Tue, 05 Mar 2019

14:30 - 15:00
L5

MLQMC Methods for Elliptic PDEs Driven by White Noise

Matteo Croci
(Oxford)
Abstract

When solving partial differential equations driven by additive spatial white noise, the efficient sampling of white noise realizations can be challenging. In this talk we focus on the efficient sampling of white noise using quasi-random points in a finite element method and multilevel Quasi Monte Carlo (MLQMC) setting. This work is an extension of previous research on white noise sampling for MLMC.

We express white noise as a wavelet series expansion that we divide in two parts. The first part is sampled using quasi-random points and contains a finite number of terms in order of decaying importance to ensure good QMC convergence. The second part is a correction term which is sampled using standard pseudo-random numbers.

We show how the sampling of both terms can be performed in linear time and memory complexity in the number of mesh cells via a supermesh construction. Furthermore, our technique can be used to enforce the MLQMC coupling even in the case of non-nested mesh hierarchies. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method with numerical experiments.

Tue, 19 Feb 2019

14:00 - 14:30
L3

Stochastic Analysis and Correction of Floating Point Errors in Monte Carlo Simulations

Oliver Sheridan-Methven
(Oxford)
Abstract

In this talk we will show how the floating point errors in the simulation of SDEs (stochastic differential equations) can be modelled as stochastic. Furthermore, we will show how these errors can be corrected within a multilevel Monte Carlo approach which performs most calculations with low precision, but a few calculations with higher precision. The same procedure can also be used to correct for errors in converting from uniform random numbers to approximate Normal random numbers. Numerical results will be generated on both CPUs (using single/double precision) and GPUs (using half/single precision).

Mon, 18 Feb 2019
15:30
L1

Cross ratios on cube complexes and length-spectrum rigidity

Elia Fioravanti
(Oxford)
Abstract

A conjecture from the '80s claims that the isometry type of a closed, negatively curved Riemannian manifold should be uniquely determined by the lengths of its closed geodesics. By work of Otal, this is essentially equivalent to the problem of extending cross-ratio preserving maps between Gromov boundaries of simply connected, negatively curved manifolds. Progress on the conjecture has been remarkably slow, with only the 2-dimensional and locally symmetric cases having been solved so far (Otal '90 and Hamenstädt '99).
Still, it is natural to try leaving the world of manifolds and address the conjecture in the general context of non-positively curved metric spaces. We restrict to the class of CAT(0) cube complexes, as their geometry is both rich and well-understood. We introduce a new notion of cross ratio on their horoboundary and use it to provide a full answer to the conjecture in this setting. More precisely, we show that essential, hyperplane-essential cubulations of Gromov-hyperbolic groups are completely determined by their combinatorial length functions. One can also consider non-proper non-cocompact actions of non-hyperbolic groups, as long as the cube complexes are irreducible and have no free faces.
Joint work with J. Beyrer and M. Incerti-Medici.

Mon, 18 Feb 2019
14:15
L1

RAAGs and Stable Commutator Length

Nicolaus Heuer
(Oxford)
Abstract

Stable commutator length (scl) is a well established invariant of elements g in the commutator subgroup (write scl(g)) and has both geometric and algebraic meaning.  A group has a \emph{gap} in stable commutator length if for every non-trivial element g, scl(g) > C for some C > 0.
SCL may be interpreted as an 'algebraic translation length' and such a gap may be thus interpreted an 'algebraic injectivity radius'.
Many classes of groups have such a gap, like hyperbolic groups, mapping class groups, Baumslag-Solitar groups and graph of groups.
In this talk I will show that Right-Angled Artin Groups have the optimal scl-gap of 1/2. This yields a new invariant for the vast class of subgroups of Right-Angled Artin Groups.

Tue, 19 Feb 2019

14:30 - 15:00
L3

Univariate and Multivariate Polynomials in Numerical Analysis

Lloyd N. Trefethen
(Oxford)
Abstract

We begin by reviewing numerical methods for problems in one variable and find that univariate polynomials are the starting point for most of them.  A similar review in several variables, however, reveals that multivariate polynomials are not so important.  Why?  On the other hand in pure mathematics, the field of algebraic geometry is precisely the study of multivariate polynomials.  Why?

Mon, 04 Feb 2019
15:45
L6

Slice discs in stabilized 4-balls

Matthias Nagel
(Oxford)
Abstract


We recall the impact of stabilizing a 4-manifold with $S^2 \times S^2$. The corresponding local situation concerns knots in the 3-sphere which bound (nullhomotopic) discs in a stabilized 4-ball. We explain how these discs arise, and discuss bounds on the minimal number of stabilizations needed. Then we compare this minimal number to the 4-genus.
This is joint work with A. Conway.

Mon, 04 Feb 2019
12:45
L5

Large-N Non-Supersymmetric 6D CFTs: Hologram or Mirage?

Fabio Abruzzi
(Oxford)
Abstract

In this talk I will present a large class of non-supersymmetric AdS7 solutions of IIA supergravity, and their (in)stabilities. I will start by reviewing supersymmetric AdS7 solutions of 10D supergravity dual to 6D (1,0) SCFTs. I will then focus on their non-supersymmetric counterpart, discussing how they are related. The connection between supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric solutions leads to a hint for the SUSY breaking mechanism, which potentially allows to evade some of the assumptions of the Ooguri-Vafa Conjecture about the AdS landscape. A big subset of these solutions shows a curious pattern of perturbative instabilities whenever many open-string modes are considered. On the other hand an infinite class remains apparently stable.

Tue, 12 Feb 2019

14:30 - 15:00
L5

Optimization Relaxations in Dynamic Pricing

Jaroslav Fowkes
(Oxford)
Abstract

The idea of adjusting prices in order to sell goods at the highest acceptable price, such as haggling in a market, is as old as money itself. We consider the problem of pricing multiple products on a network of resources, such as that faced by an airline selling tickets on its flight network. In this talk I will consider various optimization relaxations to the deterministic dynamic pricing problem on a network. This is joint work with Raphael Hauser.

Tue, 12 Feb 2019

14:00 - 14:30
L5

Direct solvers for the Lippmann-Schwinger equation

Abinand Gopal
(Oxford)
Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in exploiting rank structure of matrices arising from the discretization of partial differential equations to develop fast direct solvers. In this talk, I will outline the fundamental ideas of this topic in the context of solving the integral equation formulation of the Helmholtz equation, known as the Lippmann-Schwinger equation, and will discuss some plans for future work to develop new, higher-order solvers. This is joint work with Gunnar Martinsson.

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