I'll start with definitions and basic properties of Brauer-Grothendieck groups and Brauer-Manin sets of algebraic varieties. After that I'll discuss several finiteness results for these groups with special reference to the case of abelian varieties and K3 surfaces.
This is a report on joint work with Alexei Skorobogatov.
We study the map that sends a monic degree n complex polynomial f(x) without multiple roots to the collection of n values of its derivative at the roots of f(x). It turns out that the differential (tangent map) of this map always has rank n-1.
I will discuss the problem of global well-posedness for equivariant
Scroedinger Maps with energy below the natural threshold both in the focusing (maps to S^2) and defocusing case (maps to H^2).
One of the great, open challenges in machine vision is to train a
computer to "see people." A reliable solution opens up tremendous
possibilities, from automated persistent surveillance and
next-generation image search, to more intuitive computer interfaces.
It is difficult to analyze people, and objects in general, because
their appearance can vary due to a variety of "nuisance" factors
(including viewpoint, body pose, and clothing) and because real-world
images contain clutter. I will describe machine learning algorithms
that accomplish such tasks by encoding image statistics of the visual
world learned from large-scale training data. I will focus on
predictive models that produce rich, structured descriptions of images
and videos (How many people are present? What are they doing?) and
models that compensate for nuisance factors through the use of latent
variables. I will illustrate such approaches for the tasks of object
detection, people tracking, and activity recognition, producing
state-of-the-art systems as evidenced by recent benchmark
competitions.
We report on recent and ongoing work with Zhou Gang and I.M.
Sigal in which we prove that all MCF neckpinches are asymptotically
rotationally symmetric. Combined with recent work of other authors, this
represents strong evidence in favor of the conjecture that MCF solutions
originating from generic initial data are constrained to one of exactly
two asymptotic singularity profiles.
We prove a theorem of Woodin that, assuming $\mathsf{ZF} + \mathsf{AD}+ \theta_0 < \Theta$, every $\Pi^2_1$ set of reals has a semi-scale whose norms are ordinal-definable. The consequence of $\mathsf{AD}+\theta_0 < \Theta$ that we use is the existence of a countably complete fine measure on a certain set, which itself is a set of measures. If time permits, we outline how "semi-scale" can be improved to "scale" in the theorem using a technique of Jackson.
In the talk I will describe my recent work, joint with Carlos Kenig and
Fanghua Lin, on homogenization of the Green and Neumann functions for a family of second order elliptic systems with highly oscillatory periodic coefficients. We study the asymptotic behavior of the first derivatives of the Green and Neumann functions, using Dirichlet and Neumann correctors. As a result, we obtain asymptotic expansions of Poisson kernels and the Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps as well as optimal convergence rates in L^p and W^{1,p} for solutions with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions.
In the talk, we will explain some joint work with Ovidiu Munteanu
concerning the geometry and analysis of complete manifolds with
Bakry-Emery Ricci curvature bounded from below.
Which natural numbers occur as the area of a right triangle with three rational sides? This is a very old question and is still unsolved, although partial answers are known (for example, five is the smallest such natural number). In this talk we will discuss this problem and recent progress that has come about through its connections with elliptic curves and other important open questions in number theory.
When does a majority exist? How does the geometry of the political spectrum influence the outcome? What does mathematics have to say about how people behave? When mathematical objects have a social interpretation, the associated theorems have social applications. We give examples of situations where sets model preferences, and prove extensions of classical theorems on convex sets that can be used in the analysis of voting in "agreeable" societies. This talk also features research with undergraduates.