BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Simons Foundation - ECPv6.6.3//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Simons Foundation X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Simons Foundation REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20150308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20151101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20160313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20161106T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160427T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160427T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20160216T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181531Z UID:345-1461776400-1461780900@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:One Brain\, Many Genomes: Somatic Mutation and Genomic Variability in Human Cerebral Cortex DESCRIPTION:Christopher Walsh and his team are interested in genetic mechanisms of cerebral cortical development and abnormalities of cortical development resulting in intellectual disability\, autism and epilepsy. The lab pioneered the analysis of recessive causes of autism by studying children with autism whose parents share ancestry. \nWalsh will review recent work on ‘somatic mutations’ — de novo mutations that are present in some brain cells but not in all cells of the body — in several neurological conditions associated with intellectual disability and seizures. The talk will also cover the extent to which somatic mutations are an inevitable part of normal brain development\, such that the neurons in the human brain are a tapestry of cells with distinct genomes. He will also discuss the relevance of somatic mutations to autism. \nWalsh is chief of the division of genetics and genomics at Boston Children’s Hospital\, Bullard Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology at Harvard Medical School\, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago\, trained in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital\, and has been at Children’s Hospital since 2006. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/one-brain-many-genomes-somatic-mutation-and-genomic-variability-in-human-cerebral-cortex/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Autism: Emerging Concepts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180944/WalshChristopherDSC_0007.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20160422 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20160423 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20170811T205354Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251202T213900Z UID:15091-1461283200-1461369599@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:2016 Conference on Theory & Biology DESCRIPTION: URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/2016-conference-on-theory-biology/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Ave\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160420T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160420T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20160113T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181522Z UID:334-1461171600-1461176100@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Integrability and Universality in Probability DESCRIPTION:Integrability and universality are key concepts that underlie many developments in modern probability. Integrable probabilistic systems are very special — they possess additional structures that make them amenable to a detailed analysis. The universality principle states that probabilistic systems from the same ‘universality class’ share many features. Thus\, generic systems must be similar to the integrable ones in the class. In this lecture\, Alexei Borodin will illustrate how these two concepts work together in examples from random matrices to random interface growth. \nDr. Borodin joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty as professor of mathematics in 2010. He studies problems on the interface of representation theory and probability that link to combinatorics\, random matrix theory and integrable systems. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/integrability-and-universality-in-probability/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Math and its Applications ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180926/Borodin_photo.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160417T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160423T000000 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20150904T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T173219Z UID:4073-1460851200-1461369600@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Geometry Over Nonclosed Fields (2016) DESCRIPTION:April 17-23\, 2016\n\n \nOrganizers:\nFedor Bogomolov\, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences\nBrendan Hassett\, Brown University\nYuri Tschinkel\, Simons Foundation \nRelated Links:\n\n2012 Simons Symposium on Geometry Over Nonclosed Fields\n2015 Simons Symposium on Geometry Over Nonclosed Fields\n\nThe focus of this third symposium on Geometry Over Nonclosed Fields was zero-cycles and related Chow-theoretic and birational invariants for higher-dimensional algebraic varieties over various fields. Creative applications of “decomposition of the diagonal”\, in combination with deformation theory and unramifed cohomology\, have led to new proofs of irrationality for complex varieties. We expect these techniques may shed new light on rational points for varieties over non-closed fields\, e.g.\, del Pezzo surfaces over function fields. \nClick here for a PDF of the schedule and participant list\, or see the Agenda and Participants sections below. \n\nAgenda & Slides\n\n\n\nSunday\n \n\n\n 8:00 – 10:00 PM\nDinner\n\n\nMonday\nRationality Problems\n\n\n 9:30 – 11:00 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n11:00 AM – 12:00 PM\nAsher Auel: Stable rationality of quadric bundles\n\n\n12:00 – 12:30 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30 PM\nSujatha Ramdorai: Birational geometry and derived birational invariants (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch \n\n\n 2:30 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n 5:00 – 6:00 PM\nIvan Cheltsov: Rationality and non-rationality of singular Fano threefolds\n\n\n 6:00 – 7:00 PM\nKonstantin Shramov: Fano threefolds with large automorphism groups\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner at the Wintergarden\n\n\n\nTuesday\nArithmetic Problems\n\n\n 9:30 – 11:00 AM\nBreakfast \n\n\n11:00 AM – 12:00 PM\nAntoine Chambert-Loir: Motivic Poisson formula and motivic height zeta functions (Slides PDF)\n\n\n12:00 – 12:30 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30 PM\nJulia Hartmann: Local-Global Principles for Rational Points on Homogeneous Varieties (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch \n\n\n 2:30 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n 5:00 – 6:00 PM\nBruno Kahn: Torsion index of algebraic surfaces\n\n\n 6:00 – 7:00 PM\nRaman Parimala: Unramified cohomology of quadric bundles over surfaces\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner \n\n\n\nWednesday\nAutomorphisms\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:00 AM – 2:00 PM\nGuided Hike to Partnach Gorge\n\n\n 2:00 – 3:00 PM\nLunch\n\n\n 3:00 – 5:00 PM\nRecreation & Discussion\n\n\n 5:00 – 5:30 PM\nTea & Discussion\n\n\n 5:30 – 6:30 PM\nMisha Verbitsky: Constructing automorphisms of hyperkahler manifolds (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 7:00 – 8:00 PM\nConcert\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner \n\n\n\nThursday\nCohomology\n\n\n 9:30 – 11:00 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n11:00 AM – 12:00 PM\nJean-Louis Colliot-Thélène: A survey on unramified cohomology (Slides PDF)\n\n\n12:00 – 12:30 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30 PM\nPhilippe Gille: Serre’s conjecture II for groups of type E7 (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch \n\n\n 2:30 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n 5:00 – 6:00 PM\nHélène Esnault: Lefschetz theorems (mostly) over finite fields\n\n\n 6:00 – 7:00 PM\nAlena Pirutka: Rationality in families and quadric bundles (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner\n\n\n\nFriday\nGeometry Over the Reals\n\n\n 9:30 – 11:00 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n11:00 AM – 12:00 PM\nOlivier Wittenberg: On the integral Hodge conjecture for real threefolds\n\n\n12:00 – 12:30 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30 PM\nOlivier Benoist: On Hilbert’s 17th problem in low degree\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch \n\n\n 2:30 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n 5:00 – 6:30 PM\nDiscussion \n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner at Kaminstüberl\n\n\nParticipants\n\n\n\nAsher Auel\nYale University\n\n\nArnaud Beauville\nUniversité de Nice\n\n\nOlivier Benoist\nUniversité de Strasbourg \n\n\nFedor Bogomolov\nCourant Institute of Mathematical Sciences\n\n\nAntoine Chambert-Loir\nUniversité Paris-Sud \n\n\nIvan Cheltsov\nUniversity of Edinburgh and Moscow Higher School of Economics\n\n\nJean-Louis Colliot-Thélène\nUniversité Paris-Sud \n\n\n Hélène Esnault\nFreie Universität Berlin\n\n\nPhilippe Gille\nUniversite Claude Bernard Lyon 1\n\n\nJulia Hartmann\nUniversity of Pennsylvania\n\n\nBrendan Hassett\nBrown University\n\n\nDaniel Huybrechts\nUniversity of Bonn\n\n\nBruno Kahn\nInstitute de Mathematiques de Jussieu-Paris Rive Gauche\n\n\nMoritz Kerz\nUniversität Regensburg\n\n\nAndrew Kresch\nUniversität Zürich\n\n\nAlena Pirutka\nCentre de Mathématiques Laurent Schwartz\n\n\nYuri Prokhorov\nNational Research University\n\n\nParimala Raman\nEmory University\n\n\nSujatha Ramdorai\nTata Institute of Fundamental Research\n\n\nKonstantin Shramov\nMoscow Higher School of Economics\n\n\nYuri Tschinkel\nSimons Foundation\n\n\nTony Varilly-Alvarado\nRice University\n\n\nMisha Verbitsky\nMoscow Higher School of Economics\n\n\nOlivier Wittenberg\nÉcole Normale Supérieure\n\n\n\n \n« Back to Simons Symposia URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/geometry-over-nonclosed-fields/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160413T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160413T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20160210T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181513Z UID:343-1460566800-1460571300@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Einstein's Blunder Undone DESCRIPTION:Just 100 years ago\, Albert Einstein invented a new theory of gravity called “general relativity” and rapidly applied it to the problem of the study of the universe as a whole. To match astronomers’ understanding at the time\, he introduced the cosmological constant\, a mathematical term that allowed for a static universe. In the following decade\, astronomers showed the universe was not static but expanding\, and Einstein banished the cosmological term. However\, in the past 20 years\, astronomers have shown that the universe is not only expanding\, but that this expansion is speeding up. What drives this cosmic acceleration? We call it dark energy\, but it might be very similar to Einstein’s idea from a century ago. \nIn this talk\, Robert Kirshner will show how we discovered cosmic acceleration and present the evidence that we live in a universe that is only 4 percent ordinary matter\, like the atoms of the periodic table\, with the balance divided between mysterious dark energy that speeds up cosmic expansion and equally mysterious dark matter that draws matter together. \nKirshner is the Clowes Professor of Science at Harvard University. This year\, he is on leave at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in Palo Alto\, heading their science program. He has been a leader in the use of supernova explosions to chart the expansion history of the universe\, winning the 2015 Wolf Prize in Physics for this work. At Harvard\, he served as Master of Quincy House\, an undergraduate residential community\, Astronomy Department chair\, and taught a large undergraduate course for students who were not planning to take any other science courses. A frequent public speaker on science\, he is also author of the popular-audience book The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars\, Dark Energy\, and the Accelerating Universe\, which is available in English\, Spanish\, Portuguese\, Japanese\, and Czech. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/einsteins-blunder-undone/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180939/Bob_095_AdobeRGB.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160410T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160416T000000 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20150904T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T173134Z UID:4070-1460246400-1460764800@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Geometric Aspects of the Trace Formula (2016) DESCRIPTION:April 10-16\, 2016\n\n \nOrganizers:\nWerner Mueller\, Mathematisches Institut der Universität Bonn\nSug Woo Shin\, UC Berkeley\nNicolas Templier\, Cornell University \nRelated Links:\n\nGeometric Aspects of the Trace Formula (external site)\n2014 Simons Symposium on Families of Automorphic Forms and the Trace Formula\n\nThe second gathering of the Simons Symposium on the Trace Formula paved the way for new developments through lectures\, participant-led discussions and exploration of open problems on the following topics: \n\n Geometric side of the Arthur-Selberg and relative trace formulas: stabilization\, fundamental lemmas\, global coefficients\, analytic aspects \n Residual representations\, nilpotent orbits\, geometry and representation theory of p-adic groups \n Automorphic sheaves on Bun_G\, affine Grassmannian \n Combinatorics of truncation\, bounds for the non-tempered spectrum \n\nClick here for a PDF of the schedule and participant list\, or see the Agenda and Participants sections below. \n\nAgenda & Slides\n\n\n\nMonday\n\n\n\n7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 -11:30 AM\nNgô Bảo Châu\n\n\n11:30 AM – 12:00 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:00 – 12:45 PM\nYakov Varshavsky\n\n\n12:45 -1:30 PM\nJulee Kim (Slides PDF)\n\n\n1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n2:30 – 4:30 PM\nRecreation & Discussion*\n\n\n4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n5:00 – 5:45 PM\nWee Teck Gan (Slides PDF)\n\n\n5:45 – 6:30 PM\nNicolas Templier\n\n\n8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner at the Wintergarden\n\n\nTuesday\n\n\n\n7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 11:15 AM\nTobias Finis\n\n\n11:15 AM – 12:00 PM\nPierre-Henri Chaudouard\n\n\n12:00 – 12:30 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30 PM\nJim Arthur (Slides PDF)\n\n\n1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n2:30 – 4:30 PM\nRecreation & Discussion\n\n\n4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n5:00 – 5:45 PM\nMartin Solleveld (Slides PDF)\n\n\n5:45 – 6:30 PM\nMarko Tadic\n\n\n8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner\n\n\nWednesday\n\n\n\n7:30 – 9:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:00 AM – 2:00 PM\nGuided Hike to Partnach Gorge\n\n\n2:00 – 3:00 PM\nLunch\n\n\n3:00 – 5:00 PM\nRecreation & Discussion\n\n\n4:30 -5:00 PM\nTea & Discussion\n\n\n5:00 – 5:45 PM\nDihua Jiang (Slides PDF)\n\n\n5:45 – 6:30 PM\nYifeng Liu\n\n\n8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner\n\n\n\nThursday\n\n\n\n7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 11:15 AM\nColette Moeglin\n\n\n11:15 AM – 12:00 PM\nSug Woo Shin\n\n\n12:00 – 12:30 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30 PM\nFreydoon Shahidi\n\n\n1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n2:30 – 4:30 PM\nRecreation & Discussion\n\n\n4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n5:00 – 5:45 PM\nWen Wei Li (Slides PDF)\n\n\n5:45 – 6:30 PM\nYiannis Sakellaridis (Slides PDF)\n\n\n7:00 – 8:00 PM\nConcert\n\n\n8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner\n\n\n\nFriday\n\n\n\n7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 11:15 AM\nPaul Mezo\n\n\n11:15 AM – 12:00 PM\nJulia Gordon (Slides PDF)\n\n\n12:00 – 12:30 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:30 – 1:30 PM\nJean-Loup Waldspurger\n\n\n1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n2:30 – 4:30 PM\nRecreation & Discussion\n\n\n4:30 – 5:00 PM\nAfternoon Tea & Discussion\n\n\n5:00 – 5:45 PM\nBirgit Speh (Slides PDF)\n\n\n5:45 – 6:30 PM\nErez Lapid (Slides PDF)\n\n\n8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner at Kaminstüberl\n\n\nParticipants\n\n\n\nJim Arthur\nUniversity of Toronto\n\n\nPierre-Henri Chaudouard\nInstitute de Mathematiques de Jussieu-Paris Rive Gauche\n\n\nTobias Finis\nUniversität Leipzig\n\n\nWee Teck Gan\nNational University of Singapore\n\n\nYulia Gordon\nUniversity of British Columbia\n\n\nDihua Jiang\nUniversity of Minnesota\n\n\nJulee Kim\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology\n\n\nErez Lapid\nWeizmann Institute of Science\n\n\nWen-Wei Li\n Chinese Academy of Sciences\n\n\nYifeng Liu\nNorthwestern University\n\n\nPaul Mezo\n Carleton University\n\n\nColette Moeglin\nInstitute de Mathematiques de Jussieu-Paris Rive Gauche\n\n\nWerner Mueller\nMathematisches Institut der Universität Bonn\n\n\nBao-Chau Ngo\nUniversity of Chicago\n\n\nYiannis Sakellaridis\nRutgers Univ. – Newark and National Technical Univ. of Athens\n\n\nFreydoon Shahidi\nPurdue University\n\n\nSug Woo Shin\nUC Berkeley\n\n\nMaarten Solleveld\nRadboud Universiteit Nijmegen\n\n\nBirgit Speh\nCornell University\n\n\nMarko Tadic\n University of Zagreb\n\n\nNicolas Templier\nCornell University\n\n\nYakov Varshavsky\n Hebrew University\n\n\nJean-Loup Waldspurger\nInstitute de Mathematiques de Jussieu-Paris Rive Gauche\n\n\n\n \n« Back to Simons Symposia URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/geometric-aspects-of-the-trace-formula/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160403T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160409T000000 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20150904T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T173056Z UID:4071-1459641600-1460160000@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Analysis of Boolean Functions (2016) DESCRIPTION:April 3-9\, 2016\n\n \nOrganizers:\nKrzysztof Oleskiewicz\, University of Warsaw\nElchanan Mossel\, University of Pennsylvania\nRyan O’Donnell\, Carnegie Mellon University \nRelated Links:\n\nDiscrete Analysis: Beyond the Boolean Cube (2014)\nAnalysis of Boolean Functions: New Directions and Applications (2012)\nAnalysis of Boolean Functions Blog\n\nThis third symposium for Analysis of Boolean Functions focused on “New Analytic tools in Discrete Fourier Analysis”\, in particular on the methods coming from fields as diverse as probability theory\, functional analysis and statistical physics\, and their applications in the discrete cube setting. \nKey topics:\n\n Functional inequalities\, concentration of measure \n Discrete random matrices \n Phase transitions\, percolation\, random graphs\, Ising models\, sharp thresholds and cutoffs \n The Fourier analytic structure of circuits \n Noise sensitivity \n\nClick here for a PDF of the schedule and participant list\, or see the Agenda and Participants sections below. \n\nAgenda & Slides\n\n\n\nSunday\n\n\n\n 8:00 -10:00 PM\nDinner\n\n\nMonday\n\n\n\n 7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 10:55 AM\nA. Bonami: Quantitative Central limit theorems and cumulants in Wiener chaos (Slides PDF)\n\n\n10:55 – 11:20 AM\nA. Wigderson: New algorithms and Fourier tail bounds for sensitive Boolean functions\n\n\n11:20 – 11:45 AM\nA. Naor: Metric X_p Inequalities\n\n\n11:45 – 12:15 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:15 – 12:40 PM\nA. De: Noisy population recovery in polynomial time\n\n\n12:40 – 1:05 PM\nU. Feige: Learning and optimization for approximately nice set functions\n\n\n 1:05 – 1:30 PM\nG. Kalai: Influence\, correlation\, and Chvatal’s conjecture\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n 3:00 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nTea\n\n\n 5:00 – 5:25 PM\nR. Servedio: Addition is Exponentially Harder than Counting for Shallow Monotone Circuits (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 5:30 – 6:30 PM\nLong Talk 1\n\n\n 6:30 – 7:00 PM\nOpen Problems 1\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner at the Wintergarden\n\n\nTuesday\n\n\n\n 7:30 – 10:00 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 2:00 PM\nGuided Hike to Partnach Gorge\n\n\n 2:00 – 3:00 PM\nLunch\n\n\n 3:00 – 5:00 PM\nRecreation & Discussion\n\n\n 5:00 – 5:25 PM\nTea\n\n\n 5:30 – 6:30 PM\nKKL Retrospective\n\n\n 5:00 – 5:30 PM\nTea\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner\n\n\n\nWednesday\n\n\n\n 7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 10:55 AM\nB. Green: Fourier uniformity of Boolean functions on subspaces\n\n\n10:55 – 11:20 AM\nJ. Kahn: A conjecture implying Chvatal’s Conjecture\n\n\n11:20 – 11:45 AM\nN. Sun: The free energy of random regular k-NAE-SAT (Slides PDF)\n\n\n11:45 – 12:15 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:15 – 12:40 PM\nY. Zhao: Quasirandom Cayley graphs (Slides PDF)\n\n\n12:40 – 1:05 PM\nR. Eldan: Curvature\, concentration and an entropic interpolation scheme for Markov chains\n\n\n 1:05 – 1:30 PM\nD. Moshkovitz: Candidate Hard Unique Game (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n 3:00 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nTea\n\n\n 5:00 – 6:00 PM\nLong Talk 2\n\n\n 6:00 – 7:00 PM\nLong Talk 3\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner\n\n\n\nThursday\n\n\n\n 7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 10:55 AM\nG. Schechtman: Embedding Pythagorean powers of hypercubes in hypercubes\n\n\n10:55 – 11:20 AM\nM. Rudelson: Delocalization of eigenvectors of general random matrices\n\n\n11:20 – 11:45 AM\nP. Raghavendra: On sum-of-square SDP relaxations for norms of random tensors\n\n\n11:45 – 12:15 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:15 – 12:40 PM\nJ. Lee: Entropy and sparsity in the Fourier spectrum\n\n\n12:40 – 1:05 PM\nV. Guruswami: Analysis of polymorphisms and promise constraint satisfaction (Slides PDF)\n\n\n 1:05 – 1:30 