CMSA

AI for the Working Mathematician
2026-12-02 16:30 - 17:30 (America/New_York) | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
AI for the Working Mathematician
Speaker: Mark Selke, Harvard
Title: TBA

New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
2026-12-02 14:00 - 15:00, 2026-11-25 14:00 - 15:00, 2026-11-18 14:00 - 15:00, 2026-11-04 14:00 - 15:00, 2026-10-28 14:00 - 15:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
New Technologies in Mathematics Seminar
Speaker: tba

Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar
2026-12-01 16:15 - 18:00, 2026-11-24 16:15 - 18:00, 2026-11-17 16:15 - 18:00, 2026-11-10 16:15 - 18:00, 2026-11-03 16:15 - 18:00 | Science Center 507, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, 02138
Joint Math/CMSA Geometry and Quantum Theory Seminar

Colloquium
2026-11-30 16:30 - 17:30, 2026-11-23 16:30 - 17:30, 2026-11-16 16:30 - 17:30, 2026-11-09 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States

Member Seminar
2026-11-20 12:00 - 13:00, 2026-11-13 12:00 - 13:00, 2026-11-06 12:00 - 13:00, 2026-10-30 12:00 - 13:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States

Geometry and Mathematical Physics seminar
2026-11-19 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Geometry and Mathematical Physics seminar
Speaker: Joshua Greene, Boston College

AI for the Working Mathematician
2026-11-18 16:30 - 17:30, 2026-11-04 16:30 - 17:30, 2026-10-28 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
AI for the Working Mathematician
Speaker: TBA
Title: TBA

Mathematical Economics Seminar: Experimental Design in Networks
2026-11-17 14:00 - 16:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Speaker: Christopher Harshaw (c.harshaw@columbia.edu), Columbia University
Title: Design-Based Minimax Theory for Network Experiments
Abstract: Network experiments are used throughout the social and medical sciences to investigate causal effects under the presence of interference. While a large body of work has developed improved statistical procedures, the fundamental limits of statistical estimation in these settings is less well understood. In this paper, we develop and investigate a design-based theory of minimax risk for network experiments under an arbitrary neighborhood interference model. Our notion of minimax risk describes the optimal precision among all statistical procedures for investigating a particular causal effect on the observed interference network. We show that the minimax risk is a function of the corresponding conflict graph, which captures inherent unobservability of estimand-relevant potential outcomes given the observed interference network. Our main contribution is a series of upper and lower bounds on the minimax rate in terms of local and global connectivity properties of the conflict graph. To illustrate their utility, we apply these general results to obtain minimax analyses for two commonly studied effects: the direct treatment effect and global average treatment effect.

Speaker: Evan Munro (evan.munro@chicagobooth.edu), University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Title: Robust Signal Maximization in Spillover Experiments
Abstract: We study the optimal design and analysis of experiments for estimating spillover effects. Assuming a known (e.g., linear) exposure mapping, we characterize the treatment-assignment distribution and regression-based estimator that minimize worst-case asymptotic variance against a broad class of distributions of unobservables. The design problem yields an intuitive solution in which the planner trades off spillover signal strength against diffusion of spillover variation. The analysis problem yields a simple recentered instrumental variable estimator to best leverage this variation. This framework produces natural solutions in several benchmark cases – such as clustered exposure – and suggests computationally tractable approximations for general networks, including bipartite settings. We illustrate these new tools in semi-synthetic experiments based on two applications from development economics. Our approach yields large standard error reductions in both experiments, increasing effective sample sizes by 50-100% or more.

Geometry and Mathematical Physics Seminar
2026-11-12 16:30 - 17:30, 2026-10-29 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States

Northeast Conference on Categorical Methods
2026-11-06 09:00 - 2026-11-07 17:00 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Northeast Conference on Categorical Methods
Dates: November 6–​7, 2026
Location: CMSA G10, 20 Garden St., Cambridge MA 02138

This conference is intended to bring together researchers in all areas of mathematics and mathematical physics whose work involves the use of methods from categorical algebra, abstract homotopy theory, and higher category theory. Our goal is to showcase new, exciting research and offer an avenue for researchers from the Northeast US to discuss their work and collaborate with people in this ever-growing community.

There will be time for 4 short talks by early-career mathematicians.

REGISTRATION FORM (link) Deadline: September 20, 2026
Remote participation is available. Sign up using this link: Zoom Webinar Registration

Invited Speakers

Andrew Blumberg, Columbia University
Soren Galatius, Columbia University
Tony Pantev, University of Pennsylvania
Nick Rozenblyum, University of Toronto
Tomer Schlank, University of Chicago/Harvard University
Brian Williams, Boston University
Inna Zakharevich, Cornell University

Organized by Dan Freed, Harvard Math & CMSA; Owen Gwilliam, UMass Amherst; and Lorenzo Riva, Harvard CMSA

Schedule Outline
Friday, November 6, 2026

8:30 – 9:00 am
Registration and breakfast

9:00 – 10:00 am
Talk 1

10:00 – 10:15 am
Coffee

10:15 – 11:15 am
Talk 2

11:15 – 11:30 am
Coffee

11:30 am – 12:00 pm
Short talk 1

12:00 – 1:30 pm
Lunch

1:30 – 2:00 pm
Short talk 2

2:00 – 2:15 pm
Coffee

2:15 – 3:15 pm
Talk 3

3:15 – 3:30 pm
Coffee

3:30 – 4:30 pm
Talk 4

Saturday, November 7, 2026

8:30 – 9:00 am
Registration and breakfast

9:00 – 10:00 am
Talk 5

10:00 – 10:15 am
Coffee

10:15 – 11:15 am
Talk 6

11:15 – 11:30 am
Coffee

11:30 am – 12:00 pm
Short talk 3

12:00 – 1:30 pm
Lunch

1:30 – 2:00 pm
Short talk 4

2:00 – 2:15 pm
Coffee

2:15 – 3:15 pm
Talk 7

Geometry and Mathematical Physics Seminar
2026-11-05 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Geometry and Mathematical Physics Seminar
Speaker: Ron Donagi, University of Pennsylvania

Colloquium
2026-11-02 16:30 - 17:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Colloquium
Speaker: Ivan Corwin (Columbia University)

CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture: Peng Shan, Tsinghua University
2026-10-29 09:00 - 10:30 | CMSA Room G10, CMSA, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
CMSA/Tsinghua Math-Science Literature Lecture
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 am ET
Location: online via Zoom Webinar

Please register to attend
Zoom Webinar registration

Speaker: Peng Shan, Tsinghua University
Title TBA

Beginning in Spring 2020, the CMSA began hosting a lecture series on literature in the mathematical sciences, with a focus on significant developments in mathematics that have influenced the discipline, and the lifetime accomplishments of significant scholars.
