) is known for the Bott periodicity theorem\, the Morse–Bott functions\, and the Borel–Bott–Weil theorem.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/mathscibott_2024/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Bott-Lecture_Maggie-Miller_letter_web.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230202T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230202T200000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230705T050204Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200143Z
UID:10000062-1675364400-1675368000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Third Annual Yip Lecture
DESCRIPTION:Andrew Strominger will give the Third Annual Yip Lecture on February 2\, 2023. \nTime: 7:00-8:00 pm ET \nLocation: Harvard Science Center Hall A \n  \nTitle: Black Holes: The Most Mysterious Objects in the Universe \nAbstract: In the last decade black holes have come to center stage in both theoretical and observational science. Theoretically\, they were shown a half-century ago by Stephen Hawking and others to obey a precise but still-mysterious set of laws which imply they are paradoxically both the simplest and most complex objects in the universe. Compelling progress on this paradox has occurred recently. Observationally\, they have finally and dramatically been seen in the sky\, including at LIGO and the Event Horizon Telescope. Future prospects for progress on both fronts hinge on emergent symmetries occurring near the black holes. An elementary presentation of aspects of these topics and their interplay will be given. \nAndrew Strominger is the Gwill E. York Professor of Physics and a senior faculty member at the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University. \nIntroduction: Peter Galison (Harvard Physics & Black Hole Initiative) \nModerator: Daniel Kapec (Harvard CMSA) \nThe Yip Lecture takes place thanks to the support of Dr. Shing-Yiu Yip. \n  \n \n\nThe previous Yip Lecture featured Avi Loeb (Harvard)\, who spoke on Extraterrestrial Life.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/yip-2023/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures,Yip Lecture Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Yip-2023.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221109T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221109T110000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230705T045400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200129Z
UID:10000060-1667986200-1667991600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Large cardinals and small sets: The AD+ Duality Program
DESCRIPTION:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture \n \nProf. Hugh Woodin will present a lecture in the CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture Series. \nDate: Wednesday\, November 9\, 2022 \nTime: 9:30 – 11:00 am ET \nLocation: Via Zoom Webinar and Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge MA 02138 \n  \nTitle: Large cardinals and small sets: The AD+ Duality Program \nAbstract: The determinacy axiom\, AD\, was introduced by Mycielski and Steinhaus over 60 years ago as an alternative to the Axiom of Choice for the study of arbitrary sets of real numbers.  The modern view is that determinacy axioms concern generalizations of the borel sets\, and deep connections with large cardinal axioms have emerged. \nThe study of determinacy axioms has led to a specific technical refinement of AD\, this is the axiom AD+. The further connections with large axioms have in turn implicitly led to a duality program\, this is the AD+ Duality Program. \nThe main open problems here are intertwined with those of the Inner Model Program\, which is the central program in the study of large cardinal axioms. \nThis has now all been distilled into a series of specific conjectures. \n  \nTalk chair: Horng-Tzer Yau (Harvard Mathematics & CMSA) \nModerator: Alejandro Poveda Ruzafa (Harvard CMSA) \n  \nBeginning in Spring 2020\, the CMSA began hosting a lecture series on literature in the mathematical sciences\, with a focus on significant developments in mathematics that have influenced the discipline\, and the lifetime accomplishments of significant scholars. \n  \nCMSA COVID-19 Policies
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/math-science-literature-lecture/
LOCATION:CMSA Room G10\, CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Mathlit_WOODIN.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220422T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220422T230000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230706T180541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200643Z
UID:10000096-1650619800-1650668400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Three Introductory Lectures on Game Theory for Mathematicians: Auction Theory
DESCRIPTION:Eric Maskin (Harvard University) Three Introductory Lectures on Game Theory for Mathematicians \nApril 22\, 2022 | 9:30 – 11:00 am ET \nTitle: Auction Theory \nAbstract: Equivalences among four standard auctions: the high-bid auction (the high bidder wins and pays her bid); the second-bid auction (the high bidder wins and pays the second-highest bid); the Dutch auction (the auctioneer lowers the price successively until some bidder is willing to pay); and the English auction (bidders raise their bids successively until no one wants to bid higher). \nTalk chairs: Scott Kominers\, Sergiy Verstyuk \nSLIDES | VIDEO Answers to Questions from Talks 2 and 3
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/maskin_gametheory2022_3/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Mathlit_MASKIN-1583x2048-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220420T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220420T110000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230706T180319Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200302Z
UID:10000095-1650447000-1650452400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Three Introductory Lectures on Game Theory for Mathematicians: Mechanism Design
DESCRIPTION:Eric Maskin (Harvard University) Three Introductory Lectures on Game Theory for Mathematicians \nApril 20\, 2022 | 9:30 – 11:00 am ET \nTitle: Mechanism Design \nAbstract: Given a social goal\, under what circumstances can we design a game to achieve that goal? \nTalk chairs: Scott Kominers\, Sergiy Verstyuk \nSLIDES | VIDEO
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/maskin_gametheory2022_2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Mathlit_MASKIN-1583x2048-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220418T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220418T110000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230706T180022Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200252Z
UID:10000094-1650274200-1650279600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Three Introductory Lectures on Game Theory for Mathematicians: Game Theory Basics and Classical Existence Theorems
DESCRIPTION:Eric Maskin (Harvard University) Three Introductory Lectures on Game Theory for Mathematicians \nApril 18\, 2022 | 9:30 – 11:00 am ET \nTitle: Game Theory Basics and Classical Existence Theorems \nAbstract: Games in extensive and normal form. Equilibrium existence theorems by Nash\, von Neumann\, and Zermelo \nTalk chairs: Scott Kominers\, Sergiy Verstyuk \nSLIDES | VIDEO \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/maskin_gametheory2022_1/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Mathlit_MASKIN-1583x2048-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220404T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220404T200000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230705T082949Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200243Z
UID:10000085-1649098800-1649102400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Second Annual Yip Lecture: Extraterrestrial Life
DESCRIPTION:Harvard CMSA hosted the second annual Yip Lecture on April 4\, 2022. \nThe Yip Lecture takes place thanks to the support of Dr. Shing-Yiu Yip.\nThis year’s speaker was Avi Loeb (Harvard). \n  \n \nExtraterrestrial Life\nAbstract: Are we alone? It would be arrogant to think that we are\, given that a quarter of all stars host a habitable Earth-size planet. Upcoming searches will aim to detect markers of life in the atmospheres of planets outside the Solar System. We also have unprecedented technologies to detect signs of intelligent civilizations through industrial pollution of planetary atmospheres\, space archaeology of debris from dead civilizations or artifacts such as photovoltaic cells that are used to re-distribute light and heat on the surface of a planet or giant megastructures. Our own civilization is starting to explore interstellar travel. Essential information may also arrive as a “message in a bottle”\, implying that we should examine carefully any unusual object that arrives to our vicinity from outside the Solar System\, such as `Oumuamua. \n\nAbraham (Avi) Loeb is the Frank B. Baird\, Jr.\, Professor of Science at Harvard University and a bestselling author (in lists of the New York Times\, Wall Street Journal\, Publishers Weekly\, Die Zeit\, Der Spiegel\, L’Express and more). He received a PhD in Physics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel at age 24 (1980–1986)\, led the first international project supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative (1983–1988)\, and was subsequently a long-term member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (1988–1993). Loeb has written 8 books\, including most recently\, Extraterrestrial (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt\, 2021)\, and nearly a thousand papers (with an h-index of 118) on a wide range of topics\, including black holes\, the first stars\, the search for extraterrestrial life\, and the future of the Universe. Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project in search for extraterrestrial intelligence\, the Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (2007–present) within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics\, and also serves as the Head of the Galileo Project (2021–present). He had been the longest serving Chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy (2011–2020) and the Founding Director of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative (2016–2021). He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences\, the American Physical Society\, and the International Academy of Astronautics. Loeb is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the White House\, a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies (2018–2021) and a current member of the Advisory Board for “Einstein: Visualize the Impossible” of the Hebrew University. He also chairs the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative (2016–present) and serves as the Science Theory Director for all Initiatives of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. In 2012\, TIME magazine selected Loeb as one of the 25 most influential people in space and in 2020 Loeb was selected among the 14 most inspiring Israelis of the last decade. \nClick here for Loeb’s commentaries on innovation and diversity. \nWebsite: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/ \nSee the Harvard Gazette article featuring Avi Loeb: “Oh\, if I could talk to the aliens” published March 8\, 2022. \nProf. Loeb’s books:\nExtraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth (2021)\nLife in the Cosmos: From Biosignatures to Technosignatures (2021) \nAvil Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project at Harvard. \n\nThe previous Yip Lecture featured Peter Galison (Harvard)\, who spoke on the EHT’s hunt for an objective image of a black hole.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/second-annual-yip-lecture/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures,Yip Lecture Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Yip2022_poster_web.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211209T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211209T143000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230705T082223Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200233Z
UID:10000072-1639042200-1639060200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture - Karen Uhlenbeck
DESCRIPTION:Karen Uhlenbeck (Institute for Advanced Study) \nTitle: The Noether Theorems in Geometry: Then and Now \nAbstract: The 1918 Noether theorems were a product of the general search for energy and momentum conservation in Einstein’s newly formulated theory of general relativity. Although widely referred to as the connection between symmetry and conservation laws\, the theorems themselves are often not understood properly and hence have not been as widely used as they might be. In the first part of the talk\, I outline a brief history of the theorems\, explain a bit of the language\, translate the first theorem into coordinate invariant language and give a few examples. I will mention only briefly their importance in physics and integrable systems. In the second part of the talk\, I describe why they are still relevant in geometric analysis: how they underlie standard techniques and why George Daskalopoulos and I came to be interested in them for our investigation into the best Lipschitz maps of Bill Thurston. Some applications to integrals on a domain a hyperbolic surface leave open possibilities for applications to integrals on domains which are locally symmetric spaces of higher dimension. The talk finishes with an example or two from the literature. \nTalk Chair: Laura DeMarco \nVIDEO
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/12-9-21-math-science-literature-lecture-karen-uhlenbeck/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Uhlenbeck_12921.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211004T025100
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211005T025100
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230705T081940Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200226Z
UID:10000071-1633315860-1633402260@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott
DESCRIPTION:On October 4th and October 5th\, 2021\, Harvard CMSA will host its annual Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott. This year’s speaker will be Michael Freedman (Microsoft). The lectures will take place from 11:00am – 12:15pm (ET) on Zoom. \nThis will be the third annual lecture series held in honor of Raoul Bott. \n\n\n\n\nLecture 1\nOctober 4th\, 11:00am (Boston time)\nTitle: The Universe from a single Particle \nAbstract: I will explore a toy model  for our universe in which spontaneous symmetry breaking – acting on the level of operators (not states) – can produce the interacting physics we see about us from the simpler\, single particle\, quantum mechanics we study as undergraduates. Based on joint work with Modj Shokrian Zini\, see arXiv:2011.05917 and arXiv:2108.12709. \nVideo\n\n\nLecture 2\nOctober 5th\, 11:00am (Boston time)\nTitle: Controlled Mather Thurston Theorems. \nAbstract: The “c-principle” is a cousin of Gromov’s h-principle in which cobordism rather than homotopy is required to (canonically) solve a problem. We show that in certain well-known c-principle contexts only the mildest cobordisms\, semi-s-cobordisms\, are required. In physical applications\, the extra topology (a perfect fundamental group) these cobordisms introduce could easily be hidden in the UV. This leads to a proposal to recast gauge theories such as EM and the standard model in terms of flat connections rather than curvature. See arXiv:2006.00374   \nVideo\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/math-science-lectures-in-honor-of-raoul-bott/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210423T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210423T183000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T172354Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T185338Z