PM\nN. Linial: Discrepancy in higher dimensions\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n 3:00 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nTea\n\n\n 5:00 – 6:00 PM\nLong Talk 4\n\n\n 6:00 – 7:00 PM\nLong Talk 5\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner\n\n\n\nFriday\n\n\n\n 7:30 – 10:30 AM\nBreakfast\n\n\n10:30 – 11:30 AM\nLong Talk 6\n\n\n11:45 – 12:15 PM\nBreak\n\n\n12:15 – 1:05 PM\nLong Talk 7\n\n\n 1:30 – 2:30 PM\nLunch\n\n\n 3:00 – 4:30 PM\nDiscussion & Recreation\n\n\n 4:30 – 5:00 PM\nTea\n\n\n 5:00 – 6:00 PM\nOpen Problems 2\n\n\n 6:00 – 7:00 PM\nWrapup\n\n\n 8:00 – 9:30 PM\nDinner at Kaminstüberl\n\n\nParticipants\n\n\n\nAline Bonami\nUniversité d’Orléans\n\n\nAnindya De\nNorthwestern University\n\n\nRonen Eldan\nWeizmann Institute of Science\n\n\nUriel Feige\nWeizmann Institute of Science\n\n\nBen Green\nOxford University\n\n\nVenkatesan Guruswami\nCarnegie Mellon University\n\n\nJeff Kahn\nRutgers University\n\n\nGil Kalai\nHebrew University of Jerusalem\n\n\nJames Lee\nUniversity of Washington\n\n\nNathan Linial\nHebrew University of Jerusalem\n\n\nDana Moshkovitz\nMIT\n\n\nElchanan Mossel\nUC Berkeley\n\n\nAssaf Naor\nPrinceton University\n\n\nRyan O’Donnell\nCarnegie Mellon University\n\n\nKrzysztof Oleszkiewicz\nUniversity of Warsaw\n\n\nPrasad Raghavendra\nUC Berkeley\n\n\nMark Rudelson\nUniversity of Michigan\n\n\nGideon Schechtman\nWeizmann Institute\n\n\nRocco Servedio\nColumbia University\n\n\nJeff Steif\nChamlers University of Technology\n\n\nNike Sun\nMIT\n\n\nAvi Wigderson\nInstitute for Advanced Study\n\n\nYufei Zhao\nOxford University\n\n\n\n \n« Back to Simons Symposia URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/analysis-of-boolean-functions/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160330T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160330T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20160129T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181503Z UID:338-1459357200-1459361700@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Development Begins Before Birth: Prenatal Research Relevant to Autism DESCRIPTION:The burgeoning research field known as the fetal origins of adult disease (FOAD) or the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHAD) demonstrates that maternal distress during pregnancy affects fetal and infant brain–behavior development. This is a ‘third pathway’ for the familial inheritance of psychiatric illness beyond shared genes and the quality of parental care\, and one that\, if fully understood\, could lead to early prevention of developmental risk. \nIn this lecture\, Dr. Catherine Monk will describe her lab’s FOAD studies that focus on women in the perinatal period and fetal and infant neurobehavioral development\, including direct studies of the fetus\, newborn brain imaging and placental methylation. \nApplying the FOAD model to autism research introduces the possibility of identifying perinatal markers for the disorder and may help advance the animal and epidemiological findings showing that prenatal maternal immune activation — often a correlate of distress — is associated with risk for the illness. \nDr. Monk holds a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Departments of Psychiatry\, and Obstetrics & Gynecology at Columbia University Medical Center. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her research\, she is affiliated with two divisions in psychiatry: behavioral medicine and developmental neuroscience. She is director for research at the Women’s Program\, as well as co–director of the Sackler Parent–Infant Project and of the Domestic Violence Initiative. After completing her National Institutes of Health post–doctoral fellowship in the psychobiological sciences at Columbia in 2000\, Dr. Monk joined the faculty and established the Perinatal Pathways Laboratory URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/development-begins-before-birth-prenatal-research-relevant-to-autism/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Autism: Emerging Concepts END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160322T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160322T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20170206T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181705Z UID:384-1458666000-1458670500@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:What Can Genetics Tell Us About Autism Spectrum Disorder? DESCRIPTION:It has been known that autism spectrum disorder is primarily caused by genetic factors for several decades. The past 10 years have seen great progress in finding some of the genes responsible and in building a map of what other types of genetic variants may contribute. These findings have been used both to provide insight into the biology of autism and\, in the clinic\, to identify individuals with specific genetic variants. This talk will outline the current state of genetics research in autism\, highlight some of the key findings that remain to be discovered\, and consider how these findings could ultimately benefit individuals with autism and their families. \nStephan Sanders trained as a pediatric physician in the United Kingdom before pursuing a research career in genomics and bioinformatics. His work has helped characterize the role of de novo mutations in the etiology of autism and identified multiple autism risk loci\, including duplications of the 7q11.23 Williams syndrome region (Sanders et al. Neuron 2011) and mutations in the sodium channel gene SCN2A (Sanders et al. Nature 2012). His work on the integration of copy number variation and exome data across multiple autism cohorts recently identified 71 autism risk loci (Sanders et al. Neuron 2015). In addition\, he worked as part of a group that integrated spatiotemporal gene expression data from the human brain with these autism-associated genes (Willsey et al. Cell 2013). This approach has implicated deep-layer glutamatergic neurons in the frontal cortex during mid-fetal development in the causation of autism. His lab has three main research aims: 1) Understanding the genetic basis of childhood neurodevelopmental conditions\, in particular autism; 2) Understanding how these genetic factors lead to the conditions; and 3) Understanding the mechanism that leads to the male bias in autism diagnosis\, in particular through identifying the biological basis of the female protective effect. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/what-can-genetics-tell-us-about-autism-spectrum-disorder/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Autism: Emerging Concepts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10181038/Stephen.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160316T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160316T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151218T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181655Z UID:327-1458147600-1458152100@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:The Fourth Dimension of Transcriptional Networks: TIME DESCRIPTION:Transcriptional networks operate dynamically in vivo\, but capturing and modeling these dynamics is an experimental and computational challenge. This presentation focuses on time — building predictive network models based on time-series transcriptome data\, and perturbing transcription networks in time. The outcome is a dynamic hit-and-run transcription model with relevance across eukaryotes. \nIn this lecture\, Dr. Gloria Coruzzi will probe dynamic transcription networks\, computationally and experimentally. Using a machine-learning approach called Dynamic Factor Graph\, fine-scale time-series transcriptome data is used to infer network models that were validated both in silico using left-out data\, and experimentally. To explore the molecular basis for underlying dynamic transcription\, a cell-based assay was developed to follow the mode of action of a transcription factor (TF) within one minute of nuclear entry. This uncovered genome-wide support for a hit-and-run mechanism of transcription\, in which de novo transcription initiated by a transient TF “hit” persists after the TF has “run.” \nDr. Coruzzi specializes in plant systems biology. As Carroll & Milton Petrie Professor of Biology at NYU’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology\, her work on gene regulatory networks controlling nitrogen use in the model plant Arabidopsis is funded by NIH\, NSF and DOE. She is a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science\, the American Society of Plant Biology\, and serves on the Arabidopsis Informatics Consortium and an Advisory Board to the Joint Genome Institute (JGI). URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/the-fourth-dimension-of-transcriptional-networks-time/ CATEGORIES:Interdisciplinary ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180917/coruzzi2007.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160309T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160309T180000 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20160210T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181639Z UID:341-1457542800-1457546400@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:The Formation of Structure in the Cosmos DESCRIPTION:Studies of the universe across multiple wavelengths and over billions of years of cosmic evolution have revealed a stunning cosmological history. By the present day\, the relatively simple structures existing in the early universe have transformed into vast networks of galaxies and black holes. How and why does this happen? What can we learn by studying these transformations? \nIn this lecture\, Juna Kollmeier will take you on a cosmic journey\, starting with the infant universe and explain the current thinking about how “structure” emerges from this humble start. She will show how giant filaments of galaxies form from extremely smooth initial conditions in the current cosmological model. She will go over structures like the Milky Way and the most massive black holes in the universe and show how these are related to one another in fundamental ways. Dr. Kollmeier will highlight not only the beauty of these structures and superstructures\, as revealed by powerful telescopes\, but also the deep insights about the nature of the universe that we have learned by observing them and carefully characterizing them. \nDr. Kollmeier received a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 2000. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics before obtaining a Ph.D. at Ohio State University in 2006. She was a Carnegie-Princeton and Hubble Fellow at the Carnegie Observatories and Princeton University until 2008\, when she became a member of the permanent faculty of the Carnegie Observatories. She was the first theoretician hired to the observatories\, where she started the program in theoretical astrophysics. Her work lies at the intersection of computational\, theoretical and observational astrophysics. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/the-formation-of-structure-in-the-cosmos/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180937/kollmeier.