Jun 1

Special Alumni Colloquium with Andy Hardt '13 and Emily Kaegi '18

Tue, June 1, 2021 • 4:00pm - 5:00pm (1h) • Virtually by Zoom

1st Speaker: Andy Hardt '13 (University of Minnesota)

Title: Solvable Lattice Models, Statistical Mechanics, & Symmetric Functions

Abstract: What makes a combinatorial object interesting? We might ask for three criteria: the object is simple to compute with; it has connections to many, potentially unexpected, mathematical phenomena; and the connections run deep, in the sense that the combinatorial object exhibits many important properties of the phenomena it represents.

Lattice models are such an object. The type of model we'll consider is a straightforward depiction of ice. Oxygen atoms lie at the vertices of a grid, while hydrogen atoms float between them. By giving each vertex a Boltzmann weight associated with its precise configuration, we can use local properties of the system to understand global properties like the system's energy or the probability that it lies in a given state. Questions like these are the essence of statistical mechanics.

Remarkably, these concrete objects also have important uses in many areas of pure mathematics. One key use is to explore properties of certain special functions; combinatorial operations on the lattice model give us identities of the function it corresponds to. We will look in particular at a lattice model that corresponds to Schur polynomials, the most fundamental symmetric function, and we'll see how the solvability of the model allows us to see many of the key identities of these polynomials.

2nd Speaker: Emily Kaegi '18 (Kraft Analytics Group)

Title: The Data Science Life Cycle with an Application in Sports Business

Abstract: Statistics is the foundation to all Data Science work. The goal of a data scientist is to take a larger problem and translate it into a question that can be answered with data or statistics. In this talk we will walk through the life cycle of a data science project and an application in the sports business industry.


The Zoom link for the talk will be sent to the mast-interest mailing list. Sign up if you are not already on the list.

Event Contact: Sue Jandro

Event Summary

Special Alumni Colloquium with Andy Hardt '13 and Emily Kaegi '18
  • Intended For: Students, Faculty, Staff

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