Multiscale Analysis of Nonlinear Waves

Speaker: 

Prof. J. Xin

Institution: 

U. of Texas

Time: 

Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 3:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

Multiscale asymptotic analysis is a particularly useful tool for studying nonlinear waves when exact solutions are not available. This is demonstrated in concrete problems: reaction diffusion front speeds in random shear flows, and localized propagating pulses in nonlinear scalar wave equations, both in two space dimensions. Complementary numerical results will also be shown.

Some Applications of Number Theory and Algebraic Geometry to Cryptography

Speaker: 

Prof. Alice Silverberg

Institution: 

Ohio State University

Time: 

Monday, February 2, 2004 - 3:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

Public key cryptography is about 25 years old, and relies on number theory. We will discuss Diffie Hellman key exchange and ElGamal encryption, and some recent improvements on them. We show how number theory and algebraic geometry, and in particular the rationality of certain algebraic tori, can be used to give a deeper understanding of these improvements, and to give new cryptosystems.

Evolutionary Game Dynamics in Finite Populations

Speaker: 

Prof. Christine Taylor

Institution: 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Time: 

Friday, January 30, 2004 - 2:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

We study the evolutionary game dynamics of a two-strategy game. In infinite populations, the well-known replicator equations describe the deterministic evolutionary dynamics. There are three generic selection scenarios. The dynamics of a finite group of players has received little attention. We provide a framework for studying stochastic evolutionary game dynamics in finite populations. We define a Moran process with frequency dependent fitness. We find that there are eight selection scenarios. And for a given payoff matrix, a number of these sceanrios can occur for different population size. Our results have interesting applications in biology and economics. In particular, we obtain new results on the evolution of cooperation in the classic repeated Prisoner's Dilemma game. We show that a single cooperator using a reciprocal strategy such as Tit-For-Tat can invade a population of defectors with a probability that corresponds to a net selective advantage. We specify the conditions for natural selection to favor the emergence of cooperation and derive conditions for evolutionary stability in finite populations.

L-FUNCTIONS AND GALOIS THEORY

Speaker: 

Prof. Richard Taylor

Institution: 

Harvard University

Time: 

Friday, January 30, 2004 - 4:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

I will first recall some examples of L-functions and indicate some of the ways they have been important in algebraic number theory. I will then describe what appears to be their intimate connection with Galois theory (eg the Fontaine-Mazur conjectures), as well as touching on their relationship with algebraic geometry and automorphic forms. Finally, I will discuss what can be proved in this direction.

Algebraic vector bundles and the analogue of L^2(X) in algebraic geometry

Speaker: 

Prof. Vladimir Baranovsky

Institution: 

Caltech

Time: 

Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - 4:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

It is well-known (Liouville's Theorem) that a complex projective manifold X does not admit any non-constant algebraic (or holomorphic) functions. We explain how the collection of all algebraic vector bundles on X and morphisms between them gives rise to a structure (the derived category of X) which serves as a replacement -in many interesting ways - of the L^2 space of functions in analysis. Several results describing the properties of this structure will be explained.

Ranks of elliptic curves

Speaker: 

Prof. Karl Rubin

Institution: 

Stanford University

Time: 

Thursday, January 22, 2004 - 4:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

The rank of an elliptic curve is a measure of the number of solutions of the equation that defines the curve. In recent years there has been spectacular progress in the theory of elliptic curves, but the rank remains very mysterious. Even basic questions such as how to compute the rank, or whether the rank can be arbitrarily large, are not settled.
In this lecture we will introduce elliptic curves and discuss what is known, as well as what is conjectured but not known, about ranks.

Measure rigidity, quantum unique ergodicity, and the set of exceptions in Littlewood's Conjecture

Speaker: 

Prof. Elon Lindenstrauss

Institution: 

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences

Time: 

Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 4:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

In 1967 Furstenberg discovered a very surprising phenomenon:
while both $T: x \to 2 x \bmod 1$ and $s: x \to 3 x \bmod 1$ on $\R / \Z$ have many closed invariant sets, closed sets which are invariant under both $T$ and $S$ are very rare (indeed, are either finite sets of rationals or $\R / \Z$). Furstenberg also conjectured that a similar result holds for invariant measures. This conjecture is of course still open.
As has been shown by several authors, including Katok-Spatzier and Margulis this phenomenon is not an isolated curiosity but rather a deep property of many natural $\Z ^ d$ and $\R ^ d$ actions ($d > 1$) with many applications.
Recently, there has been substantial progress in the study of measures invariant under such actions. While we are at present still far from full resolution of this intriguing question, the partial results we currently
have are already powerful enough to prove results in other fields. In particular, these techniques enable proving a special but important case of Rudnick and Sarnak's Quantum Unique Ergodicity Conjecture, as well as a partial result towards Littlewood's Conjecture on simultaneous diophantine approximations (the later is in a joint paper with M. Einsiedler and A. Katok).

Singularites of pairs

Speaker: 

Prof. Lawrence Ein

Institution: 

University of Illinois at Chicago

Time: 

Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 4:00pm

Location: 

MSTB 254

Let X be a smooth complex variety and Y be a closed subvariety of X. We discuss different methods describing the complexity of the singularities of the pair (X,Y) from its resoultion of singularities, analysis and the geometry of the spaces of jets and arcs. We'll also describe appliactions to singularities of theata divisors and commutative algebra.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Special Colloquium