RITs and Student Seminars

Fall 2024

RITs ("Research Interaction Teams") are informal groups designed to foster interaction between faculty, students, and postdocs, and to get students interested in current research. Most of them meet as informal seminars with active student participation (and in many cases, student organization as well).  Course credit is possible for most RITs under the course numbers MATH489, MATH689, and AMSC689.  (Contact the faculty organizer of the particular RIT for more info.)  In addition to the RITs, there are several student seminars which are run by students for students. 

  • RIT on Applied Partial Differential Equations
    • Organizers: Jeffrey Kuan and Matei Machedon
    • Meeting Time: 3:00pm - 3:50pm Mondays, MTH 1311.  Organizational meeting Monday, September 9, 2024.
    • Description: We will study mathematical aspects of applied partial differential equations. These might include well-posedness, long-time behavior, attractor dynamics, stability of coherent structures, asymptotic limits, and the relationship between chaos and stochasticity. However the best description is the list of talks given on the website.
  • RIT on Geometry and Physics
    • Organizers: S. Jim Gates (Physics), Amin Gholampour (Math), Tristan Hubsch (Howard (Physics) and UMd), Jonathan Rosenberg (Math), Richard Wentworth (Math)
    • Meeting Time: Thursdays at 3:30 PM in MTH1308.  Organizational meeting on Thursday, Aug. 29.  Meetings also available on Zoom.
    • Description: This interdisciplinary RIT will aim to foster interactions between mathematicians and physicists on topics of mutual interest, such as supersymmetry, string theory, topological states of matter, and gauge theory.  Contact one of the organizers for more information.
  • RIT on Numerical Continuation Methods
    • Organizer: Harry Dankowicz (), Mechanical Engineering and AMSC
    • Topic: Through a collaborative, team-based learning environment,
      participants will develop awareness of and competence in theoretical and computational tools for
      analyzing parameter-dependent sets of nonlinear equations, with emphasis on boundary-value
      problems describing multi-segment periodic trajectories in nonlinear dynamical systems,
      including in problems with delay or uncertainty.
    • Materials and Resources:
      1. Allgower & Georg (2003) Introduction to Numerical Continuation Methods, SIAM:
        https://epubs.siam.org/doi/book/10.1137/1.9780898719154
      2. Dankowicz & Schilder (2013) Recipes for Continuation, SIAM:
        https://epubs.siam.org/doi/book/10.1137/1.9781611972573
      3. Govaerts (2000) Numerical Methods for Bifurcations of Dynamical Equilibria, SIAM:
        https://epubs.siam.org/doi/book/10.1137/1.9780898719543
      4. COCO, Toolboxes for Parameter Continuation and Bifurcation Analysis:
        https://sourceforge.net/projects/cocotools/
      5. MATCONT, Numerical Bifurcation Analysis Toolbox in Matlab:
        https://sourceforge.net/projects/matcont/
      6. AUTO, Software for Continuation and Bifurcation Problems in Ordinary Differential
        Equations: https://sourceforge.net/projects/auto-07p/
      7. Ahsan, Dankowicz, Li & Sieber (2022) “Methods of Continuation and Their Implementation in the COCO Software Platform with Application to Delay Differential Equations,” Nonlinear Dynamics 107, pp. 3181-3243.
        https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11071-021-06841-1
    • Meeting Time: 3-4 pm on Tuesdays, starting August 27, 2164 Glenn Martin Hall
    • Participants: Open to undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty
    • Expectations: Student participants in an RIT are expected to contribute actively to the learning process, presenting content from the list of materials and resources to the whole group in a professional and structured manner. Participants may propose complementary learning materials and are encouraged to explore areas of personal interest. Participants should plan to attend every meeting of the RIT in order to ensure an environment of mutual respect and trust.
      Student participants wishing to receive independent study course credit should identify themselves to the organizer at the first meeting of the RIT or by email.
  • RIT on High-Dimensional Statistics
    • Organizers: Vince Lyzinski and Eric Slud
    • Meeting Time: Organizational meeting Wed. August 28 at 12pm.  Regular meetings will be Wednesdays 12pm-12:50 in MTH 0201 beginning Sept. 4. 