UID:10000912-1619193600-1619202600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Indistinguishability Obfuscation: How to Hide Secrets within Software
DESCRIPTION:Amit Sahai  (UCLA) \nTitle: Indistinguishability Obfuscation: How to Hide Secrets within Software \nAbstract: At least since the initial public proposal of public-key cryptography based on computational hardness conjectures (Diffie and Hellman\, 1976)\, cryptographers have contemplated the possibility of a “one-way compiler” that translates computer programs into “incomprehensible” but equivalent forms. And yet\, the search for such a “one-way compiler” remained elusive for decades. \nIn this talk\, we look back at our community’s attempts to formalize the notion of such a compiler\, culminating in our 2001 work with Barak\, Goldreich\, Impagliazzo\, Rudich\, Vadhan\, and Yang\, which proposed the notion of indistinguishability obfuscation (iO). Roughly speaking\, iO requires that the compiled versions of any two equivalent programs (with the same size and running time) be indistinguishable to any efficient adversary. Leveraging the notion of punctured programming\, introduced in our work with Waters in 2013\, well over a hundred papers have explored the remarkable power of iO. \nWe’ll then discuss the intense effort that recently culminated in our 2020 work with Jain and Lin\, finally showing how to construct iO in such a way that\, for the first time\, we can prove the security of our iO scheme based on well-studied computational hardness conjectures in cryptography. \nTalk chair: Sergiy Verstyuk \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_sahai/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Sahai-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210420T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210420T103000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T172100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201355Z
UID:10000911-1618909200-1618914600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: The Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem
DESCRIPTION:Dan Freed (The University of Texas at Austin) \nTitle: The Atiyah-Singer Index Theorem \nAbstract: The story of the index theorem ties together the Gang of Four—Atiyah\, Bott\, Hirzebruch\, and Singer—and lies at the intersection of analysis\, geometry\, and topology. In the first part of the talk I will recount high points in the early developments. Then I turn to subsequent variations and applications. Throughout I emphasize the role of the Dirac operator. \nThis talk is part of a subprogram of the Mathematical Science Literature Lecture series\, a Memorial Conference for the founders of index theory: Atiyah\, Bott\, Hirzebruch and Singer. \nTalk chair: Cumrun Vafa \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_freed/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Freed-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210416T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210416T143000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T171834Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201348Z
UID:10000910-1618578000-1618583400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Deep Networks from First Principles
DESCRIPTION:Yi MaPhoto Copyright Noah Berger / 2019\n  \nYi Ma (University of California\, Berkeley) \nTitle: Deep Networks from First Principles \nAbstract: In this talk\, we offer an entirely “white box’’ interpretation of deep (convolution) networks from the perspective of data compression (and group invariance). In particular\, we show how modern deep layered architectures\, linear (convolution) operators and nonlinear activations\, and even all parameters can be derived from the principle of maximizing rate reduction (with group invariance). All layers\, operators\, and parameters of the network are explicitly constructed via forward propagation\, instead of learned via back propagation. All components of so-obtained network\, called ReduNet\, have precise optimization\, geometric\, and statistical interpretation. There are also several nice surprises from this principled approach: it reveals a fundamental tradeoff between invariance and sparsity for class separability; it reveals a fundamental connection between deep networks and Fourier transform for group invariance – the computational advantage in the spectral domain (why spiking neurons?); this approach also clarifies the mathematical role of forward propagation (optimization) and backward propagation (variation). In particular\, the so-obtained ReduNet is amenable to fine-tuning via both forward and backward (stochastic) propagation\, both for optimizing the same objective. This is joint work with students Yaodong Yu\, Ryan Chan\, Haozhi Qi of Berkeley\, Dr. Chong You now at Google Research\, and Professor John Wright of Columbia University. \nTalk chair: Harry Shum \nSlides | Video
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_ma/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Ma-1-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210408T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210408T103000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T171436Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201342Z
UID:10000909-1617872400-1617877800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Quantum error correcting codes and fault tolerance
