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Workshop

Phase Transitions in Computation and Reconstruction March 07, 2005 - March 11, 2005
Registration Deadline: March 11, 2005 about 18 years ago
To apply for Funding you must register by: December 07, 2004 over 18 years ago
Parent Program:
Organizers Dimitris Achlioptas, Elchanan Mossel, Yuval Peres
Speaker(s)

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Description
Phase transition is qualitative change in a system due to a small quantitative change of a parameter. Outside physics, such transitions have been empirically observed in diverse areas such as computational complexity, congestion phenomena and optimization. The topics of this workshop include phase transitions in connection to random graphs, boolean functions, satisfiability problems, coding, reconstruction on trees and spinglasses. Special focus will be given to the study of the interplay between the replica method, local weak convergence and algorithmic aspects of reconstruction. A .pdf file is available with a list of speaker names and the title of their lecture. Tentative Workshop Schedule All sessions will be held in the Second Floor lecture Hall Mon. March 7 9:45 Welcome 10-10:50 1. Yuval Peres (Berkeley): Phase Transitions in Reconstruction 11-11:30 coffee 11:30-11:50 2. Jennifer Chayes (Microsoft):Prehistoric Spin Glasses 12:00-12:20 3. James Martin (Jussieu & MSRI):Reconstruction on regular trees and the hard-core model 12:30-14:00 Lunch 14:00-14:20 4. Alistair Sinclair (Berkeley):Reconstruction problems on trees: a simple criterion for impossibility 14:30-14:50 5. Svante Janson: Robust Reconstruction on trees 15:00-16:00 Break 16:00-16:50 6. Friedgut (Evans-MSRI) talk:Hunting for Sharp Thresholds Tue. March 8 9:30-9:50 7. Elchanan Mossel (Berkeley): Phase transition in Phylogeny 10:00-10:20 8. David Levin (Utah & MSRI):Phase transition in reconstructing bias of bit sequences 10:30-11:00 Coffee 11:00-11:20 9. Mike Molloy (Toronto):Sharp thresholds for random constraint satisfaction problems 11:30-11:50 10. Ryan O'Donnell (Microsoft):Correlation Distillation On Trees 12:00-14:00 Lunch 14:00-14:20 11. Krzysztof Oleszkiewicz (Warsaw):An invariance principle, with some applications to Boolean functions 14:30-14:50 12. Sourav Chatterjee (Stanford):Universality results: A general approach 15:00-15:30 Coffee 15:30-15:50 13. Christian Borgs (Microsoft):Proof of the local REM-conjecture for number partitioning 16:00-16:40 14. B\'ela Bollob\'as (Memphis): Random Voronoi Percolation in the Plane Wed. March 9 9:30-10:20 15. Riccardo Zecchina (ICTP):TBA 10:30-11:00 Coffee 11:00-11:20 16. Elitza Maneva (Berkeley):An alternative view of Survey Propagation for satisfiability 11:30-11:50 17. Balaji Prabhakar (Stanford):The asymptotic behavior of minimal matchings in the random assignment problem 12:00-12:20 18. Devavrat Shah (MSRI & MIT):Belief Propagation for finding Max Weight Matching Thu. March 10 9:30-10:20 19. David Aldous (Berkeley):Local weak convergence and the cavity method 10:30-11:00 Coffee 11:00-11:20 20. David Gamarnik (IBM):Applications of the local weak convergence method to random graph problems 11:30-11:50 21. Greg Sorkin (IBM):A linear-expected-time algorithm for Max Cut on sparse random graphs 12:00-14:00 Lunch 14:00-14:20 22. Rick Kenyon (UBC):Simple random surfaces 14:30-14:50 23. Robin Pemantle (UPENN):The best path in a tree is hard to find 15:00-15:30 Coffee 15:30-15:50 24. Van Vu (UCSD):(Sharp) thresholds for random regular graphs Fri. March 11 9:30-10:20 25. Marc Mezard (Paris Sud and MSRI): Hard constraints on random graphs: from lattice glasses to matching problems 10:30-11:00 Coffee 11:00-11:20 26. Dimitris Achlioptas:Random formulas have frozen variables 11:30-11:50 27. Andrea Montanari (Paris Sud and MSRI):Phase Transitions in Iterative Coding Systems 12:00-14:00 Lunch 14:00-14:20 28. Vladas Sidoravicius (IMPA & MSRI):TBA 14:30-14:50 30. David Revelle (Berkeley):Mixing times for random walks on finite lamplighter groups 15:00-15:30 Coffee 15:30-15:50 31. Roman Kotecky (Charles University and Microsoft):Phase coexistence and collapse of supersaturation Lodging: Rooms for this workshop are being held at the Rose Garden Inn at the special rate of $99/night, plus tax. To make reservations, please send an e-mail to: rosegardengm@aol.com. The cut-off date for reservations is Feb. 6! For alternative, short-term accommodations, click here.
Keywords and Mathematics Subject Classification (MSC)
Primary Mathematics Subject Classification No Primary AMS MSC
Secondary Mathematics Subject Classification No Secondary AMS MSC
Funding & Logistics Show All Collapse

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To apply for funding, you must register by the funding application deadline displayed above.

Students, recent Ph.D.'s, women, and members of underrepresented minorities are particularly encouraged to apply. Funding awards are typically made 6 weeks before the workshop begins. Requests received after the funding deadline are considered only if additional funds become available.

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MSRI does not hire an outside company to make hotel reservations for our workshop participants, or share the names and email addresses of our participants with an outside party. If you are contacted by a business that claims to represent MSRI and offers to book a hotel room for you, it is likely a scam. Please do not accept their services.

MSRI has preferred rates at the Hotel Shattuck Plaza, depending on room availability. Guests can call the hotel's main line at 510-845-7300 and ask for the MSRI- Mathematical Science Research Institute discount. To book online visit this page (the MSRI rate will automatically be applied).

MSRI has preferred rates at the Graduate Berkeley, depending on room availability. Reservations may be made by calling 510-845-8981. When making reservations, guests must request the MSRI preferred rate. Enter in the Promo Code MSRI123 (this code is not case sensitive).

MSRI has preferred rates at the Berkeley Lab Guest House, depending on room availability. Reservations may be made by calling 510-495-8000 or directly on their website. Select "Affiliated with the Space Sciences Lab, Lawrence Hall of Science or MSRI." When prompted for your UC Contact/Host, please list Chris Marshall (coord@msri.org).

MSRI has a preferred rates at Easton Hall and Gibbs Hall, depending on room availability. Guests can call the Reservations line at 510-204-0732 and ask for the MSRI- Mathematical Science Research Inst. rate. To book online visit this page, select "Request a Reservation" choose the dates you would like to stay and enter the code MSRI (this code is not case sensitive).

Additional lodging options may be found on our short term housing page.

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Schedule, Notes/Handouts & Videos
Show Schedule, Notes/Handouts & Videos
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Mar 07, 2005
Monday
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM
  Phase Transitions in Reconstruction
Yuval Peres (Microsoft Research)
11:30 AM - 11:50 AM
  Prehistoric Spin Glasses
Jennifer Chayes (UC Berkeley)
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
  Robust Reconstruction on Trees
Svante Janson (Uppsala University)
02:00 PM - 02:20 PM
  Reconstruction on Regular Trees and the Hard-Core Model
James Martin (University of Oxford)
02:30 PM - 02:50 PM
  Phase Transition in Phylogeny
Elchanan Mossel (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
04:00 PM - 04:50 PM
  Hunting for Sharp Thresholds
Ehud Friedgut
Mar 08, 2005
Tuesday
09:30 AM - 09:50 AM
  Recontruction Problems on Trees: A Simple Criterion for Impossibility
Alistair Sinclair (University of California, Berkeley)
10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
  Phase Transition in Reconstructing Bias of Bit Sequences
David Levin (University of Maryland)
11:00 AM - 11:20 AM
  Sharp Thresholds for Random Constraint Satisfaction Problems
Mike Molloy
11:30 AM - 11:50 AM
  Correlation Distillation On Trees
Ryan O'Donnell (Carnegie Mellon University)
02:00 PM - 02:20 PM
  An Invariance Principle, with Some Applications to Boolean Functions
Krzysztof Oleszkiewicz
02:30 PM - 02:50 PM
  Universality results: A General Approach
Sourav Chatterjee (Stanford University)
03:30 PM - 03:50 PM
  Proof of the Local REM-Conjecture for Number Partitioning.
Christian Borgs (University of California, Berkeley)
04:00 PM - 04:40 PM
  Random Voronoi Percolation in the Plane
Mar 09, 2005
Wednesday
09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
  "1-RSB" Clustering and Algorithms for Random Constraint Satisfaction Problems
Riccardo Zecchina
11:00 AM - 11:20 AM
  An Alternative View of Survey Propagation for Satisfiability
Elitza Maneva
11:30 AM - 11:50 AM
  The Asymptotic Behavior of Minimal Matchings in the Random Assignment Problem
Balaji Prabhakar
12:00 PM - 12:20 PM
  Belief Propagation for finding Max Weight Matching
Mar 10, 2005
Thursday
09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
  Local Weak Convergence and the Cavity Method
David Aldous (University of California, Berkeley)
11:00 AM - 11:20 AM
  Applications of the Local Weak Convergence Method to Random Graph Problems
David Gamarnik
11:30 AM - 11:50 AM
  A Linear-Expected-Time Algorithm for Max Cut on Sparse Random Graphs
Gregory Sorkin
02:00 PM - 02:20 PM
  Simple Random Surfaces
Richard Kenyon (Brown University)
02:30 PM - 02:50 PM
  The Best Path in a Tree is Hard to Find
Robin Pemantle
03:30 PM - 03:50 PM
  Mixing Times for Random Walks on Finite Lamplighter
David Revelle
03:50 PM - 04:20 PM
  (Sharp) Thresholds for Random Regular Graphs
Van Vu
04:20 PM - 04:50 PM
  Novel Behavior in a Simple Cellular Automaton Model of Traffic
Raissa D'Souza
Mar 11, 2005
Friday
09:30 AM - 10:20 AM
  Hard Constraints on Random Graphs: From Lattice Glasses to Matching Problems
Marc Mezard
11:00 AM - 11:20 AM
  Random Formulas Have Frozen Variables
Dimitris Achlioptas (University of California, Santa Cruz)
11:30 AM - 11:50 AM
  Phase Transitions in Iterative Coding Systems
Andrea Montanari (Stanford University)
02:00 PM - 02:20 PM
  Phase Coexistence and Collapse of Supersaturation
Roman Kotecky (University of Warwick)
02:30 PM - 02:50 PM
  A Few Problems Related to Percolation of Binary Sequences
vladas sidoravicius