Taft Lectures

The Charles P. Taft Memorial Fund sponsors a program of public lectures each year, including one or more in mathematics. These lectures feature prominent mathematicians speaking on recent important developments in their field. Taft Lectures are aimed at a fairly general audience. Taft Lecturers sometimes also give a seminar talk which includes more specialized material. The name of each lecture under "Topic of Talk" below is a link to detailed information, including the date of each talk, the location, and the abstract. The Taft Lectures are free and open to the public.

The Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Taft Research Center welcome: 

Dr. Ivan Corwin 

Professor of Mathematics

Columbia University

Thursday October 19, 2023

Taft Research Center  

Edwards Center 1 Room1110B

4:00-5:00pm

Extreme diffusion

Dr. Ivan Corwin

In a wide range of physical systems large numbers of particles diffuse together in a common environment. In this talk we will consider how the nature of the hidden environment impacts the motion of these diffusing particles and how the motion can in turn be used to interrogate the environment. In particular we will see that the impact is most pronounced in the behavior of extreme particles that move the farthest and fastest. Surprisingly, the mathematics behind this theory will bring us into the realm of integrable probability and quantum integrable systems, most notably relying on a non-commutative binomial theorem.

Refreshments will be served 3:15-4pm in the same location as the lecture.
Taft Research Center, Edwards Center 1 Room 1110B