Calendar

On Monday, May 3rd the Harvard CMSA will be hosting a Computational Biology Symposium virtually on Zoom. Please visit the event webpage for the schedule and more information. The event poster is attached.

Registration is free but required. Register here. Details on how to join the webinar will be sent to registered participants before the event.

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

Lieb-Thirring inequalities are a mathematical expression of the uncertainty and exclusion principles in quantum mechanics. They were introduced by Lieb and Thirring in 1975 in their proof of stability of matter and have since played an important role in several areas of analysis and mathematical physics. We provide a gentle introduction to classical aspects of this subject and we also present some newer developments, concerning extensions of several inequalities in harmonic analysis to the setting of families of orthonormal functions.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/779283357?pwd=MitXVm1pYUlJVzZqT3lwV2pCT1ZUQT09

In 1948 Hoeffding proposed a nonparametric test that detects dependence between two continuous random variables (X,Y), based on the ranking of n paired samples (Xi,Yi). The computation of this commonly-used test statistic requires O(n log n) time. Hoeffding’s test is consistent against any dependent probability density f(x,y), but can be fooled by other bivariate distributions with continuous margins. Variants of this test with stronger consistency have been considered in works by Blum, Kiefer, and Rosenblatt, Yanagimoto, and Bergsma and Dassios, and others. The so far best known algorithms to compute them have required quadratic time.

We present an algorithm that computes these improved tests in time O(n log n). It is based on a new combinatorial approach for counting pattern occurrences in a given permutation, which we call corner tree formulas, and will be explained in the talk.

Joint work with Calvin Leng.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/98231541450

We introduce refined unramified cohomology and prove some
general comparison theorems to cycle groups. Our approach has several applications. For instance, it allows to construct the first example of a smooth complex projective variety whose Griffiths group has infinite torsion subgroup.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/91794282895?pwd=VFZxRWdDQ0VNT0hsVTllR0JCQytoZz09

We are interested in smoothing of a degenerate Calabi-Yau variety or a pair (degenerate CY, sheaf). I will explain an algebraic framework for solving such smoothability problems. The idea is to glue local dg Lie algebras (or dg Batalin-Vilkovisky algebras), coming from suitable local models, to get a global object. The key observation is that while this object is only an almost dg Lie algebra (or pre-dg Lie algebra), it is sufficient to prove unobstructedness of the associated Maurer-Cartan equation (a kind of Bogomolov-Tian-Todorov theorem) under suitable assumptions, so the former can be regarded as a singular version of the Kodaira-Spencer DGLA. Our framework applies to degenerate CY varieties previously studied by Kawamata-Namikawa and Gross-Siebert, as well as a more general class of varieties called toroidal crossing spaces (by the recent work of Felten-Filip-Ruddat). This talk is based on joint works with Conan Leung, Ziming Ma and Y.-H. Suen.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/96709211410?pwd=SHJyUUc4NzU5Y1d0N2FKVzIwcmEzdz09

Diffeomorphisms and supersymmetry transformations act on all local quantum field theory operators, including on the Noether currents associated with other continuous symmetries, such as flavor or R-symmetry. I will discuss how quantum anomalies in these symmetries produce the local Bardeen-Zumino terms that ensure that the corresponding consistent Noether currents in the diffeomorphism and supersymmetry Ward identities are replaced by their covariant form. An important difference between diffeomorphisms and supersymmetry is that, while the effective action remains invariant under diffeomorphisms in the absence of a gravitational anomaly, the local terms in the supersymmetry Ward identity generated by quantum anomalies in other symmetries generally result in the non-invariance of the effective action under supersymmetry. In certain cases, however, supersymmetry invariance may be restored by suitably enlarging the multiplet that contains the anomalous Noether current. The structure of all local terms in the Ward identities due to quantum anomalies can be determined by solving the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions, which can be reformulated as a BRST cohomology problem. I will present a generalization of the standard BRST algebra for gauge theories and the associated anomaly descent procedure that is necessary for accommodating diffeomorphisms and supersymmetry transformations. I will also discuss how, in some cases, the solution of the Wess-Zumino consistency conditions in the presence of supersymmetry can be efficiently determined from a supersymmetric Chern-Simons action in one dimension higher through anomaly inflow. I will conclude with a brief discussion of the implications of the local terms in the supersymmetry Ward identity for the dependence of supersymmetric partition functions on backgrounds that admit Killing spinors.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/977347126

In this expository talk, I’ll use 1d voter models to illustrate basic features of neutral theory—a vision of how genetic and ecological diversity can emerge even without selective pressure. We’ll see how questions about the persistence and spatial organization of lineages can be rephrased, in these models, as questions about random walks.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/98248914765?pwd=Q01tRTVWTVBGT0lXek40VzdxdVVPQT09

(Password: 419419)

In this talk, I will discuss how to obtain field theories for fracton lattice models. This is done by representing the lattice degrees of freedom with Dirac matrices, which are then related to continuum fields by means of a “bosonization” map. This procedure allows us to obtain effective theories which are of a Chern-Simons-like form. I will show that these Chern-Simons-like theories naturally encode the fractonic behavior of the excitations and that these theories can describe even type-II fracton phases.

Zoom: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/977347126

The aim of the workshop is to bring together a community of researchers in mathematics, computer science and data science who develop theoretical and computational models to characterize shapes and analysis of image data.

The first half of the workshop will feature talks aimed at graduate students, newcomers and a broad spectrum of audiences. Christopher Bishop (Stony Brook) and Keenan Crane (Carnegie Mellon) will each give two featured talks. The remaining part will have both background and research talks. There will also be organized discussions of open problems and potential applications.

Register here to attend this event

To find out details about the event, visit the CMSA event page.

The aim of the workshop is to bring together a community of researchers in mathematics, computer science and data science who develop theoretical and computational models to characterize shapes and analysis of image data.

The first half of the workshop will feature talks aimed at graduate students, newcomers and a broad spectrum of audiences. Christopher Bishop (Stony Brook) and Keenan Crane (Carnegie Mellon) will each give two featured talks. The remaining part will have both background and research talks. There will also be organized discussions of open problems and potential applications.

Register here to attend this event

To find out details about the event, visit the CMSA event page.