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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200824T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200825T140500
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230707T104105Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T185337Z
UID:10000137-1598263200-1598364300@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2020 Big Data Conference (Virtual)
DESCRIPTION:On August 24-25\, 2020 the CMSA hosted our sixth annual Conference on Big Data. The Conference featured many speakers from the Harvard community as well as scholars from across the globe\, with talks focusing on computer science\, statistics\, math and physics\, and economics. The 2020 Big Data Conference took place virtually. \n\nVideos of the talks are available in this youtube playlist.\n  \nOrganizers:  \n\nShing-Tung Yau\, William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics\, Harvard University\nScott Duke Kominers\, MBA Class of 1960 Associate Professor\, Harvard Business\nHorng-Tzer Yau\, Professor of Mathematics\, Harvard University\nSergiy Verstyuk\, CMSA\, Harvard University\n\nSpeakers:\n \n\nSanjeev Arora\, Princeton University\nJuan Camilo Castillo\, University of Pennsylvania\nJoseph Dexter\, Dartmouth College\nNicole Immorlica\, Microsoft\nAmin Saberi\, Stanford University\nVira Semenova\, University of California\, Berkeley\nVarda Shalev\, Tel Aviv University
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2020-big-data-conference-virtual/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Big Data Conference,Conference,Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Big-Data-2020-pdf.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200312T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200312T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T074946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T202659Z
UID:10001879-1584028800-1584032400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Math\, Music and the Mind; Mathematical analysis of the performed Trio Sonatas of J. S. Bach
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Daniel Forger (UMich)\n\nLocation: CMSA building\, 20 Garden Street\, Room G10\n\nTitle: Math\, Music and the Mind; Mathematical analysis of the performed Trio Sonatas of J. S. Bach\n\nAbstract: I will describe a collaborative project with the University of Michigan Organ Department to perfectly digitize many performances of difficult organ works (the Trio Sonatas by J.S. Bach) by students and faculty at many skill levels. We use these digitizations\, and direct representations of the score to ask how music should encoded in the mind. Our results challenge the modern mathematical theory of music encoding\, e.g.\, based on orbifolds\, and reveal surprising new mathematical patterns in Bach’s music. We also discover ways in which biophysical limits of neuronal computation may limit performance.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/3-12-2020-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-03.12.20-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200228T164500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200228T174500
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T082705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T203156Z
UID:10001889-1582908300-1582911900@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Derandomizing Algorithms via Spectral Graph Theory
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Salil Vadhan (Harvard) \nTitle: Derandomizing Algorithms via Spectral Graph Theory\n\nAbstract: Randomization is a powerful tool for algorithms; it is often easier to design efficient algorithms if we allow the algorithms to “toss coins” and output a correct answer with high probability.  However\, a longstanding conjecture in theoretical computer science is that every randomized algorithm can be efficiently “derandomized” — converted into a deterministic algorithm (which always outputs the correct answer) with only a polynomial increase in running time and only a constant-factor increase in space (i.e. memory usage).  In this talk\, I will describe an approach to proving the space (as opposed to time) version of this conjecture via spectral graph theory.  Specifically\, I will explain how randomized space-bounded algorithms are described by random walks on directed graphs\, and techniques in algorithmic spectral graph theory (e.g. solving Laplacian systems) have yielded deterministic space-efficient algorithms for approximating the behavior of such random walks on undirected graphs and Eulerian directed graphs (where every vertex has the same in-degree as out-degree).  If these algorithms can be extended to general directed graphs\, then the aforementioned conjecture about derandomizing space-efficient algorithms will be resolved.\nJoint works with Jack Murtagh\, Omer Reingold\, Aaron Sidford\,  AmirMadhi Ahmadinejad\, Jon Kelner\, and John Peebles.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/3-4-2020-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-03.04.20-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200219T171500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200219T181500
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T082420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T203004Z
UID:10001888-1582132500-1582136100@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Quantum Money from Lattices
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Peter Shor (MIT)\n\nTitle: Quantum Money from Lattices\n\nAbstract: Quantum money is a cryptographic protocol for quantum computers. A quantum money protocol consists of a quantum state which can be created (by the mint) and verified (by anybody with a quantum computer who knows what the “serial number” of the money is)\, but which cannot be duplicated\, even by somebody with a copy of the quantum state who knows the verification protocol. Several previous proposals have been made for quantum money protocols. We will discuss the history of quantum money and give a protocol which cannot be broken unless lattice cryptosystems are insecure.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/02-19-2020-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/P.ShorColloquium-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200207T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200207T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T090243Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T203547Z
UID:10001899-1581093000-1581096600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:A Compact\, Logical Approach to Large-Market Analysis
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Scott Duke Kominers (Harvard)\n\nTitle: A Compact\, Logical Approach to Large–Market Analysis\n\nAbstract: In game theory\, we often use infinite models to represent “limit” settings\, such as markets with a large number of agents or games with a long time horizon. Yet many game-theoretic models incorporate finiteness assumptions that\, while introduced for simplicity\, play a real role in the analysis. Here\, we show how to extend key results from (finite) models of matching\, games on graphs\, and trading networks to infinite models by way of Logical Compactness\, a core result from Propositional Logic. Using Compactness\, we prove the existence of man-optimal stable matchings in infinite economies\, as well as strategy-proofness of the man-optimal stable matching mechanism. We then use Compactness to eliminate the need for a finite start time in a dynamic matching model. Finally\, we use Compactness to prove the existence of both Nash equilibria in infinite games on graphs and Walrasian equilibria in infinite trading networks.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2-12-2020-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-02.12.20-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200205T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200205T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T090826Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240507T204003Z
UID:10001902-1580920200-1580923800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Gentle Measurement of Quantum States and Differential Privacy
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Scott Aaronson (University of Texas at Austin) \nTitle: Gentle Measurement of Quantum States and Differential Privacy \nAbstract: I’ll discuss a recent connection between two seemingly unrelated problems: how to measure a collection of quantum states without damaging them too much (“gentle measurement”)\, and how to provide statistical data without leaking too much about individuals (“differential privacy\,” an area of classical CS). This connection leads\, among other things\, to a new protocol for “shadow tomography” of quantum states (that is\, answering a large number of questions about a quantum state given few copies of it). Based on joint work with Guy Rothblum (arXiv:1904.08747).
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2-5-2020-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-02.05.20-1-1-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191125T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191125T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T094946Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T173609Z
UID:10001934-1574699400-1574703000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Communication Complexity of Randomness Manipulation
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Madhu Sudan (Harvard)\n\nTitle: Communication Complexity of Randomness Manipulation\n\nAbstract: The task of manipulating randomness has been a subject of intense investigation in the theory of computer science. The classical definition of this task consider a single processor massaging random samples from an unknown source and trying to convert it into a sequence of uniform independent bits.  In this talk I will talk about a less studied setting where randomness is distributed among different players who would like to convert this randomness to others forms with relatively little communication. For instance players may be given access to a source of biased correlated bits\, and their goal may be to get a common random bit out of this source. Even in the setting where the source is known this can lead to some interesting questions that have been explored since the 70s with striking constructions and some surprisingly hard questions. After giving some background\, I will describe a recent work which explores the task of extracting common randomness from correlated sources with bounds on the number of rounds of interaction. Based on joint works with Mitali Bafna (Harvard)\, Badih Ghazi (Google) and Noah Golowich (Harvard).
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/11-25-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-11.25.19.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191122T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191123T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230715T073326Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T200026Z
UID:10000124-1574429400-1574528400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Current Developments in Mathematics 2019
DESCRIPTION:  \nFriday\, Nov. 22\, 2019 1:30 pm – 5:20 pm \nSaturday\, Nov. 23\, 2019  9:00 am – 5:00 pm \nHarvard University Science Center\, Hall C \nSpeakers: \n·      Svetlana Jitomirskaya (UC Irvine) \n·      Subash Khot (NYU) \n·      Jun Li (Stanford) \n·      André Neves (Chicago) \n·      Geordie Williamson (U Sidney) \nYoutube Playlist \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/current-developments-in-mathematics-2019/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CDM-POSTER-2019.email_.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191120T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191120T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T095230Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T173900Z
UID:10001938-1574267400-1574271000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:An Introduction to the Non-Perturbative Bootstrap
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Xi Yin (Harvard)\n\nTitle: An Introduction to the Non-Perturbative Bootstrap\n\nAbstract: I will discuss non-perturbative definitions of quantum field theories\, some properties of correlation functions of local operators\, and give a brief overview of some results and open questions concerning the conformal bootstrap
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/11-20-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-11.20.19.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191113T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191113T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T093304Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T174055Z
UID:10001917-1573662600-1573666200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Algebra\, Geometry and Topology of ERK Enzyme Kinetics
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Heather Harrington (University of Oxford)\n\nTitle: Algebra\, Geometry and Topology of ERK Enzyme Kinetics\n\nAbstract: In this talk I will analyse ERK time course data by developing mathematical models of enzyme kinetics. I will present how we can use differential algebra and geometry for model identifiability and topological data analysis to study these the wild type dynamics of ERK and ERK mutants. This work is joint with Lewis Marsh\, Emilie Dufresne\, Helen Byrne and Stanislav Shvartsman.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/11-13-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-11.13.19.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191112T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191114T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230715T073116Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T184034Z
UID:10000123-1573549200-1573750800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Workshop on Dynamics\, Randomness\, and Control in Molecular and Cellular Networks
DESCRIPTION:On November 12-14\, 2019 the CMSA will be hosting a workshop on Dynamics\, Randomness\, and Control in Molecular and Cellular Networks. The workshop will be held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA. \nBiological cells are the fundamental units of life\, and predictive modeling of cellular dynamics is essential for understanding a myriad of biological processes and functions. Rapid advances in technologies have made it possible for biologists to measure many variables and outputs from complex molecular and cellular networks with various inputs and environmental conditions. However\, such advances are far ahead of the development of mathematical theory\, models and methods needed to secure a deep understanding of how high-level robust behaviors emerge from the interactions in complex structures\, especially in dynamic and stochastic environments. This workshop will bring together mathematicians and biological scientists involved in developing mathematical theories and methods for understanding\, predicting and controlling dynamic behavior of molecular and cellular networks. Particular emphasis will be placed on efforts directed towards discovering underlying biological principles that govern function\, adaptation and evolution\, and on the development of associated mathematical theories. \nOrganizers: Jeremy Gunawardena (Harvard) and Ruth Williams (University of California\, San Diego) \nSpeakers:  \n\nDavid Anderson\, University of Wisconsin | Slides\nJames Collins\, MIT\nDomitilla Del Vecchio\,  MIT | Slides\nOlga K. Dudko\, UC San Diego\nMassimiliano Esposito\, University of Luxembourg | Slides\nJohn Fricks\, Arizona State University | Slides\nHeather Harrington\, University of Oxford\nJoe Howard\, Yale University\nKrešimir Josić\, University of Houston\nSamuel Kou\, Harvard University\nTom Kurtz\, University of Wisconsin | Slides\nAndrew Murray\, Harvard University\nAntonis Papachristodoulou\, University of Oxford\nJohan Paulsson\, Harvard University\nLea Popovic\, Concordia University\nSharad Ramanathan\, Harvard University\nEduardo Sontag\, Northeastern University\nJörg Stelling\, ETH Zurich | Slides\nPieter Rein ten Wolde\, AMOLF | Slides\n\nVideos from the workshop can be found in the Youtube playlist.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/workshop-on-dynamics-randomness-and-control-in-molecular-and-cellular-networks/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Dynamics-12-x-18-683x1024-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191106T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191106T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T110821Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T174634Z
UID:10002037-1573057800-1573061400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:A unified perspective on integrability
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Kevin Costello (Perimeter Institute)\n\nTitle: A unified perspective on integrability\n\nAbstract: Two-dimensional integrable field theories\, and the integrable PDEs which are their classical limits\, play an important role in mathematics and physics.   I will describe a geometric construction of integrable field theories which yields (essentially) all known integrable theories as well as many new ones.  Billiard dynamical systems will play a surprising role. Based on work (partly in progress) with Gaiotto\, Lee\, Yamazaki\, Witten\, and Wu.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/11-6-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-11.06.19-791x1024-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191101T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191101T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230715T072841Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250305T211543Z
UID:10000122-1572598800-1572627600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Learning from health data in the million genome era
DESCRIPTION:On November 1\, 2019 the CMSA will be hosting a conference organized by Seven Bridges Genomics. The workshop will be held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA. \nProjects currently underway around the world are collecting detailed health and genomic data from millions of volunteers. In parallel\, numerous healthcare systems have announced commitments to integrate genomic data into the standard of care for select patients. These data have the potential to reveal transformative insights into health and disease. However\, to realize this promise\, novel approaches are required across the full life cycle of data analysis. This symposium will include discussion of advanced statistical and algorithmic approaches to draw insights from petabyte scale genomic and health data; success stories to date; and a view towards the future of clinical integration of genomics in the learning health system. \nSpeakers:  \n\nHeidi Rehm\, Ph.D.\nChief Genomics Officer\, MGH; Professor of Pathology\, MGH\, BWH & Harvard Medical School; Medical Director\, Broad Institute Clinical Research Sequencing Platform.\nSaiju Pyarajan\, Ph.D.\nDirector\, Centre for Data and Computational Sciences\,VABHS\, and Department of Medicine\, BWH and HMS\nTianxi Cai\, Sci.D\nJohn Rock Professor of Population and Translational Data Sciences\, Department of Biostatistics\, Harvard School of Public Health\nSusan Redline\, M.D.\, M.P.H\nFarrell Professor of Sleep MedicineHarvard Medical School\, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center\nAvinash Sahu\, Ph.D.\nPostdoctoral Research Fellow\, Dana Farber Cancer Institute\, Harvard School of Public Health\nPeter J. Park\, Ph.D.\nProfessor of Biomedical Informatics\, Department of Biomedical Informatics\, Harvard Medical School\nDavid Roberson\nCommunity Engagement Manager\, Seven Bridges
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/learning-from-health-data-in-the-million-genome-era/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Conference,Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/SEVENB0051-POSTER-Harvard-Seminar-REV1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191030T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191030T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T111504Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T174927Z
UID:10002049-1572453000-1572456600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Spacetime\, Quantum Mechanics and Positive Geometry at Infinity
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Nima Arkani-Hamed (IAS)\n\nTitle: Spacetime\, Quantum Mechanics and Positive Geometry at Infinity\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-30-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-10.30.19-791x1024-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191028T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191030T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230715T071637Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250327T144000Z
UID:10000121-1572253200-1572454800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Spacetime and Quantum Mechanics Master Class Workshop
DESCRIPTION:As part of the program on Spacetime and Quantum Mechanics\, Total Positivity and Motives\, the CMSA will host a “Master Class Workshop”  on October 28-30\, 2019. Each day of the workshop will feature an intensive full day of pedagogical lectures\, with the aim of bringing actively interested but non-expert physicists and mathematicians up to speed on the featured topics. \nEveryone is welcome to attend the lectures. \nThe master class workshop will be held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA. \nOrganizers: \n\nNima Arkani-Hamed (IAS)\nLauren Williams (Harvard)\nAlex Postnikov (MIT)\nThomas Lam (Michigan)\n\n\nHere is a partial list of the mathematicians and physicists who have indicated that they will attend part or all of this special program as a visitor: \n\nPaolo Benincasa\, 11/17/2019 – 11/29/2019\nJacob Bourjaily\, 9/1/2019 – 12/15/2019\nFrancis Brown\, 9/15/2019 – 9/20/2019\nSimon Caron-Huot\, 9/30/2019 – 10/04/2019\nLance Dixon\, 9/9/2019 – 9/20/2019\nCharles Doran\, 10/19/2019 – 11/1/2019\nJames Drummond\, 10/14/2019 – 10/18/2019\nNick Early\, 11/18/2019 – 11/22/2019\nLivia Ferro\, 10/27/2019 – 11/9/2019\nSergey Fomin\, 10/6/2019 – 10/16/2019\nSebastian Franco\, 10/9/2019 – 10/19/2019\nHadleigh Frost\, 9/15/2019 – 12/20/2019\nMichael Green\, 10/05/2019 – 10/13/2019\nAlexander Goncharov\, 12/05/2019 – 12/20/2019\nSong He\, 9/29/2019 – 11/10/2019\nXuhua He\, 10/30/2019-11/03/2019.\nEnrico Herrmann\, 10/27/2019 – 11/9/2019\nYutin Huang\, 9/30/2019 – 10/12/2019\nSteven Karp\, 10/11/2019 – 11/03/2019\nTomasz Lukowski\, 10/27/2019 – 11/11/2019\nAndrew McLeod\, 10/6/2019 – 10/19/2019 & 11/3/2019 – 11/16/2019\nSebastian Mizera\, 10/28/2019 – 11/1/2019\nErik Panzer\, 9/15/2019 – 9/25/2019\nMatteo Parisi\, 10/26/2019 – 11/10/2019\nJulio Parra-Martinez\, 10/10/2019 – 05/12/2019\n Pierpaolo Mastrolia\, 11/8/2019 – 11/16/2019\nPasha Pylyavskyy\, 9/8/2019 – 9/22/2019 & 10/14/2019 – 11/1/2019\nJunjie Rao\, 10/25/2019 – 11/04/2019\nGiulio Salvatori\, 9/3/2019 – 12/15/2019\nMichael Shapiro\, 10/27/2019 – 11/2/2019\nDavid Speyer\, 10/14/2019 – 10/18/2019\nHugh Thomas\, 10/27/2019 – 11/22/2019\nJaroslav Trnka\, 9/30/2019 – 10/04/2019\, 10/28/2019 – 11/01/2019\, 11/18/2019 – 11/22/2019\nCristian Vergu\, 11/10/2019 – 11/30/2019\nMatthias Volk\, 10/14/2019 – 10/25/2019\nMatthew von Hippel\, 11/11/2019 – 11/22/2019\nPierre Vanhove\, 10/22/2019 – 10/31/2019\nMatthias Wilhelm\, 10/14/2019 – 10/25/2019
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/spacetime-and-quantum-mechanics-master-class-workshop/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Space-Time-poster-5.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191022T121100
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191022T121100
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
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:20191016T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191016T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T103628Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T175134Z
UID:10001994-1571241600-1571245200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Monogamy of entanglement and convex geometry
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Aram Harrow (MIT)\n\n\nTitle: Monogamy of entanglement and convex geometry\nAbstract: The SoS (sum of squares) hierarchy is a flexible algorithm that can be used to optimize polynomials and to test whether a quantum state is entangled or separable.  (Remarkably\, these two problems are nearly isomorphic.)  These questions lie at the boundary of P\, NP and the unique games conjecture\, but it is in general open how well the SoS algorithm performs.   I will discuss how ideas from quantum information (the “monogamy” property of entanglement) can be used to understand this algorithm.  Then I will describe an alternate algorithm that relies on apparently different tools from convex geometry that achieves similar performance.  This is an example of a series of remarkable parallels between SoS algorithms and simpler algorithms that exhaustively search over carefully chosen sets.  Finally\, I will describe known limitations on SoS algorithms for these problems.\n  \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-16-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-10.16.19-791x1024-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191016T121900
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191018T121900
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230707T175143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T144653Z
UID:10000119-1571228340-1571401140@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Noncommutative Analysis\, Computational Complexity\, and Quantum Information
DESCRIPTION:On October 16-18\, 2019 the CMSA hosted a workshop on Noncommutative Analysis\, Computational Complexity\, and Quantum Information. \nThis workshop focuses on linking three different rapidly developing areas: noncommutative real algebraic geometry (RAG)\, theory of computation and quantum information theory. This mix of overlapping but independently developing topics should lead to a stimulating flow of tools and important problems into several disciplines.  Given the different communities there will be an emphasis on tutorials and making the lectures broadly understandable. \nThe workshop was held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA. \nOrganizers: Boaz Barak\, Bill Helton\, Pablo Parrilo\, & Tselil Schramm. \nSpeakers:\n\nJason Altschuler\, MIT | Video\nBoaz Barak\, Harvard | Video\nAnkit Garg\, Microsoft Research | Slides | Video\nDavid Gosset\, University of Waterloo | Video\nAram Harrow\, MIT | Video\nIgor Klep\, University of Ljubljana\nSalma Kuhlmann\, Universität Konstanz | Video\nScott McCullough\, University of Florida | Slides\nIon Nechita\, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique | Slides | Video\nRafael Oliveira\, University of Toronto | Video\nVern Paulsen\, University of Waterloo | Video\nSuvrit Sra\, MIT | Video\nVictor Vinnikov\, Ben Gurion University | Video\nJurij Volčič\, Texas A&M University | Slides | Video\nAdam Bene Watts\, MIT
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/noncommutative-analysis-computational-complexity-and-quantum-information-2/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Noncommutative-Analysis-Poster-3.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20191002T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191002T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T101431Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240530T194159Z
UID:10001965-1570033800-1570037400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Cohomologies on almost complex manifolds and their applications 
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Spiro Karigiannis (University of Waterloo)\n\n\nTitle: Cohomologies on almost complex manifolds and their applications\n\nAbstract: We define three cohomologies on an almost complex manifold (M\, J)\, defined using the Nijenhuis-Lie derivations induced from the almost complex structure J and its Nijenhuis tensor N\, regarded as vector-valued forms on M. One of these can be applied to distinguish non-isomorphic non-integrable almost complex structures on M. Another one\, the J-cohomology\, is familiar in the integrable case but we extend its definition and applicability to the case of non-integrable almost complex structures. The J-cohomology encodes whether a complex manifold satisfies the “del-delbar-lemma”\, and more generally in the non-integrable case the J-cohomology encodes whether (M\, J) satisfies a generalization of this lemma. We also mention some other potential cohomologies on almost complex manifolds\, related to an interesting question involving the Nijenhuis tensor. This is joint work with Ki Fung Chan and Chi Cheuk Tsang.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/10-2-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-10.02.19-791x1024-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190925T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190925T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T104035Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T175737Z
UID:10001999-1569429000-1569432600@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Double affine Hecke algebras
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Pavel Etingof (MIT)\n\nTitle:  Double affine Hecke algebras\n\nAbstract: Double affine Hecke algebras (DAHAs) were introduced by I. Cherednik in the early 1990s to prove Macdonald’s conjectures. A DAHA is the quotient of the group algebra of the elliptic braid group attached to a root system by Hecke relations. DAHAs and their degenerations are now central objects of representation theory. They also have numerous connections to many other fields — integrable systems\, quantum groups\, knot theory\, algebraic geometry\, combinatorics\, and others. In my talk\, I will discuss the basic properties of double affine Hecke algebras and touch upon some applications.\n\n\n\n  \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/9-25-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-09.25.19-791x1024-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190918T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190918T173000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20240212T102253Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T175908Z
UID:10001976-1568824200-1568827800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:A taste of noncommutative convex algebraic geometry
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Bill Helton (UC San Diego)\n\nTitle:  A taste of noncommutative convex algebraic geometry\n\nAbstract: The last decade has seen the development of a substantial noncommutative (in a free algebra) real and complex algebraic geometry. The aim of the subject is to develop a systematic theory of equations and inequalities for (noncommutative) polynomials or rational functions of matrix variables. Such issues occur in linear systems engineering problems\, in free probability (random matrices)\, and in quantum information theory. In many ways the noncommutative (NC) theory is much cleaner than classical (real) algebraic geometry. For example\,\n\n◦ A NC polynomial\, whose value is positive semidefinite whenever you plug matrices into it\, is a sum of squares of NC polynomials.\n◦ A convex NC semialgebraic set has a linear matrix inequality representation.\n◦ The natural Nullstellensatz are falling into place.\n\n The goal of the talk is to give a taste of a few basic results and some idea of how these noncommutative problems occur in engineering. The subject is just beginning and so is accessible without much background. Much of the work is joint with Igor Klep who is also visiting CMSA for the Fall of 2019.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/9-18-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-09.12.19-791x1024-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190910T091500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190911T152500
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230707T174623Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T144415Z
UID:10000118-1568106900-1568215500@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter Workshop
DESCRIPTION:On September 10-11\, 2019\, the CMSA  hosted a second workshop on Topological Aspects of Condensed Matter. \nNew ideas rooted in topology have recently had a major impact on condensed matter physics\, and have led to new connections with high energy physics\, mathematics and quantum information theory.  The aim of this program will be to deepen these connections and spark new progress by fostering discussion and new collaborations within and across disciplines. \nTopics include i) the classification of topological states  ii) topological orders in two and three dimensions including quantum spin liquids\, quantum Hall states and fracton phases and iii)  interplay of symmetry and topology in quantum many body systems\, including symmetry protected topological phases\, symmetry fractionalization and anomalies iv) topological phenomena in quantum systems  driven far from equlibrium v) quantum field theory approaches to topological matter. \nThis workshop is part of the CMSA’s program on Program on Topological Aspects of Condensed Matter\, and is the second of two workshops\, in addition to a visitor program and seminars. \nThe workshop was held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA. \nOrganizers: Michael Hermele (CU Boulder) and Ashvin Vishwanath (Harvard) \nPartial list of speakers:\n\nNima Arkani-Hamed\, IAS\nJennifer Cano\, Stony Brook\nMeng Cheng\, Yale\nLukasz Fidkowski\, UW Seattle\nDaniel Freed\, Texas\nJeongwan Haah\, Microsoft Research\nAnton Kapustin\, Caltech\nZohar Komargodski\, SCGP/Stony Brook\nJohn McGreevy\, UC San Diego\nPrineha Narang\, Harvard\nYing Ran\, Boston College\nShinsei Ryu\, Chicago\nCumrun Vafa\, Harvard\nChong Wang\, Perimeter\nZhenghan Wang\, Microsoft Station Q\n\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/topology-and-dynamics-in-quantum-matter-workshop-2/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Topology-Poster.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190901T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20191220T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230904T082838Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250327T185837Z
UID:10000007-1567328400-1576861200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Spacetime and quantum mechanics\, total positivity and motives
DESCRIPTION:Recent developments have poised this area to make serious advances in 2019\, and we feel that bringing together many of the relevant experts for an intensive semester of discussions and collaboration will trigger some great things to happen. To this end\, the organizers will host a small workshop during Fall 2019\, with between 20-30 participants. They will also invite 10-20 longer-term visitors throughout the semester. Additionally\, there will be a seminar held weekly on Thursdays at 2:30pm in CMSA G10. \nOrganizers: \n\nNima Arkani-Hamed (IAS)\nLauren Williams (Harvard)\nAlexander Postnikov (MIT)\nThomas Lam (Michigan)\n\n. \nWorkshops: \n \n  \nSpacetime and Quantum Mechanics Workshop\, October 28-30\, 2019\n\n\nHere is a partial list of the mathematicians and physicists who have indicated that they will attend part or all of this special program as a visitor: \n\nPaolo Benincasa\, 11/17/2019 – 11/29/2019\nJacob Bourjaily\, 9/1/2019 – 12/15/2019\nFrancis Brown\, 9/15/2019 – 9/20/2019\nSimon Caron-Huot\, 9/30/2019 – 10/04/2019\nLance Dixon\, 9/9/2019 – 9/20/2019\nCharles Doran\, 10/19/2019 – 11/1/2019\nJames Drummond\, 10/14/2019 – 10/18/2019\nNick Early\, 11/18/2019 – 11/22/2019\nLivia Ferro\, 10/27/2019 – 11/9/2019\nSergey Fomin\, 10/6/2019 – 10/16/2019\nSebastian Franco\, 10/9/2019 – 10/19/2019\nHadleigh Frost\, 9/15/2019 – 12/20/2019\nMichael Green\, 10/05/2019 – 10/13/2019\nAlexander Goncharov\, 12/05/2019 – 12/20/2019\nSong He\, 9/29/2019 – 11/10/2019\nXuhua He\, 10/30/2019-11/03/2019\nEnrico Herrmann\, 10/27/2019 – 11/9/2019\nYutin Huang\, 9/30/2019 – 10/12/2019\nSteven Karp\, 10/11/2019 – 11/03/2019\nTomasz Lukowski\, 10/27/2019 – 11/11/2019\nAndrew McLeod\, 10/6/2019 – 10/19/2019 & 11/3/2019 – 11/16/2019\nSebastian Mizera\, 10/28/2019 – 11/1/2019\nErik Panzer\, 9/15/2019 – 9/25/2019\nMatteo Parisi\, 10/26/2019 – 11/10/2019\nJulio Parra-Martinez\, 10/10/2019 – 05/12/2019\n Pierpaolo Mastrolia\, 11/8/2019 – 11/16/2019\nPasha Pylyavskyy\, 9/8/2019 – 9/22/2019 & 10/14/2019 – 11/1/2019\nJunjie Rao\, 10/25/2019 – 11/04/2019\nGiulio Salvatori\, 9/3/2019 – 12/15/2019\nMichael Shapiro\, 10/27/2019 – 11/2/2019\nDavid Speyer\, 10/14/2019 – 10/18/2019\nHugh Thomas\, 10/27/2019 – 11/22/2019\nJaroslav Trnka\, 9/30/2019 – 10/04/2019\, 10/28/2019 – 11/01/2019\, 11/18/2019 – 11/22/2019\nCristian Vergu\, 11/10/2019 – 11/30/2019\nMatthias Volk\, 10/14/2019 – 10/25/2019\nMatthew von Hippel\, 11/11/2019 – 11/22/2019\nPierre Vanhove\, 10/22/2019 – 10/31/2019\nMatthias Wilhelm\, 10/14/2019 – 10/25/2019
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/spacetime-and-quantum-mechanics-total-positivity-and-motives/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Programs
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190829T083000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190831T144500
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230707T174207Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T144206Z
UID:10000117-1567067400-1567262700@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Workshop on Foundations of Computational Science
DESCRIPTION:On August 29-31\, 2019 the Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications  hosted a workshop on Foundations of Computational Science. The workshop was held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA.  This workshop was organized by David Xianfeng Gu. \nSpeakers: \n\nSarah Adel Bargal\, Boston University\nJianfeng Chen\, Harvard\nTat Seng Chua\, National University of Singapore\nKe Deng\, Tsinghua\nDavid Xianfeng Gu\, Stony Brook\nYike Guo\, Imperial College London\nMinlie Huang\, Tsinghua\nScott Kominers\, Harvard\nBrian Kulis\, Boston University\nWee Sun Lee\, National University of Singapore\nQianxiao Li\, National University of Singapore\nHanzhong Liu\, Tsinghua\nJun Liu\, Harvard\nXiao-Li Meng\, Harvard\nCengiz Pehlevan\, Harvard\nDonald Rubin\, Harvard\nSuproteem Sarkar\, Harvard\nZuowei Shen\, National University of Singapore\nYuanchun Shi\, Tsinghua\nJustin Solomon\, MIT\nHang Su\, Tsinghua\nMaosong Sun\, Tsinghua\nMirac Suzgun\, Harvard\nSergiy Verstyuk\, CMSA\nXiaoqin Wang\, Tsinghua\nBin Xu\, Tsinghua\nJun Zhu\, Tsinghua\nWenwu Zhu\, Tsinghua
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/workshop-on-foundations-of-computational-science/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/AI-Poster-3.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190819T083000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190820T164000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230707T174003Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250328T145128Z
UID:10000116-1566203400-1566319200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:2019 Big Data Conference
DESCRIPTION:On August 19-20\, 2019 the CMSA hosted the fifth annual Conference on Big Data. The Conference will featured many speakers from the Harvard community as well as scholars from across the globe\, with talks focusing on computer science\, statistics\, math and physics\, and economics. \nThe talks will take place in Science Center Hall D\, 1 Oxford Street. \nVideos can be found in the Youtube playlist.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/2019-big-data-conference/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Big Data Conference,Conference,Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/Big-Data-2019-Poster-5-2.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190429T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190501T170000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230715T174721Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250304T214254Z
UID:10000114-1556528400-1556730000@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Conference on Algebraic Geometry\, Representation theory and Mathematical Physics
DESCRIPTION:From April 29 to May 1\, 2019 the CMSA will be hosting a Conference on Algebraic Geometry\, Representation theory and Mathematical Physics. This workshop is organized by Bong Lian (Brandeis) and Artan Sheshmani (CMSA) . The workshop will be held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA.   \nVideos\nSpeakers: \n\nDan Abramovich\, Brown\nRoman Bezrukavnikov\, MIT\nFedor Bogomolov\, NYU\nQile Chen\, Boston College\nDawei Chen\, Boston College\nAlexander Efimov\, Moscow\nPavel Etingof\, MIT\nMaksym Fedorchuk\, Boston College\nDennis Gaitsgory\, Harvard\nAmin Gholampour\, Maryland\nBrendan Hassett\, Brown\nLudmil Katzarkov\, Miami & Moscow\nSi Li\, Tsinghua\nAndrei Negut\, MIT\nYuri Tschinkel\, NYU\nWei Zhang\, MIT\n\n  \nMonday\, April 29 \n\n\n\nTime\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n8:30 – 9:00am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00 – 10:00am\nWei Zhang\, MIT\nTitle: The arithmetic fundamental lemma for diagonal cycles \nAbstract: I’ll recall the Gross–Zagier theorem and a high dimensional generalization\, the arithmetic Gan-Gross-Prasad conjecture\, which relates the height pairing of arithmetic diagonal cycles on certain shimura varieties to the first order derivative of certain L-functions.  The arithmetic fundamental lemma conjecture arises from the relative trace formula approach to this conjecture. I will recall the statement of the arithmetic fundamental lemma and outline a proof.\n\n\n10:00 – 10:30am\nBreak\n\n\n\n10:30 – 11:30am\nYuri Tschinkel\, NYU\nTitle: Equivariant birational geometry and modular symbols \nAbstract: We introduce new invariants in equivariant birational geometry and study their relation to modular symbols and cohomology of arithmetic groups (joint with M. Kontsevich and V. Pestun).\n\n\n11:30 – 1:30pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n1:30 – 2:30pm\nAlexander Efimov\, Moscow\nTitle: Torsionness for regulators of canonical extensions \nAbstract: I will sketch a generalization of the results of Iyer and Simpson arXiv:0707.0372 to the general case of a normal-crossings divisor at infinity.\n\n\n2:30 – 3:00pm\nBreak\n\n\n\n3:00 – 4:00pm\nAmin Gholampour\, Maryland\nTitle: Euler Characteristics of punctual quot schemes on threefolds \nAbstract: Let F be a homological dimension 1 torsion free sheaf on a nonsingular quasi-projective threefold. The first cohomology of the derived dual of F is a 1-dimension sheaf G supported on the singular locus of F. We prove a wall-crossing formula relating the generating series of the Euler characteristics of Quot(F\, n) and Quot(G\,n)\, where Quot(-\,n) denotes the quot scheme of length n quotients. We will use this relation in studying the Euler characteristics of the moduli spaces of stable torsion free sheaves on nonsingular projective threefolds. This is a joint work with Martijn Kool.\n\n\n4:00 – 4:30pm\nBreak\n\n\n\n4:30 – 5:30pm\nMaksym Fedorchuck\, BC\nTitle:  Stability of one-parameter families of weighted hypersurfaces \nAbstract:  We define a notion of stability for fibrations over a curve with generic fibers being weighted hypersurfaces (in some weighted projective space) generalizing Kollár’s stability for families of hypersurfaces in a projective space.  The stability depends on a choice of an effective line bundle on the parameter space of weighted hypersurfaces and different choices pick out different birational model of the total space of the fibration. I will describe enumerative geometry that goes into understanding these stability conditions\, and\, if time permits\, examples where this machinery can be used to produce birational models with good properties.  Joint work with Hamid Ahmadinezhad and Igor Krylov.\n\n\n\n  \nTuesday\, April 30 \n\n\n\nTime\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n8:30 – 9:00am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00 – 10:00am\nBrendan Hassett\, Brown\nTitle: Rationality for geometrically rational threefolds \nAbstract: We consider rationality questions for varieties over non-closed fields that become rational over an algebraic closure\, like smooth complete intersections of two quadrics.  (joint with Tschinkel)\n\n\n10:00 – 10:30am\nBreak\n\n\n\n10:30 – 11:30am\nDennis Gaitsgory\, Harvard\nTitle: The Fundamental Local Equivalence in quantum geometric Langlands \nAbstract: The Fundamental Local Equivalence is statement that relates the q-twisted  Whittaker category of the affine Grassmannian for the group G and the category of modules over the Langlands dual “big” quantum group. The non-triviaiity of the statement lies is the fact that the relationship between the group and its  dual is combinatorial\, so to prove the FLE one needs to express both sides in combinatorial terms. In the talk we will indicate the proof of a related statement for the “small” quantum group. The combinatorial link is provided by the category of factorization modules over a certain factorization algebra\, which in itself is a geometric device that concisely encodes the root data.\n\n\n11:30 – 1:00pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n1:00- 2:00pm\nAndrei Negut\, MIT\nTitle: AGT relations in geometric representation theory \nAbstract: I will survey a program that seeks to translate the Alday-Gaiotto-Tachikawa correspondence (between gauge theory on R^4 and conformal field theory) into the language of algebraic geometry. The objects of study become moduli spaces of sheaves on surfaces\, and the goal is to connect them with the W-algebra of type gl_n.\n\n\n2:00 – 2:15pm\nBreak\n\n\n\n2:15 – 3:15pm\nDan Abramovich\, Brown\nTitle: Resolution in characteristic 0 using weighted blowing up \nAbstract: Given a variety $X$\, one wants to blow up the worst singular locus\, show that it gets better\, and iterate until the singularities are resolved. \nExamples such as the whitney umbrella show that this iterative process cannot be done by blowing up smooth loci – it goes into a loop. \nWe show that there is a functorial way to resolve varieties using \emph{weighted} blowings up\, in the stack-theoretic sense. To an embedded variety $X \subset Y$ one functorially assigns an invariant $(a_1\,\ldots\,a_k)$\, and a center locally of the form $(x_1^{a_1} \, \ldots \, x_k^{a_k})$\, whose stack-theoretic weighted blowing up has strictly smaller invariant under the lexicographic order. \nThis is joint work with Michael Tëmkin (Jerusalem) and Jaroslaw Wlodarczyk (Purdue)\, a side product of our work on functorial semistable reduction. A similar result was discovered by G. Marzo and M. McQuillan.\n\n\n3:15 – 3:30pm\nBreak\n\n\n\n3:30 – 4:30pm\nFedor Bogomolov\, NYU\nTitle: On the base of a Lagrangian fibration for a compact hyperkahler manifold. \nAbstract: In my talk I will discuss our proof with N. Kurnosov that the base of such fibration for complex projective manifold hyperkahler manifold of dimension $4$ is always a projective plane $P^2$. In fact we show that the base of such fibration can not have a singular point of type $E_8$. It was by the theorem of Matsushita and others that only quotient singularities can occur and if the base is smooth then the it is isomorphic to $P^2$. The absence of other singularities apart from $E_8$ has been already known and we show that $E-8$ can not occur either. Our method can be applied to other types of singularities for the study of  Lagrangian fibrations in higher dimensions More recently similar result was obtained by Huybrechts and Xu.\n\n\n4:30 – 4:45pm\nBreak\n\n\n\n4:45 – 5:45pm\nDawei Chen\, BC\nTitle: Volumes and intersection theory on moduli spaces of Abelian differentials \nAbstract: Computing volumes of moduli spaces has significance in many fields. For instance\, Witten’s conjecture regarding intersection numbers on moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces has a fascinating connection to the Weil-Petersson volume\, which motivated Mirzakhani to give a proof via Teichmueller theory\, hyperbolic geometry\, and symplectic geometry. In this talk I will introduce an analogue of Witten’s intersection numbers on moduli spaces of Abelian differentials to compute the Masur-Veech volumes induced by the flat metric associated with Abelian differentials. This is joint work with Moeller\, Sauvaget\, and Zagier (arXiv:1901.01785).\n\n\n\n  \nWednesday\, May 1 \n\n\n\nTime\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n8:30 – 9:00am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00 – 10:00am\nPavel Etingof\, MIT\nTitle: Short star-products for filtered quantizations \nThis is joint work with Eric Rains and Douglas Stryker.\n\n\n10:00 – 10:30am\nBreak\n\n\n\n10:30 – 11:30am\nRoman Bezrukavnikov\, MIT\nTitle: Stability conditions and representation theory \nAbstract: I will recall the concept of real variation of stabilities (introduced in my work with Anno and Mirkovic)\nand its relation to modular Lie algebra representations. I will also address a potential generalization of that picture\nto modular representations of affine Lie algebras related to the classical limit of geometric Langlands duality and its local counterpart.\n\n\n11:30 – 11:45am\nBreak\n\n\n\n11:45 – 12:45pm\nQile Chen\, BC\nTitle: Counting curves in critical locus via logarithmic compactification \nAbstract: An R-map consists of a pre-stable map to possibly non-GIT quotient together with sections of certain spin bundles. The moduli of R-maps are in general non-compact. When the target of R-maps is equipped with a super-potential W with compact critical locus\, using Kiem-Li cosection localization it has been proved by many authors in various settings that the virtual cycle of R-maps can be represented by the cosection localized virtual cycle which is supported on the proper locus consisting of R-maps in the critical locus of W. Though the moduli of R-maps is equipped with a natural torus action by scaling of the spin bundles\, the non-compactness of the R-maps moduli makes such powerful torus action useless. \nIn this talk\, I will introduce a logarithmic compactification of the moduli of R-maps using certain modifications of stable logarithmic maps. The logarithmic moduli space carries a canonical virtual cycle from the logarithmic deformation theory. In the presence of a super-potential with compact critical locus\, it further carries a reduced virtual cycle. We prove that (1) the reduced virtual cycle of the compactification can be represented by the cosection localized virtual cycle; and (2) the difference of the canonical and reduced virtual cycles is another reduced virtual cycle supported along the logarithmic boundary. As an application\, one recovers the Gromov-Witten invariants of the critical locus as the invariants of logarithmic R-maps of its ambient space in an explicit form. The latter can be calculated using the spin torus action. \nThis is a joint work with Felix Janda and Yongbin Ruan.\n\n\n12:45 – 2:30pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n2:30 – 3:30pm\nSi Li\, Tsinghua\nTitle: Semi-infinite Hodge structure: from BCOV theory to Seiberg-Witten geometry \nAbstract: I will explain how the semi-infinite Hodge theory extends Kodaira-Spencer gravity (Bershadsky-Cecotti-Ooguri-Vafa theory of B-twisted closed topological string field theory) into a full solution of Batalin-Vilkovisky master equation. This allows us to formulate quantum B-model via a rigorous BV quantization method and construct integrable hierarchies arising naturally from the background symmetry. In the second part of the talk\, I will explain the recent discovery of the connection between K.Saito’s primitive form and 4d N=2 Seiberg-Witten geometry arising from singularity theory.\n\n\n3:30 – 4:00pm\nBreak\n\n\n\n4:00 – 5:00pm\nLudmil Katzarkov\, Moscow\nTitle: PDE’s non commutative  motives and HMS. \nAbstract: In this talk we will discuss the theory of central manifolds and the new structures in geometry it produces. Application to Bir.  Geometry will be discussed.\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/conference-on-algebraic-geometry-representation-theory-and-mathematical-physics/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Conference,Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/algebraic-geo-conference-final-795x1024-1-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190415T091500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190417T160000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180757
CREATED:20230715T173507Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250304T172154Z
UID:10000112-1555319700-1555516800@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Workshop on Invariance and Geometry in Sensation\, Action and Cognition
DESCRIPTION:As part of the program on Mathematical Biology a workshop on Invariance and Geometry in Sensation\, Action and Cognition will take place on April 15-17\, 2019. \nLegend has it that above the door to Plato’s Academy was inscribed “Μηδείς άγεωµέτρητος είσίτω µον τήν στέγην”\, translated as “Let no one ignorant of geometry enter my doors”. While geometry and invariance has always been a cornerstone of mathematics\, it has traditionally not been an important part of biology\, except in the context of aspects of structural biology. The premise of this meeting is a tantalizing sense that geometry and invariance are also likely to be important in (neuro)biology and cognition. Since all organisms interact with the physical world\, this implies that as neural systems extract information using the senses to guide action in the world\, they need appropriately invariant representations that are stable\, reproducible and capable of being learned. These invariances are a function of the nature and type of signal\, its corruption via noise\, and the method of storage and use. \nThis hypothesis suggests many puzzles and questions: What representational geometries are reflected in the brain? Are they learned or innate? What happens to the invariances under realistic assumptions about noise\, nonlinearity and finite computational resources? Can cases of mental disorders and consequences of brain damage be characterized as break downs in representational invariances? Can we harness these invariances and sensory contingencies to build more intelligent machines? The aim is to revisit these old neuro-cognitive problems using a series of modern lenses experimentally\, theoretically and computationally\, with some tutorials on how the mathematics and engineering of invariant representations in machines and algorithms might serve as useful null models. \nIn addition to talks\, there will be a set of tutorial talks on the mathematical description of invariance (P.J. Olver)\, the computer vision aspects of invariant algorithms (S. Soatto)\, and the neuroscientific and cognitive aspects of invariance (TBA). The workshop will be held in room G10 of the CMSA\, located at 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA. This workshop is organized by L. Mahadevan (Harvard)\, Talia Konkle (Harvard)\, Samuel Gershman (Harvard)\, and Vivek Jayaraman (HHMI). \nVideos\nTentative Speaker List: \n\nAlessandro Achille\, UCLA\nVijay Balasubramanian\, University of Pennsylvania\nJeannette Bohg\, Stanford\nEd Connor\, Johns Hopkins\nMoira Dillon\, NYU\nJacob Feldman\, Rutgers\nIla Fiete\, MIT\nSam Gershman\, Harvard\nGily Ginosar\, Weizmann Institute of Science\nLucia Jacobs\, UC Berkeley\nVivek Jayaraman\, HHMI\nTalia Konkle\, Harvard\nL. Mahadevan\, Harvard\nMichael McCloskey\, Johns Hopkins\nSam Ocko\, Stanford\nPeter Olver\, University of Minnesota\nAnitha Pasupathy\, University of Washington\nSandro Romani\, Janelia\nStefano Soatto\, UCLA\nTatyana Sharpee\,  Salk Institute\nDagmar Sternad\, Northeastern\nElizabeth Torres\, Rutgers\n\nSchedule:\nMonday\, April 15 \n\n\n\nTime\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n8:30 – 9:00am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00 – 9:15am\nWelcome and Introduction\n\n\n\n9:15 – 10:00am\nVivek Jayaraman\nTitle: Insect cognition: Small tales of geometry & invariance \nAbstract: Decades of field and laboratory experiments have allowed ethologists to discover the remarkable sophistication of insect behavior. Over the past couple of decades\, physiologists have been able to peek under the hood to uncover sophistication in insect brain dynamics as well. In my talk\, I will describe phenomena that relate to the workshop’s theme of geometry and invariance. I will outline how studying insects —and flies in particular— may enable an understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying these intriguing phenomena.\n\n\n10:00 – 10:45am\nElizabeth Torres\nTitle: Connecting Cognition and Biophysical Motions Through Geometric Invariants and Motion Variability \nAbstract: In the 1930s Nikolai Bernstein defined the degrees of freedom (DoF) problem. He asked how the brain could control abundant DoF and produce consistent solutions\, when the internal space of bodily configurations had much higher dimensions than the space defining the purpose(s) of our actions. His question opened two fundamental problems in the field of motor control. One relates to the uniqueness or consistency of a solution to the DoF problem\, while the other refers to the characterization of the diverse patterns of variability that such solution produces. \nIn this talk I present a general geometric solution to Bernstein’s DoF problem and provide empirical evidence for symmetries and invariances that this solution provides during the coordination of complex naturalistic actions. I further introduce fundamentally different patterns of variability that emerge in deliberate vs. spontaneous movements discovered in my lab while studying athletes and dancers performing interactive actions. I here reformulate the DoF problem from the standpoint of the social brain and recast it considering graph theory and network connectivity analyses amenable to study one of the most poignant developmental disorders of our times: Autism Spectrum Disorders. \nI offer a new unifying framework to recast dynamic and complex cognitive and social behaviors of the full organism and to characterize biophysical motion patterns during migration of induced pluripotent stem cell colonies on their way to become neurons.\n\n\n10:45 – 11:15am\nCoffee Break\n\n\n\n11:15 – 12:00pm\nPeter Olver\nTitle: Symmetry and invariance in cognition — a mathematical perspective” \nAbstract: Symmetry recognition and appreciation is fundamental in human cognition.  (It is worth speculating as to why this may be so\, but that is not my intent.) The goal of these two talks is to survey old and new mathematical perspectives on symmetry and invariance.  Applications will arise from art\, computer vision\, geometry\, and beyond\, and will include recent work on 2D and 3D jigsaw puzzle assembly and an ongoing collaboration with anthropologists on the analysis and refitting of broken bones.  Mathematical prerequisites will be kept to a bare minimum.\n\n\n12:00 – 12:45pm\nStefano Soatto/Alessandro Achille\nTitle: Information in the Weights and Emergent Properties of Deep Neural Networks \nAbstract: We introduce the notion of information contained in the weights of a Deep Neural Network  and show that it can be used to control and describe the training process of DNNs\, and can explain how properties\, such as invariance to nuisance variability and disentanglement\, emerge naturally in the learned representation. Through its dynamics\, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) implicitly regularizes the information in the weights\, which can then be used to bound the generalization error through the PAC-Bayes bound. Moreover\, the information in the weights can be used to defined both a topology and an asymmetric distance in the space of tasks\, which can then be used to predict the training time and the performance on a new task given a solution to a pre-training task. \nWhile this information distance models difficulty of transfer in first approximation\, we show the existence of non-trivial irreversible dynamics during the initial transient phase of convergence when the network is acquiring information\, which makes the approximation fail. This is closely related to critical learning periods in biology\, and suggests that studying the initial convergence transient can yield important insight beyond those that can be gleaned from the well-studied asymptotics.\n\n\n12:45 – 2:00pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n2:00 – 2:45pm\nAnitha Pasupathy\nTitle: Invariant and non-invariant representations in mid-level ventral visual cortex \nMy laboratory investigates how visual form is encoded in area V4\, a critical mid-level stage of form processing in the macaque monkey. Our goal is to reveal how V4 representations underlie our ability to segment visual scenes and recognize objects. In my talk I will present results from two experiments that highlight the different strategies used by the visual to achieve these goals. First\, most V4 neurons exhibit form tuning that is exquisitely invariant to size and position\, properties likely important to support invariant object recognition. On the other hand\, form tuning in a majority of neurons is also highly dependent on the interior fill. Interestingly\, unlike primate V4 neurons\, units in a convolutional neural network trained to recognize objects (AlexNet) overwhelmingly exhibit fill-outline invariance. I will argue that this divergence between real and artificial circuits reflects the importance of local contrast in parsing visual scenes and overall scene understanding.\n\n\n2:45 – 3:30pm\nJacob Feldman\nTitle: Bayesian skeleton estimation for shape representation and perceptual organization \nAbstract: In this talk I will briefly summarize a framework in which shape representation and perceptual organization are reframed as probabilistic estimation problems. The approach centers around the goal of identifying the skeletal model that best “explains” a given shape. A Bayesian solution to this problem requires identifying a prior over shape skeletons\, which penalizes complexity\, and a likelihood model\, which quantifies how well any particular skeleton model fits the data observed in the image. The maximum-posterior skeletal model thus constitutes the most “rational” interpretation of the image data consistent with the given assumptions. This approach can easily be extended and generalized in a number of ways\, allowing a number of traditional problems in perceptual organization to be “probabilized.” I will briefly illustrate several such extensions\, including (1) figure/ground and grouping (3) 3D shape and (2) shape similarity.\n\n\n3:30 – 4:00pm\nTea Break\n\n\n\n4:00 – 4:45pm\nMoira Dillon\nTitle: Euclid’s Random Walk: Simulation as a tool for geometric reasoning through development \nAbstract: Formal geometry lies at the foundation of millennia of human achievement in domains such as mathematics\, science\, and art. While formal geometry’s propositions rely on abstract entities like dimensionless points and infinitely long lines\, the points and lines of our everyday world all have dimension and are finite. How\, then\, do we get to abstract geometric thought? In this talk\, I will provide evidence that evolutionarily ancient and developmentally precocious sensitivities to the geometry of our everyday world form the foundation of\, but also limit\, our mathematical reasoning. I will also suggest that successful geometric reasoning may emerge through development when children abandon incorrect\, axiomatic-based strategies and come to rely on dynamic simulations of physical entities. While problems in geometry may seem answerable by immediate inference or by deductive proof\, human geometric reasoning may instead rely on noisy\, dynamic simulations.\n\n\n4:45 – 5:30pm\nMichael McCloskey\nTitle: Axes and Coordinate Systems in Representing Object Shape and Orientation \nAbstract: I describe a theoretical perspective in which a) object shape is represented in an object-centered reference frame constructed around orthogonal axes; and b) object orientation is represented by mapping the object-centered frame onto an extrinsic (egocentric or environment-centered) frame.  I first show that this perspective is motivated by\, and sheds light on\, object orientation errors observed in neurotypical children and adults\, and in a remarkable case of impaired orientation perception. I then suggest that orientation errors can be used to address questions concerning how object axes are defined on the basis of object geometry—for example\, what aspects of object geometry (e.g.\, elongation\, symmetry\, structural centrality of parts) play a role in defining an object principal axis?\n\n\n5:30 – 6:30pm\nReception\n\n\n\n\n \nTuesday\, April 16 \n\n\n\nTime\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n8:30 – 9:00am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00 – 9:45am\nPeter Olver\nTitle: Symmetry and invariance in cognition — a mathematical perspective” \nAbstract: Symmetry recognition and appreciation is fundamental in human cognition.  (It is worth speculating as to why this may be so\, but that is not my intent.) The goal of these two talks is to survey old and new mathematical perspectives on symmetry and invariance.  Applications will arise from art\, computer vision\, geometry\, and beyond\, and will include recent work on 2D and 3D jigsaw puzzle assembly and an ongoing collaboration with anthropologists on the analysis and refitting of broken bones.  Mathematical pre\n\n\n9:45 – 10:30am\nStefano Soatto/Alessandro Achille\nTitle: Information in the Weights and Emergent Properties of Deep Neural Networks \nAbstract: We introduce the notion of information contained in the weights of a Deep Neural Network  and show that it can be used to control and describe the training process of DNNs\, and can explain how properties\, such as invariance to nuisance variability and disentanglement\, emerge naturally in the learned representation. Through its dynamics\, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) implicitly regularizes the information in the weights\, which can then be used to bound the generalization error through the PAC-Bayes bound. Moreover\, the information in the weights can be used to defined both a topology and an asymmetric distance in the space of tasks\, which can then be used to predict the training time and the performance on a new task given a solution to a pre-training task. \nWhile this information distance models difficulty of transfer in first approximation\, we show the existence of non-trivial irreversible dynamics during the initial transient phase of convergence when the network is acquiring information\, which makes the approximation fail. This is closely related to critical learning periods in biology\, and suggests that studying the initial convergence transient can yield important insight beyond those that can be gleaned from the well-studied asymptotics.\n\n\n10:30 – 11:00am\nCoffee Break\n\n\n\n11:00 – 11:45am\nJeannette Bohg\nTitle: On perceptual representations and how they interact with actions and physical representations \nAbstract: I will discuss the hypothesis that perception is active and shaped by our task and our expectations on how the world behaves upon physical interaction. Recent approaches in robotics follow this insight that perception is facilitated by physical interaction with the environment. First\, interaction creates a rich sensory signal that would otherwise not be present. And second\, knowledge of the regularity in the combined space of sensory data and action parameters facilitate the prediction and interpretation of the signal. In this talk\, I will present two examples from our previous work where a predictive task facilitates autonomous robot manipulation by biasing the representation of the raw sensory data. I will present results on visual but also haptic data.\n\n\n11:45 – 12:30pm\nDagmar Sternad\nTitle: Exploiting the Geometry of the Solution Space to Reduce Sensitivity to Neuromotor Noise \nAbstract: Control and coordination of skilled action is frequently examined in isolation as a neuromuscular problem. However\, goal-directed actions are guided by information that creates solutions that are defined as a relation between the actor and the environment. We have developed a task-dynamic approach that starts with a physical model of the task and mathematical analysis of the solution spaces for the task. Based on this analysis we can trace how humans develop strategies that meet complex demands by exploiting the geometry of the solution space. Using three interactive tasks – throwing or bouncing a ball and transporting a “cup of coffee” – we show that humans develop skill by: 1) finding noise-tolerant strategies and channeling noise into task-irrelevant dimensions\, 2) exploiting solutions with dynamic stability\, and 3) optimizing predictability of the object dynamics. These findings are the basis for developing propositions about the controller: complex actions are generated with dynamic primitives\, attractors with few invariant types that overcome substantial delays and noise in the neuro-mechanical system.\n\n\n12:30 – 2:00pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n2:00 – 2:45pm\nSam Ocko\nTitle: Emergent Elasticity in the Neural Code for Space \nAbstract: To navigate a novel environment\, animals must construct an internal map of space by combining information from two distinct sources: self-motion cues and sensory perception of landmarks. How do known aspects of neural circuit dynamics and synaptic plasticity conspire to construct such internal maps\, and how are these maps used to maintain representations of an animal’s position within an environment. We demonstrate analytically how a neural attractor model that combines path integration of self-motion with Hebbian plasticity in synaptic weights from landmark cells can self-organize a consistent internal map of space as the animal explores an environment. Intriguingly\, the emergence of this map can be understood as an elastic relaxation process between landmark cells mediated by the attractor network during exploration. Moreover\, we verify several experimentally testable predictions of our model\, including: (1) systematic deformations of grid cells in irregular environments\, (2) path-dependent shifts in grid cells towards the most recently encountered landmark\, (3) a dynamical phase transition in which grid cells can break free of landmarks in altered virtual reality environments and (4) the creation of topological defects in grid cells. Taken together\, our results conceptually link known biophysical aspects of neurons and synapses to an emergent solution of a fundamental computational problem in navigation\, while providing a unified account of disparate experimental observations.\n\n\n2:45 – 3:30pm\nTatyana Sharpee\nTitle: Hyperbolic geometry of the olfactory space \nAbstract: The sense of smell can be used to avoid poisons or estimate a food’s nutrition content because biochemical reactions create many by-products. Thus\, the production of a specific poison by a plant or bacteria will be accompanied by the emission of certain sets of volatile compounds. An animal can therefore judge the presence of poisons in the food by how the food smells. This perspective suggests that the nervous system can classify odors based on statistics of their co-occurrence within natural mixtures rather than from the chemical structures of the ligands themselves. We show that this statistical perspective makes it possible to map odors to points in a hyperbolic space. Hyperbolic coordinates have a long but often underappreciated history of relevance to biology. For example\, these coordinates approximate distance between species computed along dendrograms\, and more generally between points within hierarchical tree-like networks. We find that both natural odors and human perceptual descriptions of smells can be described using a three-dimensional hyperbolic space. This match in geometries can avoid distortions that would otherwise arise when mapping odors to perception. We identify three axes in the perceptual space that are aligned with odor pleasantness\, its molecular boiling point and acidity. Because the perceptual space is curved\, one can predict odor pleasantness by knowing the coordinates along the molecular boiling point and acidity axes.\n\n\n3:30 – 4:00pm\nTea Break\n\n\n\n4:00 – 4:45pm\nEd Connor\nTitle: Representation of solid geometry in object vision cortex \nAbstract: There is a fundamental tension in object vision between the 2D nature of retinal images and the 3D nature of physical reality. Studies of object processing in the ventral pathway of primate visual cortex have focused mainly on 2D image information. Our latest results\, however\, show that representations of 3D geometry predominate even in V4\, the first object-specific stage in the ventral pathway. The majority of V4 neurons exhibit strong responses and clear selectivity for solid\, 3D shape fragments. These responses are remarkably invariant across radically different image cues for 3D shape: shading\, specularity\, reflection\, refraction\, and binocular disparity (stereopsis). In V4 and in subsequent stages of the ventral pathway\, solid shape geometry is represented in terms of surface fragments and medial axis fragments. Whole objects are represented by ensembles of neurons signaling the shapes and relative positions of their constituent parts. The neural tuning dimensionality of these representations includes principal surface curvatures and their orientations\, surface normal orientation\, medial axis orientation\, axial curvature\, axial topology\, and position relative to object center of mass. Thus\, the ventral pathway implements a rapid transformation of 2D image data into explicit representations 3D geometry\, providing cognitive access to the detailed structure of physical reality.\n\n\n4:45 – 5:30pm\nL. Mahadevan\nTitle: Simple aspects of geometry and probability in perception \nAbstract: Inspired by problems associated with noisy perception\, I will discuss two questions: (i) how might we test people’s perception of probability in a geometric context ? (ii) can one construct invariant descriptions of 2D images using simple notions of probabilistic geometry? Along the way\, I will highlight other questions that the intertwining of geometry and probability raises in a broader perceptual context.\n\n\n\n\nWednesday\, April 17 \n\n\n\nTime\nSpeaker\nTitle/Abstract\n\n\n8:30 – 9:00am\nBreakfast\n\n\n\n9:00 – 9:45am\nGily Ginosar\nTitle: The 3D geometry of grid cells in flying bats \nAbstract: The medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) contains a variety of spatial cells\, including grid cells and border cells. In 2D\, grid cells fire when the animal passes near the vertices of a 2D spatial lattice (or grid)\, which is characterized by circular firing-fields separated by fixed distances\, and 60 local angles – resulting in a hexagonal structure. Although many animals navigate in 3D space\, no studies have examined the 3D volumetric firing of MEC neurons. Here we addressed this by training Egyptian fruit bats to fly in a large room (5.84.62.7m)\, while we wirelessly recorded single neurons in MEC. We found 3D border cells and 3D head-direction cells\, as well as many neurons with multiple spherical firing-fields. 20% of the multi-field neurons were 3D grid cells\, exhibiting a narrow distribution of characteristic distances between neighboring fields – but not a perfect 3D global lattice. The 3D grid cells formed a functional continuum with less structured multi-field neurons. Both 3D grid cells and multi-field cells exhibited an anatomical gradient of spatial scale along the dorso-ventral axis of MEC\, with inter-field spacing increasing ventrally – similar to 2D grid cells in rodents. We modeled 3D grid cells and multi-field cells as emerging from pairwise-interactions between fields\, using an energy potential that induces repulsion at short distances and attraction at long distances. Our analysis shows that the model explains the data significantly better than a random arrangement of fields. Interestingly\, simulating the exact same model in 2D yielded a hexagonal-like structure\, akin to grid cells in rodents. Together\, the experimental data and preliminary modeling suggest that the global property of grid cells is multiple fields that repel each other with a characteristic distance-scale between adjacent fields – which in 2D yields a global hexagonal lattice while in 3D yields only local structure but no global lattice. \nGily Ginosar 1 \, Johnatan Aljadeff 2 \, Yoram Burak 3 \, Haim Sompolinsky 3 \, Liora Las 1 \, Nachum Ulanovsky 1 \n(1) Department of Neurobiology\, Weizmann Institute of Science\, Rehovot 76100\, Israel \n(2) Department of Bioengineering\, Imperial College London\, London\, SW7 2AZ\, UK \n(3) The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences\, and Racah Institute of Physics\, The Hebrew \nUniversity of Jerusalem\, Jerusalem\, 91904\, Israel\n\n\n9:45 – 10:30am\nSandro Romani\nTitle: Neural networks for 3D rotations \nAbstract: Studies in rodents\, bats\, and humans have uncovered the existence of neurons that encode the orientation of the head in 3D. Classical theories of the head-direction (HD) system in 2D rely on continuous attractor neural networks\, where neurons with similar heading preference excite each other\, while inhibiting other HD neurons. Local excitation and long-range inhibition promote the formation of a stable “bump” of activity that maintains a representation of heading. The extension of HD models to 3D is hindered by complications (i) 3D rotations are non-commutative (ii) the space described by all possible rotations of an object has a non-trivial topology. This topology is not captured by standard parametrizations such as Euler angles (e.g. yaw\, pitch\, roll). For instance\, with these parametrizations\, a small change of the orientation of the head could result in a dramatic change of neural representation. We used methods from the representation theory of groups to develop neural network models that exhibit patterns of persistent activity of neurons mapped continuously to the group of 3D rotations. I will further discuss how these networks can (i) integrate vestibular inputs to update the representation of heading\, and (ii) be used to interpret “mental rotation” experiments in humans. \nThis is joint work with Hervé Rouault (CENTURI) and Alon Rubin (Weizmann Institute of Science).\n\n\n10:30 – 11:00am\nCoffee Break\n\n\n\n11:00 – 11:45am\nSam Gershman\nTitle: The hippocampus as a predictive map \nAbstract: A cognitive map has long been the dominant metaphor for hippocampal function\, embracing the idea that place cells encode a geometric representation of space. However\, evidence for predictive coding\, reward sensitivity and policy dependence in place cells suggests that the representation is not purely spatial. I approach this puzzle from a reinforcement learning perspective: what kind of spatial representation is most useful for maximizing future reward? I show that the answer takes the form of a predictive representation. This representation captures many aspects of place cell responses that fall outside the traditional view of a cognitive map. Furthermore\, I argue that entorhinal grid cells encode a low-dimensionality basis set for the predictive representation\, useful for suppressing noise in predictions and extracting multiscale structure for hierarchical planning.\n\n\n11:45 – 12:30pm\nLucia Jacobs\nTitle: The adaptive geometry of a chemosensor: the origin and function of the vertebrate nose \nAbstract: A defining feature of a living organism\, from prokaryotes to plants and animals\, is the ability to orient to chemicals. The distribution of chemicals\, whether in water\, air or on land\, is used by organisms to locate and exploit spatially distributed resources\, such as nutrients and reproductive partners. In animals\, the evolution of a nervous system coincided with the evolution of paired chemosensors. In contemporary insects\, crustaceans\, mollusks and vertebrates\, including humans\, paired chemosensors confer a stereo olfaction advantage on the animal’s ability to orient in space. Among vertebrates\, however\, this function faced a new challenge with the invasion of land. Locomotion on land created a new conflict between respiration and spatial olfaction in vertebrates. The need to resolve this conflict could explain the current diversity of vertebrate nose geometries\, which could have arisen due to species differences in the demand for stereo olfaction. I will examine this idea in more detail in the order Primates\, focusing on Old World primates\, in particular\, the evolution of an external nose in the genus Homo.\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30pm\nLunch\n\n\n\n1:30 – 2:15pm\nTalia Konkle\nTitle: The shape of things and the organization of object-selective cortex \nAbstract: When we look at the world\, we effortlessly recognize the objects around us and can bring to mind a wealth of knowledge about their properties. In part 1\, I’ll present evidence that neural responses to objects are organized by high-level dimensions of animacy and size\, but with underlying neural tuning to mid-level shape features. In part 2\, I’ll present evidence that representational structure across much of the visual system has the requisite structure to predict visual behavior. Together\, these projects suggest that there is a ubiquitous “shape space” mapped across all of occipitotemporal cortex that underlies our visual object processing capacities. Based on these findings\, I’ll speculate that the large-scale spatial topography of these neural responses is critical for pulling explicit content out of a representational geometry.\n\n\n2:15 – 3:00pm\nVijay Balasubramanian\nTitle: Becoming what you smell: adaptive sensing in the olfactory system \nAbstract: I will argue that the circuit architecture of the early olfactory system provides an adaptive\, efficient mechanism for compressing the vast space of odor mixtures into the responses of a small number of sensors.  In this view\, the olfactory sensory repertoire employs a disordered code to compress a high dimensional olfactory space into a low dimensional receptor response space while preserving distance relations between odors.  The resulting representation is dynamically adapted to efficiently encode the changing environment of volatile molecules.  I will show that this adaptive combinatorial code can be efficiently decoded by systematically eliminating candidate odorants that bind to silent receptors.  The resulting algorithm for “estimation by elimination” can be implemented by a neural network that is remarkably similar to the early olfactory pathway in the brain.  The theory predicts a relation between the diversity of olfactory receptors and the sparsity of their responses that matches animals from flies to humans.   It also predicts specific deficits in olfactory behavior that should result from optogenetic manipulation of the olfactory bulb.\n\n\n3:00 – 3:45pm\nIla Feite\nTitle: Invariance\, stability\, geometry\, and flexibility in spatial navigation circuits \nAbstract: I will describe how the geometric invariances or symmetries of the external world are reflected in the symmetries of neural circuits that represent it\, using the example of the brain’s networks for spatial navigation. I will discuss how these symmetries enable spatial memory\, evidence integration\, and robust representation. At the same time\, I will discuss how these seemingly rigid circuits with their inscribed symmetries can be harnessed to represent a range of spatial and non-spatial cognitive variables with high flexibility.\n\n\n3:45 – 4:00pm\nL Mahadevan – summary
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/workshop-on-invariance-and-geometry-in-sensation-action-and-cognition/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event,Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190410T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190410T153000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180758
CREATED:20240212T112326Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T181503Z
UID:10002069-1554906600-1554910200@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Inequality Aversion\, Populism\, and the Backlash Against Globalization
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Pietro Veronesi (University of Chicago) \nTitle: Inequality Aversion\, Populism\, and the Backlash Against Globalization \nAbstract: Motivated by the recent rise of populism in western democracies\, we develop a model in which a populist backlash emerges endogenously in a growing economy. In the model\, voters dislike inequality\, especially the high consumption of “elites.” Economic growth exacerbates inequality due to heterogeneity in risk aversion. In response to rising inequality\, rich-country voters optimally elect a populist promising to end globalization. Countries with more inequality\, higher financial development\, and current account deficits are more vulnerable to populism\, both in the model and in the data. Evidence on who voted for Brexit and Trump in 2016 also supports the model.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/4-10-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-041019-1.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190403T143000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190403T153000
DTSTAMP:20260426T180758
CREATED:20240212T112705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T181644Z
UID:10002077-1554301800-1554305400@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Deregulation through Direct Democracy: Lessons from Liquor
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:  Sarah Moshary (University of Chicago) \nTitle:  Deregulation through Direct Democracy: Lessons from Liquor \nAbstract:  This paper examines the merits of state control versus private provision of spirits retail\, using the 2012 deregulation of liquor sales in Washington state as an event study. We document effects along a number of dimensions: prices\, product variety\, convenience\, substitution to other goods\, state revenue\, and consumption externalities. We estimate a demand system to evaluate the net effect of privatization on consumer welfare. Our findings suggest that deregulation harmed the median Washingtonian\, even though residents voted in favor of deregulation by a 16% margin. Further\, we find that vote shares for the deregulation initiative do not reflect welfare gains at the ZIP code level. We discuss implications of our findings for the efficacy of direct democracy as a policy tool.
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/4-3-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-040319.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190327T171500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190327T181500
DTSTAMP:20260426T180758
CREATED:20240212T110407Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240514T181829Z
UID:10002031-1553706900-1553710500@cmsa.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Hyperbolic geometry of the olfactory space
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Tatyana Sharpee (Salk Institute for Biological Studies) \nTitle: Hyperbolic geometry of the olfactory space \nAbstract: The sense of smell can be used to avoid poisons or estimate a food’s nutrition content because biochemical reactions create many by-products. Thus\, the presence of certain bacteria in the food becomes associated with the emission of certain volatile compounds. This perspective suggests that it would be convenient for the nervous system encode odors based on statistics of their co-occurrence within natural mixtures rather than based on the chemical structure per se. I will discuss how this statistical perspective makes it possible to map odors to points in a hyperbolic space. Hyperbolic coordinates have a long but often underappreciated history of relevance to biology. For example\, these coordinates approximate distance between species computed along dendograms\, and more generally between points within hierarchical tree-like networks. We find that these coordinates\, which were generated purely based on the statistics of odors in the natural environment\, provide a contiguous map of human odor pleasantness. Further\, a separate analysis of human perceptual descriptions of smells indicates that these also generate a three dimensional hyperbolic representation of odors. This match in geometries between natural odor statistics and human perception can help to minimize distortions that would otherwise arise when mapping odors to perception. We identify three axes in the perceptual space that are aligned with odor pleasantness\, its molecular boiling point and acidity. Because the perceptual space is curved\, one can predict odor pleasantness by knowing the coordinates along the molecular boiling point and acidity axes. \n  \n 
URL:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/event/3-27-2019-colloquium/
LOCATION:CMSA\, 20 Garden Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://cmsa.fas.harvard.edu/media/CMSA-Colloquium-032719.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR