Seminars Sorted by Series

Members’ Seminar

Mar
08
2010

Members’ Seminar

Global Perturbations of Hamiltonian Dynamical System
2:00pm|S-101

In an autonomous Hamiltonian dynamical system the dynamics evolves on an energy hypersurface by preservation of energy. Thus the energy hypersurface is foliated by the flow. This is no longer true if the system is perturbed. It is a challenging...

Mar
15
2010

Members’ Seminar

No Members Seminar this week, in lieu of the Workshop on Analytic Number Theory
2:00pm
Mar
22
2010

Members’ Seminar

Explicit Automorphic Forms for the Rational Function Field, and Their Galois Representations
2:00pm|S-101

In this talk, we will give explicit examples of Langlands correspondence for reductive groups over the rational function field $F=k(t)$ . Fixing appropriate local ramifications, it is sometimes possible to write down explicit Hecke-eigenforms using...

Mar
29
2010

Members’ Seminar

Discrete Analogues in Harmonic Analysis
Lillian Pierce
2:00pm|S-101

Discrete problems have a habit of being beautiful but difficult. This can be true even of discrete problems whose continuous analogues are easy. For example: computing the surface area of a sphere of radius N^{1/2} in k-dimensional Euclidean space...

Apr
05
2010

Members’ Seminar

Vanishing Theorem for Torsion Automorphic sheaves
2:00pm|S-101

In this talk, I will explain my joint work with Junecue Suh on when and why the cohomology of Shimura varieties (with nontrivial integral coefficients) has no torsion, based on certain vanishing theorems we have proved recently. (All conditions...

May
03
2010

Members’ Seminar

Extreme Gaps in the Spectrum of Random Matrices
Gerard Arous
2:00pm|S-101

I will present a recent joint work with Paul Bourgade (Paris) about the extreme gaps between eigenvalues of random matrices. We give the joint limiting law of the smallest gaps for Haar-distributed unitary matrices and matrices from the Gaussian...

Oct
04
2010

Members’ Seminar

Potential Automorphy
2:00pm|S-101

I will introduce l-adic representations and what it means for them to be automorphic, talk about potential automorphy as an alternative to automorphy, explain what can currently be proved (but not how) and discuss what seem to me the important open...

Oct
11
2010

Members’ Seminar

Symplectic Homogenization
2:00pm|S-101

Given a Hamiltonian on $T^n\times R^n$, we shall explain how the sequence of suitably rescaled (i.e. homogenized) Hamiltonians, converges, for a suitably defined symplectic metric. We shall then explain some applications, in particular to symplectic...

Oct
18
2010

Members’ Seminar

Metaphors in Systolic Geometry
2:00pm|S-101

The systolic inequality says that if we take any metric on an n-dimensional torus with volume 1, then we can find a non-contractible curve in the torus with length at most C(n). A remarkable feature of the inequality is how general it is: it holds...

Oct
25
2010

Members’ Seminar

Values of L-Functions and Modular Forms
Chris Skinner
2:00pm|S-101

This will be an introduction to special value formulas for L-functions and especially the uses of modular forms in establishing some of them -- beginning with the values of the Riemann zeta function at negative integers and hopefully arriving at...

Nov
01
2010

Members’ Seminar

Shimura Varieties, Local Models and Geometric Realizations of Langlands Correspondences
2:00pm|S-101

I will introduce Shimura varieties and discuss the role they play in the conjectural relashionship between Galois representations and automorphic forms. I will explain what is meant by a geometric realization of Langlands correspondences, and how...

Nov
08
2010

Members’ Seminar

Beauty and Truth in Mathematics; a Tribute to Albert Einstein and Hermann Weyl
Sir Michael Atiyah
2:30pm|S-101
Nov
15
2010

Members’ Seminar

Configuration Spaces of Hard Discs in a Box
2:00pm|S-101

The "hard discs" model of matter has been studied intensely in statistical mechanics and theoretical chemistry for decades. From computer simulations it appears that there is a solid--liquid phase transition once the relative area of the discs is...

Nov
22
2010

Members’ Seminar

Modularity of Galois Representations
2:00pm|S-101

In this expository talk, I will outline a plausible story of how the study of congruences between modular forms of Serre and Swinnerton-Dyer, which was inspired by Ramanujan's celebrated congruences for his tau-function, led to the formulation of...

Nov
29
2010

Members’ Seminar

(Some) Generic Properties of (Some) Infinite Groups
2:00pm|S-101

This talk will be a biased survey of recent work on various properties of elements of infinite groups, which can be shown to hold with high probability once the elements are sampled from a large enough subset of the group (examples of groups: linear...

Dec
06
2010

Members’ Seminar

Shimura Varieties and the Bernstein Center
Tom Haines
2:00pm|S-101

The local Langlands conjecture (LLC) seeks to parametrize irreducible smooth representations of a p-adic group G in terms of Weil-Deligne parameters. Bernstein's theory describes the category of smooth representations of G in terms of points on a...

Dec
13
2010

Members’ Seminar

Questions About the Reductions Modulo Primes of an Elliptic Curve
2:00pm|S-101

Many remarkable questions about prime numbers have natural analogues in the context of elliptic curves. Among them, Artin's primitive root conjecture, the twin prime conjecture, and the Schinzel hypothesis have inspired a broad family of conjectures...

Jan
10
2011

Members’ Seminar

Moment-Angle Complexes, Spaces of Hard-Disks and Their Associated Stable Decompositions
Fred Cohen
2:00pm|S-101

Topological spaces given by either (1) complements of coordinate planes in Euclidean space or (2) spaces of non-overlapping hard-disks in a fixed disk have several features in common. The main results, in joint work with many people, give...

Jan
24
2011

Members’ Seminar

Groups of Even Type of Medium Size
Inna Capdeboscq
2:00pm|S-101

In this talk we will discuss recent progresses meant as a contribution to the GLS-project, the second generation proof of the Classification of Finite Simple Groups (jointly with R. Lyons, R. Solomon, Ch. Parker).

Jan
31
2011

Members’ Seminar

Microlocal Theory of Sheaves and Applications to Non-Displaceability
Pierre Schapira
2:00pm|S-101

I will explain the main notions of the microlocal theory of sheaves: the microsupport and its behaviour with respect to the operations, with emphasis on the Morse lemma for sheaves. Then, inspired by the recent work of Tamarkin but with really...

Feb
07
2011

Members’ Seminar

Recursively Applying Constructive Dense Model Theorems and Weak Regularity
2:00pm|S-101

Green and Tao [GT] used the existence of a dense subset indistinguishable from theprimes under certain tests from a certain class to prove the existence of arbitrarily longprime arithmetic progressions. Tao and Ziegler [TZ] showedsome general...

Feb
14
2011

Members’ Seminar

Some Equations and Games in Evolutionary Biology
2:00pm|S-101

The basic ingredients of Darwinian evolution, selection and mutation, are very well described by simple mathematical models. In 1973, John Maynard Smith linked game theory with evolutionary processes through the concept of evolutionarily stable...

Feb
28
2011

Members’ Seminar

Does Infinite Cardinal Arithmetic Resemble Number Theory?
2:00pm|S-101

I will survey the development of modern infinite cardinal arithmetic, focusing mainly on S. Shelah's algebraic pcf theory, which was developed in the 1990s to provide upper bounds in infinite cardinal arithmetic and turned out to have applications...

Mar
07
2011

Members’ Seminar

Self-Avoiding Walk and Branched Polymers
2:00pm|S-101

I will introduce two basic problems in random geometry. A self-avoiding walk is a sequence of steps in a d-dimensional lattice with no self-intersections. If branching is allowed, it is called a branched polymer. Using supersymmetry, one can map...

Apr
04
2011

Members’ Seminar

Symplectic Dynamics of Integrable Hamiltonian Systems
2:00pm|S-101

I will start with a review the basic notions of Hamiltonian/symplectic vector field and of Hamiltonian/symplectic group action, and the classical structure theorems of Kostant, Atiyah, Guillemin-Sternberg and Delzant on Hamiltonian torus actions...

