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Colloquia & Special Events
Weekly Colloquia 2003 - 2004
Call the Math/Stat
office at 202-885-3120 to confirm time, location and other details.
Colloquia are normally on Tuesdays at 3:35 PM in Gray Hall's
Bentley Lounge; talks on other days are scheduled on a case-by-case
basis.
| Date
|
Title
and Speaker |
| |
April
2004 |
| 4/20/04 |
Shapley/Owen
Analysis of the Power of States in the Electoral College
Jason Richwine, American University
Abstract: The paper ranks the power of individual states
by creating a model that generates reasonable orderings
of states (from most Democratic to least Democratic) in
hypothetical elections. While California remains the most
powerful state, a number of smaller states such as Wisconsin
and Minnesota have emerged as pivotal players since 1980.
Jason Richwine is an undergraduate student at AU double
majoring in Math and Political Science. He was awarded a
CAS Research Award for this project. |
| |
March
2004 |
| 3/30/04 |
Comparison
of Estimators in Linear Regression Models with Auto-Correlated
Disturbances: When is OLS Efficient?
Samir Safi, American University
Abstract: It is well known that the ordinary least squares
(OLS) estimates in the regression model are efficient when
the errors have mean zero, constant variance and are uncorrelated.
In problems concerning time series, it is often the case
that the errors are, in fact, correlated. It is known that
OLS may not be optimal in this context. We have derived
the relative efficiency of the generalized least squares
(GLS) estimator to that of OLS estimator for linear and
quadratic design vectors. We proved that the relative efficiency
of the variance of GLS to that of OLS is invariant to scaling
and shifting of the design vectors. Additionally, using
computer simulations, we consider the robustness of various
estimators, including estimated generalized least squares.
We found that if the error structure is autoregressive,
and the dependent variable is nonstochastic and linear or
quadratic, the OLS performs nearly as well as its competitors.
For other forms of the dependent variable, we have developed
rules of thumb to guide practitioners in their choice of
estimators |
| 3/23/04 |
Stability
of Hybrid Dynamic Systems Modulated by Singularly Perturbed
Markov Chains
Grazyna Badowski
Abstract: This work is concerned with stability of hybrid
dynamic systems involving singularly perturbed Markov processes.
Due to the singular perturbation and the complexity of the
system, the stability analysis is difficult. Using the limit
dynamic systems of the singularly perturbed processes and
perturbed Liapunov function methods, the asymptotic behavior
of the dynamic systems are examined. It is shown that if
the limit systems are stable, then the original systems
are also stable. |
| 3/2/04 |
Special
values of Zeta Functions
Niranjan Ramachandran, University of Maryland College Park
This is an expository talk on what these functions are,
and what is known and conjectured about their special values.
|
| |
January
2004 |
| 1/27/04 |
Geometric structures on surfaces and the fundamental group
William Goldman, University of Maryland |
| |
December
2003 |
| 12/02/03 |
The History of Algebra and Its Application to Teaching
Victor Katz, University of the District of Columbia |
| |
November
2003 |
| 11/18/03 |
Simple Models of Card Shuffling
Robert Jernigan, American University
This talk will be accessible to undergraduate
students. Free pizza and refreshments after the talk! |
| |
October
2003 |
| 10/28/03 |
The
Arithmetic-Geometric Mean, Complete Elliptic Integrals and
the Pendulum
Michael Pearson, MAA |
| 10/21/03 |
Stable
distributions, experimental mathematics, and reversing the
triangle inequality
John Nolan, American University |
| |
September
2003 |
| 9/23/03 |
Where
topology, geometry, and dynamical systems meet
Richard Brown, American University |
| 9/16/03 |
Ordinal
Data Inference
Gideon Samid President & CEO, ClearBIT Systems: A Division
of AGS Encryptions Ltd. |
Past Colloquium Schedules
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