Fall 2013 Seminar Series

DATE:10/24/2013
LOCATION: E25-111
TIME: 4:15pm
Reception immediately following

SPEAKER:
Gunnar Carlsson

TITLE
The Shape of Data

ABSTRACT
Understanding and analyzing large quantities of complex data is a fundamental problems facing all parts of the sciences, as well as policymakers and the commercial sector. One method for approaching this problem is via the use of the "shape" of the data as encoded in a distance function, which is in turn derived from measures of similarity of data points. Topology, the part of mathematics which studies shape, is therefore a natural sources for methods for this kind of analysis. We will talk about directions of application, and discuss examples.