4/22/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-04-22 09:00 - 10:00 (America/New_York)

4/22/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-04-22 10:30 - 12:00 | Virtual

CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Indistinguishability Obfuscation: How to Hide Secrets within Software
2021-04-23 16:00 - 18:30 | Virtual
Amit Sahai (UCLA)
Title: Indistinguishability Obfuscation: How to Hide Secrets within Software
Abstract: 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.
In 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.
We’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.
Talk chair: Sergiy Verstyuk
Video

4/26/2021 Math Physics Seminar
2021-04-26 10:00 - 11:00 | Virtual

CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Moment maps and the Yang-Mills functional
2021-04-27 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
Frances Kirwan (University of Oxford)
Title: Moment maps and the Yang-Mills functional
Abstract: In the early 1980s Michael Atiyah and Raoul Bott wrote two influential papers, ‘The Yang-Mills equations over Riemann surfaces’ and ‘The moment map and equivariant cohomology’, bringing together ideas ranging from algebraic and symplectic geometry through algebraic topology to mathematical physics and number theory. The aim of this talk is to explain their key insights and some of the new directions towards which these papers led.
This 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.
Talk chair: Peter Kronheimer
Video

4/28/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-04-28 13:00 - 14:30

4/29/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-04-29 09:00 - 10:00

4/29/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-04-29 10:30 - 12:00

Computational Biology Symposium
2021-05-03 10:00 - 16:00 | 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, MA, MA, 02138, United States
On May 3, 2021 the CMSA will be hosting a Computational Biology Symposium virtually on Zoom. This symposium will be organized by Vijay Kuchroo.
The symposium will begin at 10:00am ET. There will be a morning and afternoon session, with an hour break for lunch.
Videos of the talks can be found in this Youtube playlist. Links are also available in the schedule below.
Confirmed participants:

Uri Alon, Weizmann Institute
Elana Fertig, Johns Hopkins
Martin Hemberg, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Peter Kharchenko, Harvard University
Smita Krishnaswamy, Yale University
John Marioni, EMBL-EBI
Eran Segal, Weizmann Institute
Meromit Singer, Harvard Medical School

Schedule:
PDF of the schedule Download

Rank-Based Independence Testing in Near Linear Time
2021-05-04 10:30 - 12:30
Speaker: Chaim Even-Zohar (Alan Turing Institute, London)
Title: Rank-Based Independence Testing in Near Linear Time
Abstract: In 1948 Hoeffding proposed a nonparametric test that detects dependence between two continuous random variables (X,Y), based on the ranking of n paired samples (Xi,Yi). The computation of this commonly-used test statistic requires O(n log n) time. Hoeffding’s test is consistent against any dependent probability density f(x,y), but can be fooled by other bivariate distributions with continuous margins. Variants of this test with stronger consistency have been considered in works by Blum, Kiefer, and Rosenblatt, Yanagimoto, and Bergsma and Dassios, and others. The so far best known algorithms to compute them have required quadratic time.
We present an algorithm that computes these improved tests in time O(n log n). It is based on a new combinatorial approach for counting pattern occurrences in a given permutation, which we call corner tree formulas, and will be explained in the talk.
Joint work with Calvin Leng.

5/5/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-05-05 20:00 - 21:30

5/6/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-05-06 09:00 - 10:00

5/6/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-05-06 10:30 - 12:00

FRG Workshop on Geometric Methods for Analyzing Discrete Shapes
2021-05-07 11:00 - 2021-05-09 20:45 | Virtual
This workshop will take place May 7-9 (Friday-Sunday), 2021 virtually on Zoom
The aim of the workshop is to bring together a community of researchers in mathematics, computer science, and data science who develop theoretical and computational models to characterize shapes and analysis of image data.
This workshop is part of the NSF FRG project: Geometric and Topological Methods for Analyzing Shapes.
The first half of the workshop will feature talks aimed at graduate students, newcomers, and a broad spectrum of audiences. Christopher Bishop (Stony Brook) and Keenan Crane (Carnegie Mellon) will each give two featured talks. The remaining part will have both background and research talks. There will also be organized discussions of open problems and potential applications.
For the discussions, we are soliciting open problems in mathematical theory and applications of shape analysis. You are encouraged to post problems by sending an email to geometricproblemsfrg@gmail.com.
We invite junior researchers to present a short talk in the workshop. The session will be held on Friday, May 7th or Saturday, May 8th at 4pm and are expected to be 15-20 minutes in length. It is a great opportunity to share your work and get to know others at the workshop. Depending on the number of contributed talks, the organizers will review the submissions and let you know if you have been selected. If you are interested please send your title and abstract to tianqi@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu by the end of May 2nd.

Organizers:

David Glickenstein, University of Arizona
Joel Hass, University of California, Davis
Patrice Koehl, University of California, Davis
Feng Luo, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Tianqi Wu, Harvard University
Shing-Tung Yau, Harvard University

Featured lectures:

Christopher Bishop, Stony Brook
Keenan Crane, Carnegie Mellon

Speakers include:

Miri Ben-Chen, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Alexander Bobenko, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Ulrike Buecking, Free University, Germany
Nadav Dym, Duke University
Ivan Izmestiev, Vienna University of Technology
Yanwen Luo, Rutgers
Stephan Tillmann, The University of Sydney
Max Wardetzky, University of Goettingen
Xu Xu, Wuhan University

5/11/2021 Computer Science for Mathematicians
2021-05-11 11:30 - 12:30

5/12/2021 Strongly Correlated Quantum Materials
2021-05-12 10:30 - 12:00

5/13/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-05-13 09:00 - 10:00

5/13/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-05-13 10:30 - 12:00

5/20/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-05-14 09:00 - 10:00

5/20/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-05-18 10:30 - 12:00

5/19/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-05-19 10:30 - 12:00

2021 Summer Introduction to Mathematical Research
2021-05-21 09:00 - 2021-06-12 17:00
The Math Department and Harvard’s Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (CMSA) will be running a math program/course for mathematically minded undergraduates this summer. The course will be run by Dr. Yingying Wu from CMSA. Here is a description:
Summer Introduction to Mathematical Research (sponsored by CMSA and the Harvard Math Department)
In this course, we will start with an introduction to computer programming, algorithm, and scientific computing. Then we will discuss topics in topology, classical geometry, projective geometry, differential geometry, and see how they can be applied to machine learning. We will go on to discuss fundamental concepts of deep learning, different deep neural network models, and mathematical interpretations of why deep neural networks are effective from a calculus viewpoint. We will conclude the course with a gentle introduction to cryptography, introducing some of the iconic topics: Yao’s Millionaires’ problem, zero-knowledge proof, the multi-party computation algorithm, and its proof.
The course will meet 3 hours per week for 7 weeks via Zoom on days and times that will be scheduled for the convenience of the participants. There may be other times to be arranged for special events.
This program is only open to current Harvard undergraduates; both Mathematics concentrators and non-math concentrators are invited to apply. People already enrolled in a Math Department summer tutorial are welcome to partake in this program also. As with the summer tutorials, there is no association with the Harvard Summer School; and neither Math concentration credit nor Harvard College credit will be given for completing this course. This course has no official Harvard status and enrollment does not qualify you for any Harvard related perks (such as a place to live if you are in Boston over the summer.)
However: As with the summer tutorials, those enrolled are eligible* to receive a stipend of $700, and if you are a Mathematics concentrator, any written paper for the course can be submitted to fulfill the Math Concentration third year paper requirement. (*The stipend is not available for people already receiving a stipend via the Math Department’s summer tutorial program, nor is it available for PRISE participants or participants in the Herchel Smith program.)
If you wish to join this program, please email Cliff Taubes (chtaubes@math.harvard.edu). The enrollment is limited to 10 people, so don’t wait too long to apply.

6/3/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-05-26 10:30 - 12:00

5/27/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-05-27 09:00 - 10:00

6/2/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-06-02 10:30 - 12:00

6/3/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-06-03 09:00 - 10:00

6/10/2021 Interdisciplinary Science Seminar
2021-06-08 09:00 - 10:00

6/9/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-06-09 10:30 - 12:00

6/10/2021 Quantum Matter Seminar
2021-06-10 10:30 - 12:00

CMSA Math-Science Literature Lecture: Nonlinear stability of Kerr black holes for small angular momentum
2021-06-15 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual
Sergiu Klainerman (Princeton University)
Title: Nonlinear stability of Kerr black holes for small angular momentum
Abstract: According to a well-known conjecture, initial data sets, for the Einstein vacuum equations, sufficiently close to a Kerr solution with parameters $a, m$, $|a|/m <1$, have maximal developments with complete future null infinity and with domain of outer communication (i.e complement of a future event horizon) which approaches (globally) a nearby Kerr solution. I will describe the main ideas in my recent joint work with Jeremie Szeftel concerning the resolution of the conjecture for small angular momentum, i.e. $, $|a|/m $ sufficiently small. The work, ArXiv:2104.11857v1, also depends on forthcoming work on solutions of nonlinear wave equations in realistic perturbations of Kerr, with Szeftel and Elena Giorgi, which I will also describe.
Talk chair: Lydia Bieri
Video
