Thursday Colloquium

THURSDAYS 3:00 pm to 3:50 pm* in MS 6627/Zoom

The UCLA Mathematics Colloquium, also known as the Thursday Colloquium, is a weekly meeting featuring invited talks on diverse subjects of mathematics. The colloquium takes place usually Thursdays at 3pm and sometimes Thursdays at 4:15pm. Talks last usually around 50 minutes and are followed by questions and discussion. Many of the colloquium sessions are broadcasted live via zoom and recorded for posterity. Faculty, students, and all mathematics enthusiasts are welcome to participate in the colloquium and submit nominations of possible speakers. If you are not part of UCLA, you are still welcome to sign up to the mailing list and join the zoom sessions by following the link below. 

Previous recordings can be found below. 

The UCLA Mathematics Colloquium is supported in part by the Larry M. Weiner Mathematics Fund.

*Time subject to change based on speaker schedule or if multiple speakers are scheduled.

Weekly Calendar
Zoom Link
Ask to Join Mailing List

Upcoming Talks

Thursday, April 16th, 2026

Speaker: Mustafa Hajij (University of San Francisco)

Title: TBA

Abstract. TBA

 
Thursday, May 14th, 2026 – 3:00 to 3:50 pm PST (in conjunction with the Distinguished Lecture Series)

Speaker: Rachel Kuske (Princeton)

Title: Computer-assisted global analysis of energy transfer in vibro-impact configurations

Abstract.We discuss a novel return map approach for studying the global dynamics developed in the context of a vibro-impact (VI) pair, that is, a ball moving in a harmonically forced capsule. Results are relevant for recent designs of VI-based energy harvesters and nonlinear energy transfer, and hold promise for other non-smooth systems. Computationally efficient short-time realizations are based on “words” that represent key impact sequences and divide the state space according to different dynamics. The word-based maps define surfaces whose characteristics indicate both transients and potential attractors. These perspectives complement the bifurcation structure of the full system and inspire auxiliary maps based on the extreme bounds of the maps, yielding global dynamics of energetically favorable states. Beyond the individual impact pair, we show how the framework is valuable in higher dimensional configurations for shaping the energy transfer, including billiard-type designs, networks of VI-pairs, and multi-cavity VI pairs. In these systems the diagnostics from combined returns maps greatly reduce the number of parameters and states of interest. Computational efficiencies follow from maps generated by short sequences of the dynamics, in contrast to traditional dynamical quantities obtained from long-time simulations.

Thursday, May 14th, 2026 – 4:00 to 4:50 pm PST

Speaker: Hrushikesh Mhaskar (Claremont Graduate University)

Title: TBA

Abstract. TBA

Past Colloquiums