Ingrid Daubechies Colloquium and Public Lecture

Event date: Monday, September 14, 2020

Prof. Daubechies

Department of Mathematics is very happy to welcome Ingrid Daubechies for a virtual visit on Monday, September 14 and Tuesday, September 15. Here is the information about the events (all times in EDT; password is the speaker’s first name in lowercase):

Colloquium lecture. Discovering low-dimensional structure in high-dimensional data sets.

This talk reviews diffusion methods to identify low-dimensional manifolds underlying high-dimensional datasets, and illustrates that by pinpointing additional mathematical structure, improved results can be obtained. Much of the talk draws on a case study from a collaboration with biological morphologists, who compare different phenotypical structures to study relationships of living or extinct animals with their surroundings and each other. This is typically done from carefully defined anatomical correspondence points (landmarks) on e.g. bones; such landmarking draws on highly specialized knowledge. To make possible more extensive use of large (and growing) databases, algorithms are required for automatic morphological correspondence maps, without any preliminary marking of special features or landmarks by the user.

Public lecture. Mathematicians Helping Art Historians and Art Conservators

Mathematics can help Art Historians and Art Conservators in studying and understanding art works, their manufacture process and their state of conservation. The presentation will review several instances of such collaborations, explaining the role of mathematics in each instance, and illustrating the approach with extensive documentation of the art works.

Short Bio

Ingrid Daubechies is the James Duke Professor of Mathematics and Computer Engineering at Duke University. She is well known for her work with wavelets in image compression. Daubechies is recognized for her study of the mathematical methods that enhance image-compression technology. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her research accomplishments have garnered her a MacArthur Fellowship, NAS Mathematics Prize, Steele Prize, Nemmers Prize, to name a few. She is a strong supporter of women in science, and a leading figure in the mathematics community. For example, she was the International Mathematical Union President (2011-2014), and currently serves on the NAS US National Committee for Mathematics.

Last updated: Monday, September 7, 2020