BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Vienna BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260329T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:CEST END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20261025T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10 TZNAME:CET END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69941a4daa95e421953637@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260323T110000 DTEND:20260323T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Aaradhya Pandey\nhosted by Marco Mondelli\nAbstract: I n this talk\, I introduce a hypothesis-testing-based formulation of differ ential privacy in classical computation. The Gaussian Differential Privacy framework of Dong--Roth--Su (2022) established a central limit theorem fo r the composition of multiple private mechanisms. Building on this work\, I present a Poisson extension of their result and show that both the Gauss ian and Poisson limits are unified under a broader framework of infinitely divisible privacy. This perspective reveals structural connections betwee n differential privacy\, probability theory\, statistics\, and discrete ma thematics. I conclude by discussing computational differential privacy and its connections to cryptographic constructions such as pseudorandom gener ators\, as well as a step toward quantizing privacy in quantum computation \, outlining a framework for both computational and quantum differential p rivacy. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:jdeanton@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Aaradhya Pandey: Information\, Computation\, &\; Quantization: I nfinitely divisible privacy and beyond URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6299 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6687bf08e3e68685081225@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260324T161500 DTEND:20260324T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Michiel De Wilde\nhosted by Robert Seiringer\nAbstract : Allow an ideal Bose gas to have any boundary condition. What kind of con densates are possible in the thermodynamic limit? We show that a suitable sequence of boundary conditions for the Laplacian features the appearance of an arbitrary number of condensates\, described by arbitrary harmonic fu nctions. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Michiel De Wilde: Arbitrary harmonic functions as Bose-Einstein con densates URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6359 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69a9b2967650f821985802@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260326T113000 DTEND:20260326T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Bardiya Aryanfard\nAbstract: In the continual observat ion model of differential privacy\, problems are generally considered easy if they admit an additive error polylogarithmic in the stream length T an d the universe size n. Conversely\, problems that require additive error p olynomial in n and T are considered difficult. Recently\, Raskhodikova and Steiner (PODS 25) proved polynomial lower bounds on the additive error of many graph problems under fully dynamic edge differential privacy. This r aises a natural question: are these problems difficult even in the inserti ons-only model\, or does their hardness arise strictly from the fully dyna mic setting?We show that for many problems\, the former is true. We prove polynomial lower bounds for a variety of these problems (e.g.\, maximum ma tching) in the insertions-only setting. We then extend our techniques to t he problem of estimating all symmetric norms simultaneously (SNE)\, provid ing the first polynomial lower bound for this problem.Based on joint work with Monika Henzinger\, David Saulpic\, and A. R. Sricharan (https://arxiv .org/abs/2512.15981\, to appear in PODS 26) LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room C (I24.EG.030c)\, IST A ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Bardiya Aryanfard: TCS Seminar - Improved Lower Bounds for Privacy under Continual Release URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6369 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:665dbdca90071525382795@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260326T131500 DTEND:20260326T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Volodymyr Mazorchuk\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: In the first half  of the talk\, I will give a general introduction to t he so-called Kostant's problem for Lie algebra modules\, as formulated by Joseph in 1980.In the second half\, I will discuss a few recent results on this problem for  simple  highest weight modules and related properties of Kazhdan-Lusztig combinatorics. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Volodymyr Mazorchuk: Kostant's problem for highest weight modules URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6259 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69c13bfcda1b2375724544@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260401T140000 DTEND:20260401T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Vishwesha Guttal\nhosted by Vasudha Kulkarni\, Sylvia Cremer\nAbstract: Biological systems are fundamentally shaped by stochasti city. In my talk\, I will demonstrate the key role of intrinsic noise\, wh ich are fluctuations arising from inherent probabilistic nature of biologi cal interactions and are amplified in finite systems. First\, I will demon strate\, using both theory and empirical data\, how noise can shape order in small to intermediate-sized fish schools. Next\, I will show how noise can inform us about the underlying ecological dynamics. Finally\, I will s how theoretically how the stochasticity of finite populations can exhibit counter-intuitive dynamics on both ecological and evolutionary time scales . LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 3\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:vkulkarn@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Vishwesha Guttal: The role of intrinsic noise in biological systems : from animal groups to populations to evolution URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6372 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:698aeafda7e08601921534@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260401T150000 DTEND:20260401T163000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: David Taylor\nhosted by Prof. Jack Bravo\nAbstract: CR ISPRCas9s clinical utility is constrained by strict PAM requirements and t he inability to package large nucleases into AAV vectors. We engineered a modular Cas9\, split into a nuclease scaffold and an exchangeable PAM-inte racting domain (PID). This architecture enables one scaffold to function w ith multiple PIDs\, allowing ultra-multiplexing and simple PID swapping to target all disease-relevant loci. Guided by cryo-EM\, we identified funct ional split sites\, validated activity with a GFP reporter assay\, and res tored fast cleavage kinetics using intein-mediated ligation. Exchanging PI Ds broadened PAM compatibility significantly\, with several split chimeras achieving robust editing across any site in human cells. This precision n uclease system offers a compact\, PAM-flexible platform that fits within a single AAV and establishes a path toward versatile\, clinical genome-edit ing therapies. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:jbravo@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:David Taylor: "\;Reengineering CRISPR-Cas effectors"\; URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6321 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69c0fcd2533c8436387966@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260403T110000 DTEND:20260403T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Christian Santangelo\nhosted by Scott Waitukaitis\nAbs tract: The materials of biology\, from sharkskin to cartilage to wood\, re gularly out-perform their synthetic equivalents. Organisms can achieve thi s because their materials have precise geometric structures that endow the m with tailored mechanical properties that can often be changed in situ. I t has recently become possible to fabricate comparable structures through 3D printing\, but we still seem to understand little about how geometry an d mechanics are intertwined. This talk will discuss why this is a hard pro blem (NP-hard actually)\, and highlight new work by my group and collabora tors that are starting to unveil new connections between geometry and mech anics. This new understanding has allowed us to design materials that can change their mechanical properties\, changing from rigid to floppy due to the imposition of internal stresses\, and sheds light on the flexibility o f shells and other structures. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room F (I24.EG.030f)\, IST A ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Christian Santangelo: How geometry and topology make materials rigi d or floppy URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6375 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:68776fd7287fd077847583@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260409T110000 DTEND:20260409T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Martin van Hecke\nhosted by Scott Waitukaitis\nAbstrac t: Memory effects probe the complexity of disordered matter and its fundam ental constituents and interactions. While models based on independent ele ments capture generic memories\, interactions are predicted to produce man y interaction-induced memories which so far have been observed in artifici al systems only. Here we reveal that archetypical disordered materials - p olycrystalline alloys\, crumpled sheets\, and steel wool - store multiple memories that strengthen with repeated cycling - in stark contrast to pred ictions for non-interacting systems. Interacting-based models capture our observations and predict a cascade of interaction-induced memory motifs\, including the dominant one observed here. Our results reveal hitherto hidd en complexity in disordered media\, opening a fresh route towards the obse rvation\, modeling and utilization of interaction-induced memories\, inclu ding for in-materia computing. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Martin van Hecke: Interaction-Induced Memories Reveal the Complexit y of Disordered Matter URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6380 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69b2997d0b482398218529@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260409T113000 DTEND:20260409T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Frederik Mallmann-Trenn\nAbstract: The strong lottery ticket hypothesis (SLTH) posits that\, for any given target network\, a su fficiently large randomly initialized neural network contains a subnetwork whose inputoutput behavior can approximate that target. This viewpoint su ggests an alternative paradigm for model design: rather than adjusting par ameters through training\, we can search for effective subnetworks by prun ing. In this talk\, I will introduce the SLTH and discuss several pruning approaches. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room A / 27 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Frederik Mallmann-Trenn: TCS Seminar - On the Strong Lottery Ticket Hypothesis URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6397 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:665dbdca92263894233087@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260409T133000 DTEND:20260409T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jochen Heinloth\nhosted by Xujia Chen & Tamas Hausel\n Abstract: The talk will be an extension of a preparational talk in the Fri day-Bourbaki seminar\, with only aim to give some background on the geomet ric Langlands correspondence.The question started out with an arithmetic q uestion and part of the recent progress has relied on a very fruitful exch ange of ideas between arithmetic and geometric perspectives\, that finally allowed Gaitsgory and Raskin to deduce results for the original correspon dence in the case of function fields from an abstract looking categorical result. It is quite beautiful that the abstract looking statement can be u sed to deduce a classical statement on automorphic functions.The different settings involved mean that if you either like arithmetic questions or co mplex geometry you might appreciate some aspects of this and I will try to explain some of the more elementary ideas that serve as starting point to translate between these languages. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jochen Heinloth: Some background on the geometric Langlands corresp ondence URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6272 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:699c104cded21642660514@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260415T110000 DTEND:20260415T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Filippo Conforto\nhosted by Andela Saric\nAbstract: Th e activity and organisation of DNA in the cell are highly regulated by sev eral proteins\, such as topoisomerases and Structural Maintenance of Chrom osomes (SMCs)\, which are involved in topological regulation by resolving crossings between DNA strands or creating loops within chromatin. While we have rich knowledge about the impact of these proteins on the cell's func tion\, the rheological\, i.e.\, flow properties\, which affect the capacit y of DNA to reorganise and respond to stimuli\, are still poorly understoo d.In this talk\, I will investigate the viscous and elastic properties of dense DNA solutions under the effect of SMCs and the formation of gels thr ough DNA ligation. Specifically\, I show how SMCs modulate in silico and i n vitro the rheological properties both through the extrusion of loops and the creation of transient crosslinks between DNA strands. Additionally\, I investigate how DNA can be used to create percolating networks of linked rings. These DNA networks\, called "Olympic Gels''\, differ from classic transiently linked gels by the presence of permanent topological links. I show that through progressive ligation it is possible to create materials with tuneable viscoelastic properties\, which can be controlled by choosin g the length of ring and linear DNA strands used in the gel formation. Thi s work contributes to a better understanding of how proteins naturally con tained in the cell affect the topology\, structure\, and rheology of entan gled DNA\, and will help guide the design of new biomaterials inspired by the properties of DNA. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room A / 27 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:mmunozba@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Filippo Conforto: Modulating the flow of entangled DNA with topolog ically active proteins URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6381 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1776338100@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260416T131500 DTEND:20260416T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Isabella Khan\nhosted by Xujia Chen\nAbstract: The Hee gaard Floer d-invariant is a numerical invariant of rational homology sphe res which is analogous to the Frøyshov h-invariant from Instanton theory. In this talk\, we use Zemke’s recent isomorphism between lattice Floer and Heegaard Floer homology to compute the d-invariant for all rational ho mology spheres which arise as negative definite plumbed manifolds\, verify ing a 20 year old conjecture of Némethi.  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Isabella Khan: The Heegaard Floer d-invariant for rational homology spheres URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6403 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6925b824cd08b921483305@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260420T160000 DTEND:20260420T170000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Rémy Mahfouf\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Jan Maas\nAbs tract: In this talk\, I will present a new differential approach to unders tanding how the large-scale geometry of (near-)critical Ising and dimer mo dels evolves as their coupling constants are moved continuously. When this evolution is driven by random perturbations\, the question connects to th e stability of certain stochastic differential equations (SDEs)\, allowing the construction of (near-)critical random-bond Ising and dimer models wh ose critical window in a random environment is significantly larger than i n the deterministic setting.The talk is based on arXiv:2509.08928 and ongo ing work with Benot Laslier and Mikhail Basok. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Rémy Mahfouf: Travelling through (near) critical Ising and dimer m odels URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6349 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69b2cbf7d2155912021111@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260420T170000 DTEND:20260420T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Diederik van Engelenburg\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Ja n Maas\nAbstract: In this talk\, I will focus on behavior of the Ising mod el in high dimensions (d 4). Widom proposed that thermodynamic quantities follow power laws governed by critical exponents\, and above the upper cri tical dimension d_c = 4\, these exponents reduce to the mean-field values (matching those on trees or complete graphs). I will talk about a recent w ork about the so-called one-arm event (the origin connects to distance n) in the FK-Ising model. We observe that this exponent depends on the bound ary condition: for wired boundary conditions\, we prove that this probabil ity decays up to constants as n^(-1) for d 4\, whereas in infinite volume we prove that it decays as n^(-2) for d 6\, but not for d = 4\, 5. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Diederik van Engelenburg: One-arm exponents for the high dimensiona l Ising model URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6350 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1776778200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260421T153000 DTEND:20260421T162000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Imre Leader\nhosted by Matthew Kwan\nAbstract: Abstrac t: Euclidean Ramsey theory is a natural geometric version of Ramsey theory \, asking about what we can say when we finitely colour the Euclidean spac e Rn. The talk will present background and then go on to some more recent results. No knowledge of the area or of Ramsey theory will be assumed. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Imre Leader: Euclidean Ramsey theory URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6415 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6687bf08e3e81623090284@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260421T161500 DTEND:20260421T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Pierre Germain\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös\nAbstract: A c hain of oscillators is a Hamiltonian model set on the 1D lattice (Z)\, whi ch should be thought as a model of a crystal: particles can interact with their neighbors\, linearly and nonlinearly. The most prominent examples ar e the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam and the Toda equations. I will present the kinetic (Boltzmann-type) equation which can be derived from this model as well as its hydrodynamic limits. I will try to give an overview of the - mostly no t rigorous - theory\, but also emphasize recent mathematical progress. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Pierre Germain: Kinetic theory for oscillator chains URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6418 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1776781800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260421T163000 DTEND:20260421T172000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Luka Milićević\nhosted by Matthew Kwan\nAbstract: Ab stract: Higher order Fourier analysis is a generalization of the classica l Fourier analysis in which the role of linear phases is played by polynom ial phases and related objects. It originates from the work of Gowers in w hich he proved quantitative bounds in Szemerédi's theorem on arithmetic p rogressions and introduced a family of norms on functions on an abelian gr oup\, now known as the uniformity norms. These norms\, denoted by U^k for k ≥ 2\, are the central objects of study in this subject and a key quest ion is the inverse problem\, which is to understand the structure of funct ions with a large value of uniformity norm.In this talk\, I will present s ome novel results in this field: a general inverse theory for the U^4 norm \, as well as a joint work with arko Ranelovi\, in which we prove that the Möbius function does not correlate with polynomial phases in function fi elds over prime fields. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Luka Milićević: Some new results in higher order Fourier analysis URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6416 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69d4fd9cf30db116400989@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260423T110000 DTEND:20260423T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Beate Lichtenberger\nhosted by Florian Schur\nAbstract : Skin fibroblasts are central organizers of tissue architecture\, providi ng the structural framework of theskin while actively regulating its devel opment\, homeostasis\, and repair. Far from being a uniform cellpopulation \, fibroblasts comprise diverse subtypes with distinct spatial identities\ , functional programs\,and interactions with epithelial\, immune\, and vas cular cells. In this talk\, I will discuss how fibroblastdiversity shapes skin structure and physiology\, and how altered fibroblast states drive pa thologicalprocesses such as fibrosis and cancer. These findings position f ibroblasts as dynamic regulators of tissuefunction in both health and dise ase. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room F (I24.EG.030f)\, IST A ORGANIZER:jgazsi@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Beate Lichtenberger: Beyond Structural Support: Skin Fibroblasts as Dynamic Regulators of Tissue and Disease URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6404 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:68776fc266247378895871@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260423T110000 DTEND:20260423T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Lauren Dreier\nhosted by Jérémie Palacci\nAbstract: Beaded materials incorporate discrete\, volumetric elements into programma ble thread networks\, enabling materials that sustain tensile forces along threads and compressive forces at bead contacts. These coupled interactio ns give rise to emergent behaviors such as tunable stiffness\, metastabili ty\, and superjamming\, expanding textiles into new realms of structural a nd adaptive performance. We study how these behaviors evolve in larger ass emblies and explore design principles that govern their mechanical respons e. This work suggests a path toward hybrid textile systems as a versatile platform for programmable matter and adaptive structures. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Lauren Dreier: Beaded metamaterials URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6417 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69e607832afef828804679@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260423T113000 DTEND:20260423T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Gramoz Goranci\nAbstract: Cut-based graph problems are central to combinatorial optimization and theoretical computer science. A powerful algorithmic framework for tackling these problems is cut-based t ree embedding\, where the goal is to compute a collections of trees that a pproximately preserves the values of all cuts in any given graph. The semi nal work of Rcke (2008)\, in the context of oblivious routing\, showed how to construct such trees with near-optimal quality O(log n). Building on t his\, Madry (2010) introduced j-tree embeddings to accelerate Rckes constr uction at the cost of a slightly worse approximation guarantee. These resu lts have been instrumental in the development of near-optimal algorithms f or approximating undirected maximum flow.More recently\, the focus has shi fted to the dynamic setting\, where the challenge is to maintain these emb eddings as the underlying graph undergoes edge insertions and deletions. S trikingly\, techniques developed for dynamic j-tree embeddings have also b ecome a key ingredient in the recent breakthrough static algorithm for com puting maximum flow in directed graphs.In this talk\, I will present the a lgorithmic constructions underlying static\, cut-based tree and j-tree emb eddings. Time permitting\, I will also discuss some of our recent work on dynamic variants of these objects and their algorithmic applications.This is based both on prior work by others and on my joint work with Li Chen\, Monika Henzinger\, Peter Kiss\, Ali Momeni\, Richard Peng\, Thatchaphol Sa ranurak\, and Gernot Zcklein. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room G (I24.EG.030g)\, IST A ORGANIZER:achaturv@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Gramoz Goranci: TCS Seminar - Static and Dynamic Cut-Based Tree Emb eddings URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6424 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:665dbdca9443e835749719@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260423T131500 DTEND:20260423T151500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: David Hernandez\nhosted by Xujia Chen & Tamas Hausel\n Abstract: Shifted quantum groups emerged from the study of quantized Coulo mb branches (which are symplectic duals to quiver varieties). We show that the Grothendieck ring of the category O for the shifted quantum affine al gebras has the structure of a cluster algebra (jt work with Geiss and Lecl erc). This has several applications\, such as geometric character formulas for simple classes corresponding to cluster variables. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:David Hernandez: Shifted quantum groups\, cluster algebras and geom etric character formulas URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6363 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6687bf08e3e87989250506@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260428T161500 DTEND:20260428T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jacob Shapiro\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös\nAbstract: The index of a pair of projections on a Hilbert space was introduced in 1973 b y Brown-Douglas-Filmore and connected to the integer quantum Hall effect b y Avron-Seiler-Simon in 1994. For two orthogonal projections P\,Q such tha t P-Q is compact\, index(P\,Q)=dimimPkerQ-dimimQkerP. It is manifestly an integer\, and enjoys norm and compactness stability\, much like the relate d Fredholm index. Such indices played a pivotal role in describing the qua ntization and stability properties in the quantum Hall effect\; ASS94 rela ted the Hall conductance to the index of a Fermi projection P and its Laug hlin-flux-inserted projection U*PU.What becomes of this story in the prese nce of interactions? To describe infinitely-many interacting electrons in infinite-volume\, the Hilbert space is replaced by a unital C-* algebra A (a CAR algebra)\, but there is no obvious notion of a Fredholm index. We i ntroduce a new notion\, the index of a pair of pure states (on A)\, prove its quantization\, invariance and stability properties\, and relate it to the (possibly fractional) Hall conductance. We further show that Kitaevs i nvertible states always have integer conductance. Joint with Bachmann and Tauber. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jacob Shapiro: The index of a pair of pure states and the quantum H all effect URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6368 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1777536000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260430T100000 DTEND:20260430T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Robert Ott\nhosted by Julian Léonard and Maximilian Prüfer\nAbstract: Abstract :In this talk\, I discuss the role of quantum error correction in enhancing quantum sensors. I will begin by reviewing e stablished results on how and when quantum error correction protocols can be used to protect sensors in noisy environments. Then\, I will present ou r recent work\, where we developed a protocol to detect rare stochastic si gnals in a noisy environment using quantum error correction. Specifically\ , I will show how we achieve an improved sensitivity of our approach over more conventional sensing strategies.[This talk is based on arXiv:2601.043 13.] LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Robert Ott: Quantum Sensing and Quantum Error Correction applied to rare stochastic signals URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6433 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:68776eaf380dd057014767@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260430T110000 DTEND:20260430T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Justin C. Burton\nhosted by Scott Waitukaitis\nAbstrac t: Airborne microbes critically impact our lives\, from the spread of dise ases to rainfall and food production. Yet the survival of microbes during aerosolization and atmospheric transport is not well understood. Although bacteria have been found in the atmosphere\, even larger organisms such as nematodes and spiders can drift in the air for many kilometers. In this t alk\, I will discuss two research projects where we investigate how the at mosphere plays a crucial role in micro- and meso-scale ecology. I will sho w how salt and humidity help bacteria survive during desiccation. In dried droplets on flat surfaces\, the spatial structure generated by the dried film can trap water to facilitate survival. 3D Bacterial suspensions dried under acoustic levitation survive even better. In a separate project\, I will discuss how jumping\, parasitic nematodes rely on electrostatic force s to infect their insect hosts. A model combining electrostatics\, aerodyn amics\, and Bayesian inference indicates that the electrostatic charge on jumping nematodes is ~ 0.1 pC\, which aligns with theoretical predictions for electrostatic induction. In fact\, we show that infection through jump ing may necessitate electrostatic forces as a successful evolutionary stra tegy. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Justin C. Burton: Biology in the air: from hitchhiking microbes to jumping electrified nematodes URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6407 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:665dbdca9553e692312618@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260430T131500 DTEND:20260430T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Thibault Juillard\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: A ffine W-algebras form a family of vertex algebras parametrised by nilpoten t orbits in simple Lie algebras. These are algebraic structures generalisi ng infinite-dimensional Lie algebras such as affine Kac--Moody algebras or Virasoro algebras.In this talk\, I will present a joint work with Naoki G enra about "reduction by stages". Given two nilpotent orbits\, in the same Lie algebra\, satisfying some compatibility conditions\, we prove that on e of the corresponding W-algebras can be reconstructed as the quantum Hami ltonian reduction of the other one. Our approach is geometric\, using the fact that each W-algebra is the quantisation of some Poisson variety\, the Slodowy slice associated with the corresponding nilpotent orbit.As an app lication\, I will present a sufficient condition on a pair of nilpotent or bits in type A to get a natural embedding of affine W-algebras. This an an alogue of the combinatorial rule established by Kraft and Procesi in their study of Slodowy slices in the 80's. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Thibault Juillard: Reduction by stages for affine W-algebras URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6423 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:68776f9104d40763009008@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260507T110000 DTEND:20260507T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Nachi Stern\nhosted by Carl Goodrich\nAbstract: From e lectrically responsive neuronal networks to immune repertoires\, biologica l systems can learn to perform complex tasks. In this seminar\, we explore physical learning\, a framework inspired by computational learning theory and biological systems\, where networks physically adapt to applied force s to adopt desired functions. Unlike traditional engineering approaches or artificial intelligence\, physical learning is facilitated by physically realizable learning rules\, requiring only local responses and no explicit information about the desired functionality. Our research shows that such local learning rules can be derived for broad classes of physical network s and that physical learning is indeed physically realizable\, without com puter aid\, through laboratory experiments. We take further inspiration fr om learning in the brain and demonstrate the success of physical learning beyond the quasi-equilibrium regime\, enabling physical systems to adapt c omplex dynamical functions. By leveraging the advances of statistical lear ning theory in physical machines\, we propose physical learning as a promi sing bridge between computational machine learning and biology\, with the potential to enable the development of power-efficient AI platforms\, and new classes of smart metamaterials that adapt in-situ to users needs. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Nachi Stern: Learning without neurons in physical systems URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6287 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:665dbdca969d6632628731@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260507T131500 DTEND:20260507T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Du Pei\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: In this talk \, I will outline an approach to studying skein modules of 3-manifolds by embedding them into the Hilbert spaces of four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories. When the 3-manifold has reduced holonomy\, this approach l eads to an algorithm for the dimension of the skein module for a general g auge group\, expressed as a sum over nilpotent orbits in the Lie algebra\, which we also related to and compare with the structure of C^*-fixed loci in the moduli space of Higgs bundles. Surprisingly\, the dimensions often differ between Langlands-dual pairs\, for which I will provide a physical explanation. This perspective helps to clarify the relation between the g auge-theoretic framework of Kapustin and Witten and other versions of the geometric Langlands program\, and explains why the dimensions of skein mod ules do not exhibit a TQFT-like behavior. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Du Pei: Gauge theory and skein modules URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6431 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69c104cda01c7847075710@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260512T140000 DTEND:20260512T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Sashi Weerawarana\nhosted by Alicia Michael and Floria n Schur\nAbstract: All living beings must package and compact their DNA to protect genetic material and regulate genome access. In my thesis work\, I investigate genome organization in mitochondria\, bacteria\, and viruses . Mitochondria utilize the HMG-box protein TFAM to fulfill this vital role \, whereas bacteria and viruses employ histone proteins that adopt differe nt binding modes. The central focus of this talk is TFAM-mediated DNA comp action. Using a wide array of biochemical methods and structural biology a pproaches\, I show that TFAM compacts DNA into homogenous higher-order com plexes that exhibit continuous conformational dynamics. The talk also pres ents cryo EM data revealing distinct strategies utilized by bacterial hist ones from Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and Leptospira interrogans to compact DNA and highlights unique structural features of the Medusavirus medusae nucleosome. Together\, this work reveals diverse mechanisms of genome comp action across organelles and domains of life. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:jgazsi@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Sashi Weerawarana: Genome organization in mitochondria\, bacteria\, and viruses URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6371 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69121497774d3629907214@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260518T160000 DTEND:20260518T170000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Emmanuel Kammerer\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Jan Maas\ nAbstract: Consider an SIR model on the complete graph starting with one i nfected vertex and n sane vertices. We draw an edge between two vertices w hen one infects another. What does the tree look like at the end of the ep idemic? This kind of tree fits into the framework of uniform attachment tr ees with freezing\, a model of random trees which generalises uniform atta chment trees where\, besides the uniform attachment mechanism\, we introdu ce a "freezing" mechanism where new vertices cannot attach to frozen verti ces. We obtain the scaling limit of the total height of the infection tree depending on the infection rate. The asymptotic behaviour of the total he ight satisfies a phase transition of order 2. This talk is based on a join t work with Igor Kortchemski and Delphin Snizergues. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:birgit.oosthuizen-noczil@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Emmanuel Kammerer: The height of the infection tree URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6351 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69b2cc97ab232533507038@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260518T170000 DTEND:20260518T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Matteo D’Achille\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös & Jan Maas \nAbstract: We will discuss low-intensity limits of Poisson-Voronoi tessel lations\, a.k.a. ideal Poisson-Voronoi tessellations (IPVTs). In real hype rbolic space of dimension $d\\geq 2$\, a simple Poissonian description of the cell containing the origin (the zero cell) allows one to study fine pr operties of all the tiles of the IPVT. This Poissonian description of the IPVT remains fairly simple in other settings\, such as the infinite regula r tree and the Cartesian product of hyperbolic planes. Time permitting\, I ll also discuss a surprising application to Bernoulli-Voronoi percolation. The talk is based on a paper in collaboration with Nicolas Curien\, Natha nal Enriquez\, Russell Lyons\, and Meltem nel (Ann. Probab.)\, on 2412.008 22\, on 2511.23317 in collaboration with Jan Grebk\, Ali Khezeli\, Konstan tin Recke and Amanda Wilkens\, and on work in progress with Ali Khezeli.It will also include a physical realization of the zero cell of the IPVT in three dimensional hyperbolic space in the conformal ball model (jewel). LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Matteo D’Achille: The jewel and the two dials of the ideal Poisso n–Voronoi Tessellation URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6352 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1779195600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260519T150000 DTEND:20260519T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Nati Linial\nhosted by Matthew Kwan and Uli Wagner\nAb stract: Abstract: Let X=[n] be a finite set of points. An (x\,y)-path is a sequence of distinct points that starts with x and ends with y. A path system Π on X is a collection of paths with exactly one (x\,y)- path for every two distinct points x\,y∈X. Think of this path Px\,y a s the chosen path between these two points. We always assume that Py\,x  coincides with Px\,y read in reverse. We say that the path system Π i s consistent if the following holds: For every point z on the path Px\, y\, this path is the concatenation of the paths Px\,z and Pz\,y. It is easy to construct metric consistent path systems: Assign a positive distan ce w(u\,v) with every pair of points u\,v∈X and let Px\,y be a w- shortest (x\,y) path Q\; Is every consistent path system necessarily me tric? The answer is negative and we give various quantitative manifestatio ns of this statement. Skipping the necessary definitions we ask if every c onsistent path system is approximately metric. A: there exist consistent p ath systems with metric distortion Ω(√n). The best result of this form is still unknown. I will briefly survey some of the many results that we already have in this general domain. Every path system gives rise to a gra ph (X\,E) where xy is an edge whenever the path Px\,y=x\,y. Indeed\, many of our results are graph-theoretic. All the papers in this domain are joint with my student Daniel Cizma\, some are also with Maria Chudnovsky\ , if time allows I will also mention a recent result with my students Itai Goldflam. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Nati Linial: Path Geometry URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6468 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1779195600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260519T150000 DTEND:20260519T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Péter Pál Pach\nhosted by Matthew Kwan and Uli Wagne r\nAbstract: Abstract:The Alon-Jaeger-Tarsi conjecture states that for any finite field F of size at least 4 and any nonsingular matrix A over  F there exists a vector x such that neither x nor Ax has a 0 compon ent. In this talk we discuss the proof of this result for |F|>79 and fur ther applications of our method about coset covers and additive bases. Joi nt work with János Nagy and István Tomon. LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Péter Pál Pach: The Alon-Jaeger-Tarsi conjecture via group ring i dentities URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6469 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:665dbdca98c2b709685894@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260521T131500 DTEND:20260521T151500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Pieter Belmans\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: The classification of Fano 4-folds is still largely open. Whilst moduli of sta ble quiver representations are varieties with very special properties\, it turns out that subspace quivers give rise to four interesting Fano 4-fold s (2 of which appear to be new) which are rigid\, have no vector fields\, have high Picard rank\, and have an interesting structure from an MMP pers pective. The tools for studying moduli of quiver representations work part icularly well for these examples\, and I will describe their intricate geo metry. This is joint work with Markus Reineke. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Pieter Belmans: Fano 4-folds from subspace quiver moduli URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6439 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1779786000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260526T110000 DTEND:20260526T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jie Ren\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: Abstract: Understanding how complex systems transition between order and chaos is a central challenge of nonequilibrium physics. While weak perturbations of c lassical integrable systems give rise to a mixed phase space of coexisting regular and chaotic trajectories\, analogous behavior in interacting quan tum many-body systems has remained elusive. Here we develop and experiment ally implement a hybrid quantum–classical feedback protocol that autonom ously discovers and stabilizes long-lived regular trajectories in a superc onducting quantum processor. Each iteration combines short-time quantum ev olution with classical optimization that projects the dynamics back onto a low-entanglement variational manifold\, effectively distilling coherence from chaotic evolution. The stabilized trajectories reveal a quantum many- body mixed phase space emerging from nonlinear variational dynamics\, with out a direct analogue in classical or few-body quantum systems. Our result s establish a versatile framework for algorithmic discovery and control of coherent dynamics previously inaccessible to experiment.  LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jie Ren: “Quantum many-body mixed phase space revealed by hybrid feedback control" URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6345 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1779868800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260527T100000 DTEND:20260527T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Xin Wang\nhosted by Julian Leonard\nAbstract:   Abst ractAn ultralong-range Rydberg molecule (ULRM) forms optically through the interaction between a ground-state atom and the electron of a Rydberg ato m. In this talk\, I will present a first and comprehensive experimental an d theoretical investigation of ULRMs of 174Yb in 6sns 1S0 Rydberg states a cross nearly two decades in principal quantum number and three orders of m agnitude in molecular binding energy. Using the Coulomb Green’s function formalism\, we compute Born–Oppenheimer molecular potentials describing a Rydberg atom perturbed by a ground-state atom and obtain quantitative a greement with high-resolution molecular spectra. This enables the extracti on of low-energy electron-Yb scattering phase shifts\, including the zero- energy s-wave scattering length and the positions of two spin-orbit split p-wave shape resonances. The latter provides strong evidence that the Yb − anion exists only as a metastable resonance. We further demonstrate th e sensitivity of ULRM spectra to the atomic quantum defects\, enabling a p recise determination of the quantum defect of the 6s23f 1F3 state. These f indings establish Yb ULRMs as a powerful probe of low-energy electron–Yb interactions and an ideal platform for exploring Rydberg molecules and lo w-energy scattering physics. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Xin Wang: Revealing Electron-Ytterbium Interactions through Rydberg Molecular Spectroscopy URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6457 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:686bf613550f4019926788@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260527T130000 DTEND:20260527T143000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jakob Glas\nhosted by Tim Browning\nAbstract: I will a bout Manin's conjecture for quintic del Pezzo surfaces. In particular\, I will discuss the motivic setting and Peyre's all the heights version over function fields. This is joint work with C. Bernert und L. Faisant. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jakob Glas: Moduli spaces of curves on quintic del Pezzo surfaces URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6477 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1779958800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260528T110000 DTEND:20260528T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Federica Surace\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: TB A LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Federica Surace: "Slow dynamics in quantum many-body systems" URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6217 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:68776ee57aa4b682558249@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260528T110000 DTEND:20260528T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Mitja Drab\nhosted by Andela Saric\nAbstract: Biologic al membranes are active\, multicomponent systems whose shape emerges from a complex interplay between curvature-inducing inclusions\, in-plane order ing\, and cytoskeletal forces. In this talk\, I present a numerical framew ork for modeling closed membranes populated by curved anisotropic componen ts that interact via nematic alignment and couple to active forces. Our si mulations reveal a rich landscape of membrane morphologies arising from th e competition between intrinsic curvature\, nematic interactions\, and act ive stresses. We show how nematic alignment organizes curved inclusions in to defect structures that localize in regions of high curvature\, thereby guiding membrane remodeling and stabilizing complex shapes such as tubules \, necks\, and pearled structures . Active forces further drive the system out of equilibrium\, enabling transitions to morphologies that are inacce ssible in passive systems\, including flattened\, protrusive\, and dynamic ally fluctuating states. These results provide a unified physical picture of how curvature\, orientational order\, and active forces cooperate to co ntrol membrane shape\, with implications for processes ranging from endocy tosis and phagocytosis to cell spreading and motility. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Mitja Drab: Numerical Modeling of Nematic Membranes with Active Cur ved Anisotropic Inclusions URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6382 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1780038000@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260529T090000 DTEND:20260529T150000 DESCRIPTION:Abstract: Welcome to the first annual neuroscience student symp osium!We are looking forward to hearing what our fellow students have been working on! We are also excited to host two external speakers: Rosa Coss art (https://www.inmed.fr/en/developpement-des-microcircuits-gabaergiques- corticaux-en) (Institute of Mediterranean Neurobiology – INMED) and Fe lix Deku (https://knightcampus.uoregon.edu/felix-deku) (University of Ore gon).Please find the program attached and register below\, so that we can make sure to have enough food and drinks for everyone!The event is also  open to anyone outside the neuroscience community.We hope to see you all there!Your Neuroscience Student Track Reps LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA ORGANIZER: SUMMARY:Neuroscience Student Symposium URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6440 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:68776f4c04462887233600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260603T100000 DTEND:20260603T110000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Renee Zhao\nhosted by Samara Ren\nAbstract: Reconfigur able mechanical systems enable precise programmable control over structura l properties\, expanding opportunities in architected materials\, adaptive devices\, and multifunctional structures. Here\, we introduce elastic rod origami (RodOri)\, a platform that exploits remarkably simple elementspre stressed\, naturally curved rodsinto a system with an extraordinary degree of multistability and configurational richness. For example\, a single si x-rod RodOri unit can easily access 11 distinct configurations\, far excee ding the reconfigurability of conventional origami or general mechanical r econfigurable systems. Individual rods\, constrained under clamped boundar y conditions\, undergo transitions between discrete morphologies whose str ain energy and stiffness are precisely prescribed by their natural curvatu re. Assembling these rods into modular multirod architectures yields metam aterials with numerous stable configurations that can be selectively and r eversibly programmed. This configurational diversity enables tunable stati c stiffness and nonlinear force response\, thus enabling tunable dynamic b ehaviors such as vibration filtering\, wave propagation switching\, and mo de conversion within a single\, easily manufactured platform. By leveragin g curvature-induced mechanical instability\, RodOri unlocks highly program mable static and dynamic mechanical behavior\, offering tailorable design strategies for reconfigurable structures\, soft robotics\, medical devices \, and adaptive materials. The event is followed by a reception right out side the seminar room. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room F (I24.EG.030f)\, IST A ORGANIZER:akeri@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Renee Zhao: Elastic rod origami (RodOri) for programming static and dynamic mechanical properties URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6470 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:686bf613550f7829784669@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260603T130000 DTEND:20260603T143000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Lena Wurzinger\nhosted by Tim Browning\nAbstract: In t his talk\, I will present the method of moments\, a criterion for proving convergence in distribution. We will then discuss some examples of its use in number theory. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Lena Wurzinger: Method of moments URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6482 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1780909200@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260608T110000 DTEND:20260608T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Xiaofeng Cao\nhosted by Xiaoqi Feng \nAbstract: Enviro nmental stresses can induce persistent epigenetic changes that influence f uture developmental and adaptive responses. Understanding how chromatin st ates encode environmental information has emerged as one of central questi ons in plant biology. In this seminar\, Dr. Cao will present recent work from her laboratory on epigenetic regulation and stress memory in plants\ , focusing on the roles of histone modifications and DNA methylation in de velopmental plasticity and environmental adaptation. She will also discuss recent findings showing that stress-induced epigenetic variation can medi ate heritable adaptive cold tolerance in rice\, providing insights into th e molecular basis of transgenerational stress memory. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor /Big Seminar Room A&B\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Xiaoqi.Feng@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Xiaofeng Cao: Epigenetic regulation and stress memory URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6490 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1780995600@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260609T110000 DTEND:20260609T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Lucas Sylvester Winter\nhosted by Julian Léonard and Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: Abstract:Standard Dicke superradiance produces a collective burst of radiation but no entanglement. Using finite-size quant um-jump simulations\, we show that adding local Rydberg blockade between a toms generates extensive mixed-state entanglement while preserving superra diance. This enables superradiantly accelerated preparation of correlated dark states on a timescale $\\propto (\\log N)/N$\, supported by an early- time analytical solution and numerical simulations. The physical mechanism is Hilbert-space fragmentation of the Dicke ladder into an exponentially branching decay tree\, giving rise to a hierarchy of correlated dark state s. We propose an experimental realization using existing cavity-coupled Ry dberg atom tweezer arrays and identify a simple stationary-state entanglem ent witness. More broadly\, our results point to Rydberg-blockaded collect ive decay as a general framework for engineering entangled dark states LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Lucas Sylvester Winter: Entanglement in Rydberg-blockaded superradi ance URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6436 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:686bf613550fb862691520@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260610T130000 DTEND:20260610T143000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Julia Brandes\nhosted by Tim Browning\nAbstract: We st udy the minimal conditions under which we can establish asymptotic formula e for Waring's problem and other additive problems that may be tackled by the circle method. We confirm in quantitative terms the well-known heurist ic that a mean value estimate and an estimate of Weyl type\, together with suitable distribution properties of the underlying set over a set of admi ssible residue classes\, are sufficient to implement the circle method. Th is allows us to give a rather general proof of Waring's problem which is a pplicable to a range of sufficiently well-behaved thin sets. LOCATION:Central Bldg / O1 / Mondi 2a (I01.O1.008)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Julia Brandes: A minimalist version of the circle method and Diopha ntine problems over thin sets URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6504 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:69e9f31b011f4981900418@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260611T131500 DTEND:20260611T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Silvia Sabatini\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: Pos itive monotone symplectic manifolds are the symplectic analogues of Fano v arieties\; namely\, they are compact symplectic manifolds whose first Cher n class coincides with the cohomology class of the symplectic form.In dime nsion six\, if a positive monotone symplectic manifold admits a Hamiltonia n circle action\, a conjecture of Fine and Panov asserts that it is diffeo morphic to a Fano variety. More generally\, the question of whether a posi tive monotone symplectic manifold with symmetries is homotopy equivalent\, homeomorphic\, diffeomorphic\, or symplectomorphic to a Fano variety rema ins wide open.In this talk\, I will report on recent results concerning po sitive monotone symplectic manifolds endowed with a special class of Hamil tonian torus actions\, called GKM_3 actions. I will explain how these stru ctures allow one to prove several finiteness results and quantitative boun ds on the Chern numbers\, therefore in particular\, on the symplectic volu me. The latter resembles the bound obtained by Kollr-Miyaoka-Mori for the volume of Fano varieties. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room A / 27 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Silvia Sabatini: Positive monotone symplectic manifolds with symmet ries and GKM spaces URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6464 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:1781254800@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260612T110000 DTEND:20260612T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Rahul Nandkishore\nhosted by Maksym Serbyn\nAbstract: Abstract: The advent of quantum hardware provides a new playground for m any body physics. Nonlocal quantum games provide a new approach to diagn ose and harness the correlations inherent in phases of matter\, on quantu m hardware. I will introduce the notion of many body quantum games\, The n\, I will introduce a class of quantum games that allow the robust iden tification and harnessing of topological order on quantum hardware. I wi ll then change gears and discuss how this formalism may be used to illumin ate a very old question: how to operationally quantify quantumness in the many body context.   LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room A \, ISTA ORGANIZER:Stephanie.Dolot@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Rahul Nandkishore: Quantum games and a new perspective on quantumne ss URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6503 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6a1e9cbf6eea4640038876@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260616T161500 DTEND:20260616T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Andrew Campbell\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös\nAbstract: Cl assical theorems of Laguerre\, Plya\, Hermite\, and Schur (among others) c haracterized certain differential operators\, which when applied to a univ ariate polynomial preserve the property of all the roots remaining in a sp ecified domain\, for example the real line. These results have been extend ed to general linear operators on multivariate polynomials\, with the clas sification problem completely resolved for many important domains. We will discuss some of the motivations behind these Plya-Schur problems and thei r relationship to Voiculescu's free probability. Specifically\, we will se e that recent works in finite free probability on root distributions under the backwards heat flow and repeated differentiation can be generalized t o any free infinitely divisible law. At the end of the talk we will discus s the natural random matrix ensembles associated with these root preservin g operators. Our approach is motivated by these ensembles and the resolven t method in random matrix theory\, as opposed to combinatorial approaches common in finite free probability. Based on joint work with Jonas Jalowy ( https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.31356). LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Andrew Campbell: Pólya-Schur problems\, free probability\, and rel ated random matrix models URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6493 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:68776f011d8c3722554400@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260618T110000 DTEND:20260618T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Cecilia Herrero\nhosted by Baptiste Coquinot (RG Lemes hko)\nAbstract: Nanofluidics studies the behavior of fluids confined at th e nanometer scale\, where interfaces dominate transport and give rise to p henomena absent at larger scales. Beyond its fundamental interest\, this f ield offers promising perspectives for applications such as water desalina tion and energy harvesting.In this seminar\, I will discuss how nanoscale confinement modifies fluid transport through the emergence of characterist ic interfacial length scales\, with a particular focus on the so-called sl ip length\, related to liquidsolid friction. I will show how the nature of the solid surface (such as roughness or mechanical and electronic fluctua tions) can strongly affect transport properties. Finally\, I will present recent insights into the impact of charge fluctuations at interfaces on li quidsolid friction and transport\, and how these effects can be investigat ed using theory and molecular dynamics simulations opening the path to exp eriments. These phenomena open new possibilities for coupling hydrodynamic and electrostatic effects\, with potential applications to the conversion of osmotic energy into electrical power. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:michaela.pucher@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Cecilia Herrero: Nanofluidics and the power of interfaces: new pers pectives for energy conversion URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6472 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6a06d37191b9c076587052@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260618T113000 DTEND:20260618T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Daniel Rutschmann\nAbstract: Comparison based sorting is a well understood problem. There are many algorithms that sort n items in O(n log n) comparisons\, and this is tight since log(n!) (n log n). Bu t what if you already know that some elements are smaller than others? Can you then sort in fewer than (n log n) comparisons?We can encode this prio r information as a directed acyclic graph G that contains a vertex for eve ry item\, and an edge x y if we already know that x < y. If there are e(G ) sorted orders (permutations) compatible with G\, then any algorithm must perform (log e(G)) comparisons. The problem of Sorting from Partial Infor mation is to match this bound\, that is\, to design an efficient algorithm that\, given the graph G\, sorts the items in O(log e(G)) comparisons.Suc h an algorithm is optimal in a very strong sense: Not only is it optimal f or every input size n\, but it is optimal for every graph G\; we call such an algorithm universally optimal. There are many fundamental problems tha t have textbook algorithms with a running time of (n log n). For these pro blems\, we ask: Can we design algorithms that run in o(n log n) time on su bsets of inputs characterized by a graph G? Can we achieve universal optim ality? This concept applies not only to graph algorithms such as Dijkstra' s or Prim's\, but also to a wide range of fundamental problems\, including set intersection and convex hulls. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Foyer seminar room (I21.EG.128)\ , ISTA ORGANIZER:joanders@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Daniel Rutschmann: TCS Seminar - From Sorting under Partial Informa tion to Universal Optimality URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6509 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:665dbdca9d01d401146589@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260618T131500 DTEND:20260618T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Jianrong Li\nhosted by Tamas Hausel\nAbstract: Frenkel and Reshetikhin introduced q-characters for finite-dimensional representa tions of quantum affine algebras\, providing a fundamental tool in their r epresentation theory. Together with Tomasz Przezdziecki\, we defined bound ary q-characters for finite dimensional representations of quantum affine symmetric pairs of split and quasi-split types. In this talk\, I will pres ent a new joint work Tomasz Przezdziecki on evaluation modules for split q uantum affine symmetric pairs. By computing the action of generators in Lu and Wangs Drinfeld-type presentation on GelfandTsetlin bases\, we determi ne the spectrum of a large commutative subalgebra arising from this presen tation. This leads to an explicit formula for boundary analogues of q-char acters\, which we interpret combinatorially in terms of semistandard Young tableaux. Our results show that boundary q-characters share familiar feat ures with ordinary q-characters\, while also exhibiting new phenomena\, in cluding an additional symmetry. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Jianrong Li: Boundary q-characters of finite-dimensional representa tions of quantum affine symmetric pairs URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6284 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6a1e9cbf6f336379210386@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260623T161500 DTEND:20260623T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Filippo Quattrocchi\nhosted by Jan Maas\nAbstract: Man y evolutionary PDEs\, both linear and nonlinear (e.g.\, the heat and porou s medium equations)\, can be seen as gradient flows in the Wasserstein met ric space of probability measures. This classical result provides general tools for existence\, numerical approximation\, uniqueness\, and convergen ce estimates under weak assumptions. In this talk\, we extend this perspec tive to dynamics driven by an interplay of conservative and dissipative ef fects.Our main result is the interpretation of the nonlinear kinetic Fokke r-Planck equation as a gradient flow of the free energy in a suitable spac e of measures. The geometry of this space is physically motivated\, induce d by discrepancies that measure the minimal force needed to steer one conf iguration into another. As a consequence\, we obtain approximations of sol utions via an implicit Euler scheme.This talk is based on arXiv:2502.15665 \, in collaboration with G. Brigati (ISTA) and J. Maas (ISTA)\, and ongoin g work with G. Brigati (ISTA)\, G. Carlier (CEREMADE\, Paris Dauphine-PSL) \, and J. Dolbeault (CEREMADE\, Paris Dauphine-PSL). LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Filippo Quattrocchi: Nonlinear kinetic equations as gradient flows URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6520 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6a313b62abbad282106005@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260629T140000 DTEND:20260629T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Morgan Chabanon\nhosted by Jérémie Palacci\nAbstract : Transport phenomena in biological systems are essential for life-sustain ing functions. Here we propose to approach biological materials such as ti ssues\, biofilms and cells as porous media.We will first focus on the pass ive transport of macromolecules in the intracellular space\, involved in f unctions such as cell migration\, blebbing and apoptosis. While intracellu lar crowding significantly impacts macromolecule mobility\, the mechanisms by which cytoplasmic structures influence diffusion remain unclear. We pr opose a multiscale diffusion model based on an upscaling method developed for porous media. Model predictions\, compared to experimental measurement s in live cells\, highlight two key diffusion reduction mechanisms: tortuo sity and hydrodynamic drag. Importantly\, we find that effective cytosolic diffusivity depends on intracellular obstacle volume fraction rather than specific cellular regions.We will then consider suspensions of motile bac teria in porous media\, relevant for soil bioremediation and biomedical ap plications. In confined environments at high cell density\, these suspensi ons behave as active fluids displaying self-sustained coherent or chaotic flows. We use a continuum framework derived from FokkerPlanck descriptions to predict emerging flows in channels with different pore geometries as a function of activity and pressure gradient. Numerical results show a devi ation from Darcy law\, which we relate to an activity enhanced permeabilit y.Altogether\, these results demonstrate the potential of porous media mod eling to better understand transport phenomena in living matter across sca les and systems. LOCATION:Moonstone Bldg / Ground floor / Seminar Room F (I24.EG.030f)\, IST A ORGANIZER:cpetz@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Morgan Chabanon: Transport in porous media modelling of intracellul ar diffusion and active bacteria suspensions URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6524 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6a228b5ab4e49352705797@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260630T161500 DTEND:20260630T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Reuben Drogin\nhosted by Laszlo Erdös\nAbstract: The FurstenbergKesten theorem asserts that the singular values of a product of IID random matrices grow or decay exponentially at deterministic rates\, called Lyapunov exponents. Classical results give qualitative criteria ens uring that these exponents are distinct and or positive\, but many applica tions\, e.g. the theory of random band matrices\, require quantitative est imates. We discuss such estimates and their connections to localization fo r random band matrices. In particular\, we show the Lyapunov exponents ass ociated with a class of 2W x 2W transfer matrices are separated at scale 1 /W\, and the top Lyapunov exponent converges to a deterministic limit as W tends to infinity. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Reuben Drogin: Singular Values of Random Matrix Products and Random Band Matrices URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6501 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260619T155907Z UID:6a1e9cbf6f7a1927120699@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260630T171500 DTEND:20260630T181500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Francesco Pedrotti\nhosted by Jan Maas\nAbstract: The cutoff phenomenon is a sharp transition in the convergence of high-dimensi onal Markov chains to equilibrium: the total variation distance remains cl ose to 1 for a long time and then rapidly decreases to almost 0 over a muc h shorter time window.It was initially discovered in the context of card s huffling by Diaconis and Shahshahani\, and since then observed in a variet y of different models. In spite of its ubiquity\, it is still largely unex plained\, and most proofs are model-specific.In this talk\, we discuss a h igh-level approach to establishing cutoff based on transport inequalities\ , and we illustrate it for a popular algorithm known as the Proximal Sampl er.Based on joint work with Justin Salez. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Francesco Pedrotti: A transport approach to the cutoff phenomenon URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6502 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR