Past Probability Seminars Spring 2020: Difference between revisions

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= Fall 2019 =
= Spring 2020 =


<b>Thursdays in 901 Van Vleck Hall at 2:30 PM</b>, unless otherwise noted.  
<b>Thursdays in 901 Van Vleck Hall at 2:30 PM</b>, unless otherwise noted.  
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== September 12, 2019, [https://perso.univ-rennes1.fr/victor.kleptsyn/ Victor Kleptsyn], CNRS and University of Rennes 1 ==
== January 23, 2020, [https://www.math.wisc.edu/~seppalai/ Timo Seppalainen] (UW Madison) ==
'''Furstenberg theorem: now with a parameter!'''
'''Non-existence of bi-infinite geodesics in the exponential corner growth model
'''


The classical Furstenberg theorem describes the (almost sure) behaviour of a random product of independent matrices; their norms turn out to grow exponentially. In our joint work with A. Gorodetski, we study what happens if the random matrices depend on an additional parameter.
Whether bi-infinite geodesics exist has been a significant open problem in first- and last-passage percolation since the mid-80s.  A non-existence proof  in the case of directed planar last-passage percolation with exponential weights was posted by Basu, Hoffman and Sly in  November 2018. Their proof utilizes estimates from integrable probability.   This talk describes an independent proof completed 10 months later that relies on couplings, coarse graining, and control of geodesics through planarity and increment-stationary last-passage percolation. Joint work with Marton Balazs and Ofer Busani (Bristol).
It turns out that in this new situation, the conclusion changes. Namely, under some conditions, there almost surely exists a (random) "exceptional" set on parameters where the lower limit for the Lyapunov exponent vanishes.
Our results are related to the Anderson localization in dimension one, providing a purely dynamical viewpoint on its proof. I will also speak about some generalizations and related open questions.


== September 19, 2019, [http://math.columbia.edu/~xuanw  Xuan Wu], Columbia University==
== January 30, 2020, [https://www.math.wisc.edu/people/vv-prof-directory Scott Smith] (UW Madison) ==
'''Quasi-linear parabolic equations with singular forcing'''


'''A Gibbs resampling method for discrete log-gamma line ensemble.'''
The classical solution theory for stochastic ODE's is centered around Ito's stochastic integral.  By intertwining ideas from analysis and probability, this approach extends to many PDE's, a canonical example being multiplicative stochastic heat equations driven by space-time white noise.  In both the ODE and PDE settings, the solution theory is beyond the scope of classical deterministic theory because of the ambiguity in multiplying a function with a white noise.  The theory of rough paths and regularity structures provides a more quantitative understanding of this difficulty, leading to a more refined solution theory which efficiently divides the analytic and probabilistic aspects of the problem, and remarkably, even has an algebraic component.


In this talk we will construct the discrete log-gamma line ensemble, which is assocaited with inverse gamma polymer model. This log-gamma line ensemble enjoys a random walk Gibbs resampling invariance that follows from the integrable nature of the inverse gamma polymer model via geometric RSK correspondance. By exploiting such resampling invariance, we show the tightness of this log-gamma line ensemble under weak noise scaling. Furthermore, a Gibbs property, as enjoyed by KPZ line ensemble, holds for all subsequential limits.
In this talk, we will discuss a new application of these ideas to stochastic heat equations where the strength of the diffusion is not constant but random, as it depends locally on the solution. These are known as quasi-linear equations.  Our main result yields the deterministic side of a solution theory for these PDE's, modulo a suitable renormalization.  Along the way, we identify a formally infinite series expansion of the solution which guides our analysis, reveals a nice algebraic structure, and encodes the counter-terms in the PDE. This is joint work with Felix Otto, Jonas Sauer, and Hendrik Weber.


== October 10, 2019, NO SEMINAR - [https://sites.math.northwestern.edu/mwp/ Midwest Probability Colloquium] ==
== February 6, 2020, [https://sites.google.com/site/cyleeken/ Cheuk-Yin Lee] (Michigan State) ==
'''Sample path properties of stochastic partial differential equations: modulus of continuity and multiple points'''


== October 17, 2019, [https://www.usna.edu/Users/math/hottovy/index.php Scott Hottovy], USNA ==
In this talk, we will discuss sample path properties of stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs). We will present a sharp regularity result for the stochastic wave equation driven by an additive Gaussian noise that is white in time and colored in space. We prove the exact modulus of continuity via the property of local nondeterminism. We will also discuss the existence problem for multiple points (or self-intersections) of the sample paths of SPDEs. Our result shows that multiple points do not exist in the critical dimension for a large class of Gaussian random fields including the solution of a linear system of stochastic heat or wave equations.


''' Simplified dynamics for noisy systems with delays.'''
== February 13, 2020, [http://www.jelena-diakonikolas.com/ Jelena Diakonikolas] (UW Madison) ==
'''Langevin Monte Carlo Without Smoothness'''


Many biological and physical systems include some type of random noise with a temporal delay. For example, many sperm cells travel in a random motion where their velocity changes according to a chemical signal. This chemotaxis is transmitted through a delay in the system. That is, the sperm notices chemical gradients after a certain time has elapsed. In this case, the delay causes the sperm to aggregate around the egg. In this talk I will consider a general stochastic differential delay equation (SDDE) with state-dependent colored noises and derive its limit as the time delays and the correlation times of the noises go to zero. The analysis leads to a much simpler Stochastic Differential Equation to study. The work is motivated by an experiment involving an electrical circuit with noisy, delayed feedback. The main methods used in the proof are a theorem about convergence of solutions of stochastic differential equations by Kurtz and Protter and a maximal inequality for sums of a stationary sequence of random variables by Peligrad and Utev.
Langevin Monte Carlo (LMC) is an iterative algorithm used to generate samples from a distribution that is known only up to a normalizing constant. The nonasymptotic dependence of its mixing time on the dimension and target accuracy is understood mainly in the setting of smooth (gradient-Lipschitz) log-densities, a serious limitation for applications in machine learning. We remove this limitation by providing polynomial-time convergence guarantees for a variant of LMC in the setting of non-smooth log-concave distributions. At a high level, our results follow by leveraging the implicit smoothing of the log-density that comes from a small Gaussian perturbation that we add to the iterates of the algorithm and while controlling the bias and variance that are induced by this perturbation.
Based on joint work with Niladri Chatterji, Michael I. Jordan, and Peter L. Bartlett.


== October 24, 2019, [https://math.temple.edu/~brider/ Brian Rider], Temple University ==
== February 20, 2020, [https://math.berkeley.edu/~pmwood/ Philip Matchett Wood] (UC Berkeley) ==
'''A replacement principle for perturbations of non-normal matrices'''


Title: A general beta crossover ensemble
There are certain non-normal matrices whose eigenvalues can change dramatically when a small perturbation is added.  However, when that perturbation is an iid random matrix, it appears that the eigenvalues become stable after perturbation and only change slightly when further small perturbations are added.  Much of the work is this situation has focused on iid random gaussian perturbations.  In this talk, we will discuss work on a universality result that allows for consideration of non-gaussian perturbations, and that shows that all perturbations satisfying certain conditions will produce the same limiting eigenvalue measure.  Interestingly, this even allows for deterministic perturbations to be considered.  Joint work with Sean O'Rourke.


Abstract: I'll describe an operator limit for a family of general beta ensembles which exhibit a double-scaling. In particular, a free parameter in the system provides for a crossover between the more well-known  "soft" and "hard"  edge point processes.  This new limit operator takes as input the Riccati diffusion associated with the Stochastic Airy Operator. I like to suggest that this hints at a hierarchy of random operators analogous to the Painlevé hierarchy observed at the level of correlation functions for double-scaling ensembles most widely studied at beta = 2. Full disclosure: the result remains partially conjectural due to an unresolved  uniqueness question, but I’ll provide lots of evidence to convince you we have the right answer. Joint work with Jose Ramírez (Univ. Costa Rica).
== February 27, 2020, No seminar ==
''' '''


== October 31, 2019, [http://math.mit.edu/~elmos/ Elchanan Mossel], MIT ==
== March 5, 2020, [https://www.ias.edu/scholars/jiaoyang-huang Jiaoyang Huang] (IAS) ==
''' '''


== November 7, 2019, [https://people.kth.se/~tobergg/ Tomas Berggren], KTH Stockholm ==
== March 12, 2020, No seminar ==
''' '''


== November 14, 2019, [https://math.mit.edu/directory/profile.php?pid=2076 Benjamin Landon], MIT ==
== March 19, 2020, Spring break ==
''' '''


== November 21, 2019, Tung Nguyen, UW Madison ==
== March 26, 2020, [https://math.cornell.edu/philippe-sosoe Philippe Sosoe] (Cornell) ==
''' '''


== November 28, 2019, Thanksgiving (no seminar) ==
== April 2, 2020, [http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~tl/ Tianyu Liu] (UW Madison)==
''' '''


== December 5, 2019, Vadim Gorin, UW Madison ==
== April 9, 2020, [http://stanford.edu/~ajdunl2/ Alexander Dunlap] (Stanford) ==
''' '''


== April 16, 2020, [https://statistics.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/dingjian/ Jian Ding] (University of Pennsylvania) ==
''' '''


== April 22-24, 2020, [http://frg.int-prob.org/ FRG Integrable Probability] meeting ==


<!--
3-day event in Van Vleck 911


== <span style="color:red"> Wednesday, February 6 at 4:00pm in Van Vleck 911</span> , [https://lc-tsai.github.io/ Li-Cheng Tsai], [https://www.columbia.edu/ Columbia University] ==
== April 23, 2020, [http://www.hairer.org/ Martin Hairer] (Imperial College) ==


Title: '''When particle systems meet PDEs'''
[https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php/Colloquia Wolfgang Wasow Lecture] at 4pm in Van Vleck 911
 
== April 30, 2020, [http://willperkins.org/ Will Perkins] (University of Illinois at Chicago) ==
''' '''


Abstract: Interacting particle systems are models that involve many randomly evolving agents (i.e., particles). These systems are widely used in describing real-world phenomena. In this talk we will walk through three facets of interacting particle systems, namely the law of large numbers, random fluctuations, and large deviations. Within each facet, I will explain how Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) play a role in understanding the systems..




== <span style="color:red">'''Tuesday''' </span>, May 7,  Van Vleck 901, 2:25pm, Duncan Dauvergne (Toronto) ==




<div style="width:250px;height:50px;border:5px solid black">
<b><span style="color:red">&emsp; Please note the unusual day.
&emsp; </span></b>
</div>
Title: '''The directed landscape'''


Abstract: I will describe the construction of the full scaling limit of (Brownian) last passage percolation: the directed landscape. The directed landscape can be thought of as a random scale-invariant `directed' metric on the plane, and last passage paths converge to directed geodesics in this metric. The directed landscape is expected to be a universal scaling limit for general last passage and random growth models (i.e. TASEP, the KPZ equation, the longest increasing subsequence in a random permutation). Joint work with Janosch Ormann and Balint Virag.
-->


== ==


[[Past Seminars]]
[[Past Seminars]]

Revision as of 00:38, 12 February 2020


Spring 2020

Thursdays in 901 Van Vleck Hall at 2:30 PM, unless otherwise noted. We usually end for questions at 3:20 PM.

If you would like to sign up for the email list to receive seminar announcements then please send an email to join-probsem@lists.wisc.edu


January 23, 2020, Timo Seppalainen (UW Madison)

Non-existence of bi-infinite geodesics in the exponential corner growth model

Whether bi-infinite geodesics exist has been a significant open problem in first- and last-passage percolation since the mid-80s. A non-existence proof in the case of directed planar last-passage percolation with exponential weights was posted by Basu, Hoffman and Sly in November 2018. Their proof utilizes estimates from integrable probability. This talk describes an independent proof completed 10 months later that relies on couplings, coarse graining, and control of geodesics through planarity and increment-stationary last-passage percolation. Joint work with Marton Balazs and Ofer Busani (Bristol).

January 30, 2020, Scott Smith (UW Madison)

Quasi-linear parabolic equations with singular forcing

The classical solution theory for stochastic ODE's is centered around Ito's stochastic integral. By intertwining ideas from analysis and probability, this approach extends to many PDE's, a canonical example being multiplicative stochastic heat equations driven by space-time white noise. In both the ODE and PDE settings, the solution theory is beyond the scope of classical deterministic theory because of the ambiguity in multiplying a function with a white noise. The theory of rough paths and regularity structures provides a more quantitative understanding of this difficulty, leading to a more refined solution theory which efficiently divides the analytic and probabilistic aspects of the problem, and remarkably, even has an algebraic component.

In this talk, we will discuss a new application of these ideas to stochastic heat equations where the strength of the diffusion is not constant but random, as it depends locally on the solution. These are known as quasi-linear equations. Our main result yields the deterministic side of a solution theory for these PDE's, modulo a suitable renormalization. Along the way, we identify a formally infinite series expansion of the solution which guides our analysis, reveals a nice algebraic structure, and encodes the counter-terms in the PDE. This is joint work with Felix Otto, Jonas Sauer, and Hendrik Weber.

February 6, 2020, Cheuk-Yin Lee (Michigan State)

Sample path properties of stochastic partial differential equations: modulus of continuity and multiple points

In this talk, we will discuss sample path properties of stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs). We will present a sharp regularity result for the stochastic wave equation driven by an additive Gaussian noise that is white in time and colored in space. We prove the exact modulus of continuity via the property of local nondeterminism. We will also discuss the existence problem for multiple points (or self-intersections) of the sample paths of SPDEs. Our result shows that multiple points do not exist in the critical dimension for a large class of Gaussian random fields including the solution of a linear system of stochastic heat or wave equations.

February 13, 2020, Jelena Diakonikolas (UW Madison)

Langevin Monte Carlo Without Smoothness

Langevin Monte Carlo (LMC) is an iterative algorithm used to generate samples from a distribution that is known only up to a normalizing constant. The nonasymptotic dependence of its mixing time on the dimension and target accuracy is understood mainly in the setting of smooth (gradient-Lipschitz) log-densities, a serious limitation for applications in machine learning. We remove this limitation by providing polynomial-time convergence guarantees for a variant of LMC in the setting of non-smooth log-concave distributions. At a high level, our results follow by leveraging the implicit smoothing of the log-density that comes from a small Gaussian perturbation that we add to the iterates of the algorithm and while controlling the bias and variance that are induced by this perturbation. Based on joint work with Niladri Chatterji, Michael I. Jordan, and Peter L. Bartlett.

February 20, 2020, Philip Matchett Wood (UC Berkeley)

A replacement principle for perturbations of non-normal matrices

There are certain non-normal matrices whose eigenvalues can change dramatically when a small perturbation is added. However, when that perturbation is an iid random matrix, it appears that the eigenvalues become stable after perturbation and only change slightly when further small perturbations are added. Much of the work is this situation has focused on iid random gaussian perturbations. In this talk, we will discuss work on a universality result that allows for consideration of non-gaussian perturbations, and that shows that all perturbations satisfying certain conditions will produce the same limiting eigenvalue measure. Interestingly, this even allows for deterministic perturbations to be considered. Joint work with Sean O'Rourke.

February 27, 2020, No seminar

March 5, 2020, Jiaoyang Huang (IAS)

March 12, 2020, No seminar

March 19, 2020, Spring break

March 26, 2020, Philippe Sosoe (Cornell)

April 2, 2020, Tianyu Liu (UW Madison)

April 9, 2020, Alexander Dunlap (Stanford)

April 16, 2020, Jian Ding (University of Pennsylvania)

April 22-24, 2020, FRG Integrable Probability meeting

3-day event in Van Vleck 911

April 23, 2020, Martin Hairer (Imperial College)

Wolfgang Wasow Lecture at 4pm in Van Vleck 911

April 30, 2020, Will Perkins (University of Illinois at Chicago)





Past Seminars