Wed, 25 Feb 2026
16:00
L4

Serre weight conjectures and modularity lifting for GSp4

Heejong Lee
Abstract

Given a Galois representation attached to a regular algebraic cuspidal automorphic representation, the Hodge--Tate weight of the Galois representation is matched with the weight of the automorphic representation. Serre weight conjectures are mod p analogue of such a correspondence, relating ramification at p of a mod p Galois representation and Serre weights of mod p algebraic automorphic forms. In this talk, I will discuss how to understand Serre weight conjectures and modularity lifting as a relationship between representation theory of finite groups of Lie type (e.g. GSp4(Fp)) and the geometry of p-adic local Galois representations. Then I will explain the proof idea in the case of GSp4. This is based on a joint work with Daniel Le and Bao V. Le Hung.

Wed, 04 Mar 2026

11:00 - 13:00
L4

Scaling Limits of Line Models in Degenerate Environment

Henri Elad Altman
(Sorbonne Paris North University)
Abstract

I will discuss a 2-dimensional model of random walk in random environment known as line model. The environment is described by two independent families of i.i.d. random variables dictating rates of jumps in vertical, respectively horizontal directions, and whose values are constant along vertical, respect. horizontal lines. When jump rates are heavy-tailed in one of the directions, the random walk becomes superdiffusive in that direction, with an explicit scaling limit written as a two-dimensional Brownian motion time-changed (in one of the components) by a process introduced by Kesten and Spitzer in 1979. I will present ideas of the proof of this result, which relies on appropriate time-change arguments.  In the case of a fully degenerate environment, I will present a sufficient condition for non-explosion of the process (which is also believed to be sharp), as well as conjectures on the associated scaling limit.

This is based on joint work with J.-D. Deuschel (TU Berlin). 

Wed, 25 Feb 2026

11:00 - 13:00
L4

TBA

Michael Hofstetter
(University of Vienna)
Abstract

TBA

Wed, 18 Feb 2026

11:00 - 13:00
L4

Local and Global Well-Posedness for the Phi^4 Equation in Bounded Domains

Dr Rhys Steele
(Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences)
Abstract

In recent years, a more top-down approach to renormalisation for singular SPDEs has emerged within the theory of regularity structures, based on regularity structures of multi-indices. This approach adopts a geometric viewpoint, aiming to stably parametrise the solution manifold rather than the larger space of renormalised objects that typically arise in fixed-point formulations of the equation. While several works have established the construction of the renormalised data (the model) in this setting, less has been shown with regards to the corresponding solution theory since the intrinsic nature of the model leads to renormalised data that is too lean to apply Hairer’s fixed-point approach.

In this talk, I will discuss past and ongoing work with L. Broux and F. Otto addressing this issue for the Phi^4 equation in its full subcritical regime. We establish local and global well-posedness within the framework of regularity structures of multi-indices; first in a space-time periodic setting and subsequently in domains with Dirichlet boundary conditions.

Tue, 03 Feb 2026

14:00 - 15:00
L4

Cycle-factors of regular graphs via entropy

Lukas Michel
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

It is a classical result that a random permutation of $n$ elements has, on average, about $\log n$ cycles. We generalise this fact to all directed $d$-regular graphs on $n$ vertices by showing that, on average, a random cycle-factor of such a graph has $\mathcal{O}((n\log d)/d)$ cycles. This is tight up to the constant factor and improves the best previous bound of the form $\mathcal{O}({n/\sqrt{\log d}})$ due to Vishnoi. It also yields randomised polynomial-time algorithms for finding such a cycle-factor and for finding a tour of length $(1+\mathcal{O}((\log d)/d)) \cdot n$ if the graph is connected. The latter result makes progress on a restriction of the Traveling Salesman Problem to regular graphs, a problem studied by Vishnoi and by Feige, Ravi, and Singh. Our proof uses the language of entropy to exploit the fact that the upper and lower bounds on the number of perfect matchings in regular bipartite graphs are extremely close.

This talk is based on joint work with Micha Christoph, Nemanja Draganić, António Girão, Eoin Hurley, and Alp Müyesser.

Tue, 10 Feb 2026

14:00 - 15:00
L4

Ramsey numbers of trees

Jun Yan
(University of Oxford)
Abstract

For a tree $T$ whose bipartition classes have sizes $t_1 \ge t_2$, two simple constructions shows that the Ramsey number of $T$ is at least $\max\{t_1+2t_2,2t_1\}-1$. In 1974, Burr conjectured that equality holds for every tree. It turns out that Burr’s conjecture is false for certain trees called the double stars, though all of the known counterexamples have large maximum degrees. In 2002, Haxell, Łuczak, and Tingley showed that Burr’s conjecture is approximately true if one imposes a maximum degree condition.

We show that Burr’s conjecture holds for all trees with up to small linear maximum degrees. That is, there exists $c>0$ such that for every $n$-vertex tree $T$ with maximum degree at most $cn$ and bipartition class sizes $t_1\ge t_2$, its Ramsey number $R(T)$ is exactly $\max\{t_1+2t_2,2t_1\}-1$. We also generalise this result to determine the exact asymmetric Ramsey number $R(T,S)$ of two trees $T$ and $S$ under certain additional conditions, and construct examples showing that these conditions are necessary. 

This talk is based on joint work with Richard Montgomery and Matías Pavez-Signé.

Tue, 10 Mar 2026

14:00 - 15:00
L4

TBC

Sandra Kiefer
(University of Oxford)
Tue, 24 Feb 2026

14:00 - 15:00
L4

Rainbow subgraphs of star-coloured graphs

Katherine Staden
(The Open University)
Abstract

An edge-colouring of a graph $G$ can fail to be rainbow for two reasons: either it contains a monochromatic cherry (a pair of incident edges), or a monochromatic matching of size two. A colouring is a proper colouring if it forbids the first structure, and a star-colouring if it forbids the second structure. I will talk about the problem of determining the maximum number of colours in a star-colouring of a large complete graph which does not contain a rainbow copy of a given graph $H$. This problem is a special case of one studied by Axenovich and Iverson on generalised Ramsey numbers.

Joint work with Allan Lo, Klas Markström, Dhruv Mubayi, Maya Stein and Lea Weber.

Tue, 17 Feb 2026

14:00 - 15:00
L4

Independent set count and independent transversal connectedness

Ross Kang
(University of Amsterdam)
Abstract

I discuss two separate projects which evoke/strengthen connections between combinatorics and ideas from statistical physics.

The first concerns the minimum number of independent sets in triangle-free graphs of a given edge-density. We present a lower bound using a generalisation of the inductive method of Shearer (1983) for the sharpest-to-date off-diagonal Ramsey upper bound. This result is matched remarkably closely by the count in binomial random graphs.

The second sets out a qualitative generalisation of a well-known sharp result of Haxell (2001) for independent transversals in vertex-partitioned graphs of given maximum degree. That is, we consider the space of independent transversals under one-vertex modifications. We show it is connected if the parts are strictly larger than twice the maximum degree, and if the requirement is only at least twice the maximum degree we find an interesting sufficient condition for connectivity.

These constitute joint works with Pjotr Buys, Jan van den Heuvel, and Kenta Ozeki.

If time permits, I sketch some thoughts about a systematic pursuit of more connections of this flavour.

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