CMSA

The Quasi-Adiabatic Theorem and All That
2026-01-27 16:15 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Science Center 507, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, 02138
Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
Speaker: Daniel Spiegel, Harvard
Title: The Quasi-Adiabatic Theorem and All That
Abstract: Yosuke Kubota has recently made progress on understanding Kitaev’s conjecture by constructing a loop spectrum consisting of spaces of quantum spin systems, indexed by spatial dimension of the lattice (arXiv: 2503.12618). After a brief reminder on the C*-algebraic formalism of quantum spin systems, I will discuss Section 2 of this paper, which covers some of the more analytical tools used to construct the loop spectrum. In particular, I will focus on the quasi-adiabatic theorem which roughly speaking states that a smooth path of gapped Hamiltonians with unique ground states gives rise to a path of nice automorphisms that map the ground state at time zero to the path of ground states.

CMSA Spring Welcome Back Event
2026-01-28 16:00 - 17:30 | 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, MA, MA, 02138, United States
CMSA Spring Welcome Back Event
Date: Jan 28, 2026
Time: 4:00 pm
Location: CMSA Common Room, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA
All CMSA and Math affiliates are invited.

Complete Calabi-Yau Metrics and Optimal Transport
2026-01-29 13:30 - 14:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
Speaker: Tristan Collins, University of Toronto
Title: Complete Calabi-Yau Metrics and Optimal Transport
Abstract: I will discuss the connection between optimal transport and the existence of complete Calabi-Yau metrics on log Calabi-Yau varieties. I will explain how the geometric problem of constructing complete Calabi-Yau metrics gives rise to problems in the boundary regularity theory for optimal transport, and how ideas from geometry can be used to make progress on some of these problems. This talk will survey joint works with Li, Tong, Tong-Yau, Firester, and Tong-Firester.

Algebra Seminar
2026-01-29 16:00 - 17:00, 2026-02-05 16:00 - 17:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States

Some results about saturation
2026-01-30 12:00 - 13:00 | Common Room, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Member Seminar
Speaker: Stephen Landsittel
Title: Some results about saturation
Abstract: Given a local ring R we can ask when saturation of ideals in R commutes with other operations on ideals (such as extension to a ring containing R). We show that the condition that extension of ideals along a ring map R to S commutes with saturation controls inherent properties of the rings R & S, such as Cohen-Macaulayness and unramifiedness.

Freedman Seminar: Michael Freedman, CMSA & Slava Krushkal, University of Virginia
2026-01-30 13:30 - 16:30 | Hybrid
Freedman Seminar
Speakers: Michael Freedman, CMSA and Slava Krushkal, University of Virginia (2-3 pm and 3:15-4:15 pm)
Title: Formulating 4D surgery for AI agents
Abstract: The topological category surgery exact sequence is still open for free groups (and most groups of exponential growth). The lack of knowledge is about both surgery and s-cobordism; and the source of the mystery is the same in both cases. Thinking about how to present this problem to AIs has had its own value. In a pair of talks we will explain how we have thought about the problem in the past and how we are thinking about it now.

Reflexive Polytopes and the Convergence of Feynman Integrals
2026-02-02 15:00 - 16:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar
Speaker: Pierre Vanhove (Institute of Theoretical Physics – Saclay)
Title: Reflexive Polytopes and the Convergence of Feynman Integrals
Abstract: In the parametric representation, Feynman integrals can be viewed as Euler integrals defined by the Symanzik polynomials of a graph. The convergence properties of these integrals are intimately tied to the combinatorial geometry of their associated Newton polytopes; specifically, finiteness is guaranteed when the polytope contains interior points. We present a classification of Feynman integrals associated with polytopes containing a unique interior point, identifying a subset that are reflexive. Our results show that such reflexive polytopes are surprisingly scarce within the space of Feynman graphs. We conclude by computing several infinite families of these integrals and exploring their connections to mirror symmetry and toric geometry. This is based on joint work with Leonardo de la Cruz and Pavel Novichkov.

