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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240220T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240220T173000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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:20260504T221454
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
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201116T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201116T093000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T112758Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200750Z
UID:10000895-1605513600-1605519000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Classical and quantum integrable systems in enumerative geometry
DESCRIPTION:Andrei Okounkov (Columbia University) \nTitle: Classical and quantum integrable systems in enumerative geometry \nAbstract: For more than a quarter of a century\, thanks to the ideas and questions originating in modern high-energy physics\, there has been a very fruitful interplay between enumerative geometry and integrable system\, both classical and quantum. While it is impossible to summarize even the most important aspects of this interplay in one talk\, I will try to highlight a few logical points with the goal to explain the place and the role of certain more recent developments. \nTalk chair: Cumrun Vafa \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_okounkov/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Okounkov-1-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201113T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201113T093000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T112548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201252Z
UID:10000145-1605254400-1605259800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Knot Invariants From Gauge Theory in Three\, Four\, and Five Dimensions
DESCRIPTION:Edward Witten (IAS) \nTitle: Knot Invariants From Gauge Theory in Three\, Four\, and Five Dimensions \nAbstract: I will explain connections between a sequence of theories in two\, three\, four\, and five dimensions and describe how these theories are related to the Jones polynomial of a knot and its categorification. \nTalk chair: Cliff Taubes \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_witten/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Witten-pdf.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201005T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201005T093000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T112316Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200738Z
UID:10000144-1601884800-1601890200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Kunihiko Kodaira and complex manifolds
DESCRIPTION:Yujiro Kawamata (University of Tokyo) \nTitle: Kunihiko Kodaira and complex manifolds \nAbstract: Kodaira’s motivation was to generalize the theory of Riemann surfaces in Weyl’s book to higher dimensions.  After quickly recalling the chronology of Kodaira\, I will review some of Kodaira’s works in three sections on topics of harmonic analysis\, deformation theory and compact complex surfaces.  Each topic corresponds to a volume of Kodaira’s collected works in three volumes\, of which I will cover only tiny parts. \nTalk chair: Baohua Fu \nVideo 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_kawamata/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Kawamata-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201002T104500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201002T121500
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T112042Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200723Z
UID:10000143-1601635500-1601640900@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Birational geometry
DESCRIPTION:Vyacheslav V. Shokurov (Johns Hopkins University) \nTitle: Birational geometry \nAbstract: About main achievements in birational geometry during the last fifty years. \nTalk chair: Caucher Birkar \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_shokurov/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Shokurov-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200930T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200930T133000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T111821Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T200713Z
UID:10000142-1601467200-1601472600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Immersions of manifolds and homotopy theory
DESCRIPTION:Ralph Cohen (Stanford University) \nTitle: Immersions of manifolds and homotopy theory \nAbstract: The interface between the study of the topology of differentiable manifolds and algebraic topology has been one of the richest areas of work in topology since the 1950’s. In this talk I will focus on one aspect of that interface: the problem of studying embeddings and immersions of manifolds using homotopy theoretic techniques. I will discuss the history of this problem\, going back to the pioneering work of Whitney\, Thom\, Pontrjagin\, Wu\, Smale\, Hirsch\, and others. I will discuss the historical applications of this homotopy theoretic perspective\, going back to Smale’s eversion of the 2-sphere in 3-space. I will then focus on the problems of finding the smallest dimension Euclidean space into which every n-manifold embeds or immerses. The embedding question is still very much unsolved\, and the immersion question was solved in the 1980’s. I will discuss the homotopy theoretic techniques involved in the solution of this problem\, and contributions in the 60’s\, 70’s and 80’s of Massey\, Brown\, Peterson\, and myself. I will also discuss questions regarding the best embedding and immersion dimensions of specific manifolds\, such has projective spaces. Finally\, I will end by discussing more modern approaches to studying spaces of embeddings due to Goodwillie\, Weiss\, and others. This talk will be geared toward a general mathematical audience. \nTalk chair: Michael Hopkins \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_cohen/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Cohen-pdf.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200928T123000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200928T140000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T111141Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201235Z
UID:10000141-1601296200-1601301600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: A personal story of the 4D Poincare conjecture
DESCRIPTION:Michael Freedman (Microsoft – Station Q) \nTitle: A personal story of the 4D Poincare conjecture \nAbstract:  The proof of PC4 involved the convergence of several historical streams.  To get started: high dimensional manifold topology (Smale)\, a new idea on how to study 4-manifolds (Casson)\, wild “Texas” topology (Bing). Once inside the proof: there are three submodules: Casson towers come to life (in the sense of reproduction)\, a very intricate explicit shrinking argument (provided by Edwards)\, and the “blind fold” shrinking argument (which in retrospect is in the linage of Brown’s proof of the Schoenflies theorem). Beyond those mentioned: Kirby\, Cannon\, Ancel\, Quinn\, and Starbird helped me understand my proof. I will discuss the main points and how they fit together. \nTalk Chair: Peter Kronheimer \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_freedman/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Freedman-1-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200928T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200928T121300
