Mon, 08 Jun 2026

15:30 - 16:30
L3

Lateral Boundary Conditions for a Kolmogorov-type PDE

Prof. Richard Sowers
(University of Illinois)
Abstract

We consider a Kolmogorov-type PDE corresponding to a particle under white noise force. We are interested in stopping the process at a fixed position i.e. imposing Dirichlet conditions at a side boundary. We construct a simple Gaussian heat kernel inside the domain and investigate a boundary-layer kernel connected to some work by McKean. We show that this boundary layer heat kernel has a novel jump condition. We outline a polynomial expansion of for the heat kernels and then construct a Volterra equation for solving the original problem. The novel jump leads to a periodic structure of the Volterra equation.

Thu, 11 Jun 2026
17:00
L3

Aspects of 2-categorical logic

Nicola Gambino
(Manchester University)
Abstract
Two ideas underpin categorical logic: first, that a theory can be identified with its associated syntactic category; secondly, that the set-theoretic models of a theory can be identified with functors from its syntactic category to the category of sets and functions preserving suitable structure. This point of view is useful because it often helps us to establish existence of free models. After reviewing these ideas, I will present joint work with Giacomo Tendas on variant in the context of 2-dimensional category theory, in which we are interested in categories, rather than sets, equipped with additional structure (often subject to universal properties). Extra subtleties emerge, as one needs to deal with a form of quantification in between `there exists’ and `there exists a unique’. As an application, we obtain a variety of free 2-categorical constructions, including Joyal’s free bicompletions.
Thu, 14 May 2026
17:00
L3

Is Fp((Q)) NTP2?

Blaise Boissonneau
(HHU Düsseldorf)
Abstract

7 years ago, also in Oxford, Sylvy Anscombe and I asked this question, which is part of the general effort to try and understand the model theory of henselian valued fields through dividing lines. In 2024, Sylvy Anscombe and Franziska Jahnke completely classified NIP henselian valued fields. Their methods can be extended, with the help of works of Chernikov, Kaplan and Simon and of Kuhlmann and Rzepka, to NTP2 henselian valued fields, obtaining the following:

  • if a henselian valued field is NTP2, then it is semitame and its residue field is NTP2;
  • if a henselian valued field is separably algebraically maximal Kaplansky and its residue field is NTP2, then it is NTP2.

This covers a large class of fields, but there is still a gap. Notably, Fp((Q)) is in the middle: it is semitame but not Kaplansky.

To answer this question, we studied so called tame henselian fields with finite residue field, and derived quantifier elimination results, namely, we prove that any formula in the language of valued fields reduces to a formula of the form (∃y f(x,y)=0) ∧ φ(v(x)) ∧ ψ(res(x)), where φ and ψ are formulas in the language of ordered groups and of rings, respectively.

In Fp((Q)) specifically, the valuation ring itself is definable with a diophantine formula (ie of the form ∃y f(x,y)=0), reducing further our quantifier elimination result.

Finally, a large chunk of these formulas are known to be NTP2: when f(x,y) is additive in y, the formula ∃y f(x,y)=z is NTP2 (with respect to x and z). Unfortunately, that does not cover all formulas, so the answer to the titular question is still unknown.

Thu, 07 May 2026
17:00
L3

Definable henselian valuations, revisited

Franziska Jahnke
(Universitat Munster)
Abstract
Non-trivial henselian valuations are often so closely related to the arithmetic of the underlying field that they are encoded in it, i.e., that their valuation ring is first-order definable in the language of rings. In this talk, I will survey and present old and new results around the definability of henselian valuations, also with a view towards parameters and uniformity of definitions.
Thu, 30 Apr 2026
17:00
L3

Large fields, Galois groups, and NIP fields

Will Johnson
(Fudan University)
Abstract
A field K is "large" if every smooth curve over K with at least one K-rational point has infinitely many K-rational points. In this talk, I'll discuss what we know about the relations between the arithmetic condition of largeness and the model-theoretic conditions of stability and NIP. Stable large fields are separably closed. For NIP large fields, we know something much weaker: there is a canonical field topology satisfying a weak form of the implicit function theorem for polynomials. Conjecturally, any stable or NIP infinite field should be large. I will discuss these results, as well as the following conjecture: if K is a field and p is a prime and every separable extension of K has degree prime to p, then K is large. This conjecture would imply that NIP fields of positive characteristic are large, and would classify stable fields of positive characteristic. I will present some (very weak) evidence for this conjecture.
Tue, 16 Jun 2026
13:00
L3