Bijections for hyperplane arrangements of Coxeter type
2026-02-02 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Colloquium
Speaker: Olivier Bernardi, Brandeis University
Title: Bijections for hyperplane arrangements of Coxeter type
Abstract: This talk is about real hyperplane arrangements whose hyperplanes are of the form {xi −xj = s} or {xi +xj = s}. We describe a bijective framework for a large family of such arrangements which we call transitive. For each transitive arrangement A, we give a bijection between the regions of A and a set of decorated trees. Particular cases include the families of Catalan, Shi, semiorder and Linial arrangements in type A, B, C, D and BC. We also derive some general enumerative formulas for such families of transitive arrangements.

More on Kubota's spectrum of invertible states
2026-02-03 16:15 - 18:00 | Science Center 507, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, 02138
Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
Speakers: Dan Freed and Bowen Yang, Harvard CMSA
Title: More on Kubota’s spectrum of invertible states
Abstract: Bowen will explain a construction aptly dubbed “Kitaev’s pump” in Kubota’s paper. Time permitting, Bowen will demonstrate its ubiquity throughout the study of topological phases, where it appears under various guises. In the second hour, Dan will sketch Kubota’s construction of a spectrum from families of invertible quantum lattice systems.

CMSA Q&A Seminar: Ludmil Katzarkov, University of Miami
2026-02-04 13:00 - 14:00 | Common Room, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
CMSA Q&A Seminar
Speaker: Ludmil Katzarkov, University of Miami
Title: New Birational Invariants
Abstract: We will introduce the origins of the main ideas of the theory of atoms. Applications follow. Equivariant and mixed atoms will be considered.

Automated Theory Formation and Interestingness in Mathematics
2026-02-04 14:00 - 15:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
Speaker: George Tsoukalas, UT Austin Dept. of Computer Science and Google DeepMind.
Title: Automated Theory Formation and Interestingness in Mathematics
Abstract: Advances in modern learning systems are beginning to demonstrate utility for select problems in research mathematics. A broader challenge is that of developing new theories automatically. This area has a rich history, and is tied to some of the earliest work in AI. In particular, a central question in this study was measuring the “interestingness” of mathematical concepts.
In this talk, I will review this historical context and present our recent work on using large language models to synthesize interestingness measures that guide theory exploration in elementary number theory from scratch. I will conclude by outlining potential future research directions in this domain.
Joint work done at UT Austin with Rahul Saha, Amitayush Thakur, Sabrina Reguyal, and Swarat Chaudhuri.

Millennium Prize Problems Lecture - Barry Mazur: About the Birch and Swinnerton–Dyer Conjecture
2026-02-04 17:00 - 18:00 | Harvard Science Center Hall D, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Date: February 4, 2026
Time: 5:00–6:00 pm
Location: Harvard Science Center Hall C, 1 Oxford St., Cambridge MA
Speaker: Barry Mazur, Harvard University
Title: About the Birch and Swinnerton–Dyer Conjecture
Abstract:
In the 1950s Bryan Birch and Peter Swinnerton–Dyer made computations that suggested a striking connection between a basic global invariant of an elliptic curve E over the field of rational numbers (namely, the rank of its group of rational points) and certain asymptotics of its local arithmetic invariants (i.e., the number of its rational points over finite fields).
This initial observation has evolved into their conjecture. My lecture will be an introduction to the general ideas behind its ever-expanding development.
Read more about the Birch and Swinnerton–Dyer Conjecture at the Clay Math website.

Organizers: Martin Bridson, Clay Mathematics Institute | Dan Freed, Harvard University and CMSA | Mike Hopkins, Harvard University
Barry Mazur joined the Harvard University faculty in 1959 as a Junior Fellow in the Society of Fellows and advanced through the ranks to become the Gerhard Gade University Professor of Mathematics, a position he has held since 1998. During his tenure at Harvard, he has mentored 60 doctoral students and served as a pivotal figure in bridging topology and number theory, notably through his classification of the possible torsion subgroups of elliptic curves over the rational numbers (Mazur’s torsion theorem), which identifies exactly 15 possible finite groups. This theorem, detailed in his 1977 paper “Modular curves and the Eisenstein ideal,” provided crucial insights into the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture and laid groundwork for Andrew Wiles’s 1994 proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.
His broader research includes seminal works on étale homotopy theory (co-authored with Michael Artin in 1969), the arithmetic moduli of elliptic curves (with Nicholas M. Katz in 1985), and the Iwasawa main conjecture (proved with Andrew Wiles in 1984), as well as advancements in p-adic L-functions and the formulation of the Fontaine-Mazur conjecture on Galois representations. Mazur’s influence extends to public communication of mathematics; he has authored books like Imagining Numbers (2003), exploring historical perspectives on complex numbers.
Among his numerous honors, Mazur received the Cole Prize in Number Theory from the American Mathematical Society in 1982, the Chauvenet Prize in 1994 for expository writing, the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2000, and election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1982. In 2011 (presented in 2013), he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama for his pioneering work in these fields.Most recently, in 2022, he received the Chern Medal from the International Mathematical Union, recognizing his profound discoveries and mentorship.

Millennium Prize Problems Lecture Series

Index from a point
2026-02-05 13:30 - 14:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
Speaker: Monica Jinwoo Kang, Texas A&M University
Title: Index from a point
Abstract: We argue that protected data of 4d N=2 SCFTs admits a purely algebro-geometric characterization. We conjecture that both the Macdonald index (and hence the Schur index) and the Higgs branch are encoded by a bifiltered affine scheme determined by OPE nilpotency and decoupling relations. Focusing on Argyres–Douglas theories, where the Higgs branch is a point, we show that this geometric construction suffices to reconstruct the full Macdonald index. This is based on recent works with Craig Lawrie and Jaewon Song.

On E7+1/2 gauge theory
2026-02-05 14:45 - 15:45 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
Speaker: Yinan Wang, Peking University
Title: On E7+1/2 gauge theory

Abstract: We propose that an exotic gauge theory based on the intermediate Lie algebra E7+1/2 naturally appears in the landscape of 6d F-theory. We give strong evidence of this proposal with 6d anomaly cancellation, dual M-theory geometry and elliptic genus of the single-string worldsheet CFT.

Lie algebra cohomology and Seiberg-Witten theory
2026-02-06 12:00 - 13:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Member Seminar
Speaker: Ahsan Khan, Harvard CMSA
Title: Lie algebra cohomology and Seiberg-Witten theory
Abstract: I will discuss how a certain (relative) Lie algebra cochain complex categorifies the Schur index of N=2 supersymmetric gauge theory. For the special case of Seiberg-Witten theory I will provide a conjectured description of this cohomology.

On the p-curvature of quantum connections of CY threefolds
2026-02-09 15:00 - 16:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Quantum Field Theory and Physical Mathematics Seminar
Speaker: Shaoyun Bai (MIT)
Title: On the p-curvature of quantum connections of CY threefolds
Abstract: The small quantum connection of Calabi-Yau varieties has integral coefficients, thus admits reduction mod a prime number p. A fundamental invariant associated with flat connections over characteristic p is the p-curvature, which lies at the heart of study of algebraic differential equations. I will explain how to identify the p-curvature of quantum connection of any compact Calabi-Yau threefold with the quantum Steenrod operation, thereby providing a modular description of the p-curvature in this setting. I will also discuss the role of BPS invariants and the mirror symmetry context. This is based on joint work with Jae Hee Lee.

Phase Transition to Chaos in Complex Ecosystems with Non-reciprocal Interactions
2026-02-09 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Colloquium
Speaker: Pankaj Metha, Boston University
Title: Phase Transition to Chaos in Complex Ecosystems with Non-reciprocal Interactions
Abstract: Nonreciprocal interactions between microscopic constituents can profoundly shape the large-scale properties of complex systems. In this pedagogical chalk talk, I will discuss recent work from our group on phase transitions and chaos in high-dimensional ecosystems with non-reciprocal interactions. Our approach builds on a generalization of MacArthur’s consumer-resource model that incorporates asymmetric interactions between species and resources. I will highlight rich connections between this problem and the mathematics of disordered systems (cavity method and DMFT), random matrix theory, and constrained optimization.

CMSA Q&A Seminar: James Eldred Pascoe, Drexel University
2026-02-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Common Room, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
CMSA Q&A Seminar
Speaker: James Eldred Pascoe, Drexel University
Title: (What is) The tracial fundamental group and free universal monodromy?
Abstract: We introduce the tracial fundamental group to classify the analytic continuation of functions that are locally behave like the trace of natural matrix valued functions. While globally defined natural matrix-valued functions (known as free noncommutative functions, which roughly locally are defined by noncommutative power series) satisfy universal monodromy, we show that these tracial free functions exhibit a rigid but nontrivial structure governed by the aforementioned group. We prove that the tracial fundamental group is always a torsion-free, divisible abelian group, standing in sharp contrast to the non-abelian fundamental groups of classical domains.

ReLU and Softplus neural nets as zero-sum, turn-based, stopping games
2026-02-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Virtual
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
Speaker: Yiannis Vlassopoulos, Athena Research Center
Title: ReLU and Softplus neural nets as zero-sum, turn-based, stopping games
Abstract: Neural networks are for the most part treated as black boxes. In an effort to begin elucidating the mathematical structure they encode, we will explain how ReLU neural nets can be interpreted as zero-sum turn-based, stopping games. The game runs in the opposite direction to the net. The input to the net is the terminal reward of the game, the output of the net is the value of the game at its initial states. The bias at each neuron is used to define the reward and the weights are used to define state-transition probabilities. One player –Max– is trying to maximize reward and the other –Min-, to minimize it. Every neuron gives rise to two game states, one where Max plays and one where Min plays. In fact running the ReLU net is equivalent to the Shapley-Bellman backward recursion for the value of the game. As a corollary of this construction we get a path integral expression for the output of the net, given input. Moreover using the fact that the Shapley operator is monotonic (with respect to the coordinate-wise order) we get bounds for the output of the net, given bounds for the input. Adding an entropic regularization to the ReLU net game allows us to interpret Softplus neural nets as games in an analogous fashion.
This is joint work with Stéphane Gaubert.

Gromov-Hausdorff limits of collapsing Calabi-Yau fibrations
2026-02-12 13:30 - 14:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
Speaker: Gabor Szekelyhidi, Northwestern University
Title: Gromov-Hausdorff limits of collapsing Calabi-Yau fibrations
Abstract: A well studied problem is the metric behavior of Calabi-Yau metrics on a fibration in a family of Kahler classes that collapses the fibers. I will discuss recent progress showing that the Gromov-Hausdorff limit can be identified with the base of the fibration, generalizing results of Gross-Tosatti-Zhang, Song-Tian-Zhang and Li-Tosatti. A new ingredient is to exploit the RCD property of the Gromov-Hausdorff limit.

A leisurely stroll through the theory of adjunctions
2026-02-13 12:00 - 13:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Member Seminar
Speaker: Lorenzo Riva, Harvard CMSA
Title: A leisurely stroll through the theory of adjunctions
Abstract: Adjoint functors (and, more generally, adjunctions in a 2-category) are ubiquitous in algebra and topology. In this talk I will give an overview of the basics of adjunctions, with the ultimate goal being understanding the statement of the cobordism hypothesis. Time permitting, I will talk about some recent work on a combinatorial construction yielding free adjunctions.

Geometric structures on gauge theoretic moduli spaces
2026-02-17 16:15 - 18:00 | Science Center 507, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, 02138
Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
Speaker: Saman Habibi Esfahani (CMSA)
Title: Geometric structures on gauge theoretic moduli spaces
Abstract: Motivated by Witten’s study of instantons on S3 x S1, we survey some classical and recent results, programs, and conjectures on geometric structures, such as symplectic and hyperkahler, on moduli spaces of instantons and monopoles on various manifolds, from a mathematical perspective. This talk serves as background for Max’s talk on 2/24.

CMSA Q&A Seminar: Dan Freed, Harvard
2026-02-18 12:00 - 13:00 | Common Room, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
CMSA Q&A Seminar
Speaker: Dan Freed, Harvard
Topic: How does one navigate the job market as a postdoc in 2026?

Topics in the Relation of Four-Manifold Invariants and Supersymmetric Field Theory
2026-02-19 13:30 - 14:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Differential Geometry and Physics Seminar
Speaker: Greg Moore, Rutgers University
Title: Topics in the Relation of Four-Manifold Invariants and Supersymmetric Field Theory
Abstract: We will begin with a review of topological twisting as a choice of background fields. We then review the standard paradigm for the formulation of Donaldson invariants as correlation functions in twisted supersymmetric N=2 d=4 quantum field theory, together with the quantum field theory (QFT) derivation of the relation of the Donaldson invariants to Seiberg-Witten invariants. We then consider what can be said using other twisted QFTs. We present some new results on the four-manifold invariants derived from N=2 supersymmetric QCD. We then move on to 5d theories and the “K-theoretic Donaldson invariants” and comment briefly on the 6d theories and the “elliptic Donaldson invariants.” In the unlikely event that time permits we finish with the extension to families of four-manifolds, where the coupling to a suitably twisted and truncated superconformal gravity is expected to produce invariants valued in the cohomology of the classifying space of the diffeomorphism group of the four-manifold.

Constructing oriented TQFTs from twisted pivotal tensor categories
2026-02-19 15:30 - 16:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
Speaker: William Stewart
Title: Constructing oriented TQFTs from twisted pivotal tensor categories
Abstract: The cobordism hypothesis classifies n-dimensional oriented TQFTs in terms of SO(n) homotopy fixed point data. An SO(2) homotopy fixed point structure on a finite tensor category gives rise to a twisted pivotal structure (a more general notion than a pivotal structure). In this talk, I will illustrate how the usual skein theory (also called string nets) of a pivotal tensor category can be generalized to the twisted pivotal setting, yielding new 2d oriented TQFTs. This is joint work with Ben Haioun and Filippos Sytilidis.

Theory of Task-Adapted Dynamics in Large Recurrent Neural Networks
2026-02-20 12:00 - 13:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Member Seminar
Speaker: Blake Bordelon, CMSA
Title: Theory of Task-Adapted Dynamics in Large Recurrent Neural Networks
Abstract: Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) encode expressive and flexible dynamical systems which can adapt to perform tasks by modifying the internal connections between neurons. In this work we analyze the structure of the dynamical systems encoded in RNNs after being trained to perform a learning task. We derive a mean field theory of the dynamics of RNNs before and after learning. Our theory predicts heterogeneous activity and tuning of single neurons, but precise, deterministic predictions for population level autocorrelation and outputs of the network. Further, our theory enables us to interpolate between different operating regimes for RNN learning including (1) reservoir computing regime where internal adaptations do not adapt to data as the model outputs fit the provided data and (2) a feature-learning where the internal dynamics of the network change significantly due to task learning and reflect temporal properties of the learning task. These different regimes exhibit different levels of chaotic activity, oscillatory behaviors, and length generalization properties as feature learning enables maintenance of temporal patterns over longer periods than the supervision period. We apply this theory to a biologically grounded motor learning task where a recurrent population is trained to output EMG signals from macaque motor units during an oriented reaching task. We find that many levels of feature-learning strength give rise to high quality fits of the EMG data, resulting in a family of solutions that are compatible with the neural data. Based on work with David Clark, Jacob Zavatone Veth, and Cengiz Pehlevan.

Mathematics and Biology I: Morphometry, Morphogenesis and Mathematics
2026-02-23 09:00 - 2026-03-11 17:00 | CMSA 20 Garden Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 United States
Mathematics and Biology I: Morphometry, Morphogenesis and Mathematics
Dates: February 23–March 11, 2026
Location: Harvard CMSA, Room G10, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA
Mathematics, Morphometry and Morphogenesis is a 3-week program at the Harvard CMSA, which will bring together researchers from a few different communities with a common aim—to understand shape and its development and evolution in living matter.
The aim is to bring together those interested in evolutionary and developmental biology, soft and active matter physics, and differential, discrete and computational geometry and topology, especially with a statistical bent. Although each of these fields has developed powerful tools and deep insights into form, function, and dynamics, opportunities for them to meet and interact are rare. This workshop aims to foster dialogue and discovery across these disciplinary boundaries—where paleontologists, developmental biologists, physicists, computer scientists and mathematicians can exchange ideas, identify shared challenges, and spark new collaborations. We envision this as a chance not only to showcase exciting advances within each domain, but also to chart new directions together at the intersection of evolution, development, and geometry.
The first week will have a few tutorials on developmental and evolutionary aspects of morphology, computational geometry, statistics and dynamical systems, along with a workshop-style meeting with research talks, setting the stage for longer stays and new collaborations over the following weeks.
Please note that this is an in-person event.

Week 1: Feb 23–27, 2026: Teaching lectures and research seminars
The teaching lectures span a broad range of topics, including statistical shape and morphometric analysis, dynamical systems, differential geometry, and current themes in morphogenesis, developmental biology, and evolutionary developmental biology in Week 1.

Week 2-3: March 2–5 & 10–11, 2026: Research seminars and discussion
Weeks 2 and 3 will cover development, regeneration, and evolution from quantitative, morphometric, and mathematical perspectives.

Topics include:
🧬 Organoids & Tissue-Engineered Models
🔬 Computational Imaging & Geometry
⚙️ Biophysics, Mechanics & Theory
🌱 Developmental Biology & Evo-Devo

Speakers:

Salem al-Mosleh, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Vanessa Barone, Stanford University
Yohannes Bellaiche, Institut Curie
Alain Chedotal, Institut de la Vision
Gary P.T. Choi, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Stefano Di Talia, Duke University
Paul Francois, McGill University
Jianping Fu, University of Michigan
Thomas Gregor, Pasteur Institute & Princeton
Sahand Hormoz, Harvard
Helen James, Smithsonian Institution
Purnati Khuntia, Harvard
Allon Klein, Harvard Medical School
Elena Kramer, Harvard University
Thomas Lecuit, College de France & IBDM
Daniel Lew, MIT
L. Mahadevan, Harvard
M. Lisa Manning, Syracuse
Adam Martin, MIT
Sean Megason, Harvard
Noah Mitchell, University of Chicago
Akankshi Munjal, Duke
Nipam Patel, MBL Woods Hole
Olivier Pourquié, Harvard Medical School
Adrienne Roeder, Cornell University
Mattia Serra, UC San Diego
Suraj Shankar, University of Michigan
Anuj Srivastava, Johns Hopkins
Sebastian Streichan, UC Santa Barbara
Berta Verd, University of Oxford

Organizers:

Salem al-Mosleh, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Vanessa Barone, Stanford
L. Mahadevan, Harvard
Akankshi Munjal, Duke
Olivier Pourquie, Harvard

Videos from the program are available at the CMSA Youtube Channel.
Mathematics and Biology Playlist
Week 1: Feb 23–27, 2026 – Workshop
Monday, 2/23/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Tutorial: Anuj Srivastava (Johns Hopkins) — Advances in Statistical Shape Analysis of Biological Structures

10:30–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Tutorial: Anuj Srivastava (Johns Hopkins) — Advances in Statistical Shape Analysis of Biological Structures

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:15 pm: Research Talk: Noah Mitchell (University of Chicago) — Mechanical canalization of 3D chiral morphogenesis

Tuesday, 2/24/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Tutorial: Mattia Serra (UCSD) —Tissue Flows, Morphogen Transport and Positional Information: A Dynamical Systems Framework

10:30–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Tutorial: Mattia Serra (UCSD) — Tissue Flows, Morphogen Transport and Positional Information: A Dynamical Systems Framework

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm: Research Talk: Paul Francois (McGill) — Waddington Landscapes in the Age of Machine Learning

Wednesday, 2/25/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Tutorial: Olivier Pourquie (Harvard) — Segmentation and body axis

10:30–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Tutorial: Akankshi Munjal (Duke) — Principles of Tissue Morphogenesis

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:15 pm: Research Talk: Allon Klein (Harvard) — Stochastic Cell State Transitions
2:15–3:00 pm: Research Talk: Salem Al-Mosleh (University of Maryland) — Linking Geometry, Evolution, & Development of Bird Beaks

Thursday, 2/26/26

In-person discussions

Friday, 2/27/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Tutorial: Vanessa Barone (Stanford)

10:30–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Tutorial: Vanessa Barone (Stanford)

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm: Research Talk: Alain Chedotal (Institut de la Vision) — Tridimensional analysis of human development

2:15–3:00 pm: Research Talk: Jianping Fu (University of Michigan) — Bioengineering Human Embryo and Organ Models

Week 2: March 2–5, 2026
Monday, 3/2/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Research Talk: Thomas Lecuit (Collège de France) —Encoding neuronal shape in the stochastic dynamics of branching processes

10:30–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Research Talk: Danny Lew (MIT) — Tuning the Cell Polarity Circuit: location and number of polarity sites
12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:15 pm: Research Talk: Suraj Shankar (University of Michigan)
2:15–2:50 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Wenhui Tang (Harvard) — Wetting dynamics and mechanics in human vertebrate somite formation
2:50–3:05 pm: Tea Break
3:05–3:35 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Ludwig Hoffmann (Harvard) — Shape deformations through mechanochemical feedback
4:30–5:30 pm: CMSA Colloquium: L Mahadevan (Harvard) — Inverse problems in soft and active matter

Tuesday, 3/3/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Research Talk: Adrienne Roeder (Cornell) — Mechanisms generating robustness in flower morphogenesis

10:30–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Research Talk: Gary Choi (Chinese University of Hong Kong) — Quantifying shape variation using quasi-conformal geometry

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm: Research Talk: Akankshi Munjal (Duke) — Shaping the inner ear from the Outside in

2:15–2:50 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Sean McGeary (Harvard) — Uncovering principles of tissue organization with massively parallel cell-interaction assays
2:50–3:05 pm: Tea Break
3:05–3:35 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Oliver Inge (Harvard) —Combinatorial BMP4 and activin direct the choice between alternate routes to endoderm in a stem cell model of human gastrulation
3:40–4:10 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Mehrana Raeisian Nejad (Harvard) — Stress-shape misalignment in confluent cell layers

Wednesday, 3/4/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:15 am: Research Talk: Nipam Patel (Marine Biology Lab, Woods Hole) — Cellular Morphogenesis at the Nanoscale: Structural color in butterflies

10:15–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Research Talk: M. Lisa Manning (Syracuse) — Sparse mesenchymal cell networks as a fluid under tension (and possibly as tunable matter)

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch Break: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:30 pm: Research Talk: Research Talk: Stefano Di Talia (Duke) — Encoding Geometric Memory During Zebrafish Appendage Regeneration

2:30–3:00 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Suhrid Ghosh (Harvard) — One Cell After Another: Mechanical Counting in Reproductive Evolution

3:00–3:15 pm: Tea Break
3:15–4:05 pm: Research Talk: Sean Megason (Harvard) — Algorithms for Creating Form: How multiscale control systems make development robust
4:10–4:40 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Alexandru Bacanu (Harvard) — Forcing tissues into shape: mechanical development in the early human brain

Thursday, 3/5/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Research Talk: Sebastian Streichen (UCSB) — Physics of Living Systems: From embryos to structured active matter

10:30–11:00 am: Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Research Talk: Berta Verd (University of Oxford) — Evolving phenotypic diversity

12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm: Research Talk: Elena Kramer (Harvard) — Life in a box: Generating developmental complexity while bound by cell walls

2:20–2:50 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Beatrice Steinert (Brown) — Grids and Folds: Morphogenetic Mechanisms of Body Plan Organization

2:50–3:05 pm: Tea Break
3:05–3:35 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Rikki Garner (Harvard)
3:40–4:10 pm: Trainee Research Talk: Chaitra Prabhakara (Harvard) — One Morphogen, Diverse Patterns: Unraveling Muscle Formation Across the Embryonic Gut Axis

Week 3: March 10–11, 2026
Tuesday, 3/10/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am: Research talk: Adam Martin (MIT) — Getting in shape: geometry, mechanics, and signaling in living epithelia

10:30–11:00 am: Tea break

11:00 am–12:00 pm: Research talk: Yohannes Bellaiche (Institut Curie) — How do cells and tissues sense their size to tailor their dynamics during development?
12:00–1:30 pm: Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm: Research talk: Sahand Hormoz (Harvard) — Learning the rules of morphogenesis

Wednesday, 3/11/26

9:00–9:30 am: Breakfast

9:30–10:15 am: Research talk: Thomas Gregor (Pasteur Institute & Princeton) — From Fluctuations to Form: Empirical Laws and Scaling Principles in Development

10:15–11:00 am: Research talk: Allison Kann (Harvard) — How to rebuild an organ: The cellular choreography of whole-body regeneration

11:00–11:30 am: Tea Break
11:30 am–12:00 pm: Research talk: Chandra Kuyyamudi Ashwinikumar (Harvard)
12:00–12:30 pm: Research talk: Purnati Khuntia (Harvard) — Role of Nucleus in Building Epithelial Tissues
1:00 pm: Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

Bi-HKT Manifolds, Sigma Models, Large N=4 and their String Constructions
2026-02-24 16:15 - 18:00 | Science Center 507, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, 02138
Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
Speakers: Max Hübner, CMSA
Title: Bi-HKT Manifolds, Sigma Models, Large N=4 and their String Constructions
Abstract: We continue our review of Witten’s paper “Instantons and the Large N=4 Algebra”. We discuss the realization of large N=4 supersymmetry in the context of supersymmetric sigma-models, and discuss and motivate string theoretic duals to these sigma models. This talk aims to supply physical insight building on Saman’s talk from last week 2/17.

Scaling Stochastic Momentum from Theory to LLMs
2026-02-25 14:00 - 15:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
Speaker: Courtney Paquette, McGill University
Title: Scaling Stochastic Momentum from Theory to LLMs
Abstract: Given the massive scale of modern ML models, we now often get only a single shot to train them effectively. This limits our ability to sweep architectures and hyperparameters, making it essential to understand how learning algorithms scale so insights from small models transfer to large ones.
In this talk, I present a framework for analyzing scaling laws of stochastic momentum methods using a power-law random features model, leveraging tools from high-dimensional probability and random matrix theory. We show that standard SGD with momentum does not improve scaling exponents, while dimension-adapted Nesterov acceleration (DANA)—which explicitly adapts momentum to model size and data/target complexity—achieves strictly better loss and compute scaling. DANA does this by rescaling its momentum parameters with dimension, effectively matching the optimizer’s memory to the problem geometry.
Motivated by these theoretical insights, I introduce logarithmic-time scheduling for large language models and propose ADANA, an AdamW-like optimizer with growing memory and explicit damping. Across transformer scales (45M to 2.6B parameters), ADANA yields up to 40% compute savings over tuned AdamW, with gains that improve at scale.
Based on joint work with Damien Ferbach, Elliot Paquette, Katie Everett, and Gauthier Gidel.
