SIAM Student Chapter Seminar: Difference between revisions

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*'''When:''' Most Friday at 11:30am
*'''When:''' Fridays at 1:30 PM unless noted otherwise
*'''Where:''' 901 Van Vleck Hall
*'''Where:''' 9th floor lounge (we will also broadcast the virtual talks on the 9th floor lounge with refreshments)
*'''Organizers:''' [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~xshen/ Xiao Shen]
*'''Organizers:''' Yahui Qu, Peiyi Chen and Zaidan Wu
*'''Faculty advisers:''' [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~jeanluc/ Jean-Luc Thiffeault], [http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~swright/ Steve Wright]  
*'''Faculty advisers:''' [http://www.math.wisc.edu/~jeanluc/ Jean-Luc Thiffeault], [http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~swright/ Steve Wright]  
*'''To join the SIAM Chapter mailing list:''' email [join-siam-chapter@lists.wisc.edu].
*'''To join the SIAM Chapter mailing list:''' email [mailto:siam-chapter+join@g-groups.wisc.edu siam-chapter+join@g-groups.wisc.edu].
*'''Zoom link:''' https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97976615799?pwd=U2xFSERIcnR6M1Y1czRmTjQ1bTFJQT09
*'''Passcode:  281031'''


<br>
== Spring 2025 ==


== Fall 2019  ==
{| class="wikitable"
 
|+
{| cellpadding="8"
|Date
!align="left" | date
|Location
!align="left" | speaker
|Speaker
!align="left" | title
|Title
|-
|Sept. 27, Oct. 4
|[http://www.math.wisc.edu/~xshen/ Xiao Shen] (Math)
|''[[#Sep 27, Oct 4: Xiao Shen (Math)|The corner growth model]]''
|-
|-
|Oct. 18
|[https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7cVl9IkAAAAJ&hl=en Bhumesh Kumar] (EE)
|''[[#Oct 18: Bhumesh Kumar (EE)|Non-stationary Stochastic Approximation]]''
|
|-
|-
|03/07
|9th floor
|Ang Li
|Applying for postdocs and different industry jobs ... at the
same time
|-
|-
|Oct. 25
|04/04
|Max (Math)
|9th floor
|''[[#Oct 25: Max (Math)|Coalescent with Recombination]]''
|Borong Zhang
|
|Stochastic Multigrid Minimization for Ptychographic Phase Retrieval
|-
|-
|04/11
|903
|Ian McPherson
|Convergence Rates for Riemannian Proximal Bundle Methods
|-
|-
|Nov. 8
|04/25
|Hongfei Chen (Math)
|903
|''[[#Nov 15: Hongfei Chen (Math)| Brownian swimmers in a channel]]''
|Weidong Ma
|
|A topic in kernel based independence testing
|-
|-
|Dec. 10
|[http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/~higham/ Nicholas J. Higham] (University of Manchester)
|''[[#Dec 10: Nicholas J. Higham  (University of Manchester)|Scientific Writing]]''
|-
|-
|
|}
|}


== Abstracts ==


=== Sep 27, Oct 4: Xiao Shen (Math) ===
==Abstracts==
'''The corner growth model'''


Imagine there is an arbitrary amount of donuts attached to the integer points of Z^2. The goal is to pick an optimal up-right path which allows you to eat as much donuts as possible along the way. We will look at some basic combinatorial observations, and how specific probability distribution would help us to study this model.
'''March 7th, Ang Li (UW-Madison)''': I will share my experience with postdoc and industry job applications. This talk might be helpful for those who haven’t decided between academia and industry or are considering different paths within industry since I made my own decision quite late.


=== Oct 18: Bhumesh Kumar (EE) ===
'''April 4th, Borong Zhang (UW-Madison)''': In this talk, we introduce a novel stochastic multigrid minimization method designed for ptychographic phase retrieval. By reformulating the inverse problem as the iterative minimization of a quadratic surrogate that majorizes the original objective function, our approach unifies a range of iterative algorithms, including first-order methods and the well-known Ptychographic Iterative Engine (PIE). By efficiently solving the surrogate problem using a multigrid method, our method delivers significant improvements in both convergence speed and reconstruction quality compared to conventional PIE techniques.
'''Non-stationary Stochastic Approximation'''


Abstract: Robbins–Monro pioneered a general framework for stochastic approximation to find roots of a function with just noisy evaluations.With applications in optimization, signal processing and control theory there is resurged interest in time-varying aka non-stationary functions. This works addresses that premise by providing explicit, all time, non-asymptotic tracking error bounds via Alekseev's nonlinear variations of constant formula.  
'''April 11th, Ian McPherson (Johns-Hopkins):''' Nonsmooth convex optimization is a classically studied regime with a plethora of different optimization algorithms being developed in order to solve them. Of these methods, proximal bundle methods have been created and used within the Euclidean setting for decades - attempting to mimic the dynamics of the proximal point method. While practitioners have enjoyed very robust convergence results with respect to choice of parameters, it was not until the late 2020s that we have had theoretical results giving non-asymptotic guarantees - recovering optimal convergence rates. Within the past few years, the first Riemannian Proximal Bundle Methods have been proposed, again lacking non-asymptotic guarantees. Within this talk, we discuss how we are able to both generalize proposed methods and lift the non-asymptotic rates to the Riemannian setting. Moreover, we will do so without access to exponential maps or parallel transports. In addition, to our knowledge these are the first theoretical guarantees for non-smooth geodesically convex optimization in the Riemannian setting, without access to either exponential maps and parallel transports. The work presented is joint work with Mateo Diaz and Benjamin Grimmer.


Reference: https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.07759 (To appear in Mathematics of Control, Signals and Systems)
'''April 25th, Weidong Ma (Univeristy of Pennsylvania)''': Testing the independence of random vectors is a fundamental problem across many scientific disciplines. In this talk, I will first introduce several widely used methods for independence testing, including distance covariance (DC), the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC), and their applications. Most of these methods lack tractable asymptotic distributions under the null hypothesis (i.e., independence), making their use rely on computationally intensive procedures such as permutation tests or bootstrap methods.


=== Oct 25: Max (Math) ===
To address this, I will present our recent work aimed at reducing the computational cost of independence testing.  We propose a modified HSIC test, termed HSICskb, which incorporates a bandwidth adjustment where one kernel’s bandwidth shrinks to zero as the sample size grows. We establish a Gaussian approximation result for our test statistic, which allows us to compute the p-value efficiently.
'''Coalescent with Recombination'''


I will talk about the continuous time coalescent with mutation and recombination, with a focus on introducing key concepts related to genetic distance and evolutionary relatedness. The talk will be informal and accessible.
To assess statistical efficiency, we also conduct a local power analysis of the standard bootstrap-based HSIC test—an independently interesting contribution—and compare it with our HSICskb test. Finally, I will demonstrate the application of our method to real data, exploring the relationship between age and personal traits.


=== Nov 15: Hongfei Chen (Math) ===
==Past Semesters==
'''Brownian swimmers in a channel'''
*[[SIAM Seminar Fall 2024|Fall 2024]]
 
*[https://wiki.math.wisc.edu/index.php/SIAM_Spring_2024 Spring 2024]
Abstract: Shape matters! I will talk about how their shapes affect their mean reversal time.
*[[SIAM Fall 2023|Fall 2023]]
 
*[[SIAM Spring 2023|Spring 2023]]
=== Dec 10: Nicholas J. Higham (University of Manchester) ===
*[[SIAM Seminar Fall 2022|Fall 2022]]
'''Scientific Writing'''
*[[Spring 2022 SIAM|Spring 2022]]
 
*[[SIAM Student Chapter Seminar/Fall2021|Fall 2021]]
I will discuss various aspects of scientific writing, including
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Fall2020|Fall 2020]]
 
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Spring2020|Spring 2020]]
• the craft of writing in general,
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Fall2019|Fall 2019]]
 
• aspects specific to mathematical writing,
 
• English Usage,
 
• workflow, and
 
• revising drafts and proofreading.
 
Plenty of examples and links to further information will be given. I will also discuss
my experiences in preparing ''Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences'' (third
edition, SIAM, 2020).
 
 
<br>
 
== Past Semesters ==
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Fall2018|Fall 2018]]
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Fall2018|Fall 2018]]
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Spring2017|Spring 2017]]
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Spring2017|Spring 2017]]
*[[SIAM_Student_Chapter_Seminar/Fall2019|Fall 2019]]

Latest revision as of 04:41, 21 April 2025


Spring 2025

Date Location Speaker Title
03/07 9th floor Ang Li Applying for postdocs and different industry jobs ... at the

same time

04/04 9th floor Borong Zhang Stochastic Multigrid Minimization for Ptychographic Phase Retrieval
04/11 903 Ian McPherson Convergence Rates for Riemannian Proximal Bundle Methods
04/25 903 Weidong Ma A topic in kernel based independence testing


Abstracts

March 7th, Ang Li (UW-Madison): I will share my experience with postdoc and industry job applications. This talk might be helpful for those who haven’t decided between academia and industry or are considering different paths within industry since I made my own decision quite late.

April 4th, Borong Zhang (UW-Madison): In this talk, we introduce a novel stochastic multigrid minimization method designed for ptychographic phase retrieval. By reformulating the inverse problem as the iterative minimization of a quadratic surrogate that majorizes the original objective function, our approach unifies a range of iterative algorithms, including first-order methods and the well-known Ptychographic Iterative Engine (PIE). By efficiently solving the surrogate problem using a multigrid method, our method delivers significant improvements in both convergence speed and reconstruction quality compared to conventional PIE techniques.

April 11th, Ian McPherson (Johns-Hopkins): Nonsmooth convex optimization is a classically studied regime with a plethora of different optimization algorithms being developed in order to solve them. Of these methods, proximal bundle methods have been created and used within the Euclidean setting for decades - attempting to mimic the dynamics of the proximal point method. While practitioners have enjoyed very robust convergence results with respect to choice of parameters, it was not until the late 2020s that we have had theoretical results giving non-asymptotic guarantees - recovering optimal convergence rates. Within the past few years, the first Riemannian Proximal Bundle Methods have been proposed, again lacking non-asymptotic guarantees. Within this talk, we discuss how we are able to both generalize proposed methods and lift the non-asymptotic rates to the Riemannian setting. Moreover, we will do so without access to exponential maps or parallel transports. In addition, to our knowledge these are the first theoretical guarantees for non-smooth geodesically convex optimization in the Riemannian setting, without access to either exponential maps and parallel transports. The work presented is joint work with Mateo Diaz and Benjamin Grimmer.

April 25th, Weidong Ma (Univeristy of Pennsylvania): Testing the independence of random vectors is a fundamental problem across many scientific disciplines. In this talk, I will first introduce several widely used methods for independence testing, including distance covariance (DC), the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC), and their applications. Most of these methods lack tractable asymptotic distributions under the null hypothesis (i.e., independence), making their use rely on computationally intensive procedures such as permutation tests or bootstrap methods.

To address this, I will present our recent work aimed at reducing the computational cost of independence testing. We propose a modified HSIC test, termed HSICskb, which incorporates a bandwidth adjustment where one kernel’s bandwidth shrinks to zero as the sample size grows. We establish a Gaussian approximation result for our test statistic, which allows us to compute the p-value efficiently.

To assess statistical efficiency, we also conduct a local power analysis of the standard bootstrap-based HSIC test—an independently interesting contribution—and compare it with our HSICskb test. Finally, I will demonstrate the application of our method to real data, exploring the relationship between age and personal traits.

Past Semesters