Apr
13
2011

Members’ Seminar

Intersections of Polynomial Orbits, and a Dynamical Mordell-Lang Conjecture
Michael Zieve
2:00pm|S-101

Let f and g be nonlinear polynomials (in one variable) over the complex numbers. I will show that, if there exist complex numbers a and b for which the orbits {a, f(a), f(f(a)), ...} and {b, g(b), g(g(b)), ...} have infinite intersection, then f and...

Sep
26
2011

Members’ Seminar

First Steps in Symplectic Dynamics
4:00pm|S-101

The modern theory of dynamical systems, as well as symplectic geometry, have their origin with Poincare as one field with integrated Ideas. Since then these fields developed quite independently. Given the progress in these fields one can make a good...

Oct
17
2011

Members’ Seminar

How to Construct Topological Invariants via Decompositions and the Symplectic Category
2:00pm|S-101

A Lagrangian correspondence is a Lagrangian submanifold in the product of two symplectic manifolds. This generalizes the notion of a symplectomorphism and was introduced by Weinstein in an attempt to build a symplectic category. In joint work with...

Oct
24
2011

Members’ Seminar

The Mathematical Challenge of Large Networks
2:00pm|S-101

It is becoming more and more clear that many of the most exciting structures of our world can be described as large networks. The internet is perhaps the foremost example, modeled by different networks (the physical internet, a network of devices...

Nov
07
2011

Members’ Seminar

Strong and Weak Epsilon Nets and Their Applications
2:00pm|S-101

I will describe the notions of strong and weak epsilon nets in range spaces, and explain briefly some of their many applications in Discrete Geometry and Combinatorics, focusing on several recent results in the investigation of the extremal...

Nov
14
2011

Members’ Seminar

Hilbert's Seventh Problem -- A Kaleidoscope
Gisbert Wuestholz
2:00pm|S-101

This is the talk I gave in Frankfurt which was organized to commemorate the 100th birthday of Theodor Schneider. He and, independently, A. Gelfond gave in 1934 two different solutions to Hilbert's 7th problem. We shall give a historical panorama of...

Nov
21
2011

Members’ Seminar

Bordered Floer Homology
2:00pm|S-101

Bordered Floer homology is an invariant for three-manifolds with boundary (or, more precisely, three-manifolds with parameterized boundary), constructed using pseudo-holomorphic curve techniques. The theory associates to a marked surface a...

Nov
28
2011

Members’ Seminar

Loop Products and Dynamics
2:00pm|S-101

A metric on a compact manifold M gives rise to a length function on the free loop space LM whose critical points are the closed geodesics on M in the given metric. Morse theory gives a link between Hamiltonian dynamics and the topology of loop...

Dec
12
2011

Members’ Seminar

Towards Symplectic Algebraic Topology
2:00pm|S-101

Pseudo-holomorphic curves play a fundamental role in the study of symplectic manifolds. Compactness and gluing theorems allow to extract algebra out of analysis. The focus of this talk are certain invariants which are constructed using pseudo...

Jan
23
2012

Members’ Seminar

The Role of Symmetry in Phase Transitions
Tom Spencer
2:00pm|S-101

This talk will review some theorems and conjectures about phase transitions of interacting spin systems in statistical mechanics. A phase transition may be thought of as a change in a typical spin configuration from ordered state at low temperature...

Jan
30
2012

Members’ Seminar

Linear Equations in Primes and Nilpotent Groups
2:00pm|S-101

A classical theorem of Dirichlet establishes the existence of infinitely many primes in arithmetic progressions, so long as there are no local obstructions. In 2006 Green and Tao set up a program for proving a vast generalization of this theorem...

Feb
06
2012

Members’ Seminar

Toward Enumerative Symplectic Topology
2:00pm|S-101

Enumerative geometry is a classical subject often concerned with enumeration of complex curves of various types in projective manifolds under suitable regularity conditions. However, these conditions rarely hold. On the other hand, Gromov-Witten...