# Mathematical Conversations

Nov 14 2018

### The stability of atoms and the ionization conjecture

Speaker: Ian Jauslin
6:00pm | Dilworth Room
An atom is made of a positively charged nucleus and negatively charged electrons, interacting with each other via Coulomb forces. In this talk, I will review what is known, from a mathematical perspective, about this paradigmatic model, with a particular focus on questions...
Nov 07 2018

### Hodge-Riemann relations for Potts-model partition functions

Speaker: June Huh
6:00pm | Dilworth Room
The multivariate Tutte polynomial, known to physicists as the Potts-model partition function, can be defined for any finite graph. The function has a hidden convexity property that implies several nontrivial results concerning the combinatorics of finite sets. This talk will...
Oct 24 2018

### What is a central limit theorem for random groups?

Speaker: Melanie Wood
6:00pm | Dilworth Room
We will recall the central limit theorem for random numbers, and then discuss the general principle of universality and what it might mean specifically in an analog of the central limit theorem for random groups.
Oct 17 2018

### Mathematical Structures in the Jungles of Life

Speaker: Misha Gromov
6:00pm | White Levy Room
Oct 10 2018

### Stirring efficiently

Speaker: Camillo De Lellis
6:00pm | Dilworth Room
I will consider a very simple open problem in the theory of ODEs and give a brief overview on what is known about it. The problem is also an excuse to talk about a widely open subject in modern PDEs.
Apr 11 2018

### Ordinary points mod $p$ of hyperbolic 3-manifolds

Speaker: Mark Goresky
6:00pm | White Levy Room
Hyperbolic 3-manifolds with arithmetic fundamental group exhibit many remarkable number theoretic properties. Is it possible that such manifolds live over finite fields (whatever that means)? In this talk I will give some evidence for this possibility.
Mar 28 2018

### Hyperbolic geometry and quantum invariants in dimension 3

Speaker: Helen Wong
6:00pm | Dilworth Room
The end of the previous century saw radical changes to three-dimensional topology, which arose from two completely different approaches. One breakthrough came from Thurston's introduction of hyperbolic geometry into the field. The second one came from the discovery of new...
Mar 21 2018

### Cancelled

Speaker: Cancelled
6:00pm | Dilworth Room
Mar 14 2018

### Synthetic homotopy theory: going beyond set-level mathematics

Speaker: Guillaume Brunerie
6:00pm | Dilworth Room
In addition to offering a formal system for doing ordinary (or "set-level") mathematics, Vladimir Voevodsky’s Univalent Foundations also suggest a new way of studying homotopy theory, called "synthetic homotopy theory". I will show how synthetic homotopy theory...
Feb 28 2018