Duke Physics Colloquium: Some tricks from theoretical physics to solve some computer problems

"Some tricks from theoretical physics to solve some computer problems" - The study of disordered system in statistical mechanics has stimulated a large amount of theoretical activity. While spin glass materials are still not fully understood, their theoretical analysis has spawned powerful techniques and a rich conceptual framework. In this talk, I will briefly review some of our results in applied mathematics and computer science for problems as diverse as random graph coloring, quantum annealings, error correction. I will also describe how to do machine learning with lasers. Faculty hosts: Steffen Bass and Jonathan Mattingly Refreshments will be available before the event in room 130.