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SUMMARY:IC Colloquium : Structure and Geometry of Randomness
DTSTART:20130225T161500
DTEND:20130225T173000
DTSTAMP:20260509T054222Z
UID:c4f572841b8fd82cef9db7c94e09247a61a26856a1efb0e3ca7c17ba
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Raghu Meka\, Institute for Advanced Study\, Princeton and DIMA
 CS\, Rutgers University\nIC faculty candidate\nAbstract\nThe use of random
 ness is fundamental in algorithms and complexity theory. However\, in spit
 e of the prevalence of randomized algorithms\, it is still unknown if rand
 omness is essential for the design of efficient algorithms. This is one of
  the foremost open problems in computer science. In this talk I will expla
 in new approaches to various important cases of the problem that are motiv
 ated by classical results in probability such as the central limit theorem
 .\nAs an example of this approach I will describe a central limit theorem 
 for polytopes and how it relates to problems in pseudo-randomness and lear
 ning theory\, emphasizing the deep connections between these seemingly dis
 parate areas.Biography\nRaghu Meka is currently a postdoctoral fellow at t
 he Institute for Advanced Study\, Princeton and DIMACS\, Rutgers. He recei
 ved his PhD from the department of computer science at the University of T
 exas at Austin in 2011. He is a recipient of the Bert Kay best dissertatio
 n award\, the Dean's Excellence award and an MCD fellowship at UT Austin. 
 Prior to joining UT Austin\, he completed his B.Tech in computer science f
 rom Indian Institute of Technology\, Chennai\, India. His main interests a
 re in complexity theory\, pseudo-randomness\, algorithm design\, learning 
 theory and data mining.
LOCATION:BC 420 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==BC%20420
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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