Un of Tenn | Math Department

Seminars and Colloquiums
for the week of March 22, 2010

Speaker:
Professor Jie Xiong, Monday
Dr. Stella Huerfano, Monday
Mr. Masato Kobayashi, Monday
Professor Qing Nie, University of California, Irvine, Tuesday
Mr. Chad Kilpatrick, Wednesday
Professor Jennifer Quinn, University of Washington, Tacoma, Thursday
Mr. Keith Penrod, Friday

Monday, March 22

PROBABILITY SEMINAR
TIME: 10:10 – 11:00 a.m.
ROOM: AC 113
SPEAKER: Professor Jie Xiong
TITLE: "Large deviation principle for diffusion processes under a nonlinear expectation”
ABSTRACT: Motivated from the study of mathematical finance, we establish a large deviation principle of the Freidlin-Wentzell type under nonlinear probability for diffusion processes with a small diffusion coefficient. We extend and provide a new proof for a variational identity of Bou\'e and Dupuis which is widely used in deriving the large deviation principle under classical linear probability. Navier-Stokes equation plays an important role in our deriving the large deviation result.

TOPOLOGY SEMINAR
TIME: 11:15 – 12:05 p.m.
ROOM: Temple 303
SPEAKER: Dr. Stella Huerfano
TITLE: "Khovanov type homologies and extended (1+1)-TQFT's"I"
ABSTRACT: It will be explained how different Frobenius and Knowledgeable Frobenius Algebras define invariants for tangles analogous to the Khovanov homology groups.

Furthermore it will be explained how these algebraic structures define extended TQFT's.

DOCTORAL DEFENSE
TIME: 2:30 p.m.
ROOM: HSS 51
SPEAKER: Mr. Masato Kobayashi
TITLE: “Schubert Numbers”
His committee consists of Professors: Mulay (chair), Anderson, Tzermias, and Langston (EECS).

Tuesday, March 23

Joint NIMBioS Mathematics Department Colloquium
TIME: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
ROOM: NIMBioS Conference Room, 4th Floor, White Avenue Building
SPEAKER: Professor Qing Nie, University of California, Irvine
HOST: Professor Xiaobing Feng
TITLE: “Systems Biology of Cell Signaling”
ABSTRACT: The proper growth, development, and survival of an organism require extensive and accurate communication among cells of the organism. Hence, cells sense and react to a wide variety of stimuli, which convey information such as nutrients, harmful insults, and the state of neighboring cells. Using a systems biology approach that integrates modeling and experimentation, we study two cell signaling systems: 1) robust spatial sensing and signal transduction during mating of yeast cells, and 2) proliferative control of cell lineages in mammalian olfactory epithelium.

Refreshments will be available at 3:15 outside the conference room.

Wednesday, March 24

COARSE GEOMETRY SEMINAR
TIME: 11:15 – 12:05 p.m.
ROOM: Temple 303
SPEAKER: Mr. Chad Kilpatrick
TITLE: “Property A is Equivalent to Nuclearity and Exactness for Countable
Discrete Groups G” V
ABSTRACT: In this talk, we will see that for a countable discrete group G, property A is equivalent to:
1.    Cr*(G) is exact
2.    Cu*(G) is nuclear
3.    Cu*(G) is exact.
Here, a C*-algebra A is defined to be nuclear if for any finite subset F of A, the identity map may be approximated on F by unital completely positive maps which factorize through Mn(C), for some n. In this talk, I closely follow Ch. 4: "Connections with C*-Algebras” from Rufus Willet’s Some Notes on Property A.

Thursday, March 25

JUNIOR COLLOQUIUM
TIME: 3:35 – 4:25 p.m.
ROOM: HBB 102
SPEAKER: Professor Jennifer Quinn, University of Washington, Tacoma
TITLE: “Mathematics to DIE For: A Battle Between Counting and Matching”
ABSTRACT: Positive sums count. Alternating sums match. So which is "easier" to consider mathematically? From the analysis of infinite series, we know that if a positive sum converges, then its alternating sum must also converge but the converse is not true. From linear algebra, we know that the permanent of an n x n matrix is usually hard to calculate, whereas its alternating sum, the determinant, can be computed efficiently and it has many nice theoretical properties.

In this talk, we will visit a variety of positive and alternating sums as two mathematical techniques (direct counting versus matching) compete one-on-one for the title of "Most Superior." You will be the judge and jury. I ask you to consider how the terms in each sum are concretely interpreted. What is being counted? What is being matched? Which leads to simpler results? Which is most elegant? The outcome is not predetermined. You decide!

Pizza available at 3:15 in Aconda Court 113A.

Friday, March 26

TOPOLOGY SEMINAR
TIME: 11:15 – 12:05 p.m..
ROOM: Temple 303
SPEAKER: Mr. Keith Penrod
TITLE: “Group actions on metric and topological spaces”
ABSTRACT: The material is based on Chapter 8 from the book by Bridson and Haefliger (Metric spaces of non-positive curvature).

If you are interested in giving or arranging a talk for one of our seminars or colloquiums, please review our calendar.

If you have questions, or a date you would like to confirm, please contact Dr. Steve Wise.

Week of:

3_15_10.html

3_8_10.html (spring break)