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Caltech
Merkin Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics

Events

AIM - IPAM workshop "Categorification of Verma modules and surgery formulae at generic q"

  • December 7-11, 2026
  • Organizers: Sergei Gukov (Caltech), Raphaël Rouquier (UCLA)

Satellite event of the IPAM Program: Quantum topology, character varieties and low-dimensional geometry, September 23 - December 18, 2026.

Supported by the Simons Collaboration New Structures in Low-dimensional Topology.

ICM Satellite Conference on Synergies in Combinatorics and Theoretical Computer Science

  • August 3-7, 2026
  • Organizers: David Conlon (Caltech), Huy Tuan Pham (Caltech)

The interface between combinatorics and theoretical computer science has been at the forefront of numerous cornerstone developments in both areas since the early days. Developments at this interface have made a long-lasting impression on both fields, including the influential structure versus randomness paradigm, Boolean function analysis and hypercontractivity. Such developments have also expanded to other areas, such as probability theory, number theory, model theory, statistics and machine learning. This workshop aims to bring together top experts across theoretical computer science and combinatorics to reflect on the exciting current directions and developments, with a broad outlook to how the connection can be tightened to pave the way for future breakthroughs.

AIM Summer Math Fair

Join us at our summer AIM math fair at Caltech! We'll have exciting games, fun puzzles, and other mathematical delights for all ages, along with giveaways, raffle prizes, and delicious treats to enjoy.

New structures in low-dimensional topology

This workshop aims to introduce graduate students and postdocs to the foundational mathematics which underlies these core areas, and to provide entry points into the leading edge of research. We will have a number of lecture series given by junior faculty which are meant, specifically, to bride the gaps between the varied areas of research which we individually specialize in. We also aim to provide participants with an opportunity to develop new mathematical connections, or return to pre-existing ones, in the hopes of sparking long-lasting collaborations in low-dimensional topology.

Supported by the Simons Collaboration New Structures in Low-dimensional Topology.

AIM Public Lecture Series: Terence Tao

Spectral Theory and Mathematical Physics
A conference in honor of Barry Simon's 80th birthday (postponed)

  • Organizers: Jonathan Breuer (Hebrew University), David Damanik (Rice University), Fritz Gesztesy (Baylor University), Svetlana Jitomirskaya (UC Berkeley), Alexander Kiselev (Duke University), Milivoje Lukić (Rice University)

This conference will bring together leading international researchers in spectral theory and mathematical physics to discuss modern developments in the field. It will also be an opportunity to honor Barry Simon and his vast research contributions.

Workshop: Mathematical Generative Linguistics and Neurocomputational Aspects, Part 2

  • March 14-15, 2026
  • Organizers: Matilde Marcolli (math & CMS, Caltech), Robert C. Berwick (CS, MIT), Jeff Heinz (linguistics, Stony Brook), Richard Larson (linguistics, Stony Brook)

The workshop focuses on mathematical models of generative linguistics and the question of their implementability in neurocomputational models. The workshop will center on a few presentations and informal discussions between mathematicians, linguists, and neuroscientists.
The workshop is funded by generous support from Caltech's T&C Chen Center for Systems Neuroscience and by the Merkin Center.
The workshop will be open to members of the Caltech community who wish to attend (please contact the local organizer, Matilde Marcolli if you would like to participate).

Workshop: Mathematical Generative Linguistics and Neurocomputational Aspects, Part 1

  • February 21-22, 2026
  • Organizers: Matilde Marcolli (math & CMS, Caltech), Robert C. Berwick (CS, MIT), Jeff Heinz (linguistics, Stony Brook), Richard Larson (linguistics, Stony Brook)

The workshop focuses on mathematical models of generative linguistics and the question of their implementability in neurocomputational models. The workshop will center on a few presentations and informal discussions between mathematicians and linguists.
The workshop is funded by generous support from Caltech's T&C Chen Center for Systems Neuroscience and by the Merkin Center.
The workshop will be open to members of the Caltech community who wish to attend (please contact the local organizer, Matilde Marcolli if you would like to participate).

Mini-workshop: False-Mock Duality in Quantum Topology

  • November 15, 2025: Miranda Cheng (University of Amsterdam and Academia Sinica), Sunghyuk Park (Harvard University)
  • Organizer: Davide Passaro (Caltech)

Supported by the Simons Collaboration New Structures in Low-dimensional Topology.

AIM Public Lecture Series
Vignettes from the Birth of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy by Kip Thorne

Kip Thorne will present a series of vignettes that illuminate various aspects of the birth of gravitational-wave astronomy, from seminal ideas in the 1960s, through LIGO's first observation of gravitational waves in 2015, and onward to LIGO today observing several black hole collisions each week, thanks in part to first-generation Quantum Precision Measurement Technology.

AIM - Merkin Center Workshop on Metric Embeddings

  • July 7-11, 2025

This workshop, sponsored by AIM, the NSF, and the Merkin Center at Caltech, will be devoted to the theory of metric embeddings and its interactions with geometry, analysis, probability, combinatorics, group theory, topology, and theoretical computer science. It will provide the opportunity for researchers to learn about major recent advances in this area. Another goal of the conference is to revive Matoušek's influential list of "Open Problems on Embeddings of Finite Metric Spaces" (https://kam.mff.cuni.cz/~matousek/metrop.ps), by updating it to reflect progress on existing problems, and adding to it a list of new questions and challenges.

AIM Summer Math Fair

Join us at our summer AIM math fair at Caltech! We'll have exciting games, fun puzzles, and other mathematical delights for all ages, along with giveaways, raffle prizes, and delicious treats to enjoy.

Mathematical Models of Generative Linguistics

This is not a traditional conference with scheduled talks. Rather, it is primarily a discussion-based gathering, with only a few short presentations designed to spark conversation on key topics. Bring your questions and any related ideas you'd like to explore.

Piano: An All-Woman Show

  • February 28, 2025, at 8 p.m.

In person: Dabney Lounge

This evening of music and stories, co-sponsored by Caltech Performing & Visual Arts and the Richard N. Merkin Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics, celebrates women composers for the piano over a 250-year period. You'll get to know Élisabeth Claude Jacquet de La Guerre, a musician in the court of Louis XIV of France; Marianna Martines, a favorite duet partner of Mozart's; Florence Price, the first African-American woman to gain widespread recognition as a composer; and other composers representing a variety of time periods, from when Bach was two years old to the early 20th century. Like women today, these composers struggled with sexism, with imposter syndrome, with being mothers who were also artists, and with gaining professional recognition. Most of them wondered if they were really amateurs underneath it all. Yet they composed anyway. Prepare to be inspired!

An audience favorite and quarter-finalist at the 2016 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, pianist and storyteller Brianna Conrey has appeared recently at Freight & Salvage (Berkeley), Santa Clara University, KMFA Austin's Draylen Mason Music Studio, and on the radio program "Women Hold Up Half the Sky." This performance features a duet with Caltech Visiting Artist and award-winning flutist Dr. Hyesung Park.

FREE and open to the public. RSVPs strongly encouraged.

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