DESCRIPTION:Peter Shor (MIT) \nTitle: Quantum error correcting codes and fault tolerance \nAbstract: We will go over the fundamentals of quantum error correction and fault tolerance and survey some of the recent developments in the field.\n\nTalk chair: Zhengwei Liu \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_shor/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Shor.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210406T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210406T103000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T115709Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201336Z
UID:10000907-1617699600-1617705000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Isadore Singer’s Work on Analytic Torsion
DESCRIPTION:Edward Witten (IAS) \nTitle: Isadore Singer’s Work on Analytic Torsion \nAbstract:  I will review two famous papers of Ray and Singer on analytic torsion written approximately half a century ago. Then I will sketch the influence of analytic torsion in a variety of areas of physics including anomalies\, topological field theory\, and string theory. \nThis talk is part of a subprogram of the Mathematical Science Literature Lecture series\, a Memorial Conference for the founders of index theory: Atiyah\, Bott\, Hirzebruch\, and Singer. \nTalk chair: Cumrun Vafa \nSlides | Video
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_witten-2/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Witten.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210127T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210127T103000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T114914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200938Z
UID:10000904-1611738000-1611743400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Discrepancy Theory and Randomized Controlled Trials
DESCRIPTION:Dan Spielman (Yale University) \nTitle: Discrepancy Theory and Randomized Controlled Trials \nAbstract: Discrepancy theory tells us that it is possible to partition vectors into sets so that each set looks surprisingly similar to every other.  By “surprisingly similar” we mean much more similar than a random partition. I will begin by surveying fundamental results in discrepancy theory\, including Spencer’s famous existence proofs and Bansal’s recent algorithmic realizations of them. Randomized Controlled Trials are used to test the effectiveness of interventions\, like medical treatments. Randomization is used to ensure that the test and control groups are probably similar.  When we know nothing about the experimental subjects\, uniform random assignment is the best we can do. When we know information about the experimental subjects\, called covariates\, we can combine the strengths of randomization with the promises of discrepancy theory. This should allow us to obtain more accurate estimates of the effectiveness of treatments\, or to conduct trials with fewer experimental subjects. I will introduce the Gram-Schmidt Walk algorithm of Bansal\, Dadush\, Garg\, and Lovett\, which produces random solutions to discrepancy problems. I will then explain how Chris Harshaw\, Fredrik Sävje\, Peng Zhang\, and I use this algorithm to improve the design of randomized controlled trials. Our Gram-Schmidt Walk Designs have increased accuracy when the experimental outcomes are correlated with linear functions of the covariates\, and are comparable to uniform random assignments in the worst case. \nTalk chair: Salil Vadhan \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_spielman/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_-Spielman-1-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201125T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201125T103000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T114042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200913Z
UID:10000900-1606294800-1606300200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Theorems of Torelli type
DESCRIPTION:Eduard Jacob Neven Looijenga (Tsinghua University & Utrecht University) \nTitle: Theorems of Torelli type \nAbstract: Given a closed manifold of even dimension 2n\, then Hodge showed around 1950 that a  kählerian complex structure on that manifold determines a decomposition of its complex cohomology. This decomposition\, which can potentially vary continuously with the complex structure\, extracts from a non-linear given\,  linear data. It can contain a lot of information. When there is essentially no loss of data in this process\, we say that the Torelli theorem holds.  We review the underlying theory and then survey some cases where this is the case. This will include the classical case n=1\, but the emphasis will be on K3 manifolds (n=2) and more generally\, on hyperkählerian manifolds. These cases stand out\, since one can then also tell which decompositions occur. \nTalk chair: Gerard van der Geer \nVideo 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_looijenga/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Looijenga-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201123T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201123T113000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T113517Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200851Z
UID:10000898-1606125600-1606131000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Subfactors–in Memory of Vaughan Jones