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T111622Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250409T192348Z
UID:10001223-1601283600-1601295180@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: From Deep Learning to Deep Understanding
DESCRIPTION:Harry Shum (Tsinghua University) \nTitle: From Deep Learning to Deep Understanding \nAbstract: In this talk I will discuss a couple of research directions for robust AI beyond deep neural networks. The first is the need to understand what we are learning\, by shifting the focus from targeting effects to understanding causes. The second is the need for a hybrid neural/symbolic approach that leverages both commonsense knowledge and massive amount of data. Specifically\, as an example\, I will present some latest work at Microsoft Research on building a pre-trained grounded text generator for task-oriented dialog. It is a hybrid architecture that employs a large-scale Transformer-based deep learning model\,  and symbol manipulation modules such as business databases\, knowledge graphs and commonsense rules. Unlike GPT or similar language models learnt from data\, it is a multi-turn decision making system which takes user input\, updates the belief state\, retrieved from the database via symbolic reasoning\, and decides how to complete the task with grounded response. \nTalk chair: Shing-Tung Yau \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_shum/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Shum-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200925T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200925T103000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T110951Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201132Z
UID:10000140-1601024400-1601029800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Area-minimizing integral currents and their regularity
DESCRIPTION:Camillo De Lellis (IAS) \nTitle: Area-minimizing integral currents and their regularity \nAbstract: Caccioppoli sets and integral currents (their generalization in higher codimension) were introduced in the late fifties and early sixties to give a general geometric approach to the existence of area-minimizing oriented surfaces spanning a given contour. These concepts started a whole new subject which has had tremendous impacts in several areas of mathematics: superficially through direct applications of the main theorems\, but more deeply because of the techniques which have been invented to deal with related analytical and geometrical challenges. In this lecture I will review the basic concepts\, the related existence theory of solutions of the Plateau problem\, and what is known about their regularity. I will also touch upon several fundamental open problems which still defy our understanding.  \nTalk Chair: William Minicozzi \nVideo
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_delellis/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Event,Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_DeLellis-pdf.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200506T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200506T140000
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230715T082607Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T201043Z
UID:10000134-1588770000-1588773600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: My life and times with the sporadic simple groups
DESCRIPTION:Robert Griess (University of Michigan) \nTitle: My life and times with the sporadic simple groups \nAbstract: Five sporadic simple groups were proposed in 19th century and 21 additional ones arose during the period 1965-1975. There were many discussions about the nature of finite simple groups and how sporadic groups are placed in mathematics. While in mathematics grad school at University of Chicago\,  I became fascinated with the unfolding story of sporadic simple groups. It involved theory\, detective work and experiments. During this lecture\, I will describe some of the people\, important ideas and evolution of thinking about sporadic simple groups. Most should be accessible to a general mathematical audience. \nVideo | Slides
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/cmsa-math-science-literature-lecture_griess/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Math Science Literature Lecture Series,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Lecture_Griess-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191022T121100
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191022T121100
DTSTAMP:20260504T221454
CREATED:20230707T175654Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T185250Z
UID:10000120-1571746260-1571746260@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2019 Ding Shum Lecture
DESCRIPTION:  \nOn October 22\, 2019\, the CMSA held the third annual Ding Shum lecture. \nSpeaker: Ronald L. Rivest (MIT) \nTitle: Election Security \nRonald L. Rivest is an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and a founder of the Cryptography and Information Security research group within CSAIL. His research has been in the areas of algorithms\, machine learning\, cryptography\, and election security\, for which he has received multiple awards\, including: the ACM Turing Award (with Adleman and Shamir)\, the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award\, National Inventor’s Hall of Fame membership\, and the Marconi Prize. \nProf. Rivest is also well-known as a co-author of the textbook “Introduction to Algorithms” (with Cormen\, Leiserson\, and Stein)\, and as a co-inventor of the RSA public-key cryptosystem (with Adleman and Shamir). He is a co-founder of RSA and of Verisign.He has served on the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (advisory to the Election Assistance Commission)\, in charge of the Security subcommittee. He is a member of the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project\, on the Board of Verified Voting\, and an advisor to the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Additionally\, he has served on the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (advisory to the Election Assistance Commission)\, as a member of the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project\, and as an advisor to the Electronic Privacy Information Center. \n  \n \nLast year featured Eric Maskin\, who spoke on “How to Improve Presidential Elections: the Mathematics of Voting.” The first Ding Shum lecture took place on October 10\, 2017\, featuring Leslie Valiant on “Learning as a Theory of Everything.” \nThis event is made possible by the generous funding of Ding Lei and Harry Shum.\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2019-ding-shum-lecture/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Ding Shum Lecture,Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/DingShum-2019-1.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR