Title: Exploiting metric structure for more accurate classification Speaker: Mike Izbicki, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Claremont McKenna College Abstract: Classification problems often have many semantically similar classes.  For example, the famous ImageNet dataset contains classes for 80 different dog breeds, 40 different bird species, and 25 types of vehicles.  This semantic structure can be formalized using a metric […]

Title: Modeling the waning and boosting of immunity Speaker: Dr. Lauren Childs Assistant Professor and the Cliff and Agnes Lilly Faculty Fellow Virgina Tech Abstract: Infectious disease often leads to significant loss of life and burden on society. Understanding disease dynamics is essential to the development and implementation of earlier and more effective interventions. Traditionally, perfect, […]

Title: Solving the Race in Backgammon   Speaker: Prof. Arthur Benjamin Smallwood Family Professor of Mathematics Harvey Mudd College   Abstract: Backgammon is perhaps the oldest game that is still played today. It is a game that combines luck with skill, where two players take turns rolling dice and decide how to move their checkers […]

Title: Modeling  Zoonotic Infectious Diseases from Wildlife to Humans Speaker: Prof. Linda J. S. Allen, P. W. Horn Distinguished Professor Emeritus Texas Tech University Abstract: Zoonotic infectious diseases are diseases transmitted from animals to humans. It is estimated that over 60% of human infectious diseases are zoonotic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified eight priority zoonoses […]

Title: On sparse geometry of numbers Speaker: Prof. Lenny Fukshansky, Department of Mathematics, Claremont McKenna College Abstract: Geometry of Numbers is an area of mathematics pioneered by Hermann Minkowski at the end of the 19th century. He achieved stunning success introducing a novel geometric framework into the study of algebraic numbers, prompting mathematicians of later generations to compare […]