# MSCS Seminar Calendar

Monday February 2, 2015
Model Theory Seminar
Weakly almost periodic functions, model-theoretic stability, and minimality of topological groups II
Gabriel Conant (UIC)
2:00 PM in SEO 427
We will continue discussing the paper "Weakly almost periodic functions, model-theoretic stability, and minimality of topological groups" by Ben-Yaacov and Tsankov.

Algebraic topology seminar
Characteristic classes in connective K-theory
Bob Bruner (Wayne State University)
3:00 PM in SEO 1227
We will describe the connective K-cohomology of U(n), Sp(n), O(n), their oriented variants, the torus T(n) and the 'symplectic torus' Sp(1)^n, in so far as they are understood at present. Variants include the equivariant and completed versions: ku^*_G --> ku^*BG. They specialize to the usual integral homology (at v=0) and to the representation theory (away from v=0). The best results are available for ku^* and the more highly connected groups (e.g., Sp(n) rather than O(n)), but some results are available for ko^* as well. We will start with some general facts about the relations between connective K-theory, representation theory, and cohomology.

Bayesian leaning
3:00 PM in SEO 427
Adam segues from the discussion from last time about Bayesian networks into one about Bayesian learning techniques.

Applied Mathematics Seminar
Computation of three-dimensional standing water waves
Chris Rycroft (Harvard University)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
We develop a method for computing three-dimensional gravity-driven water waves, which we use to search for time-periodic standing wave solutions. We simulate an inviscid, irrotational, incompressible fluid bounded below by a flat wall, and above by an evolving free surface. The simulations require computing a velocity potential in the bulk of the fluid, which we carry out using a fourth-order finite element method; this computationally expensive step is solved using a parallel multigrid algorithm. Several families of large-amplitude three-dimensional standing waves are found in both shallow and deep regimes, and their physical characteristics will be examined and compared to previously known two-dimensional solutions.
Tuesday February 3, 2015
Algebraic Geometry Seminar
Boundary behavior of strata of holomorphic one-forms
Dawei Chen (Boston College)
3:00 PM in SEO 1227
Consider strata of holomorphic one-forms on Riemann surfaces with prescribed number and multiplicity of zeros. They define flat structures realizing the underlying surfaces as plane polygons whose boundary edges are identified suitably. In this talk, I will report some work in progress on degenerations of holomorphic one-forms in the same stratum when the underlying Riemann surfaces become nodal, with a focus on the interplay between algebraic geometry and flat geometry.

Logic Seminar
The asymptotic couple of the field of logarithmic transseries
Allen Gehret (UIUC)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
The differential-valued field $\mathbb{T}_{\log}$ of logarithmic transseries is conjectured to have good model theoretic properties. As a partial result in this direction, and as a confidence building measure we prove that at least its \emph{asymptotic couple} has a good model theory. The value group $\Gamma_{\log}$ of $\mathbb{T}_{\log}$ can be given the additional structure of a map $\psi:\Gamma\to\Gamma$ which is induced by the derivation on $\mathbb{T}_{\log}$. The structure $(\Gamma_{\log},\psi)$ is the asymptotic couple of the field of logarithmic transseries (in the sense of Rosenlicht). In this talk we will discuss the good model-theoretic properties of $(\Gamma_{\log},\psi)$, including a quantifier-elimination result in an appropriate first-order language, definable functions on a certain discrete set, a stable embedding result, and NIP (the Non-Independence Property). All results in this talk (besides NIP) are in http://arxiv.org/abs/1405.1012.
Wednesday February 4, 2015
Graduate Geometry, Topology and Dynamics Seminar
Volume & Bounded Cohomology II: Measured homology and Thurston's Proof of Mostow rigidity.
Edgar A. Bering IV (UIC)
3:00 PM in SEO 612
Continuing from last time, where we introduced the Gromov norm on homology, we will introduce an alternate definition, characterize the Gromov norm of a hyperbolic manifold in terms of volume, and use this to prove Moscow rigidity for hyperbolic manifolds. References for this talk are the same as the previous week's.

Cliques in random graphs
Sam Cole
4:00 PM in SEO 712
Thursday February 5, 2015
Louise Hay Logic Seminar
Post's Theorem
Hunter Chase (UIC)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
We will discuss either Emily Post's theorem on the relationship between epistolography and dining etiquette, or Emil Post's theorem on the relationship between arithmetical hierarchy and Turing degrees.
Monday February 9, 2015
Model Theory Seminar
Weakly almost periodic functions, model-theoretic stability, and minimality of topological groups III
Joseph Zielinski (UIC)
2:00 PM in SEO 427
We will continue reading the paper "Weakly almost periodic functions, model-theoretic stability, and minimality of topological groups" by Ben Yaacov and Tsankov.

Algebraic topology seminar
The smash product for derived categories in stable homotopy theory (after Mandell)
Tasos Moulinos (UIC)
3:00 PM in SEO 1227

Applied Mathematics Seminar
4-stochastic measures minimizations and polyconvexity
Romeo Awi (Georgia Tech)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday February 11, 2015
Algebraic Geometry Seminar
TBA
Evangelos Routis (Brown University)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Thursday February 12, 2015
Louise Hay Logic Seminar
TBA
Sam Ziegler
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Friday February 13, 2015
Homotopy algebras seminar
TBD
Anatoly Libgober (UIC)
1:00 PM in SEO 1227
Monday February 16, 2015
Geometry, Topology and Dynamics Seminar
TBA
Catherine Pfaff (Universität Bielefeld)
3:00 PM in SEO 636

Applied Mathematics Seminar
tba
4:00 PM in SEO 636
tba
Wednesday February 18, 2015
Statistics Seminar
TBA
Haiying Wang (University of New Hampshire)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Thursday February 19, 2015
Louise Hay Logic Seminar
TBA
Joseph Zielinski (UIC)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Friday February 20, 2015
Homotopy algebras seminar
TBD
Boris Tsygan (Northwestern)
3:00 PM in SEO 1227
Monday February 23, 2015
Applied Mathematics Seminar
TBA
Ben Akers (Air Force Institute of Technology)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday February 25, 2015
Statistics Seminar
TBA
Wei-kuo Chen (University of Chicago)
4:00 PM in SEO 636

Algebraic Geometry Seminar
TBA
Ana-Maria Castravet (Ohio State University and Northeastern)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Thursday February 26, 2015
Louise Hay Logic Seminar
TBA
Victoria Noquez (UIC)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Friday February 27, 2015
Departmental Colloquium
TBA
Birgit Richter (Universität Hamburg)
3:00 PM in SEO 636
Monday March 2, 2015
Combinatorics Seminar
Some new results on random points in the unit square
Alan Frieze (Carnegie Mellon)
3:00 PM in SEO 427
Suppose that X1,X2,...Xn are chosen randomly from the unit square. (More generally from the unit cube in d dimensions).
We consider the following:
Paper 1: Travelling in randomly embedded random graphs. 1. If the points are joined by an edge with probability p, what can one say about the shortest path distance in this embedding of G(n.p) as compared to the Euclidean distance.
2. To what extent can the Beardwood, Halton, Hammersley theorem on the length of the shortest TSP tour be extended to this case?
Paper 2: Separating subadditive Euclidean functionals. For many optimization problems we know that a.s. growth rate of the optimum value up to a constant, e.g. for TSP, Minimum Spanning Tree, Steiner Tree, Perfect Matching, 2-factor. We know that a.s. these optimum values are all within a constant factor of each other, but we do not in general know the constants and so the question arises as to whether different problems give rise to different constants. We prove that these constants are indeed different and give a negative computational consequence in respect of using the 2-factor approximation for solving the TSP via branch and bound.
Joint work with Wes. Pegden.
Wednesday March 4, 2015
Geometry, Topology and Dynamics Seminar
TBA
Kelly Yancey (University of Maryland)
3:00 PM in SEO 612

Statistics Seminar
Model-free variable selection via learning gradients
Lei Yang (UIC)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Variable selection is popular in high-dimensional data analysis to identify the truly informative variables. Many variable selection methods have been developed under various model assumptions, such as linear model and additive model. However, their success largely rely on validity of the assumed models. In this talk, I will introduce a model-free variable selection method based on gradient learning. The key idea is that if a variable is informative is equivalent to if its corresponding gradient function is substantially non-zero. The proposed method is formulated in a framework of learning gradients equipped with a flexible reproducing kernel Hilbert space. Computationally, a blockwise majorization decent (BMD) algorithm is introduced for efficient computation. Theoretically, without assuming explicit models, the estimation and variable selection consistencies are established. A variety of simulated examples and real-life examples are provided to evaluate the performance.

Algebraic Geometry Seminar
TBA
Robin Hartshorne (UC Berkeley)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Monday March 9, 2015
Geometry, Topology and Dynamics Seminar
TBA
Paul Kirk (Indiana University)
3:00 PM in SEO 612

Applied Mathematics Seminar
Second-order correct, unidirectional models for water waves
Hongqiu Chen (University of Memphis)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday March 11, 2015
Statistics Seminar
TBA
Jyotirmoy Sarkar (IUPUI)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Friday March 13, 2015
Departmental Colloquium
TBA
Steven Zelditch (Northwestern University)
3:00 PM in SEO 636
Monday March 16, 2015
Applied Mathematics Seminar
TBA
Christophe Prange (University of Chicago)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday March 18, 2015
Statistics Seminar
TBA
Professor Suojin Wang (Texas A & M University)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Monday March 30, 2015
Geometry, Topology and Dynamics Seminar
TBA
Lori Alvin (University of Denver)
3:00 PM in SEO 636

Applied Mathematics Seminar
TBA
Oana Pocovnicu (Princeton University)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday April 1, 2015
Algebraic Geometry Seminar
TBA
Claire Voisin (CNRS and IAS)
4:00 PM in SEO 427

Statistics Seminar
TBA
Hassan Allouba (Kent State University)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Friday April 3, 2015
Departmental Colloquium
TBA
AWM Event (TBA)
3:00 PM in SEO 636
Monday April 6, 2015
Geometry, Topology and Dynamics Seminar
TBA
Elisabeth Fink (Ecole Normale Superieure)
3:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday April 8, 2015
Statistics Seminar
TBA
Tiefeng Jiang (University of Minnesota)
4:00 PM in SEO 636

Algebraic Geometry Seminar
TBA
Tom Nevins (UIUC)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Friday April 10, 2015
Departmental Colloquium
TBA
Joe Harris (Harvard)
3:00 PM in SEO 636
Opening lecture: Midwest Algebraic Geometry Graduate Conference
Monday April 13, 2015
Applied Mathematics Seminar
TBA
Jeremy Marzuola (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Friday April 17, 2015
Departmental Colloquium
TBA
Carlos Kenig (University of Chicago)
3:00 PM in SEO 636
Monday April 20, 2015
Applied Mathematics Seminar
TBA
Cheng Ouyang (UIC)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday April 22, 2015
Statistics Seminar
TBA / TBA
Keyu Nie / Brian Powers (UIC)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
Friday April 24, 2015
Departmental Colloquium
TBA
Steven Leth (University of Northern Colorado)
3:00 PM in SEO 636
Wednesday April 29, 2015
Statistics Seminar
Panel discussion
Stat faculty and students (UIC)
4:00 PM in SEO 636
This panel discussion will give students an opportunity to have questions about various things (e.g., advantages and disadvantages of an academic career, general strategies for successful research, career opportunities outside of academia and how to prepare for them, etc) answered by faculty and senior graduate students.

Algebraic Geometry Seminar
TBA
David Yang (MIT)
4:00 PM in SEO 427
Friday May 1, 2015
Departmental Colloquium
Atkin Memorial Lecture
Alireza Salehi-Golsefidi (University of California, San Diego )
3:00 PM in TBA
UIC LAS MSCS seminars seminar calendar