Colloquium

Title: Linear independence, counting, and Hilbert's syzygy theorem Speaker: Youngsu Kim, Department of Mathematics, Cal State San Bernardino Abstract: Linear independence is an essential concept in mathematics and one of the most fundamental notions in linear algebra. Linear algebra studies the solutions of linear equations. Algebraic geometry studies the solutions of polynomial equations (of arbitrary degree). […]

Title: Contact topology and geometry in high dimensions Speaker: Bahar Acu, Department of Mathematics, Pitzer College Abstract: A very useful strategy in studying topological manifolds is to factor them into ``smaller" pieces. An open book decomposition of an n-manifold (the open book) is a special map (fibration) that helps us study our manifold in terms of its (n-1)-dimensional […]

Title: Continuity Versus Uniform Continuity Speaker: Gerald Beer, Department of Mathematics, California State University Abstract: In this talk we discuss the class of metric spaces - called the UC-spaces - whose members have this characteristic property:  each continuous function f on X  must be uniformly continuous. Gerald Beer, PhD UCLA 1971 won the faculty prize for teaching assistants […]

Title: An introduction to algebraic statistics Speaker: Luis David Garcia Puente, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Colorado College Abstract: Algebraic statistics is an interdisciplinary field that uses tools from computational algebra, algebraic geometry, and combinatorics to address problems in statistics and its applications. A guiding principle in this field is that many statistical models of […]

Title: Between Yes and No: making decisions under uncertainty. Speaker: Ami Radunskaya, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Pomona College Abstract: Often we attempt to answer a question with a “yes” or a “no” by developing predictive models (“Will the small remaining population of axolotls survive outside of their native wetlands?”) or by implementing binary classifiers (“Is this […]

Title: How do mathematicians believe? Speaker: Brian P Katz (BK), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, CSU, Long Beach Abstract: Love it or hate it, many people believe that mathematics gives humans access to a kind of truth that is more absolute and universal than other disciplines. If this claim is true, we must ask: what makes the […]

Title: Human Computers in Astronomy: Women Astronomers at Mount Wilson Observatory during the Early Twentieth Century Speaker: Eun-Joo Ahn, Department of History, UC Santa Barbara Abstract: Mount Wilson Observatory was founded by astrophysicist George Ellery Hale in 1904 with funding from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Since then, it has become one of the most prominent […]

Title: Frequentist Model Averaging in the Generalized Multinomial Logit Model Speaker: Tonia Zeng, Applied Business Sciences and Economics, University of La Verne Abstract: The generalized multinomial logit (GMNL) model accommodates scale heterogeneity to the random parameters logit (RPL) model. It has been often used to study people's preferences and predict people's decisions in many areas, […]

Title: Packing lines, minimizing energy, and applications to communications Speaker: Josiah Park, Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University Abstract: Structured geometric point sets play important roles in coding theory, mathematical biology, computational chemistry, wireless communications, compressed sensing, and 'big data' applications due to their often desirable statistical properties for measurement and transmission. Best packings of […]

Title: Shape Optimization: Old and New Speaker: Edouard Oudet,  LJK, Université Grenoble Alpes Abstract: We first introduce what is shape Optimization and the most classical problems of the field like the isoperimetric problem, the study of minimal surfaces, the characterization of irrigation networks, etc. In a second step we focus on a more recent question related […]

Title: Decision Problems in Low-Dimensional Topology Speaker: Kate Petersen, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, CSU, University of Minnesota Duluth Abstract: Due to Perelman’s proof of the Geometrization conjecture every closed 3-manifold can be decomposed into geometric pieces. These pieces exhibit one of Thurston’s eight model geometries.  This gives rise to the natural question: Given a 3-manifold how (quickly) […]