Members’ Colloquium

Riemannian metrics are the simplest generalizations of Euclidean geometry to smooth manifolds. The Ricci curvature of a metric measures, in an averaged sense, how the geometry deviates from being flat. The tensor −2Ric can be viewed as a Laplacian...

One of the primary goals of the mathematical analysis of algorithms is to provide guidance about which algorithm is the “best” for solving a given computational problem. Worst-case analysis summarizes the performance profile of an algorithm by its...

The SAT (Boolean Satisfiability) problem asks whether a given logical formula on n Boolean variables has an assignment of true/false values to its variables that makes the formula true.  The P vs NP question is equivalent to asking whether SAT has a...

I'll give a brief introduction to o-minimality and how it can be used to prove asymptotic estimates for the number of rational points in definable sets. I'll then show how problems from various areas of mathematics can be reformulated as questions...

In 1947 John Von Neumann and Herman Goldstine, while developing the IAS computing machines, wrote a seminal paper on numerical errors in matrix computations. They suggested modeling the "computing noise" (coming from rounding errors, transcendental...

Consider a point mass traveling in a polygon. It travels in a straight line, with constant speed, until it hits a side, at which point it obeys the rules of elastic collision. What can we say about this? When all the angles of the polygon are...

The field of unlikely Intersections presents a robust paradigm for problems in which several subjects intermingle: arithmetic, o-minimality, and hodge theory. The goal of this talk will be to introduce some of those connections. My aim is to...

Persistence modules and their associated barcodes were intensively studied since the early 2000s with a view towards applied mathematics. Recently they have also found numerous applications in pure mathematics. We will discuss a few examples from...

Selmer groups are a cohomological tool used to reduce the task of finding solutions of certain diophantine equations to easier field and modular arithmetic. I'll explain how this works in down to earth terms and give some concrete applications...

Hel Braun (IAS member 1947-1948) was a mathematician who introduced approaches that continue to impact research today.  Braun's research contributions lie in three areas: classical number theory problems about integers, modular and automorphic forms...