## Scientific Lectures

• 9-Mar-07

Amoebas, Coamoebas, and Tropical Geometry

Given a triangle with side lengths 1, log x, log y and opposite interior angles π-u-v, u, v, the functional determinant ∂(x,y)/∂(u,v) is identically equal to 1. This amusing fact is a special ins   more››

University of Calgary

• 8-Mar-07

Risk management for a hydro-based generator

This talk will cover some of the practical applications of risk analysis and hedging programs for a hydro-based energy generator such as BC Hydro. Risk management for BCH provides a unique challenge due to the significant variability in available   more››

University of British Columbia

• 7-Mar-07

Symmetric Markov chains on Z^d with unbounded range

We consider symmetric Markov chains on ^d where we allow arbitrarily large jumps. Under a uniform second moment condition on the conductances, we look at estimates on the transition probabilities, Harnack inequalities, and CLTs. This is joint wor   more››

University of British Columbia

• 7-Mar-07

Identifications in Modular Group Algebras

Let G be a finite p-group and F a field of characteristic p>0. In this talk I shall explain how Lie theoretic methods can be used to identify certain subgroups of G inside the augmentation ideal of the group algebra FG.   more››

University of British Columbia

• 5-Mar-07

Imaging in random media

I will present an overview of some recently developed methods for imaging with array and distributed sensors when the environment between the objects to be imaged and the sensors is complex and only partially known to the imager. This brings in mo   more››

Simon Fraser University

• 2-Mar-07

Stable seismic data recovery

In this paper, directional frames, known as curvelets, are used to recover seismic data and images from noisy and incomplete data. Sparsity and invariance properties of curvelets are exploited to formulate the recovery by a $\ell_1$-norm promoting   more››

University of British Columbia

• 1-Mar-07

Almost-primes represented by quadratic polynomials

Dirichlet's theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions characterizes those linear polynomials which take on prime values infinitely often. However, this is where the current state of knowledge ends. For the case of polynomials with higher degree   more››

University of British Columbia

• 1-Mar-07

Goldton-Yildirim-Pintz and small gaps between primes

I'll give an expository talk, following the recent article of Soundararajan, on the theorem of Goldston, Yildirim, and Pintz that there are infinitely many primes p such that the next prime q satisfies q – p = o(log p).   more››

University of British Columbia

• 28-Feb-07

On Card Shuffling

I will talk about some famous results of Bayer and Diaconis (1992) which permit a rigorous answer to the following question: given a deck of n cards, how many times should it be shuffled so that the deck is in approximately random order? The goal   more››

University of British Columbia

• 28-Feb-07

On braided and ordinary Hopf algebras

Braided Hopf algebras occur naturally in the structure theory of ordinary Hopf algebras. I will show how they arise in this context and how they can be used to construct (and possibly to classify) ordinary finite dimensional Hopf algebras.   more››

University of Alberta

• 27-Feb-07

Littlewood-Richardson coefficients: Reduction formulae and a conjecture by King, Tollu and Toumazet

Littlewood-Richardson coefficients are structural constants of the cohomology ring of Grassmannians and the ring of Schur functions, and they are counted by the number of skew tableaux with certain properties. In this talk, we introduce well   more››

University of British Columbia

• 27-Feb-07

Detecting Spillover: A dynamical systems modeling approach to glutamatergic synaptic signaling

The connectivity of neurons in the hippocampus depends in part on whether neurotransmitter from one release site can leak out and activate receptors in another synapse or extrasynaptic patch. The existence of such 'spillover' is under debate in th   more››

University of British Columbia

• 23-Feb-07

Twisted K-theory (old and new), Part II

Twisted K-theory in terms of Banach algebras and Fredholm operators in an Hilbert space. Some computations.   more››

University of British Columbia

• 23-Feb-07

Modelling biofilm growth in a porous medium with application in bioremediation

Studies on bioremediation in a porous medium have mainly focused on wastewater treatment. The interest in these investigations has focused on optimising degradation rates and substrate loading. Pore clogging has not been studied thoroughly. When p   more››

Simon Fraser University

• 22-Feb-07

Complexity of Dependencies at the Syntactic Level and at the Discourse Level

Aravind K. Joshi is, at present, the Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer and Cognitive Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as the Director of the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science (IRCS) at the University of Pennsylvan   more››

Simon Fraser University

• 21-Feb-07

Twisted K-theory (old and new), Part I

The Brauer group of a space and of a finite group. How are they related to K-theory?   more››

University of British Columbia

• 19-Feb-07

The Reality of Computer Models: Statistics and Virtual Science

Computer models are imperfect representations of real phenomena. An austere view is that validating a model cannot be done, the "primary value of models is heuristic: models are representations, useful for guiding further study but not suscep   more››

University of Alberta