Matrix-weighted networks for modeling multidimensional dynamics
Tian, Y Kojaku, S Sayama, H Lambiotte, R arXiv (07 Oct 2024)

James has recently started as the department’s Industry Engagement Officer. He acts as the primary point of contact for day-to-day interactions between the department and our partners in business, industry and government. As well as nurturing existing relationships, he is looking to expand the portfolio of companies we work with. Currently, James is working on pulling together industrial projects for the MMSC MSc students, but is more than happy to have a chat about knowledge exchange more generally.

Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Mathematics with Worcester College (with a preference for Numerical Analysis)

Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Mathematics with New College (with a preference for Numerical Analysis)

Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Mathematical Finance

Senior Research Fellow in Functional Analysis

Chill time.

O Sapientia (O Wisdom) is one of the seven Great Advent Antiphons sung in Christian churches dating back to the sixth century. In fact we are a little early as O Sapientia, the first of the seven, is usually sung on 17th December.

Dawid and Mark are among four University of Oxford researchers who have been awarded European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants, part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. These grants, totalling €678 million this year, aim to support outstanding scientists and scholars as they establish their independent research teams and develop their most promising scientific ideas.

Fri, 06 Dec 2024
15:00
L5

From single neurons to complex human networks using algebraic topology

Lida Kanari
(École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL))

Note: we would recommend to join the meeting using the Teams client for best user experience.

Abstract

Topological data analysis, and in particular persistent homology, has provided robust results for numerous applications, such as protein structure, cancer detection, and material science. In the field of neuroscience, the applications of TDA are abundant, ranging from the analysis of single cells to the analysis of neuronal networks. The topological representation of branching trees has been successfully used for a variety of classification and clustering problems of neurons and microglia, demonstrating a successful path of applications that go from the space of trees to the space of barcodes. In this talk, I will present some recent results on topological representation of brain cells, with a focus on neurons. I will also describe our solution for solving the inverse TDA problem on neurons: how can we efficiently go from persistence barcodes back to the space of neuronal trees and what can we learn in the process about these spaces. Finally, I will demonstrate how algebraic topology can be used to understand the links between single neurons and networks and start understanding the brain differences between species. The organizational principles that distinguish the human brain from other species have been a long-standing enigma in neuroscience. Human pyramidal cells form highly complex networks, demonstrated by the increased number and simplex dimension compared to mice. This is unexpected because human pyramidal cells are much sparser in the cortex. The number and size of neurons fail to account for this increased network complexity, suggesting that another morphological property is a key determinant of network connectivity. By comparing the topology of dendrites, I will show that human pyramidal cells have much higher perisomatic (basal and oblique) branching density. Therefore greater dendritic complexity, a defining attribute of human L2 and 3 neurons, may provide the human cortex with enhanced computational capacity and cognitive flexibility.

Rational approximation of holomorphic semigroups revisited
Batty, C Gomilko, A Tomilov, Y Journal of the London Mathematical Society volume 111 issue 1 e70066 (10 Jan 2025)
Photo
Two Oxford Mathematicians are among four University of Oxford researchers who have been awarded European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants, part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. These grants, totalling €678 million this year, aim to support outstanding scientists and scholars as they establish their independent research teams and develop their most promising scientific ideas.
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