Collins Conference Room
Seminar
US Mountain Time
Our campus is closed to the public for this event.
Seth Marvel (Center for Applied Mathematics, Cornell University)
Abstract: In this informal talk, I will look at three social phenomena that can be idealized into interesting mathematical processes — the development of two-sided conflicts, interactions between conformists and contrarians, and pair formation between individuals seeking mates. Structural balance theory, coupled oscillators, and random greedy matching (respectively) offer models that can help us understand these better from a mathematical perspective.