Video Content by Date

Abstract:

We consider a variant of a problem first introduced by Hughes and Rudnick (2003) and generalized by Bernard (2015) concerning conditional bounds for small first zeros in a family of L-functions. Here we seek to estimate the size of the smallest intervals centered at a low-lying height for which we can guarantee the existence of a zero in a family of L-functions. This leads us to consider an extremal problem in analysis which we address by applying the framework of de Branges spaces, introduced in this context by Carneiro, Chirre, and Milinovich (2022).

Abstract:

This talk will discuss two inference problems in dynamical systems, both motivated by applications in mathematical biology. First, we will discuss the classical gene regulatory network inference problem for time-stamped single-cell datasets and recent advances in optimal transport-based methods for this task. Second, if time permits, I will present an algorithm for bifurcation tracing, which aims to identify interfaces in parameter space. Applications to agent-based models and spatially extended reaction-diffusion equations will be demonstrated, both of which simulate Turing patterns commonly observed in animal skin, vegetation patterns, and more.

Mar, 13: Elliptic curves, Drinfeld modules, and computations
Speaker: Antoine Leudière
Abstract:

We will talk about Drinfeld modules, and how they compare to elliptic curves for algorithms and computations.

Drinfeld modules can be seen as function field analogues of elliptic curves. They were introduced in the 1970's by Vladimir Drinfeld, to create an explicit class field theory of function fields. They were instrumental to prove the Langlands program for GL2 of a function field, or the function field analogue of the Riemann hypothesis.

Elliptic curves, to the surprise of many theoretical number theorists, became a fundamental computational tool, especially in the context of cryptography (elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman, isogeny-based post-quantum cryptography) and computer algebra (ECM method).

Despite a rather abstract definition, Drinfeld modules offer a lot of computational advantages over elliptic curves: one can benefit from function field arithmetics, and from objects called Ore polynomials and Anderson motives.

We will use two examples to highlight the practicality of Drinfeld modules computations, and mention some applications.

Abstract:

I will start with a survey on sums of random multiplicative functions, focusing on distributional questions and almost sure upper bounds and $\Omega$-results. In this context, I will describe previous work with Jake Chinis on a central limit theorem for correlations of Rademacher multiplicative functions, as well as ongoing work on establishing almost sure sharp bounds for them.

Abstract:

It has been known since the 80s, thanks to Conrey and Ghosh, that the average of the square of the Riemann zeta function, summed over the extreme points of zeta up to a height $T$, is $\frac{1}{2} (e^2-5) \log T$ as $T \rightarrow \infty$. This problem and its generalisations are closely linked to evaluating asymptotics of joint moments of the zeta function and its derivatives, and for a time was one of the few cases in which Number Theory could do what Random Matrix Theory could not. RMT then managed to retake the lead in calculating these sorts of problems, but we may now tell the story of how Number Theory is fighting back, and in doing so, describe how to find a full asymptotic expansion for this problem, the first of its kind for any nontrivial joint moment of the Riemann zeta function. This is joint work with Chris Hughes and Solomon Lugmayer.

Mar, 6: Fourier optimization and the least quadratic non-residue
Speaker: Emily Quesada-Herrera
Abstract:

We will explore how a Fourier optimization framework may be used to study two classical problems in number theory involving Dirichlet characters: The problem of estimating the least character non-residue; and the problem of estimating the least prime in an arithmetic progression. In particular, we show how this Fourier framework leads to subtle, but conceptually interesting, improvements on the best current asymptotic bounds under the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis, given by Lamzouri, Li, and Soundararajan. Based on joint work with Emanuel Carneiro, Micah Milinovich, and Antonio Ramos.

Mar, 3: Refinements of Artin's primitive root conjecture
Speaker: Paul Peringuey
Abstract:

Let $\rm{ord}_p(a)$ be the order of $a$ in $( \mathbb{Z} / p \mathbb{Z} )^*$. In 1927, Artin conjectured that the set of primes $p$ for which an integer $a\neq -1,\square$ is a primitive root (i.e. $\rm{ord}_p(a)=p-1$) has a positive asymptotic density among all primes. In 1967 Hooley proved this conjecture assuming the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis (GRH). In this talk we will study the behaviour of $\rm{ord}_p(a)$ as $p$ varies over primes, in particular we will show, under GRH, that the set of primes $p$ for which $\rm{ord}_p(a)$ is “$k$ prime factors away” from $p-1$ has a positive asymptotic density among all primes except for particular values of $a$ and $k$. We will interpret being “$k$ prime factors away” in three different ways, namely $k=\omega(\frac{p-1}{\rm{ord}_p(a)})$, $k=\Omega(\frac{p-1} {\rm{ord}_p(a)})$ and $k=\omega(p-1)-\omega(\rm{ord}_p(a))$, and present conditional results analogous to Hooley's in all three cases and for all integer $k$. From this, we will derive conditionally the expectation for these quantities. Furthermore we will provide partial unconditional answers to some of these questions. This is joint work with Leo Goldmakher and Greg Martin.

Feb, 26: Collective cell chirality
Speaker: Alex Mogilner
Abstract:

Individual and collective cell polarity has fascinated mathematical modelers for a long time. Recently, a more subtle type of symmetry breaking started to attract attention of experimentalists and theorists alike - emergence of chirality in single cells and in cell groups. I will describe a joint project with Bershadsky/Tee lab to understand collective cell chirality on adhesive islands. From the initial microscopy data, two potential models emerged: in one, cells elongate and slowly rotate, and neighboring cells align with each other. When the collective rotation is stopped by the island boundaries, chirality emerges. In an alternative model, cells become chiral due to stress fibers turns inside the cells on the boundary, and then the polarity pattern propagates inward into the cellular groups. We used agent-based modeling to simulate these two hypotheses. The models make many predictions, and I will show how we discriminated between the models by comparing the data to these predictions.

Feb, 25: Euler products inside the critical strip
Speaker: Arshay Sheth
Abstract:

Even though Euler products of L-functions are generally valid only to the right of the critical strip, there is a strong sense in which they should persist even inside the critical strip. Indeed, the behaviour of Euler products inside the critical strip is very closely related to several major problems in number theory including the Riemann Hypothesis and the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture. In this talk, we will give an introduction to this topic and then discuss recent work on establishing asymptotics for partial Euler products of L-functions in the critical strip. We will end by giving applications of these results to questions related to Chebyshev's bias.

Feb, 24: Perfect powers as sum of consecutive powers
Speaker: Lucas Villagra Torcomian
Abstract:

In 1770 Euler observed that $3^3 + 4^3 + 5^3 = 6^3$ and asked if there was another perfect power that equals the sum of consecutive cubes. This captivated the attention of many important mathematicians, such as Cunningham, Catalan, Genocchi and Lucas. In the last decade, the more general equation $x^k + (x+1)^k + \cdots + (x+d)^k = y^n$ began to be studied. In this talk we will focus on this equation. We will see some known results and one of the most used tools to attack this kind of problems. At the end we will show some new results that appear in arXiv:2404.03457.

Abstract:

In this talk, we will discuss the question of establishing CLTs for empirical entropic optimal transport when choosing the regularisation parameter as a decreasing function of the sample size. Importantly, decreasing the regularisation parameter enables estimating the population unregularized quantities of interest. Furthermore, we will show an application to score function estimation, a central quantity in diffusion models, and will discuss parallels with recent work on the estimation of transport maps based on the linearization of the Monge—Ampère equation.

Feb, 13: Bad reduction of rational maps
Speaker: Matt Olechnowicz
Abstract:

We show that the reduction of a projective endomorphism modulo a discrete valuation naturally takes the form of a set-theoretic correspondence. This raises the possibility of classifying "reduction types" of such dynamical systems, reminiscent of the additive/multiplicative dichotomy for elliptic curves. These correspondences facilitate the exact evaluation of certain integrals of dynamical Green's functions, which arise as local factors in the context of counting rational points ordered by the Call-Silverman canonical height. No prior knowledge of arithmetic dynamics will be assumed.

Abstract:

The Polya group of a number field K is a specific subgroup of the ideal class group Cl(K) of K, generated by all classes of Ostrowski ideals of K. In this talk, I will discuss the equality Po(K)=Cl(K) in two directions. First, we will see this equality happens for infinitely many "non-Galois fields'' K. Accordingly, I prove two conjectures presented by Chabert and Halberstadt concerning the Polya groups of some families of non-Galois fields. Then, I present some "finiteness theorems" for the equality Po(K)=Cl(K) for some families of "Galois" fields K obtained in joint work with Amir Akbary (University of Lethbridge).

Feb, 6: Zeta functon of F-gauges and special values
Speaker: Shubhodip Mondal
Abstract:

In 1966, Tate proposed the Artin–Tate conjectures, which expresses special values of zeta function associated to surfaces over finite fields. Conditional on the Tate conjecture, Milne–Ramachandran formulated and proved similar conjectures for smooth proper schemes over finite fields. The formulation of these conjectures already relied on other unproven conjectures. In this talk, I will discuss an unconditional formulation and proof of these conjectures.

Feb, 4: Moments of symmetric square L-functions
Speaker: Dmitry Frolenkov
Abstract:

I am going to discuss various results on moments of symmetric square L-functions and some of their applications. I will mainly focus on a recent result of R. Khan and M. Young and our improvement of it. Khan and Young proved a mean Lindelöf estimate for the second moment of Maass form symmetric-square L-functions $L(\mathop{sym}^2 u_j, 1/2 + it)$ on the short interval of length $G >> |t_j|^{(1 + \epsilon)/t^{(2/3)}}$, where $t_j$ is a spectral parameter of the corresponding Maass form. Their estimate yields a subconvexity estimate for $L(\mathop{sym}^2 u_j, 1/2 + it)$ as long as $|t_j|^{(6/7 + \delta)} << t < (2 - \delta)|t_j|$. We obtain a mean Lindelöf estimate for the same moment in shorter intervals, namely for $G >> |t_j|^{(1 + \epsilon)/t}$. As a corollary, we prove a subconvexity estimate for $L(\mathop{sym}^2 u_j, 1/2 + it)$ on the interval $|t_j|^{(2/3 + \delta)} << t << |t_j|^{(6/7 - \delta)}$. This is joint work with Olga Balkanova.

Abstract:

The Polya group P o ( K ) of a Galois number field K coincides with the subgroup of the ideal class group C l ( K ) of K consisting of all strongly ambiguous ideal classes. We prove that there are only finitely many imaginary abelian number fields K whose "Polya index" [ C l ( K ) : P o ( K ) ] is a fixed integer. Accordingly, under GRH, we completely classify all imaginary quadratic fields with the Polya indices 1 and 2. Also, we unconditionally classify all imaginary biquadratic and imaginary tri-quadratic fields with the Polya index 1. In another direction, we classify all real quadratic fields K of extended R-D type (with possibly only one more field K ) for which P o ( K ) = C l ( K ) . Our result generalizes Kazuhiro's classification of all real quadratic fields of narrow R-D type whose narrow genus numbers are equal to their narrow class numbers.

This is a joint work with Amir Akbary (University of Lethbridge).

Jan, 28: Convolution sums from Trace Formulae
Speaker: Kim Klinger-Logan
Abstract:

Previously we found certain convolution sums of divisor functions arising from physics yield Fourier coefficients of modular forms. In this talk we will discuss the limitations of the current proof of these formulas. We will also explore the connection with the Petersson and Kuznetsov Trace Formulae and the possibility of extending these formulas to other cases. The work mentioned in this talk is in collaboration with Ksenia Fedosova, Stephen D. Miller, Danylo Radchenko, and Don Zagier.

Jan, 23: Dynamical symmetry is atypical
Speaker: Amie Wilkinson
Abstract:

I will discuss a result with Bonatti and Crovisier from 2009 showing that the C^1 generic diffeomorphism f of a closed manifold has trivial centralizer; i.e. fg = gf implies that g is a power of f. I’ll discuss features of the C^1 topology that enable our proof (the analogous statement is open in general in the C^r topology, for r>1). I’ll also discuss some features of the proof and some recent work, joint with Danijela Damjanovic and Disheng Xu that attempts to tackle the non-generic case.

Abstract:

Measures provide valuable insights into long-term and global behaviors across a broad range of dynamical systems. In this talk, we present our recent research efforts that employ measure theory and optimal transport to tackle core challenges in system identification, parameter recovery, and predictive modeling. First, we adopt a PDE-constrained optimization perspective to learn ODEs and SDEs from slowly sampled trajectories, enabling stable forward models and uncertainty quantification. We then use optimal transportation to align physical measures for parameter estimation, even when time-derivative data is unavailable. Our second result extends the celebrated Takens’ time-delay embedding, a foundational result in dynamical systems, from state space to probability distributions. It establishes a robust theoretical and computational framework for state reconstruction that remains effective under noisy and partial observations. Finally, we show that by comparing invariant measures in time-delay coordinates, one can overcome identifiability challenges and achieve unique recovery of the underlying dynamics even though it is not generally possible to uniquely reconstruct dynamics using invariant statistics alone. Collectively, these works demonstrate how measure-theoretic and transport-based methods can robustly identify, analyze, and forecast real-world dynamical systems and the great research potential of measure-theoretic approaches for dynamical systems.

Abstract:

Let $d>k$ be positive integers. Motivated by an earlier result of Bugeaud and Nguyen, we let $E_{k,d}$ be the set of $(c_1,\ldots,c_k)\in\mathbb{R}_{\geq 0}^k$ such that $\vert\alpha_0\vert\vert\alpha_1\vert^{c_1}\cdots\vert\alpha_k\vert^{c_k}\geq 1$ for any algebraic integer $\alpha$ of degree $d$, where we label its Galois conjugates as $\alpha_0,\ldots,\alpha_{d-1}$ with $\vert\alpha_0\vert\geq \vert\alpha_1\vert\geq\cdots \geq \vert\alpha_{d-1}\vert$. First, we give an explicit description of $E_{k,d}$ as a polytope with $2^k$ vertices. Then we prove that for $d>3k$, for every $(c_1,\ldots,c_k)\in E_{k,d}$ and for every $\alpha$ that is not a root of unity, the strict inequality $\vert\alpha_0\vert\vert\alpha_1\vert^{c_1}\cdots\vert\alpha_k\vert^{c_k}>1$ holds. We also provide a quantitative version of this inequality in terms of $d$ and the height of the minimal polynomial of $\alpha$.

Jan, 14: Non-vanishing for cubic Hecke L-functions
Speaker: Alexandre de Faveri
Abstract:

I will discuss recent work with Chantal David, Alexander Dunn, and Joshua Stucky, in which we prove that a positive proportion of Hecke L-functions associated to the cubic residue symbol modulo square-free Eisenstein integers do not vanish at the central point. Our principal new contribution is the asymptotic evaluation of the mollified second moment. No such asymptotic formula was previously known for a cubic family (even over function fields).

Our new approach makes crucial use of Patterson's evaluation of the Fourier coefficients of the cubic metaplectic theta function, Heath-Brown's cubic large sieve, and a Lindelöf-on-average upper bound for the second moment of cubic Dirichlet series that we establish. The significance of our result is that the family considered does not satisfy a perfectly orthogonal large sieve bound. This is quite unlike other families of Dirichlet L-functions for which unconditional results are known (namely the family of quadratic characters and the family of all Dirichlet characters modulo q). Consequently, our proof has fundamentally different features from the corresponding works of Soundararajan and of Iwaniec and Sarnak.