Dec 08 (Mon)
13:00 MCS3070 ApplMargarita Staykova (Durham (Physics)): Membrane biophysics: from understanding living cells to creating artificial ones
13:00 MCS2068 StatMarkus Rau (Newcastle): Exploring the Cosmological Parameter Space: Active Subspaces and Efficient MCMC
Modern cosmology is undergoing a big data revolution. The Vera Rubin Observatory and JWST image the Universe to unprecedented precision and depth. By studying the large-scale structure of the Universe, we aim to address some of the most fundamental questions in modern physics, including the nature of dark energy, dark matter, and the overall growth of cosmic structure.
However, a significant challenge lies in accurately modelling the selection function of these surveys and accounting for their uncertainty. Mismodelled selection functions are a vital source of model misspecification in cosmology. I will discuss prospects to improve the treatment of selection functions by including dimensionality reduction techniques in MCMC techniques to efficiently explore the cosmological parameter space.
Venue: MCS2068
14:00 MCS2068 PureStuart White (Oxford): Classifying C*-algebras
Over the last 35 years there has been a large scale programme to classify certain simple C*-algebras. In this talk, I'll introduce C*-algebras and give an overview of the Elliott classification programme: which C*-algebras are classified, and by what? Throughout I will illustrate by examples coming from groups acting on compact Hausdorff spaces. No prior exposure to any form of operator algebras will be assumed.
Venue: MCS2068
Dec 09 (Tue)
13:00 MCS2068 APDEGiacomo Borghi (Heriot-Watt University): Dynamics of measure-valued agents for the minimization of energy functionals
I will present a novel consensus-type multi-agent dynamics where each agent is represented by a probability measure. The agents aim to minimize a given energy functional by evolving towards a weighted barycenter of the ensemble with respect to the 2-Wasserstein metric. We will discuss existence of solutions and the challenges of adding stochasticity to the system. Numerical experiments with empirical and Gaussian measures validate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization strategy. Joint work with M. Herty and A. Stavitskiy (RWTH Aachen).
Venue: MCS2068
Dec 10 (Wed)
16:00 zoom A&CChristian Ferko (Northeastern University): Neural Networks and Quantum Mechanics
Dec 12 (Fri)
13:00 MCS0001 HEPMSungwoo Hong (KAIST, Taejon): Global Aspects of Particle and Defect Physics
In this talk, I will introduce the notion of global aspects in the physics of particles and topological defects. A well-known example is the global structure ambiguity of the Standard Model (SM) gauge group. I will discuss the correlation between the quantization conditions of axiongauge couplings and this global structure, and its implications on axion domain wall physics.
As another example, I will describe how various global structures play important roles in the domain wall problem of the DFSZ axion model. A precise identification of the axion stringdomain wall networkand hence the true nature of the domain wall problembecomes possible by recognizing a discrete overlap between the Peccei-Quinn symmetry and the SM gauge group.
An elegant solution to the domain wall problem can also be realized by introducing another global structure shared between the color and family gauge groups, which gives rise to discrete non-invertible Peccei-Quinn symmetries. This discrete non-invertible symmetry can then be slightly broken by small instanton effects in a UV completion in the form of an SU(9) colorflavor unification.
If time permits, I will also discuss group-theoretic methods for analyzing topological sectors and global structures in Grand Unified Theories, and homotopy group and their exact sequence analysis for non-topological as well as topological defects.
Venue: MCS0001
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Contact: arthur.lipstein@durham.ac.uk
Dec 10 16:00 Christian Ferko (Northeastern University): Neural Networks and Quantum Mechanics
Recent developments have suggested an emerging connection between neural networks and quantum field theories. In this talk, I will describe aspects of this relationship in the simplified setting of 1d QFTs, or models of quantum mechanics, where one has greater theoretical control. For instance, under mild assumptions, one can prove that any model of a quantum particle admits a representation as a neural network. Cherished features of quantum mechanics, such as uncertainty relations, emerge from specific architectural choices that are made to satisfy the axioms of quantum theory. Based on 2504.05462 with Jim Halverson.
Venue: zoom
Usual Venue: MCS2068
Contact: yohance.a.osborne@durham.ac.uk
Dec 09 13:00 Giacomo Borghi (Heriot-Watt University): Dynamics of measure-valued agents for the minimization of energy functionals
I will present a novel consensus-type multi-agent dynamics where each agent is represented by a probability measure. The agents aim to minimize a given energy functional by evolving towards a weighted barycenter of the ensemble with respect to the 2-Wasserstein metric. We will discuss existence of solutions and the challenges of adding stochasticity to the system. Numerical experiments with empirical and Gaussian measures validate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization strategy. Joint work with M. Herty and A. Stavitskiy (RWTH Aachen).
Venue: MCS2068
Usual Venue: MCS3070
Contact: andrew.krause@durham.ac.uk
Dec 08 13:00 Margarita Staykova (Durham (Physics)): Membrane biophysics: from understanding living cells to creating artificial ones
I will present ongoing work from my group that explores how the physical properties of cell membranes shape biological process as diverse as surface area regulation in cells, cell adhesion, and even lumen formation in embryos. I will finish with showing how we use lipid membranes to create bio hybrid materials, made of living cells coupled to artificial scaffolds.
Venue: MCS3070
Usual Venue: MCS2068
Contact: herbert.gangl@durham.ac.uk
No upcoming seminars have been scheduled (not unusual outside term time).
Usual Venue: OC218
Contact: mohamed.anber@durham.ac.uk
For more information, see HERE.
No upcoming seminars have been scheduled (not unusual outside term time).
Usual Venue: MCS3052
Contact: andrew.krause@durham.ac.uk
No upcoming seminars have been scheduled (not unusual outside term time).
Usual Venue: MCS2068
Contact: fernando.galaz-garcia@durham.ac.uk
Jan 15 13:00 Léo Schelstraete (MPI Bonn): TBA
Jan 22 13:00 Chunyang Hu (Durham University): TBA
Feb 05 13:00 Sarah Whitehouse (Sheffield): TBA
Feb 26 13:00 Brendan Guilfoyle (Munster Technological University): TBA
Mar 06 13:00 Julian Scheuer (Goethe University Frankfurt): TBA
Usual Venue: MCS0001
Contact: p.e.dorey@durham.ac.uk,enrico.andriolo@durham.ac.uk,tobias.p.hansen@durham.ac.uk
Dec 12 13:00 Sungwoo Hong (KAIST, Taejon): Global Aspects of Particle and Defect Physics
In this talk, I will introduce the notion of global aspects in the physics of particles and topological defects. A well-known example is the global structure ambiguity of the Standard Model (SM) gauge group. I will discuss the correlation between the quantization conditions of axiongauge couplings and this global structure, and its implications on axion domain wall physics.
As another example, I will describe how various global structures play important roles in the domain wall problem of the DFSZ axion model. A precise identification of the axion stringdomain wall networkand hence the true nature of the domain wall problembecomes possible by recognizing a discrete overlap between the Peccei-Quinn symmetry and the SM gauge group.
An elegant solution to the domain wall problem can also be realized by introducing another global structure shared between the color and family gauge groups, which gives rise to discrete non-invertible Peccei-Quinn symmetries. This discrete non-invertible symmetry can then be slightly broken by small instanton effects in a UV completion in the form of an SU(9) colorflavor unification.
If time permits, I will also discuss group-theoretic methods for analyzing topological sectors and global structures in Grand Unified Theories, and homotopy group and their exact sequence analysis for non-topological as well as topological defects.
Venue: MCS0001
Usual Venue: MCS2068
Contact: michael.r.magee@durham.ac.uk
Dec 08 14:00 Stuart White (Oxford): Classifying C*-algebras
Over the last 35 years there has been a large scale programme to classify certain simple C*-algebras. In this talk, I'll introduce C*-algebras and give an overview of the Elliott classification programme: which C*-algebras are classified, and by what? Throughout I will illustrate by examples coming from groups acting on compact Hausdorff spaces. No prior exposure to any form of operator algebras will be assumed.
Venue: MCS2068
Usual Venue: MCS3070
Contact: joe.thomas@durham.ac.uk
No upcoming seminars have been scheduled (not unusual outside term time).
Usual Venue: MCS2068
Contact: hyeyoung.maeng@durham.ac.uk,andrew.iskauskas@durham.ac.uk
Dec 08 13:00 Markus Rau (Newcastle): Exploring the Cosmological Parameter Space: Active Subspaces and Efficient MCMC
Modern cosmology is undergoing a big data revolution. The Vera Rubin Observatory and JWST image the Universe to unprecedented precision and depth. By studying the large-scale structure of the Universe, we aim to address some of the most fundamental questions in modern physics, including the nature of dark energy, dark matter, and the overall growth of cosmic structure.
However, a significant challenge lies in accurately modelling the selection function of these surveys and accounting for their uncertainty. Mismodelled selection functions are a vital source of model misspecification in cosmology. I will discuss prospects to improve the treatment of selection functions by including dimensionality reduction techniques in MCMC techniques to efficiently explore the cosmological parameter space.
Venue: MCS2068
