Wednesday, January 14, 2026
The afternoon session is moved to Gates 271.
This one-day workshop will celebrate convex analysis and optimization, from T. Rockafellar's Landmark (Convex Analysis, 1970) to R. Schapire and M. Dudik's new framework of Astral space, through recent advances in fixed-point equations and proximal methods, and integer/mixed-integer optimization methods. Please register here before Jan. 12.
For UW Seattle students. If you are interested in learning more about astral space, you may register for reading credits with Prof. Z. Harchaoui. The reading project will involve i) actively attending and participating to the workshop; ii) reading and exploring astral space through mathematical proofs and computer codes; iii) writing a report and sharing computer codes.
08:00 - 08:30 Check-in and welcome.
08:30 - 09:30 Invited Lecture. Astral Space: Convex Analysis at Infinity - Part 1. Rob Schapire.
09:30 - 10:30 Invited Lecture. Astral Space: Convex Analysis at Infinity - Part 2. Miro Dudik.
10:30 - 11:00 Breathing pause.
11:00 - 11:45 Efficient Solvers for Fixed-Point Equations. Jelena Diakonikolas.
11:45 - 01:00 Lunch pause.
01:00 - 01:45 Keynote talk. Decomposition Algorithms in Convex Optimization. Tyrrell Rockafellar.
01:45 - 02:30 Subspace Flatness Conjecture and Faster Integer Optimization. Thomas Rothvoss.
02:30 - 03:00 Breathing pause.
03:00 - 03:45 Discrete optimization over posets: theory and application in statistical modeling. Armeen Taeb.
03:45 - 04:30 Randomized Kaczmarz algorithms. Stefan Steinerberger.
Sponsors and support. This workshop is sponsored and supported by the DSOD interdepartmental talks series, the NSF TRIPODS Institute for the Foundations of Science, and the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences (KI Initiative).