Colloquium Speaker: Nikita Nekrasov, Simons Center Title: Dynamics as intersection problem Abstract: Most classical and quantum field theories are based on an action principle. However, there are important exceptions to this --- hydrodynamics and the theory of self-dual fields. In this talk we formulate the covariant relativistic fluid dynamics, with or without magnetic fields, as […]
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Tatsunori Hashimoto, Stanford Title: New directions in synthetic data Abstract: Synthetic data has been an effective, if boring set of techniques: prompt some language model to restructure your corpus to match some downstream task, with occasionally some distillation. In this talk, we will take a more expansive view of […]
Member Seminar Speaker: Keyou Zeng Title: From Poincaré/Koszul duality to (twisted) AdS/CFT correspondence Abstract: Poincaré duality is a fundamental result in the (co)homology theory of manifolds. It has many applications in topology and vast generalizations to other types of “spaces,” such as singular/stratified spaces and schemes. In this talk, I will discuss a variant of Poincaré duality […]
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Matthew Yu (University of Oxford) Title: When do anomalous finite symmetries in (3+1)d enforce gaplessness? Abstract: I will explain a comprehensive framework for characterizing the infrared (IR) phases of a fermionic QFTs in (3+1)d, based on their quantum anomalies associated with a finite symmetry. We uncover a […]
Colloquium Speaker: Anuj Srivastava, Johns Hopkins University Title: Statistical Shape Analysis of Complex Natural Structures Abstract: Statistical modeling and analysis of structured data is a fast-growing field in Statistics and Data Science. Rapid advances in imaging techniques have led to tremendous amounts of data for analyzing imaged objects across several scientific disciplines. Examples include shapes […]
Algebra Seminar Speaker: Aryaman Maithani, University of Utah Title: Polynomial invariants of conjugation over finite fields Abstract: Consider the conjugation action of GL₂(K) on the polynomial ring K. When K is an infinite field, the ring of invariants is a polynomial ring generated by the trace and the determinant. We describe the ring of invariants when K is a finite field, and show that it is a hypersurface.
Workshop on Calabi-Yau metrics and optimal transport Dates: May 18–22, 2026 Location: Harvard CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA Recent advances in the study of Calabi-Yau metrics have revealed an interesting connection with optimal transport, and the regularity theory for optimal transport is expected to play an increasingly important role in the study of Kähler […]
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Owen Gwilliam, UMass Amherst Title: Abelian duality via derived geometry Abstract: We discuss how to synthesize differential cohomology and the BV formalism to describe generalized Maxwell theories (or abelian p-form gauge theories), and how this framework allows a succinct formulation of abelian duality. Given time, we will discuss how […]
Joint Math/CMSA Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar Speaker: Vasily Krylov, Harvard
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Pierfrancesco Urbani, Universite Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Institut de physique theorique Title: Separation of timescales controls feature learning and overfitting in large neural networks Abstract: To understand the inductive bias and generalization capabilities of large, overparameterized machine learning models, it is essential to analyze the dynamics of their training algorithms. […]
Introduction to First Proof: A conversation Date: June 3, 2026 Time: 1:00–2:00 pm Location: via Webinar Harvard CMSA Director Dan Freed will lead a dialogue with First Proof Editors Mohammed Abouzaid (Stanford), Nikhil Srivastava (UC Berkeley), Rachel Ward (UT Austin), and Lauren Williams (Harvard) to explore the origins and goals of First Proof, sample […]
First Proof, Second Batch: Results Date: June 10, 2026 Time: 1:00–2:00 pm ET Location: via Webinar The First Proof Editors will present the results of their Second Batch benchmark testing on AI systems. First Proof Editors Mohammed Abouzaid (Stanford) Nikhil Srivastava (UC Berkeley) Rachel Ward (UT Austin) Lauren Williams (Harvard)