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160224T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160224T180000 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20160108T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181630Z UID:332-1456333200-1456336800@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Determining Multimodal Imaging Biomarkers for Parkinson's Disease DESCRIPTION:Despite considerable progress in our understanding of Parkinson’s disease\, reliable biomarkers are still lacking. The combination of noninvasive neuroimaging data reflecting both functional and structural characteristics of the brain\, clinical information and other biologic measures provides an unprecedented opportunity for cross-cutting investigations that may yield deeper insights into Parkinson’s disease. \nIn this lecture\, F. DuBois Bowman will discuss how he and his colleagues are working to identify functional or anatomical properties of the brain that reliably distinguish individuals with Parkinson’s disease from healthy controls. He will describe the Bayesian statistical modeling framework that incorporates imaging data from different modalities and yields classifications for study participants\, as either those with Parkinson’s disease or healthy controls. The model accounts for spatial correlations between different brain locations\, defined hierarchically to capture correlations globally between brain regions\, between subregions of each region\, and between voxels within each subregion. Bowman will then explain how the ability to isolate neural characteristics that reflect accurate signatures of Parkinson’s disease may serve as useful early-stage Parkinson’s disease biomarkers. \nF. DuBois Bowman is chair of the biostatistics department at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. He leads a research program focused on the development and applications of statistical methods for complex neuroimaging data and other large-scale datasets\, including electronic medical records. He is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association\, served as president of the Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society and received the James Grizzle Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of North Carolina. He has also served as associate editor of Biometrics and as associate editor of the Journal of the American Statistical Association. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/determining-multimodal-imaging-biomarkers-for-parkinsons-disease/ CATEGORIES:Frontiers of Data Science ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180924/Bowman_Columbia_Mailman_Biostatistics.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20160218 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20160220 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20190409T190140Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T173012Z UID:48152-1455753600-1455926399@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Simons Collaboration on the Many Electron Problem Annual Meeting 2016 DESCRIPTION: URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/simons-collaboration-on-the-many-electron-problem-annual-meeting-2016/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160217T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160217T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151223T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181620Z UID:329-1455728400-1455732900@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:A Molecular Geneticist's Approach to Understanding the Fly Brain DESCRIPTION:In this lecture\, Gerald Rubin will discuss efforts to develop and apply the tools that will be required for a comprehensive analysis of the anatomy and function of the fly brain at the level of individual cell types and circuits\, using examples from his lab’s recent work on visual perception\, as well as the mechanisms of learning and memory. \nRubin will describe how an analysis of neuronal cell types and their connectivity can be combined with quantitative behavioral and physiological data to probe the mechanisms underlying fundamental neuronal computations. By assaying and manipulating the function of well-defined neurons (individual cell types)\, his team seeks to work toward models of how neural circuits control behavior. Many of the tools and data sets required to support such a comprehensive approach are now becoming available in Drosophila\, an animal exhibiting many complex behaviors. Will they be sufficient to understand how a brain executes complex computations to achieve sophisticated behaviors? Time will tell. \nGerald M. Rubin graduated from MIT in 1971\, obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 1974 and did postdoctoral work at Stanford University. He held faculty positions at Harvard Medical School and the Carnegie Institution for Science before moving to UC Berkeley in 1983 to assume the John D. MacArthur Professorship of Genetics and was appointed a HHMI investigator in 1987. He became the founding director of HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus in 2003. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/a-molecular-geneticists-approach-to-understanding-the-fly-brain/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Brain and Cognitive Science ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180919/Rubin2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160210T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160210T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151218T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T181601Z UID:325-1455123600-1455128100@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Towards a Structural Basis of Complex Disorders of Heart\, Muscle and Brain DESCRIPTION:Ryanodine receptors (RyR) are intracellular calcium-release channels found in almost all cell types. Andrew Marks and his team recently solved the high-resolution structure of the skeletal muscle form\, RyR1. The structure provides insight regarding how dysfunctional RyR channels contribute to common diseases\, including heart failure\, muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer’s disease. \nIn this lecture\, Dr. Marks will present new data on the high-resolution structure of the mammalian RyR1/intracellular calcium-release channel obtained using cryogenic electron-microscopy. Chronic stress mediated by oxidation and phosphorylation of the channel render it ‘leaky.’ This results in a pathological intracellular calcium leak from the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticuli. This intracellular calcium leak causes distinct pathologies in different tissues. In cardiac muscle\, RyR leak contributes to heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias. In skeletal muscle\, RyR leak contributes to muscle weakness in muscular dystrophies and cancer metastatic to bone. In the brain\, leaky RyR channels contribute to cognitive dysfunction in post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease. \nAndrew R. Marks\, M.D. is chair and professor of physiology and cellular biophysics at Columbia University. He discovered that ‘leaky’ intracellular calcium-release channels (ryanodine receptors\, or RyR) contribute to heart failure\, cardiac arrhythmias\, impaired exercise capacity\, post-traumatic stress disorder and Alzheimer’s disease. He developed a new class of small molecules (Rycals) targeting leaky RyR. Rycals are in clinical trials for heart failure\, cardiac arrhythmias\, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/towards-a-structural-basis-of-complex-disorders-of-heart-muscle-and-brain/ CATEGORIES:Interdisciplinary ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180913/AR-Marks-August-2015-1.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160203T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160203T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151221T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164710Z UID:331-1454518800-1454523300@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:The Twisted Universe: The Cosmic Quest to Reveal Which End Is Up DESCRIPTION:The cosmic microwave background (CMB) has spectacularly advanced our understanding of the origin\, composition and evolution of our universe. Yet there is still much to mine from this\, the oldest light in the universe. Powerful telescopes are plying the skies in a quest to discover new physics. This talk concentrates on measurements by the POLARBEAR telescope\, which pave the way for the upcoming Simons Array. \nDr. Keating will give an overview of an exhilarating branch of astrophysics: the search for the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). He will explain how the CMB can constrain phenomena such as primordial magnetism\, elementary particle masses and even the origin of the universe itself. Further phenomena\, such as tantalizing bounds on parity-violating Chern–Simons cosmic birefringence — the rotation of the polarization plane of cosmic photons — will be discussed. He will describe early attempts to measure cosmic birefringence using distant galaxies as well as state-of the-art measurements made by POLARBEAR. Keating will close by previewing the upcoming Simons Array. \nBrian Keating is a cosmologist at UCSD. He is the author of 100+ publications and two patents. He received his B.S. from Case Western Reserve University and his Ph.D. from Brown University in 2000 and was an NSF fellow at Caltech. He received the 2007 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at the White House. He co-leads the POLARBEAR/Simons Array collaborations in Chile. He is a private pilot with multi-engine turbine ratings and a trustee of MoMath and the San Diego Air & Space Museum. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/the-twisted-universe-the-cosmic-quest-to-reveal-which-end-is-up/ CATEGORIES:Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20160127T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20160127T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151214T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164659Z UID:323-1453914000-1453918500@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Making Up Your Mind: Interneurons in Development and Disease DESCRIPTION:Interneurons within the brain\, in the cortex and hippocampus in particular\, are central for normal brain function\, and conversely\, dysfunction of these cell types is thought to result in developmental neurological disorders. The Fishell laboratory combines genetic and physiological approaches to examine the origins of these populations and their integration into brain circuitry. \nIn this lecture\, Gordon Fishell will describe his investigations of the developmental and genetic origins of interneuron development. This process begins with their specification\, during which genetic programs initiated within progenitors relegate interneurons into specific cardinal classes. Subsequent to this\, neuronal activity is fundamental for both the laminar positioning as well as the dendritic and axonal arborization in at least some interneuron subtypes. Fishell’s findings suggest that sensory information complements earlier established genetic programs to shape the way interneuronal subtypes integrate into nascent cortical circuits. Importantly\, many of the genes involved in the maturation of interneurons appear to also be implicated in neuropsychiatric diseases\, including autism and schizophrenia. \nGordon J. Fishell\, Ph.D.\, is associate director of the NYU Neuroscience Institute\, Julius Raines Professor of Neuroscience and Physiology\, and director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience and Physiology at New York University School of Medicine (NYU). Fishell is a long-standing member of the NYU School of Medicine community\, having joined the developmental genetics program in the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine in 1994. In 2006\, he launched the Smilow Neuroscience Program\, and in 2011 he became associate director of the then-newly-formed NYU Neuroscience Institute. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/making-up-your-mind-interneurons-in-development-and-disease/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Autism: Emerging Concepts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180911/edit_NYU11_Fishell_9B1036.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151216T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151216T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151118T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164647Z UID:321-1450285200-1450289700@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Atom-interferometry Limits on Dark Energy DESCRIPTION:Dark energy drives the expansion of the universe\, but its nature remains mysterious. Some proposed theories can soon be confirmed or falsified by searching for tiny forces on individual atoms. As a first step\, an atom interferometer has already ruled out a range of models. \nIn this lecture\, Dr. Holger Müller will explain recent experimental searches for certain models of dark energy. How can it be that dark energy\, which is supposedly ubiquitous in the cosmos\, has never been observed in experiments? Called chameleon theories of f(R) gravity\, some theories postulate long-ranged fields in empty space that become extremely short-ranged near massive objects and\, thus\, hard to observe. But advanced technologies from atomic physics can be used to sense them anyway. They already place stringent bounds on chameleons and could one day be used to find or definitely rule out a broad class of dark-energy candidates. \nHolger Müller is an experimental physicist and a faculty member at University of California\, Berkeley. He applied for his first patent at the age of 14\, graduated from Humboldt University (Berlin\, Germany) and worked with later Energy Secretary Steven Chu on atom interferometry at Stanford. He is now developing atom interferometers for measurements in fundamental physics\, for which he won the Francis M. Pipkin Award of the American Physical Society in 2015. He loves the guitar and the opera. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/atom-interferometry-limits-on-dark-energy/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180909/hc8a0795_small2.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151209T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151209T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151110T050000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164638Z UID:319-1449680400-1449684900@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Quarks\, Flux Tubes and String Theory Without Calculus DESCRIPTION:The theory of strings started as an attempt to describe the forces holding quarks together. Important remnants of that idea survive in the form of the flux tubes of quantum chromodynamics and their description as “strings” in the gauge-string duality. Applications to quark-gluon plasmas have yielded some of the most quantitative comparisons of string theory with experimental data. For example\, the friction generated when a string scrapes along a black hole horizon can be used to estimate drag force on quarks in a thermal medium. More recently\, related ideas have appeared in a more mathematical context\, providing a formulation of classical string dynamics that avoids calculus and does not depend on the continuous structure of spacetime. \nSteve Gubser received his Ph.D. from Princeton University\, where his advisor was Igor Klebanov. After working as a post doc at the Harvard Society of Fellows and as a faculty member at California Institute of Technology\, he returned to Princeton University\, where he is presently a professor and the associate chair for undergraduates in the Department of Physics. He is one of the originators of the gauge-string duality and has worked on its applications to nuclear and condensed matter physics. Gubser is also the author of The Little Book of String Theory\, a nontechnical account of string theory and its applications to collider physics. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/quarks-flux-tubes-and-string-theory-without-calculus/ CATEGORIES:Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180907/Gubser53kb.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151118T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151118T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20151026T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164629Z UID:317-1447866000-1447870500@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Patterns in the Primes DESCRIPTION:Whole numbers are made up of a product of prime numbers\, much like molecules are made up of atoms. Prime numbers are the fundamental constituent parts of whole numbers\, and each whole number equals its own unique product of primes\, like DNA identifies an individual. Prime numbers have always been an important area of study for mathematicians\, as will be discussed in this talk. \nPrime numbers have intrigued mathematicians\, amateur and professional alike\, for thousands of years. Some of the most pertinent questions today probably stem from classical times. In this lecture\, Dr. Granville will discuss some well-known patterns in the primes and explain some of the latest progress. The latest research makes headway into some of the oldest conundrums\, often using methods that are quite surprising. \nProfessor Granville has been a research professor in the United States (Georgia)\, Canada (Montreal)\, and the UK (London)\, working mostly in his beloved subject of number theory. He has been an expert on Fermat’s Last Theorem\, the abc conjecture and now prime numbers. He is the author of over one hundred research papers\, many expository articles and forthcoming books\, including a graphic novel about doing research in mathematics. He is renowned for helping nurture young talent\, including several of the world’s leading number theoretic researchers today. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/patterns-in-the-primes/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Math and its Applications ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180905/Granville.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151111T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151111T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20150917T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164620Z UID:311-1447261200-1447265700@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Storming the Ivory Tower: How to Make Autism Interventions Work in Schools DESCRIPTION:A growing body of research shows the efficacy of interventions for children with autism. These interventions rarely make their way into community practice\, however. When they do\, they usually do not produce the same results as those observed in clinical trials. \nIn this lecture\, David S. Mandell will talk about why autism interventions rarely are implemented in community practice and why they fail to achieve the same outcomes as those observed in clinical trials. He will review the policy environment for improving quality of care and evidence suggesting that recently enacted policies may be necessary but are not sufficient to improve practice. He also will present research that more directly attempts to improve quality of care and associated outcomes for children with autism. \nDavid S. Mandell\, Sc.D. is associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. The goal of his research is to improve the quality of care that individuals with autism receive in their communities. He examines the effects that different state and federal strategies to organize\, finance and deliver services have on service use patterns and outcomes. He also conducts experimental studies to determine the best ways to successfully implement proven-efficacious practices in community settings. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/storming-the-ivory-tower-how-to-make-autism-interventions-work-in-schools/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Autism: Emerging Concepts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180859/Mandell1.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20151105 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20151109 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20190613T204048Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T172920Z UID:50986-1446681600-1447027199@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Inaugural Conference of the Simons Collaboration on Homological Mirror Symmetry DESCRIPTION: URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2015/12/11/inaugural-conference-of-the-simons-collaboration-on-homological-mirror-symmetry/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151104T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151104T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20150916T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T165209Z UID:307-1446656400-1446660900@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Understanding the Relationship Between Genes and Social Behavior: Lessons from the Honey Bee DESCRIPTION:The study of genes and social behavior is still a young field. In this lecture\, Gene E. Robinson will discuss some of the first insights to emerge that describe the relationship between them. These include the surprisingly close relationship between brain gene expression and specific behavioral states; social regulation of brain gene expression; control of social behavior by context-dependent rewiring of brain transcriptional regulatory networks; and evolutionarily conserved genetic toolkits for social behavior that span insects\, fish and mammals. \nGene E. Robinson (Ph.D. 1986\, Cornell University) pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior and founded the Honey Bee Genome Sequencing Consortium. He is the director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and Swanlund Chair of Entomology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Robinson serves on the National Institute of Mental Health Advisory Council and his honors include: Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship; Guggenheim Fellowship; National Institutes of Health Pioneer Award; Fellow\, Animal Behavior Society; Fellow\, Entomological Society of America\, Fellow\, American Academy of Arts & Sciences; and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/understanding-the-relationship-between-genes-and-social-behavior-lessons-from-the-honey-bee/ CATEGORIES:Interdisciplinary ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180854/Gene-Robinson-IGB-Simons-Web.gif END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151030T123000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151030T173000 DTSTAMP:20260404T073600 CREATED:20150917T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T165154Z UID:313-1446208200-1446226200@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Clinical and translational genomics DESCRIPTION:This Biotech Symposium will focus on clinical and translational genomics and the shift to precision medicine. Clinical and translational genomics have typically been approached as limited research or demonstration projects\, whereas precision medicine envisions genomics as an integral component of medical research and practice. This transition presents a variety of specific challenges that will need to be addressed over the coming years. \nSpeakers: \nDavid Glazer\, Google\nThe Lab and the Clinic: Is Translation a One-Way Street? \nMarylyn Ritchie\, Penn State University\nExploring the Use of Electronic Health Records and Genomics for Precision Medicine \nRuss Altman\, Stanford University \nRegulatory Science: A Key Requirement for Translational Genomics \nDavid Goldstein\, Columbia University\nToward Precision Medicine in Neuropsychiatric Disease URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/clinical-and-translational-genomics/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Biotech Symposia ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180901/Picture1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151028T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151028T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073601 CREATED:20150916T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T165144Z UID:309-1446051600-1446056100@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Molecular and Neural Architecture of Circuits Underlying Social Behavior in the Mouse DESCRIPTION:Severe mental disorders such autism spectrum disorders\, schizophrenia and major depressive disorder are characterized by profound social impairments. There is little understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying these social deficits\, and efficient diagnosis and therapeutic options are lacking. Advanced molecular and genetic techniques have made the discovery of specific behavior circuits possible. \nIn this lecture\, Catherine Dulac will discuss the cellular and molecular architecture of neural circuits underlying instinctive social behaviors of mice. She will describe her group’s recent advances in uncovering the identity of sensory neurons that detect social cues and the identity of command circuits associated with specific social responses in male and female mice. \nCatherine Dulac received her B.Sc. from the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris\, France\, her Ph.D. from the University of Paris and was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. She has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 1997 and a Harvard faculty in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology since 1996 (Chair 2007-2013). She is a recipient of the Lounsbery\, Perl-UNC Neuroscience\, and Pradel Research Awards. Memberships include the National Academy of Sciences and the French Academy of Sciences\, and she is a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/molecular-and-neural-architecture-of-circuits-underlying-social-behavior-in-the-mouse-2/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Autism: Emerging Concepts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180857/Catherine-Dulac007.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20151022 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20151024 DTSTAMP:20260404T073601 CREATED:20150723T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250813T172631Z UID:4046-1445472000-1445644799@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:2015 MPS Annual Meeting DESCRIPTION:Thursday\, October 22nd – Friday\, October 23rd\, 2015\n Download the 2015 Annual Meeting booklet (PDF). \nThe Mathematics and Physical Sciences Annual Meeting gathered together Simons Investigators\, Simons Fellows\, Simons Society of Fellows and Math + X Chairs and Investigators to exchange ideas through lectures and informal discussions in a scientifically stimulating environment. \n\nAgenda\n\n\n\n\nThursday\, October 22\n\n\n\n9:30 — 10:30 AM\nSharon Glotzer\nEntropy\, Information & Alchemy\n\n\n11:00 AM — 12:00 PM\nSergiu Klainerman\nAre Black Holes Real? \n\n\n1:30 — 2:30 PM\nOded Regev\nLattice-Based Cryptography\n\n\n3:00 — 4:00 PM\nPatrick Hayden\nIt from Qubit: First Steps\n\n\n4:30 — 5:30 PM\nEmmanuel J. Candès\nAround the Reproducibility of Scientific Research in the Big Data Era: What Statistics Can Offer\n\n\nFriday\, October 23\n\n\n\n9:30 — 10:30 AM\nMichael Weinstein\nEnergy on the Edge: A Mathematical View\n\n\n11:00 AM — 12:00 PM\nIain Stewart\nFactorization: Collider Physics from Universal Functions\n\n\n1:00 — 2:00 PM\nMichael Desai\nEvolutionary Dynamics When Natural Selection Is Widespread\n\n\n2:00 — 3:00 PM\nSalil P. Vadhan\nThe Border between Possible and Impossible in Data Privacy\n\n\n\n\nLectures\n\nEmmanuel J. Candès\nStanford University \nAround the Reproducibility of Scientific Research in the Big Data Era: What Statistics Can Offer\n \nThe big data era has created a new scientific paradigm: collect data first\, ask questions later. When the universe of scientific hypotheses that are being examined simultaneously is not taken account\, inferences are likely to be false. The consequence is that follow up studies are likely not to be able to reproduce earlier reported findings or discoveries. This reproducibility failure bears a substantial cost and this talk is about new statistical tools to address this issue. In the last two decades\, statisticians have developed many techniques for addressing this look-everywhere effect\, whose proper use would help in alleviating the problems discussed above. This lecture will discuss some of these proposed solutions including the Benjamin-Hochberg procedure for false discovery rate (FDR) control and the knockoff filter\, a method which reliably selects which of the many potentially explanatory variables of interest (e.g. the absence or not of a mutation) are indeed truly associated with the response under study (e.g. the log fold increase in HIV-drug resistance).\nEmmanuel Candès is a professor of mathematics\, statistics and electrical engineering\, and a member of the Institute of Computational and Mathematical Engineering at Stanford University. Prior to his appointment as a Simons Chair\, Candès was the Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Applied and Computational Mathematics at the California Institute of Technology. His research interests are in computational harmonic analysis\, statistics\, information theory\, signal processing and mathematical optimization with applications to the imaging sciences\, scientific computing and inverse problems. He received his Ph.D. in statistics from Stanford University in 1998. \nCandès has received numerous awards throughout his career\, most notably the 2006 Alan T. Waterman Medal — the highest honor presented by the National Science Foundation — which recognizes the achievements of scientists who are no older than 35\, or not more than seven years beyond their doctorate. Other honors include the 2005 James H. Wilkinson Prize in Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing awarded by the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)\, the 2008 Information Theory Society Paper Award\, the 2010 George Pólya Prize awarded by SIAM\, the 2011 Collatz Prize awarded by the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM)\, the 2012 Lagrange Prize in Continuous Optimization awarded jointly by the Mathematical Optimization Society (MOS) and Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)\, and the 2013 Dannie Heineman Prize presented by the Academy of Sciences at Göttingen. He has given over 50 plenary lectures at major international conferences\, not only in mathematics and statistics\, but also in several other areas including biomedical imaging and solid-state physics. \nIn 2014\, Candès was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This last summer\, he gave an Invited Plenary Lecture at the International Congress of Mathematicians\, which took place in Seoul. Additionally\, one of his Stanford Math+X collaborators\, W. E. Moerner\, was one of this year’s Nobel Laureates in Chemistry. \n  \nMichael Desai\nHarvard University \nEvolutionary Dynamics When Natural Selection Is Widespread\n \nThe basic rules of evolution are straightforward: mutations generate variation\, while genetic drift\, recombination and natural selection change the frequencies of the variants. Yet it is often surprisingly difficult to predict what is possible in evolution\, over what timescales and in which conditions. A key problem is that in many populations\, natural selection faces a crucial problem: there is too much going on at once. Many mutations are present simultaneously\, and because recombination is limited\, selection cannot act on each separately. Rather\, mutations are constantly occurring in a variety of combinations linked together on physical chromosomes\, and selection can only act on these combinations as a whole. This dramatically reduces the efficiency of natural selection\, creates complex correlations across the genome and makes it very difficult to predict how evolution will act. Desai will describe recent work aimed at understanding evolutionary dynamics when selection is widespread\, using a combination of mathematical models and experimental evolution in laboratory populations of budding yeast.\nMichael Desai combines theoretical and experimental work to bring quantitative methodology to the field of evolutionary dynamics; he and his group are particularly known for their contributions in the area of statistical genetics. \n  \nSharon Glotzer\nUniversity of Michigan \nEntropy\, Information & Alchemy\n \nFor the early alchemists\, the transmutation of elements held the key to new materials. Today\, colloidal “elements” — that is\, nanometer- to micron-size particles — that can be decorated and shaped in an infinity of ways are being used to thermodynamically assemble ordered structures that would astonish the ancient alchemists in their geometric complexity and diversity. Using computer simulation methods built upon the theoretical framework of equilibrium statistical mechanics\, we model and simulate these colloidal elements and the interactions among them to predict stable and metastable phases\, including crystals\, liquid crystals\, quasicrystals and even crystals with ultra-large unit cells. Many of these structures are\, remarkably\, achievable via entropy maximization in the absence of other forces\, using only shape. By studying families of colloidal elements and their packings and assemblies\, we deduce key elemental requirements for certain classes of structures. Recently\, we have shown how extended thermodynamic ensembles may be derived and implemented in computer simulations to perform “digital alchemy\,” whereby fast algorithms quickly discover optimal colloidal elements for given target structures. Through digital alchemy\, we learn which elemental attributes are most important for thermodynamic stability and assembly propensity\, and how information is encoded locally to produce order globally.\nSharon Glotzer is a leader in the use of computer simulations to understand how to manipulate matter at the nano- and meso-scales. Her work in the late 1990s demonstrating the nature and importance of spatially heterogeneous dynamics is regarded as a breakthrough. Her ambitious program of computational studies has revealed much about the organizing principles controlling the creation of predetermined structures from nanoscale building blocks\, while her development of a conceptual framework for classifying particle shape and interaction anisotropy (patchiness) and their relation to the ultimate structures the particles form has had a major impact on the new field of “self-assembly’’. Glotzer recently showed that hard tetrahedra self-assemble into a quasicrystal exhibiting a remarkable twelve-fold symmetry with an unexpectedly rich structure of logs formed by stacks of twelve-member rings capped by pentagonal dipyramids. \n  \nPatrick Hayden\nStanford University \nIt from Qubit: First Steps\n \nWhen Shannon formulated his groundbreaking theory of information in 1948\, he did not know what to call its central quantity\, a measure of uncertainty. It was von Neumann who recognized Shannon’s formula from statistical physics and suggested the name entropy. This was but the first in a series of remarkable connections between physics and information theory. Later\, tantalizing hints from the study of quantum fields and gravity\, such as the Bekenstein-Hawking formula for the entropy of a black hole\, inspired Wheeler’s famous 1990 exhortation to derive “it from bit\,” a three-syllable manifesto asserting that\, to properly unify the geometry of general relativity with the indeterminacy of quantum mechanics\, it would be necessary to inject fundamentally new ideas from information theory. Wheeler’s vision was sound\, but it came twenty-five years early. Only now is it coming to fruition\, with the twist that classical bits have given way to the qubits of quantum information theory. \nThis talk will provide a tour of some of the recent developments at the intersection of quantum information and fundamental physics that are the source of this renewed excitement.\nPatrick Hayden’s work on the requirements for secure communication through quantum channels transformed the field of quantum information\, establishing a general structure and a set of powerful results that subsumed most of the previous work in the field as special cases. More recently\, he has used quantum information theory concepts to obtain new results related to the quantum physics of black holes. \n  \nSergiu Klainerman\nPrinceton University \nAre Black Holes Real?\n \nBlack holes are precise mathematical solutions of the Einstein field equations of general relativity. Some of the most exciting astrophysical objects in the universe have been identified as corresponding to these mathematical black holes\, but since no signals can escape their extreme gravitational pull\, can one be sure that the right identification has been made? \nKlainerman will discuss three fundamental mathematical problems concerning black holes\, intimately tied to the issue of their physical reality: rigidity\, stability and collapse.\nSergiu Klainerman is a PDE analyst with a strong interest in general relativity. His current research deals with the mathematical theory of black holes more precisely on their rigidity and stability. Klainerman is also interested in the dynamic formation of trapped surfaces and singularities. \n  \nOded Regev\nNew York University \nLattice-Based Cryptography\n \nMost of the cryptographic protocols used in everyday life are based on number theoretic problems\, such as integer factoring. Regev will give an introduction to lattice-based cryptography\, a relatively recent form of cryptography that offers many advantages over traditional number-theoretic-based cryptography\, including conjectured security against\nquantum computers. Lattice-based cryptography is also remarkably versatile\, with dozens of applications\, most notably the recent breakthrough work on fully homomorphic encryption by Gentry and others.\nOded Regev is a professor in the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University. Prior to joining NYU\, he was affiliated with Tel Aviv University and the École Normale Supérieure\, Paris under the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Tel Aviv University in 2001. He is the recipient of the Wolf Foundation’s Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research in 2005\, as well as best paper awards in STOC 2003 and Eurocrypt 2006. He was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant in 2008. \nHis main research areas include theoretical computer science\, cryptography\, quantum computation and complexity theory. A main focus of his research is in the area of lattice-based cryptography\, where he introduced several key concepts\, including the ‘learning with error’ problem and the use of Gaussian measures. \n  \nIain Stewart\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology \nFactorization: Collider Physics from Universal Functions\n \nHigh energy collisions of protons and electrons provide a crucial probe for the nature of physics at very short distance scales. Past successes include the discovery of new particles\, confirmation of detailed properties of the strong\, weak\, and electromagnetic forces\, and measurement of the few key fundamental parameters of the prevailing “standard model” of particle and nuclear physics. Current colliders like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are searching for new types of matter\, like a dark matter particle\, and for signs of new paradigms\, like supersymmetry. \nIn this talk\, Professor Stewart will explain the mathematical underpinnings needed to theoretically predict the outcome of high energy collisions\, which relies on the concept of factorization in quantum field theory. Factorization predicts that the complicated collision can be described by combining simpler universal functions. The long-distance processes that take place prior to and after the collision\, and the short-distance processes that take place at the collision\, are each described by separate functions. The factorization framework can be derived in several special cases\, but underlies all theoretical predictions. When applicable\, it enables high precision theoretical calculations that can be compared to experimental data\, for example\, by the properties of jets (sprays of particles) influenced by the strong force. It is also important for the interpretation of experimental measurements\, such as those measuring properties of the recently discovered Higgs boson. Besides explaining these concepts\, Professor Stewart will also describe a new field theory formalism he has recently developed whose goal is to provide a complete framework to describe violations of factorization\, thus enabling “proofs” of factorization for more cases\, and providing theoretical tools that can explore the nature of collisions even when factorization is violated.\nIain Stewart works in the physics of elementary particles\, investigating fundamental questions in quantum chromodynamics\, i.e.\, the interactions of quarks and gluons via the strong force. He is particularly known for his role in inventing soft collinear effective field theory\, a theoretical tool for understanding the particle jets produced by high energy collisions in accelerators such as the LHC. He has established factorization theorems that enable the clear interpretation and physical understanding of the collision products. Methods he has developed have been used in the search for the Higgs boson\, to gain new insights into effects of CP violation in B-meson production and to test for beyond-standard-model physics. \n  \nSalil P. Vadhan\nHarvard University \nThe Border between Possible and Impossible in Data Privacy\n \nA central paradigm in theoretical computer science is to reason about the space of all possible algorithms for any given problem. That is\, we seek to identify an algorithm with the “best” possible performance\, and then prove that no algorithm can perform better\, no matter how cleverly it is designed. In this talk\, I will illustrate how this paradigm has played a central role in the development of differential privacy\, a mathematical framework for enabling the statistical analysis of privacy-sensitive datasets while ensuring that information specific to individual data subjects will not be leaked. In particular\, we are using it to delineate the border between what is possible and what is impossible in differential privacy\, and the effort has uncovered intriguing connections with several other topics in theoretical computer science and mathematics.\nSalil Vadhan has produced a series of original and influential papers on computational complexity and cryptography. He uses complexity-theoretic methods and perspectives to delineate the border between the possible and impossible in cryptography and data privacy. His work also illuminates the relation between computational and information-theoretic notions of randomness\, thereby enriching the theory of pseudorandomness and its applications. All of these themes are present in Vadhan’s recent papers on differential privacy and on computational analogues of entropy. \n  \nMichael Weinstein\nColumbia University \nEnergy on the Edge: A Mathematical View\n \nIn many applications\, e.g.\, photonic and quantum systems\, one is interested in controlled localization of wave energy. \nWe first review the mathematics of periodic media and localization. Edge states are a type of localization along a line-defect\, the interface between different media. We then specialize to the case of honeycomb structures (such as graphene and its photonic analogues) and discuss their novel properties. In particular\, we examine their potential to form topologically protected edge states\, which persist and are stable against strong local distortions of the edge\, and are therefore potential vehicles for robust energy transfer in the presence of defects and random imperfections. \nFinally\, we discuss rigorous results and conjectures for a family of continuum partial differential equation (Schrödinger) models admitting edge states\, which are topologically protected\, those which are not protected and possibly some which decay but are very long-lived.\nMichael Weinstein’s work bridges the areas of fundamental and applied mathematics\, physics and engineering. He is known for his elegant and influential mathematical analysis of wave phenomena in diverse and important physical problems. His and his colleagues’ work on singularity formation\, stability and nonlinear scattering has been central to the understanding of the dynamics of coherent structures of nonlinear dispersive wave equations arising in nonlinear optics\, macroscopic quantum systems and fluid dynamics. This led to work on resonances and radiation in Hamiltonian partial differential equations\, with applications to energy flow in photonic and quantum systems. Recently\, he has explored wave phenomena in novel structures such as topological insulators and metamaterials. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/2015-mps-annual-meeting/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/12034308/hyperbolic-orthogonal-dodecahedral-honeycomb-125px.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20151014T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20151014T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073601 CREATED:20150930T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164941Z UID:315-1444842000-1444846500@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:What Do Animals Really Learn? Adventures of Reinforcement Learning in the Real World DESCRIPTION:Animals and humans alike can quickly learn to associate different stimuli in the environment with rewards or punishments. In recent years\, ideas from the computational field of reinforcement learning have revolutionized the study of learning in the brain\, providing new\, precise theories of how such associations are formed. However\, although these learning algorithms work well in simplified laboratory scenarios\, they are known to suffer from the “curse of dimensionality” that makes learning in complex\, multidimensional scenarios infeasible. How does the brain scale reinforcement learning to realistic tasks? \nIn this lecture\, Yael Niv will argue that the key to learning efficiently in real-world scenarios is to use a simplified representation of the task that includes only those dimensions of the environment that are relevant to obtaining reward. This\, however\, raises the new question of how such task representations are learned. She will first demonstrate\, using behavioral experiments\, that animals and humans learn the causal\, often hidden structure of a task\, thus forming a concise task representation through experience. Dr. Niv will then suggest that these task representations reside in the orbitofrontal cortex\, and show how we can visualize these mental maps of task space and how these maps are related to behavioral performance. \nDr. Niv is associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University. Her work investigates the neural and computational processes underlying reinforcement learning—the ongoing day-to-day processes by which we learn from trial and error to maximize reward and minimize punishment. She is the recipient of the 2015 National Academy of Sciences Troland Research Award\, and the 2012 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers\, is an Ellison Foundation Scholar and was an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/what-do-animals-really-learn-adventures-of-reinforcement-learning-in-the-real-world/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Interdisciplinary ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180903/PSY_YaelNiv_00042.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20150930T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20150930T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073601 CREATED:20150827T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164931Z UID:305-1443632400-1443636900@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Timing Mechanisms of Critical Periods in Brain Development DESCRIPTION:This lecture explores the biological bases of critical periods in brain development. Mechanisms that open and close windows of plasticity (E/I balance and molecular brakes\, respectively) are implicated in autism\, suggesting mistimed maturational processes that can be strategically rescued at the circuit level. \nMaturing neural circuits are dramatically shaped by the environment during windows of increased plasticity\, but the timing of these ‘critical periods’ varies across brain regions\, and plasticity declines with age. Focusing on cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying these developmental trajectories\, Dr. Hensch identifies specific events that control the onset and closure of critical periods. Maturation of excitatory-inhibitory (E/I) circuit balance triggers plasticity\, which ends when molecular brake-like factors emerge to stabilize adult networks. Targeting specific GABA circuits using pharmacological or genetic manipulations can either accelerate or delay the onset of plasticity\, and lifting the molecular brakes can reopen windows of circuit rewiring. Implications for autism spectrum disorder etiology and potential therapeutic strategies will be explored. \nTakao K. Hensch is a professor of neurology and of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University\, and directs the National Institute of Mental Health’s Conte Center for Basic Mental Health Research. After studying at Harvard University\, the University of Tokyo (M.P.H.)\, the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research (Fulbright Fellowship) and the University of California\, San Francisco (Ph.D.)\, he helped to launch the RIKEN Brain Science Institute\, serving as lab head and group director for 14 years. Honors include two Young Investigator awards from the Society for Neuroscience and a National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award. He is a member of several editorial boards\, including Neuron and Frontiers in Neural Circuits\, where he is chief editor. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/timing-mechanisms-of-critical-periods-in-brain-development/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:Autism: Emerging Concepts ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180851/Hensch-photo.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20150916T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20150916T180000 DTSTAMP:20260404T073601 CREATED:20170428T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T164719Z UID:414-1442422800-1442426400@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Harnessing Hippocampal Stem Cells to Improve Mood and Cognition DESCRIPTION:Although a role for adult neurogenesis in specific forms of learning and in mediating some of the effects of antidepressants has received considerable attention in recent years\, much less is known about how alterations in this unique form of plasticity may contribute to neurologic or psychiatric disorders. One way to begin to address this question is to link the functions of adult-born hippocampal neurons with specific endophenotypes of these disorders. Recent studies have implicated adult-born hippocampal neurons in pattern separation\, a process by which similar experiences or events are transformed into discrete non-overlapping representations. Here\, we propose that impaired pattern separation underlies the overgeneralization often seen in age-related memory impairments and in anxiety disorders and\, therefore\, represents an endophenotype for these disorders. We will present evidence that strategies aimed at stimulating hippocampal neurogenesis result in improved pattern separation. The development of novel pro-neurogenic compounds may therefore have therapeutic potential for patients who display pattern separation deficits. \nRené Hen was born in Strasbourg\, France\, and received his Ph.D. from Université Louis-Pasteur under the mentorship of Pierre Chambon. After a postdoctoral stay in Richard Axel’s laboratory at Columbia University\, Hen became an assistant professor in Strasbourg. He then returned to Columbia University\, where he is presently a professor of pharmacology and neuroscience and the director of the division of integrative neuroscience in the department of psychiatry. His laboratory is using animal models to elucidate the neural substrates that underlie mood and anxiety disorders. URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/harnessing-hippocampal-stem-cells-to-improve-mood-and-cognition/ CATEGORIES:Simons Science Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10181107/Rene-Hen-squarecrop.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20150909T161500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20150909T181500 DTSTAMP:20260404T073601 CREATED:20150811T040000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211207T165311Z UID:303-1441815300-1441822500@www.simonsfoundation.org SUMMARY:Visualizing Quantum Matter DESCRIPTION:Everything around us — everything each of us has ever experienced and virtually everything underpinning our technological society and economy — is governed by quantum mechanics. Yet this most fundamental physical theory of nature often feels like a set of somewhat eerie and counterintuitive ideas of no direct relevance to our lives. Why is this? One reason is that we cannot perceive the strangeness (and astonishing beauty) of the quantum mechanical phenomena all around us by using our own senses. \nDr. Davis will describe the recent development of techniques that allow the imaging of electronic quantum phenomena directly at the atomic scale. As examples\, he will visually explore the previously unseen and very beautiful forms of quantum matter making up electronic liquid crystals [1\,2] and high-temperature superconductors [3\,4] and find that they are closely relayed. The implications for fundamental physics research\, and also for advanced materials and new technologies\, arising from development and application of these quantum matter visualization techniques will be discussed. \nJ.C. Séamus Davis is the J.G. White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University; he is also the SUPA Distinguished Research Professor of Physics at St. Andrews University\, Scotland\, and a senior physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton\, New York. Between 2009 and 2014 he was the Director of the Center for Emergent Superconductivity\, an Energy Frontier Research Center of the U.S. Department of Energy. Davis’ active research is focused upon macroscopic quantum physics of emergent quantum matter\, including studies of superconductors\, superfluids\, supersolids\, spin liquids\, monopole liquids and heavy fermions. Davis has been the recipient of the the Outstanding Performance Award of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2001)\, the Science and Technology Award of Brookhaven National Laboratory (2013)\, the Fritz London Memorial Prize (2005)\, and the H. Kamerlingh-Onnes Memorial Prize (2009). Davis is a fellow of the Institute of Physics (U.K.)\, the American Physical Society (U.S.)\, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. \n  \n[1] Science 315\, 1380 (2007)\n[2] Science 327\, 181 (2010)\n[3] Science 336\, 563 (2012)\n[4] Science 344\, 612 (2014) URL:https://www.simonsfoundation.org/event/visualizing-quantum-matter/ LOCATION:Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium\, 160 5th Avenue\, New York\, NY\, 10010\, United States CATEGORIES:New Directions in Imaging ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sf-web-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/10180848/jc_davis_headshot.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR