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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z UID:6a358154ee7fd120793416@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260625T113000 DTEND:20260625T123000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Aurora Rossi\nAbstract: This talk introduces Temporal Graph Neural Networks (TGNNs) as models for learning from systems that com bine relational structure and temporal dynamics. Starting from basic neura l network concepts\, we build up to graph neural networks\, message passin g\, and temporal graph settings\, distinguishing between static graphs wit h time-varying features and fully evolving graph structures. Through examp les in synthetic forecasting\, traffic prediction\, and brain activity mod eling\, the tutorial illustrates when graph information can improve tempor al learning and how TGNNs capture spatio-temporal dependencies in real-wor ld networks. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:joanders@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Aurora Rossi: TCS Seminar - An Introduction to Temporal Graph Neura l Networks URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6528 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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:20260805T024007Z 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 BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260805T024007Z UID:67ff786e1151f433679635@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260710T150000 DTEND:20260710T160000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ryan J. Murphy\nhosted by Edouard Hannezo\nAbstract: E xperiments in biology generate a vast amount of data across multiple spati al and temporal scales. However\, interpreting such complex data is challe nging. Mechanistic mathematical modelling\, together with statistical mode lling\, provides a powerful framework for exploiting such data to achieve mechanistic understanding\, quantitative insights\, and discoveries. In th is talk\, I will present novel mathematical models and techniques that I h ave developed and applied to improve practical understanding of routinely performed two- and three-dimensional biological experiments for cancer gro wth\, nanoparticle-based therapeutics\, and developmental biology. Mathema tically\, this involves stochastic individual-based models\, coarse-graini ng procedures\, coupled systems of nonlinear partial differential equation s\, free-boundary problems\, and multi-scale mechanochemical models that c apture key biological heterogeneity. LOCATION:Mondi Seminar Room 2\, Central Building\, ISTA ORGANIZER:kiyer@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Ryan J. Murphy: Multiscale modelling of heterogeneous cell-tissue d ynamics URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/5823 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260805T024007Z UID:1784038500@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260714T161500 DTEND:20260714T180000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Lihan Wang\nhosted by Giovanni Brigati\nAbstract: Abst ract: In this talk\, we discuss the long-time behavior of three most comm only used piecewise deterministic samplers\, namely Randomized Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (RHMC)\, Zigzag process (ZZP) and Bouncy Particle Sampler (BP S). All of these\, alongside kinetic Langevin dynamics\, are second-order lifts of the overdamped Langevin dynamics. The kinetic samplers are advant ageous due to its potentially accelerated long-time convergence rates and high accuracy in numerical implementation. We discuss the long-time behavi or of these samplers\, in both L^2 energy and relative entropy\, and showc ase the difference between these dynamics\, as well as the difference betw een L^2 energy and entropy\, explaining why the convergence results in ent ropy cannot be generalized to entropy. Joint works with Jianfeng Lu (Duke) and Pierre Monmarché (U Gustave Eiffel). LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:Birgit.Oosthuizen-Noczil@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Lihan Wang: Long-time behavior of piecewise deterministic samplers: from energy to entropy\, convergence and non-convergence URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6545 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260805T024007Z UID:6a621a7000aa7530372093@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260805T110000 DTEND:20260805T120000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Christina Henzinger\nhosted by Hryhoriy Polshyn\nAbstr act: Exchange statistics are a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics\ , dictating the symmetry of identical particle wavefunctions. The exchange -induced unitary transformation of anyonic wavefunctions can be probed usi ng electronic fractional quantum Hall (FQH) interferometers\, where quasip articles on the interfering FQH edge braid with those localized within the cavity. Here\, we add a gate-controlled dot/anti-dot in the center of a b ilayer graphene FQH interferometer to tune the number of enclosed anyons. We observe hundreds of controlled phase slips in the conductance across th e interferometer for both abelian and non-abelian states\, consistent with discrete changes in the localized quasiparticle population. For abelian a nyons\, the observed phase slips agree with the theoretically expected val ue. At half filling\, our results suggest the interfering edge carries cha rge |e/e| = 1/2 abelian excitations\, whereas charge |e/e| = 1/4 putative non-abelian anyons remain localized in the interferometer cavity. Controll ing the population of localized e/4 anyons in an interferometer marks a si gnificant milestone towards observing their non-local exchange statistics and building a fault tolerant topological qubit based on non-abelian anyon manipulation. LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:hpolshyn@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Christina Henzinger: Controlled localization of anyons in a graphen e quantum Hall interferometer URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6571 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260805T024007Z UID:6a6718ef86935830306549@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260903T134500 DTEND:20260903T150000 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Eduardo Fernández Ortuño\nhosted by Lora Sweeney \nAbstract: The phenomenal size and cellular diversity of the human cerebr al cortex is the outcome of an elaborate developmental program sculpted by evolutionary forces during millions of years. This evolution involved cha nges in neural progenitor cells\, which compared to reptiles and birds acq uired the capacity to generate larger numbers of neurons and in greater di versity. Genetic causes of increased progenitor cell proliferation during evolution have been identified\, but mechanisms involved in the diversific ation of neural progenitor cells remain unknown. To address this question\ , we performed the first integrated\, multi-level\, comparative study of n eural progenitor cells and lineages in the embryonic cortex across amniote s. The analysis was focused on four strategic species that cover the spect rum of cortical phenotypes: house snake\, chick\, mouse and ferret. Our re sults revealed an unsuspected diversity of basal progenitor cell types in chick\, superior to mouse and with similarities to the more complex ferret cortex. Chick dorsal pallial progenitors included subapical and basal Rad ial Glia\, and co-expressed Pax6 and Tbr2\, similar to ferret but unlike m ouse\, where these are largely absent. Our findings challenge current conc epts on the evolutionary trajectory of the cerebral cortex\, revealing a v ery early diversification of cortical progenitor cell types in amniotes th at predated the last common ancestor of mammals and birds. LOCATION:Sunstone Bldg / Ground floor / Big Seminar Room B / 63 seats (I23. EG.102)\, ISTA ORGANIZER:jgazsi@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Eduardo Fernández Ortuño: Don't Put All Your Eggs in the Neoc ortex: How the small chick dorsal pallium challenges mammalian-centric vie ws on brain cortex evolution URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6573 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20260805T024007Z UID:6a1e9cbf72e58407814214@ist.ac.at DTSTART:20260922T161500 DTEND:20260922T171500 DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Domenico Cafiero\nhosted by Robert Seiringer\nAbstract : Anyons are 2d identical quantum particles with an intermediate exchange symmetry characterized by representations of the braid group. In the abeli an case\, they can be modelled through the so-called magnetic representati on\, namely as a system of bosons with an Aharonov-Bohm flux attached to e ach particle.In this talk\, I will discuss the construction of self-adjoin t Hamiltonians\, different from the Friedrichs realization\, for a system of three abelian anyons. I will focus in particular on the Ter-Martirosyan -Skornyakov extensions. This family of Hamiltonians turns out to be parame trized by a suitable boundary operator\; I will present a complete classif ication of its self-adjoint realizations and compute the negative spectrum for the specific case of interest. These results shed light on the possib le occurrence of Thomas instability in the three-anyon model. Joint work w ith Michele Correggi (PoliMi) and Davide Fermi (PoliMi). LOCATION:Office Bldg West / Ground floor / Heinzel Seminar Room (I21.EG.101 )\, ISTA ORGANIZER:boosthui@ist.ac.at SUMMARY:Domenico Cafiero: On the three-body Hamiltonian for abelian anyons URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/6566 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR