All Seminars

Title: Support Vector Machine Classification of Resting State fMRI Datasets Using Dynamic Network Clusters
Undergraduate Thesis Defense: Computer Science
Speaker: Hyo Yul Byun of Emory University
Contact: TBA
Date: 2014-04-15 at 10:30AM
Venue: MSC E408
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Title: Quasirandom Discrete Structures and Powers of Hamilton Cycles
Seminar: Combinatorics
Speaker: Hiep Han of Emory University
Contact: Dwight Duffus, dwight@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2014-04-14 at 4:00PM
Venue: W306
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Abstract:
The aim of the talk is to give a gentle introduction into the topic of quasirandom discrete structures, putting emphasis on linear quasirandom hypergraphs and subsets of integers with small linear bias. We then continue with the study of the extremal behaviour of sparse pseudorandom graphs, a problem which has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. In particular, we shall discuss how to find powers of Hamilton cycles in sufficiently pseudorandom graphs.
Title: Live-Coding in Introductory Computer Science Education
Seminar: CS Undergraduate Honors Thesis Defense
Speaker: Amy Shannon of
Contact: Valerie Summet, valerie@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2014-04-04 at 10:00AM
Venue: W306
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Abstract:
Live-coding, an active learning technique in which students create code solutions during class through group discussion, is an under-used method in computer science education. However, this technique may produce greater learning gains than traditional lectures while requiring less time and effort from the instructor. We begin with a discussion of active learning techniques in STEM disciplines and then present a study to evaluate this instructional method in introductory Computer Science courses. While our results were inconclusive, we discuss several interesting and positive trends related to our live-coding results that deserve further investigation.
Title: Adaptive Approaches to Utility Computing for Scientific Applications
Defense: Dissertation
Speaker: Jaroslaw Slawinski of Emory University
Contact: Jaroslaw Slawinski, jaross@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2014-04-04 at 3:00PM
Venue: W306
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Abstract:
Coupling scientific applications to heterogeneous computational targets requires specialized expertise and enormous manual effort. To simplify the deployment process, we propose a novel adaptive approach that helps execute unmodified applications on raw computational resources. Our method is based on situation-specific “adapter” middleware that builds up target capabilities to fulfill application requirements, avoiding homogenization that may conceal platform-specific features. We investigate three dimensions of adaptation: performance, execution paradigm, and software deployment and propose the ADAPT framework as a methodology and a toolkit that automates execution-related tasks. For parallel applications, ADAPT matches logical communication patterns to physical interconnect topology and improves execution performance by reducing use of long-distance connections. In a proof-of-concept demonstration of application–platform paradigm transformation, ADAPT enables execution of unmodified MPI applications on the Map–Reduce Platform as a Service cloud by recreating and emulating missing MPI capabilities. To facilitate software deployment, ADAPT automatically provisions resources by applying soft-install adapters that dynamically transform target capabilities to satisfy application requirements. As a result of these types of transformations, a broader spectrum of resources can smoothly execute scientific applications, which brings the notion of utility computing closer to reality.
Title: Linear Preserver Problems and Cohomological Invariants
Defense: Dissertation
Speaker: Hernando Bermudez of Emory University
Contact: Hernando Bermudez, hbermud@emory.edu
Date: 2014-04-02 at 4:00PM
Venue: W306
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Abstract:
Let G be a simple linear algebraic group over a field F. In this work we prove several results about G and it's representations.. In particular we determine the stabilizer of a polynomial f on an irreducible representation V of G for several interesting pairs (V,f). We also prove that in most cases if f is a polynomial whose stabilizer has identity component G then there is a correspondence between similarity classes of twisted forms of f and twisted forms of G. In a different direction we determine the group of normalized degree 3 cohomological invariants for most G which are neither simply connected nor adjoint.
Title: Validation of an open source framework for the simulation of blood flow in rigid and deformable vessels
Seminar: N/A
Speaker: Annalisa Quaini of University of Houston
Contact: TBA
Date: 2014-04-02 at 4:00PM
Venue: W302
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Abstract:
We discuss the validation of an open source framework for the solution of problems arising in hemodynamics. The framework is assessed through experimental data for fluid flow in an idealized medical device with rigid boundaries and a numerical benchmark for flow in compliant vessels. The core of the framework is an open source parallel finite element library that features several algorithms for fluid and fluid-structure interaction problems. A detailed account of the methods is provided.
Title: Some People Have All The Luck
Type: N/A
Speaker: Skip Garibaldi / Lawrence Mower of Emory and UCLA / Palm Beach Post
Contact: David Zureick-Brown, dzb@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2014-04-02 at 6:00PM
Venue: MSC E208
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Abstract:
Winning a prize of at least $600 in the lottery is a remarkable thing — for a typical scratcher ticket the odds are worse than 1-in-1200 and 1-in-9000 is a more typical figure. Some people have won several of these large prizes, and clearly they are very lucky or they buy a ton of lottery tickets. When we investigated records of all claimed lottery prizes, we discovered that some people had won hundreds of these prizes! Such people seem to be not just lucky, but suspiciously lucky. We will explain what we thought they might have been up to, what mathematics says about it, and what further investigations revealed. This talk is about joint work with Philip B. Stark. Skip Garibaldi is associate director of UCLA's Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics and a professor in Emory University's Department of Mathematics & Computer Science. His previous work on the lottery received the Lester R. Ford Award and is the subject of a chapter in the popular book “Brain Trust". Millions of people have seen him talk about math on 20/20, CNN, and Fox & Friends, and he is featured in a museum exhibit about mathematics currently on display at Exploration Place in Wichita. Lawrence Mower is an investigative reporter with The Palm Beach Post. He joined The Post in 2013, after working for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where his yearlong investigation into Las Vegas police shootings sparked a Department of Justice investigation and led to reforms in policy and oversight. The five-part series was awarded by the National Headliner Awards, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the ACLU of Nevada, and in 2012 he was named Nevada's Outstanding Journalist by the Nevada Press Association. He is a 2006 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Title: 3F2-hypergeometric functions and supersingular elliptic curves
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Defense: Algebra
Speaker: Sarah Pitman of Emory University
Contact: Ken Ono, ono@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2014-04-01 at 2:30PM
Venue: W304
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Abstract:
Here we explore elliptic curves, specifically supersingular elliptic curves, and their relationship to hypergeometric functions. We begin with some background on elliptic curves, supersingularity, hypergeometric functions, and then use work of El-Guindy, Ono, Kaneko, Zagier, and Monks to extend results. In recent work, Monks described the supersingular locus of families of elliptic curves in terms of 2F1-hypergeometric functions. We “lift" his work to the level of 3F2-hypergeometric functions by means of classical transformation laws and a theorem of Clausen.
Title: Number Theory of Moonshine
Seminar: Algebra
Speaker: Sarah Trebat-Leder of Emory University
Contact: David Zureick-Brown, dzb@mathcs.emory.edu
Date: 2014-04-01 at 4:00PM
Venue: W302
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Abstract:
The classical theory of monstrous moonshine describes the unexpected connection between the representation theory of the monster group $M$, the largest of the simple sporadic groups, and certain modular functions, called Hauptmodln. For example, the $n$th Fourier coefficient of Klein's $j(\tau)$ function is the dimension of the grade $n$ part of a special infinite dimensional representation $V$ of the monster group. Similar phenomena have been shown to hold for the Matthieu group $M_{24}$, but instead of modular functions, mock modular forms must be used. This has been conjecturally generalized even further, to umbral moonshine, which associates to each of 23 Niemeier lattices a finite group, infinite dimensional representation, and mock modular form. We use generalized Borcherds products to relate monstrous moonshine and umbral moonshine. Namely, we show that twisted traces of classical moonshine functions are equal to coefficients of umbral mock modular forms. We also show that certain umbral coefficients have $p$-adic properties.
Title: Combinatorial Objects at the Interface of $q$-series and Modular Forms
Defense: Dissertation
Speaker: Marie Jameson of Emory University
Contact: Marie Jameson, mjames7@emory.edu
Date: 2014-03-31 at 11:30AM
Venue: MSC E406
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Abstract:
In this work, the author proves various results related to $q$-series and modular forms by employing a broad range of tools from analytic number theory, combinatorics, the theory of modular forms, and algebraic number theory. More specifically, the circle method, the connection between modular forms and elliptic curves, continued fractions, period polynomials, and several other tools from the theory of modular forms are used here. These allow the author to prove a number of results related to $q$-series and partition functions, modular forms, period polynomials, and certain quadratic polynomials of a fixed discriminant. This includes a proof of the Alder-Andrews conjecture on certain restricted partition functions, and a resolution of a speculation of Don Zagier regarding the Eichler integrals of a distinguished class of modular forms.