# Queen's University - Department of Mathematics and Statistics

 Wednesday, November 22 Number Theory Seminar Time: 1:30 p.m. Place: Jeffery 319 Speaker: Jung-Jo Lee Title: Cyclotomic units, values of the Riemann zeta function and p-adic measures Abstract Attached Wednesday, November 22 Special Colloquium Time: 3:30 p.m. Place: Jeffery 234 Speaker: Jenny Wilson Title: Stability in ordered configuration spaces Abstract Attached Thursday, November 23 Statistics Seminar Time: 2:30 p.m. Place: Jeffery 234 Speaker: Mike Dowd, Dalhousie University Title: Data Assimilation for Ocean Biology Abstract Attached Thursday, November 23 Seminar in Free Probability and Random Matrices Time: 4:00 p.m. Place: Jeffery 222 Speaker: Pei-Lun Tseng, Queen’s University Title: Infinitesimal Laws of non-commutative random variables Abstract Attached Friday, November 24 Ph.D. Thesis Defense Time: 10:00 a.m. Place: Jeffery 521 Ph.D. Student: Aaron Springford Title: Spectral analysis of time series with latent and irregular times Supervisors: D. Thomson and G. Takahara Friday, November 24 Department Colloquium Time: 2:30 p.m. Place: Jeffery 234 Speaker: Jeffery Rosenthal, University of Toronto Title: Adaptive MCMC for Everyone Abstract Attached Tuesday, November 28 Biostatistics Seminar Time: 1:00 p.m. Place: Bracken 124 (Health Sciences Library) Speaker: Debaraj Sen, Concordia University Title: Inference concerning intraclass correlation for binary responses Abstract Attached

Items for the Info Sheet should reach Anne ( burnsa@queensu.ca) by noon on Monday. The Info Sheet is published every Tuesday.

Wednesday, November 22, 1:30 p.m. Jeffery 319 - Number Theory Seminar

Speaker: Jung-Jo Lee

Title: Cyclotomic units, values of the Riemann zeta function and p-adic measures

Abstract: I would explain the connection between the cyclotomic units and the values of complex Riemann zeta function via higher logarithmic derivative maps. We can use Mahler transform to construct a p-adic zeta function.

Note: I consider a series of talks, each "hopefully" self-contained.

Talk 2 : Euler system of cyclotomic units and Iwasawa's main conjecture

Talk 3 : Euler system of Heegner points and Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture

Wednesday, November 22, 3:30 p.m. Jeffery 234 - Special Colloquium

Speaker: Jenny Wilson

Title: Stability in ordered configuration spaces

Abstract: The ordered configuration space $F_k(M)$ of a manifold M is the space of ordered k-tuples of distinct points in M. For a fixed manifold M, as k increases, we might expect the topology of these configuration spaces to become increasingly complicated. Church and others showed, however, that when M is connected and open, there is a representation-theoretic sense in which these spaces stabilize. In this talk, I will explain these stability patterns, and describe higher-order stability phenomena established in recent work joint with Jeremy Miller. This project was inspired by work-in-progress of Galatius--Kupers--Randal-Williams.

Thursday, November 23, 2:30 p.m. Jeffery 234 - Statistics Seminar

Speaker: Michael Dowd

Title: Data Assimilation for Ocean Biology

Abstract: New marine observation technologies and dynamical models are improving our understanding of the ocean. A major challenge is identifying and developing statistical approaches that can efficiently and effectively combine the large-scale, nonlinear, spatio-temporocean models (that encapsulate our mechanistic understanding of the system) with the wide variety of available data types (e.g. time series, spatial imagery, time-space transects). This problem is termed data assimilation in the ocean and atmospheric sciences. In this talk, I explore the data assimilation in the context of ocean biology. My focus is mainly on lower trophic levels (the planktonic ecosystem or marine biogeochemistry), but I will also discuss some work with higher trophic levels (fisheries and marine mammals). I argue that Bayesian approaches and state space models provide a unifying framework for state and parameter estimation for such systems, including the treatment of model identification and sampling design. Challenges and potential new statistical directions are emphasized.

Thursday, November 23, 4:00 p.m. Jeffery 222

Seminar in Free Probability and Random Matrices

Speaker: Pei-Lun Tseng

Title: Infinitesimal Laws of non-commutative random variables

Abstract: In this talk, we will start from an infinitesimal non-commutative probability space, and define the freeness, and additive convolution for infinitesimal laws. Then, we will also establish the relation among type A free convolution, type B free convolution, and infinitesimal free convolution.

Seminar website: http://www.mast.queensu.ca/~mingo/seminar/

Friday, November 24, 2:30 p.m. Jeffery 234 - Department Colloquium

Speaker: Jeffery Rosenthal

Abstract: Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms, such as the Metropolis Algorithm and the Gibbs Sampler, are an extremely useful and popular method of approximately sampling from complicated probability distributions. Adaptive MCMC attempts to automatically modify the algorithm while it runs, to improve its performance on the fly. However, such adaptation often destroys the ergodicity properties necessary for the algorithm to be valid. In this talk, we first illustrate MCMC algorithms using simple graphical Java applets. We then discuss adaptive MCMC, and present examples

and theorems concerning its ergodicity and efficiency. We close with some recent ideas which make adaptive MCMC more widely applicable in broader contexts.

Tuesday, November 28, 1:00 p.m. Bracken 124 (Health Sciences Library) - Biostatistics Seminar

Speaker: Debaraj Sen

Title: Inference concerning intraclass correlation for binary responses

Abstract: In the analysis of several treatment groups for binary outcome data, it is often interesting to determine if the treatments may have stabilizing effects. This inference problem can be done based on the confidence interval for a common intraclass correlation coefficient, and in many applications of epidemiological studies it is preferable by practitioners. Inference procedures concerning the intraclass correlation have been well developed for single-sample problems; little attention has been paid to extend these inference procedures for multiple-sample problems. In this talk, we focus on constructing the confidence interval procedures for a common intraclass correlation coefficient of several treatment groups. We compare different approaches with a large sample procedure in terms of coverage and expected length through a simulation study. An application to a solar protection study is used to illustrate the proposed methods.

### Contact Info

 Department of Math & Stats Jeffery Hall, 48 University Ave. Kingston, ON Canada, K7L 3N6 Phone: (613) 533-2390 Fax: (613) 533-2964 mathstat@mast.queensu.ca Office Hours: 8:30am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-4:30pm