Search Talks

I will present a brief introduction to Nested Sampling, a complementary framework to Markov Chain Monte Carlo approaches that is designed to estimate marginal likelihoods (i.e. Bayesian evidences) and posterior distributions. This will include some discussion on the philosophical distinctions and motivations of Nested Sampling, a few ways of understanding why/how it works, some of its pros and cons, and more recent extensions such as Dynamic Nested Sampling. If time/interest permits, I can either (a) highlight how this can work in practice using the public Python package dynesty​ or (b) discuss the more general problem of model selection and why Bayesian evidences may (or may not) be helpful.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/95990705337?pwd=VzB4cjhzSDhoM0RCYTNwZHUzUVlzdz09

The Lagrangian Floer homology of a pair of holomorphic Lagrangian submanifolds of a hyperkahler manifold is expected to simplify, by work of Solomon-Verbitsky and others. This occurs in part because, in this setting, the symplectic action functional, the gradient flow of which computes Lagrangian Floer homology, is the real part of a holomorphic function. As noted by Haydys, thinking of this holomorphic function as a superpotential on an infinite-dimensional symplectic manifold gives rise to a quaternionic analog of Floer's equation for holomorphic strips: the Fueter equation. I will explain how this line of thought gives rise to a `complexification' of Floer's theorem identifying Fueter maps in cotangent bundles to Kahler manifolds with holomorphic planes in the base. This complexification has a conjectural categorical interpretation, giving a model for Fukaya-Seidel categories of Lefshetz fibrations, which should have algebraic implications for the study of Fukaya categories. This is a report on upcoming joint work with Aleksander Doan.

I will discuss a method to associate new types of quantum groups to certain holomorphic Lagrangian fibrations. This algebraic structure controls the enumerative geometry of the variety admitting the Lagrangian fibration in a way analogous to how a quantum group controls the enumerative geometry of a symplectic singularity. Various questions, including the monodromy of the quantum differential equation, can be answered using local-to-global techniques.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/99571261442?pwd=NDZTL1dIbXJPNHZwWVcvSEM4M2crZz09

What is the nature of neutron stars? Where are r-process elements formed in the Universe? Multi-messenger observations of neutron star mergers might provide us with the key to address these and other important open questions in astrophysics. However, multi-messenger astronomy also poses new challenges to theorists and observers attempting to turn complex data into answers. In this talk, I will review our current theoretical understanding of neutron star mergers, I will discuss how their dynamic is imprinted in their multi-messenger emissions, and I will present recent simulation results and their implications. Finally, I will discuss future challenges and prospective for this field.

Zoom Link: https://pitp.zoom.us/j/93367275850?pwd=YngycnN4ZXFDQUhQb2lVaHY3V2k0UT09