Student Probability Seminar

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Asymptotic Problems in Probability and Geometry

Speaker: Aukosh Jagannath

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 1314

Date: Thursday, April 4, 2013, 3:30 p.m.

Synopsis:

In this talk, I'll discuss basic asymptotic questions in probability and geometry. The general theme will be to understand better the maxim of concentration of measure: "a function of many random variables that is not too wild is almost constant". Rather than presenting measure concentration as "general abstract machine", I will try to focus on simple examples that shed light on some of the more bizarre consequences of measure concentration. Some highlights: an elementary proof of gaussian concentration, a simple demonstration of spherical concentration, an application of poincare's limit to Tomaszewski's conjecture, and a proof that one can take polynomially many points on the sphere that are all mutually, uniformly nearly orthogonal. This talk will only require undergraduate probability.