Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

The Elsevier Jack K. Hale Award in Dynamical Systems and Differential Equations honors the contributions and influence of Professor Jack K. Hale (1928-2009), long-time Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Differential Equations (JDE). The award has been established through the sponsorship of JDE and Elsevier. The Jack K. Hale Award will consist of a cash prize and will be awarded biennially to a researcher who has made outstanding contributions in the fields of dynamics and differential equations.

Nominations from the public are solicited and, for the inaugural award, should be submitted to JDE@Elsevier.com by 31 December 2013. It is strongly suggested that nominees have received their Ph.D. degree within the last 12 years. A nomination should include an overview of the research accomplishments and vita of the nominee. Additionally, it is strongly encouraged that several letters (ideally three or four) in support of the nominee also be included.

The third annual Tech Topology Conference will be held December 6-8, 2013. It will bring together established and young researchers from around the country for a weekend of mathematics in beautiful Atlanta. We are pleased to announce this year's speakers will be:

• John Baldwin (Boston College)
• Tim Cochran (Rice University)
• Alan Diaz (Georgia Tech)
• Robert Gompf (University of Texas, Austin)
• Robert Lipshitz (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
• Thomas Mark (University of Virginia)
• Susan Williams* (University of South Alabama)

The organizers are John Etnyre and Dan Margalit.

Talks are scheduled to be given in the School of Mathematics, Skiles Building Room 006.

For registration information, please visit the conference website.

Professor Christine Heitsch is a member of the organizing committee for the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) Annual Program Year Workshop Topological Structures in Computational Biology. The workshop will take place during December 9-13, 2013 at the IMA at the University of Minnesota. She will give her presentation on December 10. For the complete list of presentations, see the schedule

Professor Dan Margalit and Instructor Klara Grodzinsky have both won the Class of 1940 Course Survey Teaching Effectiveness Award from the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL). Selection for the award was based on high Course/Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS) scores with high response rates in courses taught during the academic year 2012-13. The award includes a monetary bonus. This is the third year in a row that Klara has received the award.

Alexander Schrijver from the University of Amsterdam and CWI Amsterdam will present the ACO Distinghished Lecture on January 28, 2014 at 4:30 pm with location to be announced.

Alexander Schrijver is a professor of mathematics at the University of Amsterdam and researcher at the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI) in Amsterdam. His research focuses on discrete mathematics and optimization, in particular on applying methods from fundamental mathematics. He is the author of four books, including 'Theory of Linear and Integer Programming' and 'Combinatorial Optimization - Polyhedra and Efficiency'.

He received Fulkerson Prizes in 1982 and 2003, Lanchester Prizes in 1987 and 2004, a Dantzig Prize in 2003, a Spinoza Prize in 2005, a Von Neumann Theory Prize in 2006, and an Edelman Award in 2008. He is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1995 and of three foreign academies, received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Waterloo and Budapest, and was knighted by the Dutch Queen in 2005.

Graphs, Knots, and Algebras

Many graph invariants can be described as 'partition functions' (in the sense of de la Harpe and Jones). In the talk we give an introduction to this and we present characterizations of such partition functions among all graph invariants. We show how similar methods describe knot invariants and give rise to varieties parametrizing all partition functions. We relate this to the Vassiliev knot invariants, and show that its Lie algebra weight systems are precisely those weight systems that are 'reflection positive.'

The talk will be introductory and does not assume any specific knowledge on graphs, knots, or algebras.

There will be a reception in the Atrium of the building to be announced.

On Friday, January 31, 2014, Professor Mairi Sakellariadou from King's College London will make a presentation titled Particle Physics and Cosmology from Almost Commutative Manifolds.

The unification of the four fundamental forces remains one of the most important issues in theoretical particle physics.

In this talk, she will give a short introduction to Non-Commutative Spectral Geometry, a bottom-up approach that unifies the (successful) Standard Model of high energy physics with Einstein's General theory of Relativity. The model is built upon almost-commutative spaces and she will discuss the physical implications of the choice of such manifolds. She will show that even though the unification has been obtained only at the classical level, the doubling of the algebra may incorporate the seeds of quantization. She will then briefly review the particle physics phenomenology and highlight open issues and current proposals.

In the last part of her talk, she will explore consequences of the Gravitational-Higgs part of the spectral action formulated within such almost-commutative manifolds. In particular, she will study modifications of the Friedmann equation, propagation of gravitational waves and the onset of inflation. She will show how current measurements (Gravity Probe, pulsars, and torsion balance) can constrain free parameters of the model. She will conclude with a short discussion on open questions.

The event will be held at 4:00pm in Skiles, room 006

In the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, the graduate programs of the School of Mathematics continue to climb, reaching a ranking of #28 this year, up from #36 in 2009.

Mostly due to the excellent leadership of Robin Thomas in the Algorithms, Combinatorics and Optimization (ACO) program, Discrete Math had an extremely strong showing, moving from #8 last year to #4 this year.

Several NSF $300K EAGER projects (Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research) involving School of Mathematics faculty have been awarded. These were spinoffs from the recent "Expeditions in Computing" effort led by Prasad Tetali.

NSF Proposal: 1415460

Title: Eager: Discrete Optimization Algorithms for 21st Century Algorithms

PI: George Nemhauser (co-PIs: Nina Balcan, Avrim Blum, Santanu Dey, Santosh Vempala)

NSF Proposal: 1415496
Title: EAGER: Physical Flow and other Industrial Challenges

PI: Prasad Tetali (co-PIs: Henrik Christensen, Sebastian Pokutta, George Nemhauser)

NSF Proposal: 1415498
Title: EAGER: Convex Optimization Algorithms for 21st Century Challenges

PI: Santosh Vempala (co-PIs: Vladimir Koltchinskii, Arkadi Nemirovski, Justin Romberg, Prasad Tetali)

Thomas F. Kieffer, a senior majoring in applied mathematics and physics, recently received the prestigious Goldwater Scholarschip. Kieffer's work focuses on computational astrophysics. “I make use of high performance computing to capture interplay of universal processes such as gravity, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and radiation,” he said. “A better understanding of these process in an astrophysical context can, in turn, yield results that strengthen the understanding of these processes in other branches of physics.” Kieffer, whose other interests include fitness and playing guitar, said he has been curious about the “cosmological scale of the universe” since he was a child in Navarre, Fla. His first priority upon arriving at Georgia Tech was to find a research position in astrophysics, and by the end of his first semester, he was working with Tamara Bogdanovic, a theoretical astrophysicist and assistant professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.

Kieffer said he is excited about the award, which covers tuition, fees, books, and room and board for $7,500 a year. “It will improve my application quality for graduate schools and the financial support is very helpful, of course,” he said.

His goal is to pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and become a professor. He wants to continue doing research to aid in the growth and development of fundamental science, and he also wants to effectively communicate his discoveries to fellow scientists and the general public.

“I just feel a sort of happiness when learning about how nature works,” Kieffer said.

Named for U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, the Goldwater Scholarship is awarded to students in science, mathematics and engineering who intend to pursue research careers in their fields, with the intent of providing a continuing source of highly qualified scholars in these areas.

Ryan Welisch Keane was recently nominated by the School of Mathematics for the College of Sciences Bossart Award. He was selected by a panel of faculty to receive this award in recognition of his accomplishments at Tech. Ryan is an outstanding undergraduate student majoring in Discrete Mathematics and in Computer Science. He is a senior by total hours earned, but will not graduate from Georgia Tech until Spring 2015. At that time he will receive a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Computer Science and BS in Discrete Mathematics. His undergraduate research included 3 semesters working with Dr. Dana Randall in Computer Science focsing primarily on Markov Chain analysis and study. This Spring 2014 Ryan is participating in the Budapest Semester in Mathematics (BSM). BSM is considered by many as one of the top undergraduate study abroad programs in mathematics. Ryan is working with Dr. Alex Kuronya of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics studying Algebraic Geometry.

This award is presented to a top out-of-state student studying in the college. It consists of a $900 financial aid award that is available while the receipients are registered at Georgia Tech in the 2014-5 academic year. The award will be administered by the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.

In recognition of this award, Ryan is invited to lunch with the members of the College of Sciences Advisory Board (CoSAB) as well as invited to attend the GT Student Honors Luncheon.