BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//CMSA - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:CMSA
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for CMSA
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20160313T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20161106T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20170312T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20171105T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20180311T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20181104T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20190310T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20191103T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20200308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20201101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20210314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20211107T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20220313T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20221106T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210408T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210408T103000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025724
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:20260503T025725
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:20260503T025725
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:20260503T025725
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:20260503T025725
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:20260503T025725
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:20260503T025725
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:20260503T025725
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
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190418T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190418T170000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025725
CREATED:20230715T174140Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150900Z
UID:10000113-1555603200-1555606800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Yip Annual Lecture
DESCRIPTION:On April 18\, 2019 Harvard CMSA hosted the inaugural Yip lecture. The Yip Lecture takes place thanks to the support of Dr. Shing-Yiu Yip. This year’s speaker was Peter Galison (Harvard Physics). \nThe lecture was held from 4:00-5:00pm in Science Center\, Hall A.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/yip-annual-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/Yip-3-1-791x1024-1-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190409T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190409T170000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025725
CREATED:20240212T100146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150617Z
UID:10001950-1554825600-1554829200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math Science Lectures in Honor of Raoul Bott: Mina Aganagic
DESCRIPTION:On April 9 and 10\, 2019 the CMSA hosted two lectures by Mina Aganagic (UC Berkeley).  This was the second annual Math Science Lecture Series held in honor of Raoul Bott. \nThe lectures took place in Science Center\, Hall C \n“Two math lessons from string theory”\n\n\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n \n \nApril 9\, 2019 \nLecture 1 \nTitle: “Lesson on Integrability” \nAbstract: The quantum Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov (qKZ) equation is a difference generalization of the famous Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov (KZ) equation. The problem to explicitly capture the monodromy of the qKZ equation has been open for over 25 years. I will describe the solution to this problem\, discovered jointly with Andrei Okounkov. The solution comes from the geometry of Nakajima quiver varieties and has a string theory origin. \nPart of the interest in the qKZ monodromy problem is that its solution leads to integrable lattice models\, in parallel to how monodromy matrices of the KZ equation lead to knot invariants. Thus\, our solution of the problem leads to a new\, geometric approach\, to integrable lattice models. There are two other approaches to integrable lattice models\, due to Nekrasov and Shatashvili and to Costello\, Witten and Yamazaki. I’ll describe joint work with Nikita Nekrasov which explains how string theory unifies the three approaches to integrable lattice models.\n\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n \n \nApril 10\, 2019 \nLecture 2 \nTitle: “Lesson on Knot Categorification” \nAbstract: An old problem is to find a unified approach to the knot categorification problem. The new string theory perspective on the qKZ equation I described in the first talk can be used to derive two geometric approaches to the problem. \nThe first approach is based on a category of B-type branes on resolutions of slices in affine Grassmannians. The second is based on a category of A-branes in a Landau-Ginzburg theory. The relation between them is two dimensional (equivariant) mirror symmetry. String theory also predicts that a third approach to categorification\, based on counting solutions to five dimensional Haydys-Witten equations\, is equivalent to the first two. \nThis talk is mostly based on joint work with Andrei Okounkov.\n\n\n\n  \n  \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/math-science-lectures-in-honor-of-raoul-bott-mina-aganagic/
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/Aganagic-791x1024-1-232x300-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181024T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181024T160000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025725
CREATED:20230715T085247Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150854Z
UID:10000101-1540393200-1540396800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2018 Ding Shum Lecture
DESCRIPTION:  \n \nOn October 24\, 2018\, the CMSA hosted the second annual Ding Shum lecture. This event was made possible by the generous funding of Ding Lei and Harry Shum. Last year featured Leslie Valiant\, who spoke on “learning as a Theory of Everything.” \nThis year will feature Eric Maskin\, who will speak on “How to Improve Presidential Elections: the Mathematics of Voting.” This lecture will take place from 5:00-6:00pm in Science Center\, Hall D.  \nPictures of the event can be found here.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2018-ding-shum-lecture/
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/Ding-Shum-lecture-2018.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171102T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171102T180000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025725
CREATED:20230717T173530Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T151232Z
UID:10000039-1509642000-1509645600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Jennifer Chayes Public Talk
DESCRIPTION:Jennifer Chayes (Microsoft Research) will be giving a public talk on November 02\, 2017\, as part of the Program on combinatorics and complexity hosted by the CMSA during AY17-18.  The talk will be at 5:00pm in Askwith Hall\, 13 Appian Way\, Cambridge\, MA. \nTitle: Network Science: From the Online World to Cancer Genomics \nAbstract: Everywhere we turn these days\, we find that networks can be used to describe relevant interactions. In the high tech world\, we see the Internet\, the World Wide Web\, mobile phone networks\, and a variety of online social networks. In economics\, we are increasingly experiencing both the positive and negative effects of a global networked economy. In epidemiology\, we find disease spreading over our ever growing social networks\, complicated by mutation of the disease agents. In biomedical research\, we are beginning to understand the structure of gene regulatory networks\, with the prospect of using this understanding to manage many human diseases. In this talk\, I look quite generally at some of the models we are using to describe these networks\, processes we are studying on the networks\, algorithms we have devised for the networks\, and finally\, methods we are developing to indirectly infer network structure from measured data. I’ll discuss in some detail particular applications to cancer genomics\, applying network algorithms to suggest possible drug targets for certain kinds of cancer. \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/jennifer-chayes-public-talk-11-02-17/
LOCATION:Askwith Hall\, Harvard University
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=application/pdf:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Chayes-public-talk.pdf
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171010T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171010T180000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025725
CREATED:20230717T173349Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150724Z
UID:10000038-1507654800-1507658400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2017 Ding Shum Lecture
DESCRIPTION:Leslie Valiant will be giving the inaugural talk of the Ding Shum Lectures on Tuesday\, October 10 at 5:00 pm in Science Center Hall D\, Cambridge\, MA. \nLearning as a Theory of Everything \nAbstract: We start from the hypothesis that all the information that resides in living organisms was initially acquired either through learning by an individual or through evolution. Then any unified theory of evolution and learning should be able to characterize the capabilities that humans and other living organisms can possess or acquire. Characterizing these capabilities would tell us about the nature of humans\, and would also inform us about feasible targets for automation. With this purpose we review some background in the mathematical theory of learning. We go on to explain how Darwinian evolution can be formulated as a form of learning. We observe that our current mathematical understanding of learning is incomplete in certain important directions\, and conclude by indicating one direction in which further progress would likely enable broader phenomena of intelligence and cognition to be realized than is possible at present. \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2017-ding-shum-lecture/
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/Ding-Shum-lecture-3.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171002T091500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171002T173000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025725
CREATED:20230717T172938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T150846Z
UID:10000036-1506935700-1506965400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:The 2017 Charles River Lectures
DESCRIPTION:Charles River with Bench at Sunset\nJointly organized by Harvard University\, Massachusetts Institute of Technology\, and Microsoft Research New England\, the Charles River Lectures on Probability and Related Topics is a one-day event for the benefit of the greater Boston area mathematics community. \nThe 2017 lectures will take place 9:15am – 5:30pm on Monday\, October 2 at Harvard University  in the Harvard Science Center. \n\n\n\n*************************************************** \nUPDATED LOCATION\nHarvard University\nHarvard Science Center (Halls C & E)\n1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA 02138 (Map)\nMonday\, October 2\, 2017\n9:15 AM – 5:30 PM\n************************************************** \nPlease note that registration has closed. \nSpeakers:\n\nPaul Bourgade (Courant Institute\, NYU)\nMassimiliano Gubinelli (University of Bonn)\nAndrea Montanari (Stanford University)\nRoman Vershynin (University of California\, Irvine)\nOfer Zeitouni (Weizmann Institute)\n\nAgenda:\nIn Harvard Science Center Hall C: \n8:45 am – 9:15 am: Coffee/light breakfast \n9:15 am – 10:15 am: Ofer Zeitouni \nTitle: Noise stability of the spectrum of large matrices \nAbstract: The spectrum of large non-normal matrices is notoriously sensitive to perturbations\, as the example of nilpotent matrices shows. Remarkably\, the spectrum of these matrices perturbed by polynomially (in the dimension) vanishing additive noise is remarkably stable. I will describe some results and the beginning of a theory. \nThe talk is based on joint work with Anirban Basak and Elliot Paquette\, and earlier works with Feldheim\, Guionnet\, Paquette and Wood.\n\n10:20 am – 11:20 am: Andrea Montanari \nTitle: Algorithms for estimating low-rank matrices  \nAbstract: Many interesting problems in statistics can be formulated as follows. The signal of interest is a large low-rank matrix with additional structure\, and we are given a single noisy view of this matrix. We would like to estimate the low rank signal by taking into account optimally the signal structure. I will discuss two types of efficient estimation procedures based on message-passing algorithms and semidefinite programming relaxations\, with an emphasis on asymptotically exact results. \n11:20 am – 11:45 am: Break \n11:45 am – 12:45 pm: Paul Bourgade \nTitle: Random matrices\, the Riemann zeta function and trees \nAbstract: Fyodorov\, Hiary & Keating have conjectured that the maximum of the characteristic polynomial of random unitary matrices behaves like extremes of log-correlated Gaussian fields. This allowed them to predict the typical size of local maxima of the Riemann zeta function along the critical axis. I will first explain the origins of this conjecture\, and then outline the proof for the leading order of the maximum\, for unitary matrices and the zeta function. This talk is based on joint works with Arguin\, Belius\, Radziwill and Soundararajan. \n1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Lunch \nIn Harvard Science Center Hall E: \n2:45 pm – 3:45 pm: Roman Vershynin \nTitle: Deviations of random matrices and applications \nAbstract: Uniform laws of large numbers provide theoretical foundations for statistical learning theory. This lecture will focus on quantitative uniform laws of large numbers for random matrices. A range of illustrations will be given in high dimensional geometry and data science. \n3:45 pm – 4:15 pm: Break \n4:15 pm – 5:15 pm: Massimiliano Gubinelli \nTitle: Weak universality and Singular SPDEs \nAbstract: Mesoscopic fluctuations of microscopic (discrete or continuous) dynamics can be described in terms of nonlinear stochastic partial differential equations which are universal: they depend on very few details of the microscopic model. This universality comes at a price: due to the extreme irregular nature of the random field sample paths\, these equations turn out to not be well-posed in any classical analytic sense. I will review recent progress in the mathematical understanding of such singular equations and of their (weak) universality and their relation with the Wilsonian renormalisation group framework of theoretical physics. \nOrganizers:\n Alexei Borodin\, Henry Cohn\, Vadim Gorin\, Elchanan Mossel\, Philippe Rigollet\, Scott Sheffield\, and H.T. Yau
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/the-2017-charles-river-lectures/
LOCATION:Harvard Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture,Special Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Charles-River-Lectures-2017-pdf.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170907T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170907T180000
DTSTAMP:20260503T025725
CREATED:20230717T172748Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T183135Z
UID:10000035-1504803600-1504807200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Noga Alon Public Talk
DESCRIPTION:Noga Alon (Tel Aviv University) will be giving a public talk on September 7\, 2017\,as part of the program on combinatorics and complexity hosted by the CMSA during AY17-18.  The talk will be at 5:00pm in Askwith Hall\, 13 Appian Way\, Cambridge\, MA. \nTitle: Graph Coloring: Local and Global \nAbstract: Graph Coloring is arguably the most popular subject in Discrete Mathematics\, and its combinatorial\, algorithmic and computational aspects have been studied intensively. The most basic notion in the area\, the chromatic number of a graph\, is an inherently global property. This is demonstrated by the hardness of computation or approximation of this invariant as well as by the existence of graphs with arbitrarily high chromatic number and no short cycles. The investigation of these graphs had a profound impact on Graph Theory and Combinatorics. It combines combinatorial\, probabilistic\, algebraic and topological techniques with number theoretic tools. I will describe the rich history of the subject focusing on some recent results. \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/noga-alon-public-talk-9-7-17/
CATEGORIES:Event,Public Lecture
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Noga-Poster-2-1.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR