Department of Mathematics, WUSTL - Talks List, Spring 2009

A list of lectures, seminars, colloquia, and other events hosted by
the Department of Mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis  

Spring 2009 Seminars Schedule *

Mondays

Graduate-Organized Talks Seminar

Time: 2:00-3:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199

Host: Larry Lin

Analysis Seminar

Time: 4:00-5:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199

Host: Professor John McCarthy

Tuesdays

Algebraic Geometry Seminar

Time: 3:00-4:30pm *
Location: Eads, Room 215

Host: Professor Mohan Kumar

Statistics Seminar

Time: 4:30-5:30pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199

Host: Assistant Professor Nan Lin
Statistics Seminar Schedule

Wednesdays

Geometry and Topology Seminar

Time: 3:00-4:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199

Hosts: Professor Rachel Roberts and Assistant Professor Xiang Tang

Graduate Student Seminar

Time: 4:00-5:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199

Host: Professor Steven Krantz

Thursdays

Combinatorics and Group Theory Seminar

Time: 12:00-1:00pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199

Host: Jonathan Browder

Fridays

Wavelet Seminar

Time: 3:30-4:30pm *
Location: Cupples I, Room 199

Host: Professor Guido Weiss

* Times may vary, please consult the schedule below for details:

MARCH 2009

Wednesday, March 4

Graduate Student Seminar

Time:4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Steven Krantz

Speaker: Professor Jimin Ding
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Introduction of Joint modeling of survival and Longitudinal data
Abstract: Survival analysis and longitudinal data analysis are two specific fields in traditional statistics. However, in biomedical and clinical studies, observed longitudinal covariates often are subject to disease, death or censoring. Further, the hazard rate of survival is affected by the underlying longitudinal process. In this talk, I will introduce how the joint modeling approach link the two processes together and model them simultaneously to correct the estimation bias and improve the efficiency.

Thursday, March 5

Kirk Lecture

Time:Tea:4:00-4:30pm
Talk:4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. John Shareshian

Speaker: Professor Robin Hartshorne
Department of Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley
Title: Non-Euclidean triangles, a problem of Euler, and K3 surfaces
Abstract: The problem of finding right triangles with sides of rational length in hyperbolic geometry turns out to be equivalent to a problem from Euler's Algebra about differences of squares. The modern interpretation leads to the study of rational points on algebraic K3 surfaces.

Tuesday, March 10

Algebraic Geometry Seminar

Time: 3:00-4:30pm
Location: Eads, Room 215
Host: Prof. Mohan Kumar

Speaker: Professor A. Prabhakar Rao
Department of Mathematics, University of Missouri, St. Louis
Title: Hartshorne's proof of Lichtenbaum's conjecture.

Monday, March 16

Minor Oral

Time:3:00-4:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. David Wright

Speaker: Andrew Lewis
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Tame and Wild Automorphisms in Three Variables
Abstract: It is well known that all automorphisms of a polynomial ring in two variables over a field are tame. In 1972, Nagata produced an example over three variables and conjectured that it was wild (not tame). Shestakov and Umirbaev proved in 2003 that it is indeed wild. We will give a broad outline of their proof, and delve in to a special case to get a feel for their methods.

Monday, March 16

Analysis Seminar

Time:4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. John McCarthy

Speaker: Jan-Fredrik Olsen
Department of Mathematics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim
Title: The Boundary Behaviour of a Class of Modified Zeta Functions
Abstract: Click here to view the abstract.

Monday, March 16

Dissertation Defense

Time:5:00-7:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Albert Baernstein

Speaker: James Gill
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Functions of finite distortion in the plane and a lower bound for the weak-type constant of the Beurling-Ahlfors transform
Abstract: We will briefly describe a series of results on the regularity of maps of finite distortion in the plane.  These maps are solutions to the Beltrami equation, a PDE which relates the analytic and anti-analytic derivatives of a complex valued function on a domain in the plane.  We will also discuss a lower bound for the weak-type constant of the Beurling-Ahlfors transform, which is important singular integral operator used in solving the Beltrami equation.

Tuesday, March 17

Senior Honors Thesis Presentation

Time:11:00-12:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. John Shareshian

Speaker: Renee Short
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: On the Row Sums of the Character Tables of GL(2,F)
Abstract: In this paper we investigate the irreducible representations of GL(2,F) where F is a finite field. We then explore the behavior of the row sums of the character table, in particular which rows sum to zero.

Wednesday, March 18

Geometry and Topology Seminar

Time:3:00-4:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Rachel Roberts and Prof. Xiang Tang

Speaker: Professor Xiang Tang
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Introduction to Jones Polynomial

Wednesday, March 18

Senior Honors Thesis Presentation

Time:3:00-4:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 115
Host: Prof. John McCarthy

Speaker: Vivek Kulkarni
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: An Introduction to the Optimality of Diseases

Wednesday, March 18

Graduate Student Seminar

CANCELLED
Time:4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Steven Krantz

Rescheduled April 22, 2009
Speaker: Professor Nan Lin
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

Thursday, March 19

Dissertation Defense

Time:2:30-3:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Steven Krantz

Speaker: Bennett Standeven
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: The Role of First Order Logic in Complex Analysis of Several Variables
Abstract:Over any complex variety V, there may be defined an algebra of locally holomorphic functions OO(V). The first-order properties of these algebras remain largely unstudied, although BHRFOCI is an extensive study of such algebras in one complex variable.
Just as the algebra of germs at a point plays an important role in the study of multivariable complex analysis, the first-order theory of this algebra should play an important role in a study of the first-order theories of other holomorphic function algebras.
What follows will focus on an axiomatic characterization of the theory, carried as far as a proof of the Ruckert Nullstellensatz based on the axioms. Several related results, including the Weierstrass theorems and the theory of dimensions of ideals, will also be covered. The use of first-order logic to prove such results makes it possible to define algorithms to construct the entities guaranteed by the theorems, and to place explicit bounds on their size or complexity.

Thursday, March 19

Colloquium

Time:Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Edward Wilson

Speaker: Professor Robert Azencott
Department of Mathematics, University of Houston; École Normale Supérieure de France
Title: Random genetic evolution of cell populations and Large Deviations theory
Abstract: Genetic evolution of large cell populations such as viruses, bacteria, cancer cells, is governed by random dynamics involving mutations, reproduction, and selection. For such stochastic dynamics, reproduction growth rates define a fitness function on the space of cell genotypes, and population trajectories can be viewed as evolving in a "fitness landscape", where evolution mechanisms strongly favors high concentrations of genotypes with high fitness. Even quite simplified stochastic evolution models involving more than 2 genotypes cannot be "solved" explicitly, so that intensive Monte-Carlo simulations have become a natural tool in this context. But crucial evolutionary events can have extremely small occurence probability, and are then practically inaccessible to straightforward intensive simulations. A key example of such rare events is the random emergence of a new high fitness mutation and its rise to fixation (i.e. total population dominance). Large Deviations Theory offers a powerful array of mathematical concepts and tools to analyze and quantify how specific rare events emerge in (discrete or continuous) dynamical systems perturbed by small random shocks. We will outline how large deviations "cost functionals" can be derived for trajectories of cell populations evolution. The most likely trajectory MLT realizing a specific very rare key biological event KBE can then be determined by solving a variational problem in path space. This enables the accurate evaluation of the occurence probability of KBE by highly accelerated Monte Carlo simulations where a "virtual" population is artificially forced to "follow" quite often the (usually very unlikely) trajectory MLT.

Monday, March 23

Graduate-Organized Talks Seminar

Time: 2:00-3:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Larry Lin

Speaker: Baili Min
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Several Complex Variables
Abstract: This talk is a brief introduction to the analysis of several complex variables. Unlike the generalization from $\mathbb{R}$ to $\mathbb{R}^n$, we will see some new phenomena in $\mathbb{C}^n$, such as the Hartogs extension phenomenon, zero sets of analytic functions, biholomorphic mappings, etc. Some key concepts for this subject will be introduced, including the domain of holomorphy, pseudoconvexity, and so on.

Tuesday, March 24

Algebraic Geometry Seminar

Time: 3:00-4:00pm
Location: Eads, Room 215
Host: Prof. Mohan Kumar

Speaker: Professor David Wright
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Local Tameness of Polynomial Automorphisms
Abstract: We will sketch the proof of the following recently proved theorem: If a polynomial automorphism is locally tame, it is stably tame.

Tuesday, March 24

Roever Colloquium

Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Gary Jensen

Speaker: Professor Robert Osserman
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Title: An inverse problem in the calculus of variations, tube-like domains, and compressed catenaries
Abstract: The topics covered in this talk are all connected to an attempt to understand the mathematical underpinnings of the Gateway Arch. In general terms, the shape of the Arch is a polyhedral approximation to a piecewise-smooth surface that is the boundary of a tube-like domain centered on a compressed catenary curve. All these terms and the relations among them will be explained, along with their relevance to other features of the arch, such as the size and shape of the cross sections.

Wednesday, March 25

Lecture

Time: 4:00-5:00pm
Location:
Steinberg Hall Auditorium
Host: Prof. Gary Jensen

Speaker: Professor Robert Osserman
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Title: How the Arch got its Shape – A Just So Story
Abstract:
What is the shape of the Gateway Arch?
A parabola? No!
A catenary? No!
A “weighted catenary”? What does that mean?

And how did the Arch get its shape?
A sketch by Saarinen?
A model?
A mathematical equation?
A building code?

Lots of questions, many with surprising answers. Another case where the truth is harder to find, and stranger than the fiction that passes for fact.

Monday, March 30

Analysis Seminar

Time: 4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. John McCarthy

Speaker: Professor Richard Rochberg
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: The Dixmier trace of Bergman space Hankel operators
Abstract: Last year I talked about Hankel operators on the Bergman space of the disk. This time I will discuss what happens for Bergman spaces of multiply connected domains. The main topic will be the general issue of how some results for function spaces on the disk extend to function spaces on multiply connected domains.

Tuesday, March 31

Algebraic Geometry Seminar

Time: 3:00-4:30pm
Location: Eads, Room 215
Host: Prof. Mohan Kumar

Speaker: Professor G.V. Ravindra
Department of Mathematics, University of St. Louis, Missouri
Title: Chow group of 1-cycles on the moduli space of vector bundles of rank 2 over a curve

APRIL 2009

Wednesday, April 1

Geometry and Topology Seminar

Time: 3:00-4:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Profs. Rachel Roberts and Xiang Tang

Speaker: Brad Henry
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. louis
Title: Khovanov Homology: Encoding the Jones polynomial as the Euler characteristic of a knot homology invariant
Abstract: Around 1990, Mikhail Khovanov created a homology theory for knots in R^3 whose graded Euler characteristic is the Jones polynomial of the knot. What he ends up with is a new knot invariant which is at least as strong as the Jones polynomial invariant. We will see how Khovanov homology follows naturally from the Kauffman bracket defined during the seminar on 3/18. The development will be primarily topological and algebraic in nature and will follow the work of Dror Bar-Natan in "Khovanov's Homology for Tangles and Cobordisms". Once we understand the construction, we will consider the invariance proof. Finally, I will indicate how the theory has evolved since the early 90's.

Wednesday, April 1

Graduate Student Seminar

Time: 4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Steven Krantz

Speaker: Professor Xiang Tang
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Irrational Rotation and Quantum Tori
Abstract: In this talk, we are interested in the orbit space of rotating a unit cirle by an irrational number. Such a space is a typical example of non Hausdorff manifolds. We will explain how to study differential geometry of such a space.

Thursday, April 2

Colloquium

Time: 11:00am-12:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Ronald Freiwald

Speaker: Professor Ravi Vakil
Department of Mathematics, Stanford University
Title: Generalizing the cross ratio: The moduli space of n points on the projective line up to projective equivalence
Abstract: Four ordered points on the projective line, up to projective equivalence, are classified by the cross ratio, a notion introduced by Cayley. This theory can be extended to more points, leading to one of the first important examples of an invariant theory problem, studied by Kempe, Hilbert, and others. Instead of the cross ratio (a point on the projective line), we get a point in a larger projective space, and the equations necessarily satisfied by such points exhibit classical combinatorial and geometric structure. For example, the case of six points is intimately connected to the outer automorphism of S_6. We extend this picture to an arbitrary number of points, completely describing the equations of the moduli space. This is joint work with Ben Howard, John Millson, and Andrew Snowden. This talk is intended for a general mathematical audience, and much of the talk will be spent discussing the problem, and an elementary graphical means of understanding it.

Thursday, April 2

Loeb Undergraduate Mathematics Lecture

Tea: 3:45pm, Cupples I, Room 200
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm, January Hall, Room 110
Host: Prof. Ronald Freiwald

Speaker: Professor Ravi Vakil
Department of Mathematics, Stanford University
Title: The Mathematics of Doodling
Abstract: Doodling has many mathematical aspects including patterns, shapes, numbers, and more. Not surprisingly, there is often some sophisticated and fun mathematics buried inside common doodles. I'll begin by doodling, and see where it takes us.

Thursday, April 2

Colloquium

Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Jimin Ding

Speaker: Professor Shuangge Ma
Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University
Title: Interval Censored Data with a Cured Subgroup
Abstract: Mixed case interval censored data arise when the event time of interest is only known to lie in an interval obtained from a sequence of k random examinations, where k is a random integer. We consider mixed case interval censored data with a cured subgroup, where subjects in this subgroup are not susceptible to the event of interest. Such data may be encountered in medical and demographical studies with longitudinal follow up, where the population of interest is composed of heterogeneous subjects. We propose using a semiparametric two-part model, where the first part is a generalized linear model and describes the probability of cure, and the second part is a Cox model and describes the event time for susceptible subjects. We study maximum likelihood estimate of this two-part model. Finite sample properties, an effective computational algorithm, and inference with the weighted bootstrap are investigated. Asymptotic properties, including identifiability, consistency, and weak convergence, are established. We conduct simulations and analyze the HDSD study using the proposed approach.

Friday, April 3

Wavelet Seminar

Time:3:30-4:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Guido Weiss

Speaker: Benjamin Manning
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: On the Connectivity of Framelets
Abstract: An exposition on Marcin Bownik's work.

Monday, April 6

Major Oral

Time: 3:00-4:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. David Wright

Speaker: Andrew Lewis
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Pseudopolynomial Algebras
Abstract: An R-algebra A is called a pseudopolynomial R-algebra if it becomes a polynomial ring after tensoring with the residue field of each prime ideal of R. A priori, it is not clear if any non trivial examples exist; in other words, one may ask if all pseudopolynomial algebras are polynomial rings. In the case of one variable, or two variables and R contains Q, then the answer is "yes". We will discuss this result, and also give nontrivial examples of pseudopolynomial algebras in two variables. These results are due to T. Asanuma.

Tuesday, April 7

Major Oral

Time: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Nan Lin

Speaker: Qing Li
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: Bayesian Elastic Net
Abstract: Elastic net is a flexible regularization and variable selection method which can handle the data with more predictors than the sampler size. This paper proposes a Bayesian elastic net method to solve the elastic net model using the Gibbs sampler. While it yields theoretically equivalent estimators, the Bayesian elastic net method has two major advantages over the frequentist elastic net method. Firstly, as a Bayesian method, the distributional results on the estimates are straightforward, making the statistical inference available. Secondly, it chooses the two penalty parameter simultaneously, avoiding the "double shrinkage problem" in the elastic net method. Real data examples and simulation studies shows that two methods behave comparably but the Bayesian elastic net makes much less false exclusion of the predictors.

Thursday, April 9

Hirschman Lecture

Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Guido Weiss, Prof. Edward Wilson

Speaker: Professor Steve Wainger
Department of Mathematics, University of Wisconsin
Title: The circle method of Hardy, Littlewood and Ramanujan
Abstract: Click here to view the abstract.

Monday, April 13

Analysis Seminar

Time:4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Profs. Albert Baernstein and Guido Weiss

Speaker: Professor Enrico Laeng
Department of Mathematics, Milan Polytechnic Institute
Title: Evaluating best constants for linear and sub-linear operators. Recent results and insights into some old open problems
Abstract: We will describe a novel approach, based on rearrangements, that allows us to evaluate the norms of the non-centered Hardy-Littlewood Maximal operator on some families of Lorentz and Marcinkiewicz spaces (L^p and weak-L^p spaces are included). We will also discuss the case of the Hilbert transform and some operators related to it, e.g., the truncated Hilbert transform and the discrete Hilbert transform. A rearrangement approach is perhaps possible also in these cases, but much more challenging. We will show a new "factorization trick".

Tuesday, April 14

Thesis Defense

Time:1:00-2:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 207
Host: Prof. Renato Feres

Speaker: Emily Ronshausen
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: The Liouville Property in the Discrete Group-Action Setting
Abstract: Liouville's Theorem, drawn from classical potential theory, states that every bounded harmonic function on R^n is constant. Since that time, harmonic functions have been considered in many other settings, and the Liouville property has become a term used to denote the constantness of the harmonic functions in those settings. Here we consider harmonic functions defined on a topological space with respect to a group action on the space and a probability measure on the group. In this incarnation, the Liouville property is said to hold if all bounded harmonic functions on the space-group-measuring pairing are constant along group orbits. We will show that the Liouville property holds for all symmetric measures and countable groups on the closed interval and the circle, and then exhibit groups and measures on the higher dimensional spheres such that Liouville's property does not hold. Additionally, concepts such as subgroup recurrence, random walks and group harmonic functions will be discussed.

Tuesday, April 14

Analysis Seminar

Time:4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 215
Host: Prof. John McCarthy

Speaker: Professor Marco Peloso
Department of Mathematics, Universitá degli Studi di Milano
Title: Analysis of the sublaplacian on complex spheres
Abstract: We consider a distinguished differential operator defined on the sphere in multidimensional complex spaces, namely the sublaplacian L. Such operator arises very naturally in a variety of settings. I will present the basic properties of L, in particular the connections with complex and harmonic analysis, and the eigenspace decomposition of L^2. Finally I will discuss the L^p convergence of Riesz means of these eigenfunction expansions.

Tuesday, April 14

Statistics Seminar

Time:4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Nan Lin

Speaker: Chunlin Fan
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

Wednesday, April 15

Graduate Student Seminar

Time:4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Steven Krantz

Speaker: Professor Stanley Sawyer
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

Thursday, April 16

Colloquium

Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Hosts: Prof. Jimin Ding, Prof. Nan Lin

Speaker: Professor Ji Zhu
Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan
Title: Partial Correlation Estimation by Joint Sparse Regression Models
Abstract: In this talk, we propose a computationally efficient approach for selecting non-zero partial correlations under the high-dimension-low-sample-size setting. This method assumes the overall sparsity of the partial correlation matrix and employs sparse regression techniques for model fitting. We illustrate the performance of our method by extensive simulation studies. It is shown that our method performs well in both non-zero partial correlation selection and the identification of hub variables, and also outperforms two existing methods. We then apply our method to a microarray breast cancer data set and identify a set of "hub genes" which may provide important insights on genetic regulatory networks. Finally, we prove that, under a set of suitable assumptions, the proposed procedure is asymptotically consistent in terms of model selection and parameter estimation.
This is joint work with Jie Peng, Pei Wang and Nengfeng Zhou.

Tuesday, April 21

Statistics Seminar

Time:4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Nan Lin

Speaker: Haley Abel
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

Wednesday, April 22

Graduate Student Seminar

Time:4:00-5:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Steven Krantz

Speaker: Professor Nan Lin
Department of Mathematics, Washington University in St. Louis
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

Thursday, April 23

Annual Department Awards Ceremony

Time: Tea: 4:00-4:30pm, Ceremony: 4:30-6:00pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Ronald Freiwald

Awards to mathematics faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, ... , and more.

Friday, April 24

Colloquium

Time: Tea:4:00-4:30pm
Talk: 4:30-5:30pm
Location: Cupples I, Room 199
Host: Prof. Xiang Tang

Speaker: Professor Yuri Berest
Department of Mathematics, Cornell University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

 

 

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Last Updated 03/31/09


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