Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

A graph G is k-crossing-critical if it cannot be drawn in plane with fewer than k crossings, but every proper subgraph of G has such a drawing. We aim to describe the structure of crossing-critical graphs. In this talk, we review some of their known properties and combine them to obtain new information regarding e.g. large faces in the optimal drawings of crossing-critical graphs. Based on joint work with P. Hlineny and L. Postle.

Systems biology aims to explain how a biological system functions by investigating the interactions of its individual components from a systems perspective. Modeling is a vital tool as it helps to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of the system. My research is on methods for inference and analysis of polynomial dynamical systems (PDS). This is motivated by the fact that many discrete model types, e.g., Boolean networks or agent-based models, can be translated into the framework of PDS, that is, time- and state-discrete dynamical systems over a finite field where the transition function for each variable is given as a polynomial. This allows for using a range of theoretical and computational tools from computer algebra, which results in a powerful computational engine for model construction, parameter estimation, and analysis methods such as steady state behavior and optimal control. For model inference problems, the algebraic structure of PDS allows for efficient restriction of the model space to canalyzing functions, resulting in a subset of Boolean networks with "nice" biological properties.

Sharp trace inequalities play a major role in the world of Mathematics. Not only do they give a connection between 'boundary values' of the trace and 'interior values' of the function, but also the truest form of it, many times with a complete classification of when equality is attained. The result presented here, motivated by such inequality proved by Jose' Escobar, is a new trace inequality, connecting between the fractional laplacian of a function and its restriction to the intersection of the hyperplanes x_(n)=0, x_(n-1)=0, ..., x_(n-j+1)=0 where 1<=j<=n. We will show that the inequality is sharp and discussed the natural space for it, along with the functions who attain equality in it. The above result is based on a joint work with Prof. Michael Loss.