[CSDM] "popular" talks Fri Feb 7 & Wed Feb 12

[Avi Wigderson]

Hi,

I was asked to give lectures here in non non-CSDM forums.
Here is the info. The first will have mainly open questions regarding 
explicit constructions of pseudorandom objects. The second is really 
popular on the complexity of games.

Best, Avi

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Friday Feb 7, 11-12, Simonyi Hall
Random Matrix Seminar

In search of explicit matrices that behave like random ones
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Avi Wigderson, IAS

I will describe several properties (structural and/or computational) 
which are satisfied by random matrices almost surely, but for which we 
have no concrete examples of such matrices. My hope is that the audience 
will be intrigued and interested in generating such examples.

http://www.math.ias.edu/seminars/abstract?event=47903

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Wednesday February 12th, 6:00pm - 7:00pm, Dilworth room
Math Conversations

Games, strategies, and computational complexity
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Avi Wigderson, IAS

The following questions are quite intimately related. Please consider 
them before the talk. Some have surprising answers which are highly 
nontrivial theorems in computational complexity.

-Do you find Tic-Tac-Toe an interesting game? Why?
-Do you find Chess & Go interesting? Why?
-Is random play (choosing at random from all possible legal moves) a 
useful strategy in any interesting game? Can it be optimal?

Now assume that White has a winning strategy in Chess, and that you know it.

-Would you still enjoy playing?
-Do you think it is possible to convince a skeptic, beyond a reasonable 
doubt (and in reasonable time), that you indeed possess such a strategy?

About Mathematical Conversations: We meet in Harry's Bar at 6pm, where 
free drinks are provided. After 20 minutes, we move to the Dilworth 
room, where the speaker gives a 20-minute talk, followed by 15 minutes 
of discussion with the audience. After that we return to the bar for 
further discussions.

Website: http://www.math.ias.edu/~nicks/conversations.html

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