Fall 2026
September 30, 2026, 4:00–5:00pm, EH4088
Speaker: Alexander Volberg (MSU)
Title: Tightness of and counterexamples to several quantum estimates
Abstract: Recently the TCS query learning ala Nisan--Mansur--Linial got the boost from a harmonic analysis random algorithm. This problem has a non-commutative version where one needs to learn a very big matrix (so-called d-local hamiltonians) from a few random queries.
The corresponding harmonic analysis results have a drawback that it is still not known how tight they are. We will discuss this and show tightness for some of them. Interestingly, one such tightness result is closely related to Einstein--Podolsky--Rosen paradox from quantum mechanics.
On a close issue: arguably the main problem in understanding the speed up of quantum algorithms versus classical ones for a certain collection of problems (called Aaronson--Ambainis conjecture and still open) will be discussed too if time permits.
October 7, 2026, 4:00–5:00pm, EH4088
Speaker: Alex Rodriguez (UMichigan)
Title: Non-abelian Hirota-Miwa Equations for the KPZ Universality Class
Abstract: The KPZ universality class is a broad collection of mathematical and physical models linked through their shared universal scaling behavior. A privileged subset, known as exactly solvable models, possess algebraic structure that allows for exact formulas for their probability distributions.
For an even smaller subset of these models, their distributions have been shown to satisfy nonlinear equations from classical integrable systems, including Painlevé, KP, and Toda equations. Why should equations from soliton theory appear in random growth, and why do they keep reappearing across different models?
I will describe a framework that gives a common algebraic explanation and extends this connection to eighteen exactly solvable models. The framework organizes the Fredholm determinant formulas of solvable KPZ models into an overdetermined linear problem whose compatibility conditions reveal a discrete integrable structure gauge equivalent to the non-abelian Hirota–Miwa equation.
October 14, 2026, 4:00–5:00pm, EH4088
Speaker: Achintya Polavarapu (Georgia Tech)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
October 21, 2026, 4:00–5:00pm, EH4088
Speaker: Chun-Kai Tseng (MSU)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
October 28, 2026, 4:00–5:00pm, EH4088
Speaker: Haoyu Liu (PKU/MIT)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
November 4, 2026, 4:00–5:00pm, EH4088
Speaker: Brayden Letwin (UWashington)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
November 18, 2026, 4:00–5:00pm, EH4088
Speaker: Han Huang (MIT)
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA