Calendar
Calendar
Posted February 17, 2026
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Keisler Lounge
Laura Kurtz, Louisiana State University
Rerun: Accesibility in LaTeX Workshop
Learn how to make your LaTeX documents readable by screen readers.
Posted February 3, 2026
Mathematical Physics and Representation Theory Seminar
1:30 pm – 2:20 pm Lockett 233
Karl-Hermann Neeb, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Coadjoint orbits carrying Gibbs ensembles
Coadjoint orbits are orbits for the action of a Lie group on the dual of its Lie algebra. They carry a natural symplectic structure and are models for homogeneous systems in classical mechanics. Gibbs measures on these orbits provide a natural setting for models of thermodynamic systems. We say that a coadjoint orbit carries a Gibbs ensemble if the set of all $x$, for which the function $\alpha \mapsto e^{-\alpha(x)}$ on the orbit is integrable with respect to the Liouville measure, has non-empty interior $\Omega_\lambda$. We describe a classification of all coadjoint orbits with this property. In the context of Souriau's Lie group thermodynamics, the subset $\Omega_\lambda$ is the geometric temperature, a parameter space for a family of Gibbs measures on the coadjoint orbit. The corresponding Fenchel--Legendre transform maps $\Omega_\lambda$ (modulo central shifts) diffeomorphically onto the interior of the convex hull of the coadjoint orbit $\cO_\lambda$. This provides an interesting perspective on the underlying information geometry.
Posted November 15, 2025
Last modified January 21, 2026
Algebra and Number Theory Seminar Questions or comments?
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Lockett 233 or click here to attend on Zoom
Marco Sangiovanni Vincentelli, Columbia University
An Euler system for the adjoint of a modular form
Euler systems have proven to be versatile tools for understanding Selmer groups and their connections to special values of $L$-functions. However, despite the key role they have played in making progress toward foundational conjectures in number theory, such as the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer and Bloch–Kato Conjectures, only a handful of provably non-trivial Euler systems have been constructed to date. A significant obstacle to constructing Euler Systems lies in producing candidate Galois cohomology classes. This lecture series presents joint work with Chris Skinner that develops a method to overcome this obstacle. Using this method, we construct an Euler system for the adjoint of a modular form.
Event contact: Gene Kopp
Posted February 6, 2026
5:30 pm Lockett HallASA Excel Workshop
We will be joined by our SOA Liason Matthew who will continue his Excel Workshop from last year! Pizza Will be Served
Posted February 9, 2026
Last modified February 10, 2026
Informal Analysis Seminar Questions or comments?
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Lockett 233
Gustavs Tobiss, Louisiana State University
Bloch's Theorem, Wannierization, and Tight-binding
Posted January 28, 2026
Last modified February 17, 2026
Geometry and Topology Seminar Seminar website
1:30 pm 233 Lockett Hall
Nir Gadish, University of Pennsylvania
Letter braiding invariants of words in groups
How can we tell if a group element can be written as k-fold nested commutator? One way is to find a collection of computable function that vanish only on nested commutators. This talk will introduce letter-braiding invariants - these are elementarily defined functions on words, inspired by the homotopy theory of loop-spaces and carrying deep geometric content. They give a universal finite-type invariant for arbitrary groups, extending the influential Magnus expansion of free groups that already had countless applications in low dimensional topology. As a consequence we get new geometric formulas for braid and link invariants, and a way to linearize automorphisms of general groups that specializes to the Johnson homomorphism of mapping class groups.
Posted January 15, 2026
Last modified February 20, 2026
Informal Geometry and Topology Seminar Questions or comments?
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Lockett Hall 233
Hailey Garcia, Louisiana State University
The Cohomology of the Complement of Hyperplane Arrangements
We consider linear hyperplane arrangements 𝓐 in V=ℂ^n. Of interest is the complement of the arrangement M(𝓐)=M(𝓐)=V\(∪_{H_i∈𝓐}H_i). We will demonstrate the definition and some properties of the Orlik-Solomon algebra A(𝓐) of 𝓐. Then, by considering the deletion-restriction triple (𝓐',𝓐,𝓐''), we demonstrate that the cohomology ring of M(𝓐) is isomorphic to A(𝓐) and hence determined by the combinatorics of the intersection lattice L(𝓐).
Posted January 8, 2026
Control and Optimization Seminar Questions or comments?
9:30 am – 10:20 am Zoom (click here to join)
Lars Gruene, University of Bayreuth
SIAM Fellow
Can Neural Networks Solve High Dimensional Optimal Feedback Control Problems?
Deep reinforcement learning has established itself as a standard method for solving nonlinear optimal feedback control problems. In this method, the optimal value function (and, in some variants, the optimal feedback law also) is stored using a deep neural network. Hence, the applicability of this approach to high-dimensional problems relies crucially on the network's ability to store a high-dimensional function. It is known that for general high-dimensional functions, neural networks suffer from the same exponential growth of the number of coefficients as traditional grid based methods, the so-called curse of dimensionality. In this talk, we use methods from distributed optimal control to describe optimal control problems in which this problem does not occur.
Posted February 9, 2026
LSU AWM Student Chapter LSU AWM Student Chapter Website
12:30 pm the Keiser Lounge, Lockett Hall 3rd floorDiscussion session with Amber Schreve
The AWM Student Chapter is pleased to host a special discussion session with Amber Schreve, a PhD student in Finance at LSU and an actuary at the Louisiana Department of Insurance. She will share her experience as a mathematician working in the actuarial field, discussing her journey from studying mathematics to becoming an actuary. This offers a great opportunity for students to interact with Amber and ask questions about her career motivations and professional path behind transitioning from academia to industry.
Event contact: jgarc86@lsu.edu