Machine Learning in Mathematics and Physics

Andrei Constantin
(Birmingham)
Abstract
Machine learning is beginning to have an impact on some of the hardest problems in mathematics and theoretical physics. In this talk I will discuss several examples where machine learning has helped to tackle questions that are otherwise computationally or conceptually challenging, including problems in knot theory and low-dimensional topology, optimisation in large discrete spaces, the generation of mathematical conjectures, and the study of Calabi-Yau geometries arising in string theory. Along the way, I will discuss both what machine learning can and cannot do in these settings, and how ideas from physics, such as symmetry, geometry, and statistical mechanics, have influenced the development of modern machine learning itself.


 

Thu, 26 Mar 2026

15:00 - 17:00
L3

Renormalisation group on Lorentzian manifolds using (p)AQFT

Kasia Rejzner
(University of York)
Abstract

I will start the talk by discussing renormlisation group in perturbative algebraic quantum field theory (pAQFT) and its non-perturbative incarnation acting on the Buchholz-Fredenhagen dynamical C*-algebra. I will also explain how pAQFT can be used to derive functional renormlisation group (FRG) equations that generalize Wetterich equations to globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifolds and arbitrary states (beyond the usual FRG in the vacuum).

Thu, 26 Mar 2026

11:00 - 13:00
L3

Mathematics behind perturbative quantisation of gauge theories on curved spacetimes

Kasia Rejzner
(University of York)
Abstract
In this talk I will briefly introduce the framework of perturbative algebraic quantum field theory (pAQFT), which is a mathematically rigorous formulation of perturbative QFT that works on a large class of Lorentzian manifolds (globally hyperbolic ones). Then I will focus on the problem of quantisation of gauge theories, which is performed using the Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) framework. I will also discuss the connection to the factorization algebras framework of Costello and Gwilliam.
 


 

Mon, 11 May 2026

15:30 - 16:30
L3

Formation of clusters and coarsening in weakly interacting diffusions

Prof. Greg Pavliotis
(Imperial)
Abstract

We study the clustering behavior of weakly interacting diffusions under the influence of sufficiently localized attractive interaction potentials on the one-dimensional torus. We describe how this clustering behavior is closely related to the presence of discontinuous phase transitions in the mean-field PDE. For local attractive interactions, we employ a new variant of the strict Riesz rearrangement inequality to prove that all global minimizers of the free energy are either uniform or single-cluster states, in the sense that they are symmetrically decreasing. We analyze different timescales for the particle system and the mean-field (McKean-Vlasov) PDE, arguing that while the particle system can exhibit coarsening by both coalescence and diffusive mass exchange between clusters, the clusters in the mean-field PDE are unable to move and coarsening occurs via the mass exchange of clusters. By introducing a new model for this mass exchange, we argue that the PDE exhibits dynamical metastability. We conclude by presenting careful numerical experiments that demonstrate the validity of our model.

Mon, 15 Jun 2026

15:30 - 16:30
L3

Orthogonal polynomials on path-space

Emilio Ferrucci
(SISSA)
Abstract
We consider the orthogonalisation of the signature of a stochastic process as the analogue of orthogonal polynomials on path-space. Under an infinite radius of convergence assumption, we prove density of linear functions on the signature in L^p functions on grouplike elements, making it possible to represent a square-integrable function on (rough) paths as an L^2 -convergent series. By viewing the shuffle algebra as commutative polynomials on the free Lie algebra, we revisit much of the theory of classical orthogonal polynomials in several variables, such as the recurrence relation and Favard’s theorem. Finally, we restrict our attention to the case of Brownian motion with and without drift, and prove that dimension-independent orthogonal signature exists with drift but not without. We end with numerical examples of how orthogonal signature polynomials of Brownian motion can be applied to the approximation of functions on paths sampled from the Wiener measure.
 
This talk will be based on the joint work available online at https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.18808.


 

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