    • Description: The RIT will be mostly expository, covering interesting material not currently available in our courses. Following Wainwright's book High-Dimensional Statistics, we will mostly emphasize non-asymptotic results related to statistical problems where the observations have dimension larger, and sometimes much larger, than the number of independent data-records. The book covers probability theory of tail-probability and concentration-of-measure  inequalities, some material on metric entropy and empirical-process inequalities and on random matrices and reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces, and extensive statistical applications. Those statistical problems relate to many "big-data" problems arising in modern Data Science. The book's audience is "first-year graduate students": it is very clearly written, and much of it will make sense to students with undergraduate-level probability background, but probably not to students without statistical background at the level of Stat 700. 
  • RIT on Quantitative Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics (QEED)
    • Organizers: Joshua Weitz (Biology), Emme Bruns (Biology), Bill Fagan (Biology), Phil Johnson (Biology), Vadim Karatayev (Biology), Evan Economo (Entomology), Stephanie Yarwood (ES&T), Michelle Girvan (Physics), Jim Yorke (Mathematics)
    • Meeting Time: Fridays, 11am-noon, ES&J 2204
    • Description: QEED will support early career scientists in developing and deploying quantitative modeling approaches to understand the impact of ecological and evolutionary dynamics on environmental and human health. By fostering an interdisciplinary research and training community, QEED will enable intellectual exchange, provide opportunities for trainees to present research in progress, expand understanding of research in related areas, improve research skills, and build collaborations.
  • RIT on Algebraic Geometry: K3 Surfaces
    • Organizer: Dori Bejleri
    • Meeting Time: Organizing meeting Tuesday, September 3 at 11am in 3206.  Most meetings will be Fridays at 2:00.  The schedule will be posted on a discord server; contact Dr. Bejleri for the topic identifier.
    • Description: K3 surfaces are perhaps the most interesting examples of smooth 2-dimensional algebraic varieties.  This RIT will study their structure following the excellent book Lectures on K3 Surfaces by Daniel Huybrechts, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2016.  A preliminary version is online here.  RIT credit is available for participating students.
  • RIT on Applied Harmonic Analysis
    • Organizer: Radu Balan
    • Meeting Time: 1:00pm-1:50pm Mondays, MTH 1310
    • Description: We plan to discuss topics in harmonic analysis and related fields (functional analysis, operator and representation theory) with applications to various fields such as signal processing, machine learning, graph representations, quantum information theory.
  • RIT on Mathematical Finance/Financial Mathematics
    • Organizer: Dilip Madan, Finance
    • Meeting Time: Mondays, 4-5 PM, VMH2509
    • Course Credit: available for interested students under the number AMSC689, section no. 6505. 
  • RIT on Weather, Chaos, and Data Assimilation
    • Organizers: Kayo Ide  and Brian Hunt
    • Meeting Time: Mondays 2-3pm; Contact organizers for more info.
    • Description: We study prediction and estimation problems for nonlinear dynamical systems with main applications in (but not limited to) earth system sciences. Emphasis is put on uncertainty quantification and reduction, and a rapidly emerging field for the integration of data assimilation and machine learning/artificial intelligence. 
  • RIT on Physical Oceanography
    • Organizers: Professor James Carton () and Dr. Luyu Sun ()
    • Meeting Time: Every Monday; 12:00pm-1:00pm.
    • Where: Online (The link will be determined later)
    • Description:  This RIT in physical oceanography aims to bring together researchers, students, and professionals from applied mathematics, atmospheric science, and oceanic science who share an interest in the physical processes governing ocean behavior. Our discussions will span a wide range of topics, including:
      • Ocean Circulation: Explore large-scale circulation patterns such as the Gulf Stream and thermohaline circulation, and understand the impact of mesoscale eddies on heat and nutrient transport.
      • Air-Sea Interactions: Delve into the exchange of momentum, heat, and freshwater between the ocean and atmosphere, and their influence on weather and climate systems.
      • Data Assimilation Techniques: Discuss the application of optimization and statistical methods, such as Kalman filtering, to integrate observational data (e.g., satellite measurements, buoys, and drifters) into ocean models for more accurate predictions.
      • Numerical Simulation and Analysis: Examine numerical techniques used in simulating complex oceanic systems, from finite difference methods to machine learning approaches, and their applications in solving real-world challenges.
      Each meeting will feature a brief presentation on key concepts and recent findings, followed by an open forum for discussion. Participants are encouraged to share their research, insights, and questions in a collaborative environment.
    RIT on Stochastic Optimization
    • Organizers: Michael Fu, Management Science
    • Meeting Time: Not meeting Spring 2024
    • Description: The focus of this RIT will be gradient-based stochastic optimization methodologies and applications, including techniques for stochastic gradient estimation in simulation and other data-driven settings. Other statistical ranking & selection approaches are also considered, as well as Markov decision processes and reinforcement learning. Potential application areas include queueing systems, manufacturing, supply chain management, and financial engineering.
    • Prerequisites: strong background in prob/stats at the advanced undergraduate level; recommended: real analysis and measure theory
  • RIT on Optimization and Equilibrium Problems with Applications in Engineering
    • Organizer:  Steven A. Gabriel, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
    • Meeting Time: Not meeting Spring 2023, but may restart in Fall 2023.
    • Description: We will cover a variety of problems in optimization and equilibrium modeling, a subject that includes convex optimization, game theory, economics, and has a strong connection to integer programming as well.  Applications are in energy, transportation, and other engineering-economic areas. Professor Gabriel will start with an overview of the field and some suggested applications.  Course credit is available for interested students.  Any student who wants credit will need to give a presentation on a topic of his/her choice in optimization/equilibrium modeling.
  • RIT on Operations Research and Management Science
    • Organizers: Alex Estes, Bruce Golden, Raghu Raghavan, and Zhi-Long Chen
    • Meeting Time: Thursdays at 3:00 PM at VMH 4335
    • Description: The topic of the seminar will be operation research and management science. Topics may include stochastic processes, integer programming, stochastic optimization, and machine learning, and applications of these methods. Potential applications include inventory planning, drone and vehicle routing for package delivery, air traffic management, network design, and organ matching. 
  • RIT on Quantum Information Science
    • Organizers: Maria Cameron, Carl Miller, Konstantina Trivisa
    • Meeting time: Mondays, 4pm-5pm, Kirwan Hall 3206.
    • Overview: In this seminar, we are interested in all aspects of research at the intersection between quantum information science and mathematics. In the Spring 2024 semester, we will focus on hybrid talks where speakers will (i) provide an overview of their research or a QIS topic, followed by (ii) working out a mathematical concept related to the QIS topic on the board, along with the other participants.
      Goals for the seminar include:
      • Studying recent research results in quantum information from a mathematical angle;
      • Finding examples (old and new) in which existing tools from mathematics have been adapted for application in quantum information;
      • Studying quantum algorithms for mathematical problems.
    • Course credit: Available for interested students. Contact Daniel Serrano <> for details.
  • Informal Geometric Analysis Seminar
  • RIT on Deep Learning
    • Organizers: Wojtek Czaja,  Turner Pepper, and Gabriel Vilarroubi
    • Meeting Time: Fridays at 1PM in MTH 1310.
  • Student Geometry-Topology Seminar
    • Organizer: Jacob Erickson
    • Meeting Time: Fridays at 3:00PM in MTH 1308.
  • Student Algebra-Number Theory Seminar
    • Organizer: Jackson Hopper
    • Meeting Time: to be determined.  Contact Jackson if you want to have input on this.
  • Joint AMSC, MATH and STAT (JAMS) Student Seminar
    • Organizers: tRevati Jadhav (), Brandon Kolstoe (), and the Graduate Student Committee (GSCAMS) ()
    • Meeting Time: Thursdays, 4:30 - 5:30 PM
    • Location: John S. Toll Physics Building 2208
    • Description: The goal of this student seminar is to provide elementary introductions to a diverse array of mathematical topics in the style of the popular "What is ...?" series, prominantly featured in the AMS Notices.
  • RIT on Mathematics of Infectious Diseases
    • Orgainizers: Abba Gumel
    • Meeting Time: Thursdays 2:00PM - 4:00PM, MTH 1311