Mathematical Physics Seminar
March Schedule
Organizer- Joel L. Lebowitz
email: lebowitz@math.rutgers.edu
- Time/place- 3/6/03
NO SEMINAR
Math Colloquium
- Speaker- H. Spohn, Muenchen University
- Title- Shape Fluctuations for Faceted Crystals
- Time/place- Friday, 3/7/2003 4:30pm in Hill 705
- Abstract-TBA
Special Seminar
Speaker- S. Smirnov, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden/IAS
Title-SLE and Scaling Limits
Time/place- Tuesday, 3/11/03 2:30pm in Hill 705
Abstract-We will discuss Lawler-Schramm-Werner's proof that Uniform Spanning Tree
and Loop Erased Random Walk converge to Stochastic Loewner Evolutions,
and will speculate on how to approach other similar problems.
Speaker-M. Bramson, University of Minnesota
Title- Tightness for the Minimum Displacement of Branching Random Walk and Some Other Old Problems
Time/place- Thursday, 3/13/03 11:30am in Hill 705
Abstract-Study of solutions of certain families of semilinear heat equations dates
back to Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piscounov in 1937; since then this problem
has been thoroughly analyzed. Substantially less is known about the
behavior of their discrete time analogs; several basic questions have been
unresolved since the 1970's. In the probabilistic context, the continuous
time problem corresponds to the minimum displacement of branching Brownian
motion, and the discrete time problem to the minimum displacement of
branching random walk. Here, we summarize this background, present some
new results for branching random walk, and briefly discuss connections
with recent work on covering times for random walks by Dembo, Peres,
Rosen, and Zeitouni.
Please note there will be a brown bag lunch between the 2
seminars this morning. Bring your sandwich.
Coffee and homemade cookies will be
available.
Speaker-R. Ellis, UMASS Amherst
Title- Nonequivalence of Ensembles
and Phase Transitions in Statistical Mechanical Models.
Time/place- Thursday, 3/13/03 1:30pm in Hill 705
Abstract- The problem of equivalence and nonequivalence of ensembles is
fundamental in statistical mechanics because it focuses on the
appropriate probabilistic description of statistical mechanical
systems. I will start this talk by defining the two basic ensembles
and describing recent general results that relate ensemble equivalence
to concavity properties of a function known as the microcanonical
entropy. These general results will be illustrated in the context of
a lattice spin system due to Blume, Emery, and Griffiths, for which a
complete description of the phase transitions is also available. I
will end the talk by relating nonequivalence of ensembles to
first-order phase transitions.
Time/place- 3/20/03
NO SEMINAR
Time/place- 3/27/03
NO SEMINAR