Events
The Department of Mathematics sponsors a regular colloquium that hosts several talks by
external speakers every year and a general faculty seminar for talks by faculty and
students. Seminars are listed below after the colloquia.
Mathematics Colloquium
On Thursday, February 13, 2025, Dr. George Mohler, Fitzgerald Professor of Computer Science at Boston College, presented a colloquium lecture on Using data science to understand patterns of social harm.
Abstract: In this talk we give three examples of how statistical modeling and machine learning can be applied to social harm data. We first investigate the relationship between law enforcement drug seizures and subsequent opioid overdoses. Using two-sample randomization tests, we show that seizures lead to an increased risk of overdoses nearby in space and time. We then discuss implications of this effect and potential interventions that might be conducted. In the second example, we use a statistical model to understand the recent "Kia Challenge" on TikTok. We then use the model, combined with information on past car theft waves, to forecast Kia and Sonata thefts in Los Angeles out to 2050. In the last example, we discuss a project on building low-cost gunshot detectors for community violence interruption workers in Denver. Using audio transformer neural networks on a Raspberry Pi, we are able to produce accurate devices for under $200. The devices are currently being tested for their efficacy in violence interruption efforts.
Recent Mathematics Colloquium Talks
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 2025 | Using data science to understand patterns of social harm |
Dr. George Mohler, |
| Apr 24, 2024 | Arboreal Galois groups: Introduction |
Dr. Robert Benedetto, |
| Apr 17, 2024 | Thicket density |
Dr. Siddharth Bhaskar, |
| Apr 3, 2024 | Finite element exterior calculus in four-dimensional space |
Dr. David Williams, |
| Apr 3, 2024 | Finite-dimensional reduction of dissipative PDEs |
Dr. Yanqiu Guo, |
| Mar 29, 2024 | Patterns, algorithms, and your friends |
Dr. Emily Ecans, |
| Mar 8, 2024 | Finite expression method: A symbolic approach for scientific machine learning |
Dr. Haizhao Yang, |
| Feb 14, 2024 | Biostatistics: Applications of statistics in biomedicine and public health |
Dr. Ming T. Tan, |
Seminar Meetings
The Mathematics Seminar is the venue where Towson faculty and students report on their research activities. In addition several research groups have research seminars in their respective research areas:
- ASRM Seminar (coordinated by Min Ji):
Meets on Fridays at 10 am - Number Theory Seminar (coordinated by A. Kumchev and N. McNew):
Meets on Tuesdays at 5 pm in YR 320.
Recent and Upcoming Seminars
- February 24, 2025: Faculty Seminar.
Dr. Sebastian Calvo will present a seminar talk on the Waldschmidt constant of complex reflection groups.
Abstract. Complex reflection groups have a distinguishing property of admitting a particular hyperplane configuration in projective space. The singularities of this hyperplane configuration have a corresponding ideal. This allows us to study what's known as the Waldschmidt constant of this ideal, the reciprocal of a multi-point Seshadri constant. Computing the Waldschmidt constant for an arbitrary ideal is non-trivial, but exploiting the symmetry and geometry of the hyperplane configuration alleviates the difficulty. In this talk, I'll discuss how we were able to compute the Waldschmidt constant for two complex reflection groups of rank 3. As an added bonus, we use the knowledge of our Waldschmidt constants to answer the related question of containment problem of ideals, another non-trivial task. - February 25, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
William Craig, USNA, will give a talk on Quasimodular forms, q-multiple zeta values, and partitions.
Abstract. In recent years, MacMahon’s generalized sum-of-divisor functions have seen a resurgence of study stemming from two sources: they are quasimodular forms due to work of Andrews and Rose, and they fit into the algebraic framework of q-multiple zeta values as formulated, for instance, by Bachmann and Kühn. In this talk, we discuss the theory of q-multiple zeta values from a q-series perspective with a focus on quasimodular forms. In particular, we show how any quasimodular form (of any level) of weight at least two can be produced as a linear (not algebraic) combination of partition functions of MacMahon’s type, and we also show how these formulas can be used to give a partition-theoretic device for detecting prime numbers. - March 4, 2025: Number Theory Seminar.
Vishal Gupta, University of Delaware, will give a talk on the Minimum spectral radius in a given class of graphs.
Abstract: In 1986, Brualdi and Solheid posed the question of determining the maximum and minimum spectral radius of a graph within a given class of simple graphs. Since then, this problem has been extensively studied for various graph classes. In this talk, I will discuss two such classes: simple connected graphs with a given order and size, and simple connected graphs with a given order and dissociation number. This presentation is based on joint works with Sebastian Cioaba, Dheer Noal Desai, and Celso Marques. - November 21, 2024: Number Theory Seminar.
Alexander Kalogirou, University of South Carolina, gave a talk on Disjoint covering systems. - November 15, 2024: ASRM Speaker Series.
Shelby Cimino, ASA, gave a talk on Actuarial modeling: An overview. - September 10, 2024: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. Edinah Gnang, Johns Hopkins University, gave a talk on All trees on n edges decompose the complete bipartite graph \(K_{n,n}\). - August 20, 2024: Number Theory Seminar.
Dr. Harald Helfgott, Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu, gave a talk on Expansion, divisibility and parity.
Recent Mathematics Seminar & Sabbatical Talks
- On Oct 16, 2024, Dr. Min Deng presented a sabbatical lecture on Bayesian Inference for the Loss Models via Mixture Priors.
- On September 30, 2024, Dr. Melike Kara Atas presented a sabbatical lecture on Improving Pre-Service Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Fraction Concepts.
- On April 21, 2024, Dr. Nathan McNew presented a sabbatical lecture on The Middle Prime Factor of Integers.
- On April 15, 2024, Ms. Lily Glushakow-Smith gave a seminar on Developmental Math: Is Our Approach Serving the Aspirations of Underprepared Students?
- On March 25, 2024, Dr. Daniel Freese gave a seminar on Periodic Minimal Surfaces from Gluing Helicoids.
- On March 11, 2024, Dr. Miriam Parnes gave a seminar on Indivisibility for Classes of Graphs.