• Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar

    A new construction of c = 1 conformal blocks

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar Speaker: Qianyu Hao, University of Geneva Title: A new construction of c = 1 conformal blocks Abstract: The Virasoro conformal blocks are very interesting since they have many connections to other areas of math and physics. For example, when c = 1, they are related to tau functions of Painlevé equations. I will first explain what […]

  • The Einstein-Euler system with a physical vacuum boundary in spherical symmetry

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    General Relativity Seminar Speaker: Marcelo Disconzi, Vanderbilt University Title: The Einstein-Euler system with a physical vacuum boundary in spherical symmetry Abstract: We establish local well-posedness for the Einstein-Euler system with a physical vacuum boundary in spherical symmetry. Our proof relies on a new way of thinking about Einstein’s equations in spherical symmetry that is well-adapted […]

  • Emergent Non-Invertible Symmetries —The Adjoint QCD Example

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Shani Nadir Meynet (Uppsala) Title: Emergent Non-Invertible Symmetries — The Adjoint QCD Example Abstract: After reviewing some general properties of generalized symmetries and the renormalization group (RG) flow for quantum field theories (QFT), I'll describe how the recently discovered non-invertible symmetries can be used to study theories […]

  • Quantum Criticality in Black Hole Scattering

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Member Seminar Speaker: Uri Kol Title: Quantum Criticality in Black Hole Scattering Abstract: Perturbation theory around rotating black holes captures a few important effects in the physics of gravitational waves emitted from binary mergers. Despite a long and rich history, developing a qualitative understanding of the system remains a challenging problem. In this talk I […]

  • Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar

    (Un)likely intersections

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar Speaker: Tom Scanlon, UC Berkeley Title: (Un)likely intersections Abstract: The Zilber-Pink conjectures predicts that for an ambient special variety  (such as an abelian variety or a Shimura variety), if   is an irreducible algebraic subvariety which is not contained a proper special subvariety of  (e.g. a proper algebraic subgroup in the abelian variety case […]

  • pp Waves: Quasinormal Modes & Hidden Symmetries of Black Holes

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    General Relativity Seminar Speaker: Ahmed Seta, Harvard University Title: pp Waves: Quasinormal Modes & Hidden Symmetries of Black Holes Abstract: The spectrum of quasinormal modes of 4D flat space black holes is not analytically tractable, but there are two asymptotic limits where the QNM spectrum is under control: weak damping and strong damping. In this talk, I […]

  • ADHM spaces and their quantizations

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Member Seminar Speaker: Vasily Krylov, CMSA Title: ADHM spaces and their quantizations Abstract: In their paper “Construction of Instantons,” Atiyah, Drinfeld, Hitchin, and Manin introduced an algebraic construction of the moduli space of instantons on R^4, now also known as the "ADHM space." This is a Poisson complex variety; it has been actively studied by both […]

  • Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar

    Bounds and Dualities of Type II Little String Theories

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar Speaker: Fabian Ruehle (Northeastern University) Title: Bounds and Dualities of Type II Little String Theories Abstract: The goal of this seminar is to introduce Type II Little String Theories (LSTs), which are six-dimensional supersymmetric QFTs. We explore how to geometrically engineer these theories within the context of M-/F-theory (top-down) as well […]

  • Is Behavior Cloning All You Need? Understanding Horizon in Imitation Learning

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    https://youtu.be/KOgh-FFDlvg New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar Speaker: Dylan Foster, Microsoft Research Title: Is Behavior Cloning All You Need? Understanding Horizon in Imitation Learning Abstract: Imitation learning (IL) aims to mimic the behavior of an expert in a sequential decision making task by learning from demonstrations, and has been widely applied to robotics, autonomous driving, and autoregressive language […]

  • The mathematics of evolution

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Colloquium Speaker: Martin Nowak (Harvard) Title: The mathematics of evolution Abstract: All living systems are guided by evolutionary dynamics. Evolution is a search process which occurs in populations of reproducing individuals. The three fundamental forces of evolution are mutation, selection and cooperation. I will present basic ideas in the mathematical description of evolutionary dynamics, including quasi-species theory, evolutionary […]

  • Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar

    Mirror Construction for Nakajima Quiver Varieties

    CMSA Room G10 CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

    Mathematical Physics and Algebraic Geometry Seminar Speaker: Ju Tan (Boston University) Title: Mirror Construction for Nakajima Quiver Varieties Abstract: Quiver possesses a rich representation theory. On the one hand, it exhibits a deep connection with instantons and coherent sheaves as illuminated by the ADHM construction and the works of many others. On the other hand, […]