DESCRIPTION:Zhengwei Liu (Tsinghua University) \nTitle: Subfactors–in Memory of Vaughan Jones \nAbstract: Jones initiated modern subfactor theory in the early 1980s and investigated this area for his whole academic life. Subfactor theory has both deep and broad connections with various areas in mathematics and physics. One well-known peak in the development of subfactor theory is the discovery of the Jones polynomial\, for which Jones won the Fields Medal in 1990. Let us travel back to the dark room at the beginning of the story\, to appreciate how radically our viewpoint has changed. \nTalk chair: Arthur Jaffe \nSlides | Video 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_liu/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Liu-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201123T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201123T093000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T113744Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200904Z
UID:10000899-1606118400-1606123800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Noncommutative Geometry\, the Spectral Aspect
DESCRIPTION:Alain Connes (Collège de France) \nTitle: Noncommutative Geometry\, the Spectral Aspect \nAbstract: This talk will be a survey of the spectral side of noncommutative geometry\, presenting the new paradigm of spectral triples and showing its relevance for the fine structure of space-time\, its large scale structure and also in number theory in connection with the zeros of the Riemann zeta function. \nTalk chair: Peter Kronheimer \nVideo 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_connes/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Connes-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201120T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201120T093000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T113302Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200635Z
UID:10000897-1605859200-1605864600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Homotopy spectra and Diophantine equations
DESCRIPTION:Yuri Manin (Max Planck Institute for Mathematics) \nTitle: Homotopy spectra and Diophantine equations \nAbstract: For a long stretch of time in the history of mathematics\, Number Theory and Topology formed vast\, but disjoint domains of mathematical knowledge. Origins of number theory can be traced back to the Babylonian clay tablet Plimpton 322 (about 1800 BC)  that contained a list of integer solutions of the “Diophantine” equation $a^2+b^2=c^2$: archetypal theme of number theory\, named after Diophantus of Alexandria (about 250 BC). Topology was born much later\, but arguably\, its cousin — modern measure theory\, — goes back to Archimedes\, author of Psammites (“Sand Reckoner”)\, who was approximately a contemporary of Diophantus. In modern language\, Archimedes measures the volume of observable universe by counting the number of small grains of sand necessary to fill this volume. Of course\, many qualitative geometric models and quantitative estimates of the relevant distances precede his calculations. Moreover\, since the estimated numbers of grains of sand are quite large (about $10^{64}$)\, Archimedes had to invent and describe a system of notation for large numbers going far outside the possibilities of any of the standard ancient systems. The construction of the first bridge between number theory and topology was accomplished only about fifty years ago: it is the theory of spectra in stable homotopy theory. In particular\, it connects $Z$\, the initial object in the theory of commutative rings\, with the sphere spectrum $S$. This connection poses the challenge: discover a new information in number theory using the developed independently machinery of homotopy theory. In this talk based upon the authors’ (Yu. Manin and M. Marcolli) joint research project\, I suggest to apply homotopy spectra to the problem of distribution of rational points upon algebraic manifolds. \nTalk chair: Michael Hopkins \nSlides | Video
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_manin/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Manin-2-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201118T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201118T093000
DTSTAMP:20260417T001941
CREATED:20230707T113020Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201157Z
UID:10000896-1605686400-1605691800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Log Calabi-Yau fibrations
DESCRIPTION:Caucher Birkar (University of Cambridge) \nTitle: Log Calabi-Yau fibrations \nAbstract: Fano and Calabi-Yau varieties play a fundamental role in algebraic geometry\, differential geometry\, arithmetic geometry\, mathematical physics\, etc. The notion of log Calabi-Yau fibration unifies Fano and Calabi-Yau varieties\, their fibrations\, as well as their local birational counterparts such as flips and singularities. Such fibrations can be examined from many different perspectives. The purpose of this talk is to introduce the theory of log Calabi-Yau fibrations\, to remind some known results\, and to state some open problems. \nVideo \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_birkar/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Birkar-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR