Upcoming MAMS Seminar Series
Fall 2026
Fall 2026
Spring 2026
Fall 2026
9/8/2026, Mon. 2:30-3:30 pm in White 324
Speaker: Runhan Wang (CWRU)
Title: Introduction to group cohomology
Abstract:Group cohomology provides a natural way to study group actions through homological algebra, and it appears throughout algebra and homotopy theory. In this talk, I will introduce group cohomology and its interpretation as an Ext group, with an emphasis on how these groups can be computed using projective resolutions and extensions. I will then explain how group cohomology arises naturally in the homotopy fixed point spectral sequence. As concrete examples, I will compute the mod-2 cohomology of C_2 and, more generally, of elementary abelian 2-groups (C_2)^n.
Fall 2026
Speaker: Quinnlan Aiken (CWRU)
Title: Immersed Boundary Simulation of Fast-Firing Extrusomes
Abstract: Fast-firing extrusomes are specialized organelles that rapidly discharge their contents upon receiving an appropriate stimulus. Among these, we consider the nematocyst, the stinging organelle of jellyfish. Nematocysts present a compelling subject for computational biofluid modeling due to the extreme discharge velocities occurring at micro-length scales. In this talk, we present a fluid-structure interaction model of nematocyst discharge using the Immersed Boundary Method, implemented via the open-source, HPC-optimized IBAMR software suite. We discuss the physical motivation for modeling these dynamics within a non-Newtonian fluid and outline ongoing and future research directions in high-speed extrusome simulation.
9/4/2026, Fri. 3:30 pm in KHS 119
Speaker: Brandon Oliva (CWRU)
Title: Illumination bodies for ball-convex bodies
Abstract: We introduce illumination bodies and weighted illumination bodies in the class of n-dimensional R-ball convex bodies. These bodies may be regarded as dual counterparts of the recently introduced R-ball floating bodies. We prove that the illumination bodies are convex. We also show that a left derivative of volume gives rise to a surface area measure for ball-convex bodies, the relative surface area measure. In dimension 2, we establish an isoperimetric inequality for this relative surface area.