Please note that the list below only shows forthcoming events, which may not include regular events that have not yet been entered for the forthcoming term. Please see the past events page for a list of all seminar series that the department has on offer.

 

Tue, 09 Jun 2026
16:00
L5

Hilbert transforms on graph products of finite von Neumann algebras

Xiaoqi Lu
(Glasgow)
Abstract

The boundedness of Fourier multipliers on non-commutative $L_p$-spaces ($1 < p < \infty$) is a fundamental problem in non-commutative analysis. Building on the non-commutative Cotlar identity introduced by Mei and Ricard (2017), which yields $L_p$-boundedness ($1 < p < \infty$) of Hilbert transforms on amalgamated free products of finite von Neumann algebras, their approach relies heavily on freeness in the underlying free product structure.

In this talk, Xiaoqi Lu introduces a new strategy that overcomes this limitation. Our approach combines a generalized Cotlar identity, which holds on suitable subspaces and captures non-freeness information, with an additional condition related to the property of Rapid Decay to control the remaining components. From this framework, we establish the $L_p$-boundedness ($1 < p < \infty$) of Rademacher-type Hilbert transforms on graph products of finite von Neumann algebras. This unified framework extends earlier results for free products of finite von Neumann algebras and for graph products of groups acting on right-angled buildings. This is a joint work with Runlian Xia.

Thu, 11 Jun 2026

14:00 - 15:00
Lecture Room 3

Optimization Algorithms for Bilevel Learning with Applications to Imaging

Dr Lindon Roberts
(Melbourne University)
Abstract

Dr Lindon Roberts will talk about: 'Optimization Algorithms for Bilevel Learning with Applications to Imaging'

Many imaging problems, such as denoising or inpainting, can be expressed as variational regularization problems. These are optimization problems for which many suitable algorithms exist. We consider the problem of learning suitable regularizers for imaging problems from example (training) data, which can be formulated as a large-scale bilevel optimization problem. 

In this talk, I will introduce new deterministic and stochastic algorithms for bilevel optimization, which require no or minimal hyperparameter tuning while retaining convergence guarantees. 

This is joint work with Mohammad Sadegh Salehi and Matthias Ehrhardt (University of Bath), and Subhadip Mukherjee (IIT Kharagpur).

 

 

Thu, 11 Jun 2026
16:00
Lecture Room 4

TBA

Robin Bartlett
(Queen Mary University of London)
Thu, 11 Jun 2026

16:00 - 17:00
L5

TBA

Raeid Saqur
((Mathematical Institute University of Oxford))
Abstract

TBA

Fri, 12 Jun 2026

11:00 - 12:00
L4

Scaling limits for a population model with growth, division and cross-diffusion

Dr Diane Peurichard
(INRIA Paris)
Abstract
Motivated by the modeling of bacteria microcolony morphogenesis across multiple scales, we explore in this talk models for a spatial population of interacting, growing and dividing particles. Starting from a microscopic stochastic model, we first write the corresponding stochastic differential equation satisfied by the empirical measure, and rigorously derive its mesoscopic (mean-field) limit. We then take an interest in the so-called localization limit, to reach a macroscopic (large-scale) model. The scaling consists in assuming that the range of interaction between individuals is very small compared to the size of the domain. In proving the localization limit using compactness arguments, the difficulties are twofold: first, growth and division render the system non-conservative, preventing the use of energy estimates. Second, the size of the particles, being a continuous trait, leads to new difficulties in obtaining compactness estimates. We first show rigorously the localization limit in the case without growth and fragmentation, under smoothness and symmetry assumptions for the interaction kernel. We then perform a thorough numerical study in order to compare the three modeling scales and study the different limits in situations not covered by the theory yet. These works provide a better understanding of the link between the micro- meso- and macro- scales for interacting particle systems. 
 
Co-authors: Marie Doumic (Ecole Polytechnique and Inria, CMA), Sophie Hecht (CNRS, Sorbonne Université) and Marc Hoffmann ( University Paris-Dauphine )
Mon, 15 Jun 2026
13:30
C1

TBA

Max Ryder
((Mathematical Institute University of Oxford))
Abstract

TBA

Mon, 15 Jun 2026

14:00 - 15:00
Lecture Room 3

TBA

Jian-Qing Zheng
(CAMS-Oxford Institute, University of Oxford)
Abstract

TBA

Further Information

Bio: 
Jian-Qing Zheng is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Oxford (2024–present), specialising in artificial intelligence for biomedicine. He obtained his DPhil from Oxford as a Kennedy Trust Scholar. His research develops machine learning frameworks for biomedical and immunological applications, with a focus on robust modelling and real-world impact. He serves on the editorial boards of PLOS Digital Health and MedScience (Springer). He has published over 20 papers in leading venues, including Medical Image Analysis, Cell Research, and IEEE Trans on Signal Proc.

Mon, 15 Jun 2026
14:15
L4

TBA

Partha Ghosh
(IMJ-PRG/Sorbonne Université)
Mon, 15 Jun 2026

15:30 - 16:30
L3

TBA

Emilio Ferrucci
(SISSA)
Abstract

TBA

Mon, 15 Jun 2026

16:30 - 17:30
L2

TBA

Prof. Jinchao Xu
(King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST))
Abstract

TBA

This is a joint OxPDE and Numerical Analysis seminar. 

Tue, 16 Jun 2026

14:00 - 15:00
C3

TBA

Thilo Gross
(University of Oldenburg)
Tue, 16 Jun 2026
16:00
L5

TBC

Peter Huston
(Leeds University)
Abstract

to follow

Thu, 18 Jun 2026

14:00 - 15:00
Lecture Room 3

TBA

Prof Daniele Boffi
(King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST))
Abstract

TBA

Thu, 18 Jun 2026
16:00
Lecture Room 4

TBA

Vandita Patel
(University of Manchester)
Fri, 19 Jun 2026

11:00 - 12:00
L4

First-passage times and queueing behavior of stochastic search with dynamic redundancy and mortality

Dr Samantha Linn
(Department of Mathematics Imperial College London)
Abstract

Stochastic search is ubiquitous in biology and ecology, from synaptic transmission and intracellular signaling to predators seeking prey and the spread of disease. In dynamic systems like these, the number of 'searchers' is rarely constant: new agents may be recruited while others can abandon the search. Despite the ubiquity of these dynamics, their combined influence on search times remains largely unexplored. In this talk we will introduce a general framework for stochastic search in which agents progressively join and leave the process, a mechanism we term 'dynamic redundancy and mortality'. Under minimal assumptions on the underlying search dynamics, our framework yields the exact distribution of the first-passage time to a target region and further reveals surprising connections to stochastic search with stochastic resetting, wherein a single searcher is randomly 'reset' to its initial state. We will then treat the target region as a queue, which we show has interarrival times governed by a thinned nonhomogeneous Poisson process. Altogether this work provides a rigorous foundation for studying stochastic search processes with a fluctuating number of searchers. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Aanjaneya Kumar (Santa Fe Institute) and José Giral-Barajas (Imperial College London).

Thu, 22 Oct 2026

12:00 - 13:00
L3

TITLE TBC

Daniele Avitabile
( Amsterdam Center for Dynamics and Computation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Thu, 12 Nov 2026

14:00 - 15:00

TBA

Dr Peter Braam
(Oxford Physics)
Abstract

TBA

Mon, 30 Nov 2026

14:00 - 15:00
Lecture Room 3

Physics-informed deep generative models: Applications to computational sensing

Professor Marcelo Pereyra
(Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh)
Abstract

Professor Pereyra will talk about; 'Physics-informed deep generative models: Applications to computational sensing'

This talk introduces a novel mathematical and computational framework for constructing high-dimensional Bayesian inversion methods that leverage state-of-the-art generative denoising diffusion models as highly informative priors. A central innovation is the construction of physics-informed generative models using Langevin diffusion processes and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling techniques to develop stochastic neural network architectures capable of near-exact sampling. The obtained networks are modular and composed of interpretable layers that are directly related to statistical image priors and data likelihoods derived from forward observation models. The layers encoding the data likelihood function are designed for flexibility, enabling scene and instrument model parameters to be specified at inference time and seamlessly integrated with pre-trained foundational generative priors. To achieve high computational efficiency, we employ adversarial model distillation, which yields excellent sampling performance with as few as four Markov chain Monte Carlo steps, even in problems exceeding one million dimensions. Our approach is validated through non-asymptotic convergence analysis and extensive numerical experiments in computational image and video restoration. We conclude by discussing unsupervised training strategies that allow the models to be fine-tuned directly from measurement data, thereby bypassing the need for clean reference data.

The talk is based on recent work in physics-informed generative AI for Bayesian imaging: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.12615 (ICCV 2025), which uses a distilled latent Stable Diffusion XL model trained on five billion clean images as a zero-shot prior, and  https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.02686, which integrates pixel-based diffusion models with deep unfolding and diffusion distillation (TMLR 2025). The extension to video restoration is presented in https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.01339 (ICLR 2025). Our approach to unsupervised training of diffusion models is introduced in https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.11964.

 

 

Further Information

Biosketch:
Marcelo Pereyra is a Professor in Statistics and UKRI EPSRC Open Research Fellow at the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences of Heriot-Watt University & Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences. He leads pioneering research advancing the statistical foundations of quantitative and scientific imaging, shaping how image data are used as rigorous quantitative evidence, and forging deep connections between statistical, variational, and machine learning approaches to imaging. His leadership and contributions have been recognized through multiple prestigious awards, most recently a five-year fulltime EPSRC Open Fellowship to drive the next generation of breakthroughs in statistical imaging sciences based on physics-informed generative artificial intelligence. Prof. Pereyra will join Imperial College London in 2027 as Chair in Statistical Machine Learning in the Department of Mathematics.

Prof. Pereyra received the SIAM SIGEST Award in Imaging Sciences for his contributions to Bayesian imaging in 2022. He has held Invited Professor positions at Institut Henri Poincaré (Paris, 2019), Université Paris Cité (2022), Ecole Normale Superiéure Lyon (2023), Université Paris Cité (2024) and Centralle Lille (2025). He is also the recipient of a UKRI EPSRC Open Research Fellowship (2025), a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development (2013), a Brunel Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Statistics (2012), a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from French Ministry of Defence (2012), and a Leopold Escande PhD Thesis award from the University of Toulouse (2012).