Previous Conferences & Workshops

Feb
07
2012

Computer Science/Discrete Mathematics Seminar II

Randomness Extraction: A Survey
10:30am|S-101

A randomness extractor is an efficient algorithm which extracts high-quality randomness from a low-quality random source. Randomness extractors have important applications in a wide variety of areas, including pseudorandomness, cryptography...

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...

Feb
06
2012

Computer Science/Discrete Mathematics Seminar I

Graphlets: A Spectral Perspective for Graph Limits
Fan Chung
11:15am|S-101

To examine the limiting behavior of graph sequences, many discrete methods meet their continuous counterparts, leading to numerous theoretical and applicable advancements. For dense graph sequences, the graph limits have recently been well developed...

Feb
01
2012

Workshop on Topology: Identifying Order in Complex Systems

The Taming olf the Screw: or How I Learned to Stop Worryhing and Love Elliptic Functions
Elisabetta Matsumoto
3:30pm|Rutgers University, Hill Center, Room 705

Topological defects pervade a wide range of physical systems, from superconductors to smectic liquid crystals. The behavior and interactions of such singularities impart many materials with a wealth of rich behavior. Just as flux vortices in the...

Feb
01
2012

Workshop on Topology: Identifying Order in Complex Systems

Probabilisitc Perspective on Topological Data Analysis
Sayan Mukherjee
2:00pm|Rutgers University, Hill Center, Room 705

In this talk we discuss the recent area of topological data analysis (TDA) from a probabilistic perspective. The talk falls under two parts. The first part of the talk considers a classic object in topology and geometry, a (Whitney) stratified space...

Jan
31
2012

Computer Science/Discrete Mathematics Seminar II

A Survey of Lower Bounds for the Resolution Proof System
10:30am|S-101

The Resolution proof system is among the most basic and popular for proving propositional tautologies, and underlies many of the automated theorem proving systems in use today. I'll start by defining the Resolution system, and its place in the proof...

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...

Jan
30
2012

Computer Science/Discrete Mathematics Seminar I

Nearly Optimal Deterministic Algorithms Via M-Ellipsoids
Santosh Vempala
11:15am|S-101

Milman's ellipsoids play an important role in modern convex geometry. Here we show that their proofs of existence can be turned into efficient algorithms, and these in turn lead to improved deterministic algorithms for volume estimation of convex...