RUTGERS EXPERIMENTAL MATHEMATICS SEMINAR

sponsored by the

Rutgers University
Department of Mathematics

and the

Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS)

Founded 2003 by Drew Sills and Doron Zeilberger.

Former co-organizers: Drew Sills (2003-2007), Moa ApaGodu (2005-2006), Lara Pudwell (2006-2008), Andrew Baxter (2008-2011), Brian Nakamura (2011-2013), Edinah Gnang (2011-2013), Matthew Russell (2013-2016), Nathan Fox (2016-2017), Bryan Ek (2017-2018), Mingjia Yang (2018-2020), Yonah Biers-Ariel (2018-2020), Robert Dougherty-Bliss (2020-2024)

Current co-organizers:
Doron Zeilberger (doronzeil {at} gmail [dot] com)
Stoyan Dimitrov (emailtostoyan {at} gmail [dot] com)
Lucy Martinez (lm1154 {at} scarletmail [dot] rutgers [dot] edu)

Archive of Previous Speakers and Talks You can find links to videos of some of these talks as well. Currently, our videos are being posted to our Vimeo page. Previously, we had videos posted on our YouTube page.


If you would like to be added to the weekly mailing list, email Lucy Martinez: lm1154 {at} scarletmail [dot] rutgers [dot] edu

Forthcoming Talks

Date: Thu., Feb. 13, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: Lucy Martinez, Rutgers University

Title: A mirror step variant of gambler's ruin

Abstract: Consider a gambler who starts with x dollars. At each gamble, the gambler either wins a dollar with probability 1/2 or loses a dollar with probability 1/2. The gambler's goal is to reach N dollars without first running out of money (i.e., hitting 0 dollars). If the gambler reaches N dollars, we say that they are a winner. The gambler continues to play until they either run out of money or win. This scenario is known as the gambler's ruin problem, first posed by Pascal. We consider a new generalization of the gambler's ruin problem. A particle starts at some point x on a line of length N. At each step, the particle either moves from x to x-1 with probability q1, or moves from x to x+1 with probability q2, or moves from x to N-x with probability p where 0


Date: Thu., Feb. 20, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: Toufik Mansour, University of Haifa

Title: Ascent sequences avoiding a set of length-3 patterns

Abstract: See here


Date: Thu., Feb. 27, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: Daniel Herden, Baylor University

Title: Young Tableau Reconstruction Via Minors

Abstract: Starting point of our talk will be a short discussion of the classical 15 puzzle. It turns out that similar problems about sliding numbered tiles around in a box are of enormous relevance to combinatorial algebra in the context of Young tableaux. In particular, we are going to present "The Tableau Reconstruction Problem," posed by Monks (2009). Starting with a standard Young tableau T of size n, i.e., an arrangement of n numbered tiles, a 1-minor of T is a tableau obtained by first deleting any tile of T, and then sliding the remaining tiles into position and renumbering them according to some rules. This can be iterated to arrive at the set of k-minors of T. The problem is this: given k, what are the values of n such that every tableau of size n can be reconstructed from its set of k-minors? For k=1, the problem was recently solved by Cain and Lehtonen. In this talk, we discuss the problem for k=2, proving the sharp lower bound n ≥ 8. In the case of multisets of k-minors, we also give a lower bound for arbitrary k, as a first step toward a sharp bound in the general multiset case


Date: Thu., March 6, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speakers: About 10 tbd, coordinator and MC: Angela Hicks

Title: The Mathematics of Adriano Garsia (1928-2024)

Abstract: Adriano Garsia (wiki) started out in Harmonic Analysis, but soon enough saw the light and became one of the leaders of Enumerative and Algebraic Combinatorics. In this tribute, students, collaborators, and colleagues, will try and describe some of his seminal contrubutions. After the end of the formal part, there would be plenty of time for an "open stage" where everyone (including his 36 PhD students) would have the opportunity to say a few words in Adriano's memory.


Date: Thu., March 13, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: Arundhathi Krishnan,Mary Immaculate College, Thurles, Ireland

Title: A central limit theorem in the framework of the Thompson group F

Abstract: The classical central limit theorem states that the average of an infinite sequence of independent and identically distributed random variables, when suitably rescaled, tends to a normal distribution. In fact, this classical result can be stated purely algebraically, using the combinatorics of pair partitions. In the 1980s, Voiculescu proved an analog of the central limit theorem in free probability theory, wherein the normal distribution is replaced by Wigner's semicircle distribution. Later, Speicher provided an algebraic proof of the free central limit theorem, based on the combinatorics of non-crossing pair partitions. Since then, various algebraic central limit theorems have been studied in noncommutative probability, for instance, in the context of symmetric groups. My talk will discuss a central limit theorem for the Thompson group F, and show that the central limit law of a naturally defined sequence in the group algebra of F is the normal distribution. Our combinatorial approach employs abstract reduction systems to arrive at this result.


Date: Thu., March 20, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time): No talk (Spring break)
Date: Thu., March 27, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: Christian Bean, Keele University

Title: tbd

Abstract: tbd


Date: Thu.,April 3, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: Alan Sokal, University College London.

Title: tbd

Abstract: tbd


Date: Thu.,April 10, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time)
No talk


Date: Thu.,April 17, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: tbd

Title: tbd

Abstract: tbd


Date: Thu.,April 24, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: tbd

Title: tbd

Abstract: tbd


Date: Thu., May 1, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: tbd

Title: tbd

Abstract: tbd


Date: Thu., May 8, 2025, 5:00pm (Eastern Time) Zoom Link [password: The 20th Catalan number, alias (40)!/(20!*21!), alias 6564120420 ]

Speaker: tbd

Title: tbd

Abstract: tbd