Past Public Lectures

Summer 2021

Breakthroughs — A Refined Laser Method and Faster Matrix Multiplication
Speaker: Virginia Vassilevska Williams (MIT)
Jun. 16, 2021

Spring 2021

Theoretically Speaking — A Panel Discussion on the Film Coded Bias
Speaker: Ashia Wilson (MIT, moderator) Panelists: Seny Kamara (Brown University Department of Computer Science and Aroki Systems), Shalini Kantayya (7th Empire Media and UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism), Sendhil Mullainathan (University of Chicago Booth School of Business), Omer Reingold (Stanford University Computer Science Department), and Patricia Williams (Northeastern University School of Law)
May 7, 2021
A New Theory of Adversarial Examples in Machine Learning
Speaker: Adi Shamir (Weizmann Institute)
May 6, 2021
Theoretically Speaking — Market Design through the Lens of Approximation
Speaker: Michal Feldman (Tel Aviv University)
Apr. 28, 2021
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — How Difficult Is It to Certify That a Random SAT Formula Is Unsatisfiable?
Speaker: Toniann Pitassi (University of Toronto)
Apr. 19, 2021
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Back to the Future: A Fresh Look at Linear Temporal Logic
Speaker: Javier Esparza (Technical University of Munich)
Mar. 31, 2021
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Trustworthy and Distributed Automated Reasoning
Speaker: Marijn Heule (Carnegie Mellon University)
Mar. 19, 2021
Embracing the Uncertainties
Speaker: Siobhan Roberts
Mar. 2, 2021
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Automated Formal Program Repair
Speaker: Orna Grumberg (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)
Feb. 25, 2021

Fall 2020

Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Reductionism in Reinforcement Learning
Speaker: Dale Schuurmans (Google Brain & University of Alberta)
Nov. 23, 2020
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Is Your Distribution in Shape?
Speaker: Ronitt Rubinfeld (MIT)
Nov. 9, 2020
Theoretically Speaking — The Ethical Algorithm
Speaker: Michael Kearns (University of Pennsylvania)
Oct. 14, 2020
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture – Safe Learning in Robotics
Speaker: Claire Tomlin (UC Berkeley)
Oct. 5, 2020
The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values
Speaker: Brian Christian (UC Berkeley)
Sep. 17, 2020
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Insights on Gradient-Based Algorithms in High-Dimensional Learning
Speaker: Lenka Zdeborová (EPFL)
Sep. 14, 2020
Hard Choices in Artificial Intelligence
Speaker: Thomas Gilbert (UC Berkeley)
Sep. 10, 2020

Summer 2020

Advances in Boolean Function Analysis — Pseudorandom Generators from Polarizing Random Walks
Speaker: Pooya Hatami (Ohio State University)
Aug. 18, 2020
Advances in Boolean Function Analysis — KKL via Random Restrictions
Speaker: Esty Kelman (Tel Aviv University)
Aug. 12, 2020
Advances in Boolean Function Analysis — Concentration Inequalities for Boolean Functions via Pathwise Stochastic Analysis
Speaker: Ronen Eldan (Weizmann Institute)
Aug. 5, 2020
Advances in Boolean Function Analysis — Improved Bounds for the Sunflower Lemma
Speaker: Shachar Lovett (UC San Diego)
Aug. 3, 2020
Theoretically Speaking — The Mathematical Essence of Aging
Speaker: Uri Alon (Weizmann Institute of Science)
Jul. 30, 2020
Advances in Boolean Function Analysis — Sensitivity Conjecture and Its Applications
Speaker: Hao Huang (Emory University) & Avishay Tal (UC Berkeley)
Jul. 22, 2020
Advances in Boolean Function Analysis — On the Fourier-Entropy Influence Conjecture
Speaker: Dor Minzer (Institute of Advanced Study)
Jul. 15, 2020
Theoretically Speaking — AI for Intelligent Financial Services
Speaker: Manuela Veloso (Head of J.P. Morgan AI Research, Carnegie Mellon University)
Jun. 22, 2020

Spring 2020

Theoretically Speaking — Computational and Statistical Tools to Control a Pandemic: A Panel Discussion
Speaker: Peter Bartlett (Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, moderator) Panelists: Klaske van Heusden (University of British Columbia), Madhav Marathe (University of Virginia), Ankur Moitra (MIT), Shai Shalev-Shwartz (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Anil Vullikanti (University of Virginia), and Bin Yu (UC Berkeley)
May 11, 2020
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — A Tale of Turing Machines, Quantum-Entangled Particles, and Operator Algebras
Speaker: Henry Yuen (University of Toronto)
Apr. 20, 2020
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Lattices, Post-Quantum Security and Homomorphic Encryption
Speaker: Daniele Micciancio (UC San Diego)
Apr. 6, 2020
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Lattices ∩ Quantum
Speaker: Zvika Brakerski (Weizmann Institute of Science) 
Mar. 16, 2020

Fall 2019

Theoretically Speaking — Artificial Stupidity: The New AI and the Future of Fintech
Speaker: Andrew W. Lo (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Dec. 3, 2019
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Average-Case Complexity through the Lens of Interactive Arguments
Speaker: Rafael Pass (Cornell University) 
Dec. 2, 2019
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Byzantine Fault Tolerance Meets Flexibility
Speaker: Dahlia Malkhi (Calibra) 
Nov. 4, 2019
Theoretically Speaking — Algorand's Forthcoming Blockchain Technology
Speaker: Silvio Micali (Founder of Algorand and faculty at MIT)
Oct. 30, 2019
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Secure Multiparty Computation
Speaker: Yuval Ishai (Technion Israel Institute of Technology) 
Oct. 14, 2019
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lecture — Algorithmic Opportunities in Matching Markets
Speaker: Vijay Vazirani (UC Irvine) 
Sep. 9, 2019
Richard M. Karp Distinguished Lectures — Launch Celebration
Speaker: Sanjeev Arora, Faith Ellen, Dan Gusfield, Dorit Hochbaum, Russell Impagliazzo, Ravi Kannan, Don Knuth, Mike Luby, Antony Ng, Prabhakar Raghavan, Scott Shenker, Robert Tarjan, Vijay Vazirani, and Dick Karp.
Sep. 3, 2019

Summer 2019

Theoretically Speaking — Algorithms and the Law
Speaker: Peter Bartlett (Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, moderator) Panelists: Shafi Goldwasser (Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing), Martha Minow (Harvard University), Elliot Schrage (Facebook), and Patricia Williams (Columbia University) 
Jun. 7, 2019

Spring 2019

Open Lecture — Randomness in Number Theory
Speaker: Peter Sarnak (Princeton University)
Apr. 15, 2019
Blockchains, Micropayments and Zero Knowledge (ZK Day 2019)
Apr. 13, 2019
Theoretically Speaking — What We Can Learn from AdNauseam about the Threat and Power of Data Obfuscation
Speaker: Helen Nissenbaum (Cornell Tech)
Mar. 27, 2019
Open Lecture — The Polynomial Paradigm in Algorithms
Speaker: Shayan Oveis Gharan (University of Washington) and Nikhil Srivastava (UC Berkeley)
Mar. 11, 2019
Theoretically Speaking — The Predictive Brain
Speaker: Anil Ananthaswamy (Fall 2018 Simons Institute Journalist in Residence, moderator) Panelists: Celeste Kidd (UC Berkeley), Bruno Olshausen (UC Berkeley), Christos Papadimitriou (Columbia University) and Michael Pollan (UC Berkeley) 
Mar. 7, 2019
When Scientists Write for the Public: Objective Consideration of Contemporary Phenomena
Speaker: Konstantin Kakaes (Simons Institute Journalist in Residence)
Feb. 6, 2019

Fall 2018

The Edge of Physics: Crafting a Non-Fiction Narrative that Combines Science with Travel Writing
Speaker: Anil Ananthaswamy, Simons Institute Journalist in Residence
Dec. 5, 2018
Open Lecture — The Limits of Proof
Speaker: Paul Beame (University of Washington)
Nov. 19, 2018
Game Theory in Auction and Blockchain
Speaker: Andrew Chi-Chih Yao (Tsinghua University)
Nov. 14, 2018
Theoretically Speaking — Training Artificial Intelligence by Playing Games
Speaker: Thore Graepel (Google DeepMind)
Nov. 7, 2018
A Numerical Analyst Thinks about Deep Learning
Speaker: William Kahan (UC Berkeley)
Nov. 7, 2018
Open Lecture — Sketching Big Data
Speaker: Jelani Nelson (Harvard University)
Nov. 5, 2018
The Land Sharks Are on the Squawk Box
Speaker: Michael Stonebraker (MIT)
Oct. 31, 2018
Computational Complexity in Theory and in Practice
Speaker: Richard Karp (UC Berkeley)
Oct. 24, 2018
Open Lecture — Mathematical Theories of Communication: Old and New
Speaker: Madhu Sudan (Harvard University)
Oct. 22, 2018
Towards a Conscious AI: A Computer Architecture Inspired by Neuroscience
Speaker: Manuel Blum (Carnegie Mellon University)
Oct. 17, 2018
A New Golden Age for Computer Architecture
Speaker: David Patterson (UC Berkeley)
Oct. 10, 2018
Proofs, Knowledge, and Computation
Speaker: Silvio Micali (MIT)
Oct. 3, 2018
Open Lecture — The AI Trinity: Data + Algorithms + Infrastructure
Speaker: Anima Anandkumar (California Institute of Technology)
Oct. 1, 2018
From Basic Idea to Impact: The Story of Modern Cryptography
Speaker: Shafi Goldwasser (UC Berkeley)
Sep. 26, 2018
Through Two Doors at Once
Speaker: Anil Ananthaswamy, Simons Institute Journalist in Residence
Sep. 6, 2018

Summer 2018

Mind Over Data: The One Thing You Know and Machines Don't
Speaker: Dana Mackenzie, Simons Institute Journalist-in-Residence
Jul. 18, 2018
A Conversation about (Science) Communication
Speaker: Dana Mackenzie, Simons Institute Journalist in Residence
Jun. 8, 2018

Spring 2018

Open Lecture — Fixing Urban Congestion with Dollars and Data
Speaker: Balaji Prabhakar (Stanford University)
May 7, 2018
Theoretically Speaking — AI Aspirations and Advances
Speaker: Eric Horvitz (Microsoft)
Apr. 25, 2018
Cal Day Lecture: Can a Machine be Conscious? Towards a Conscious AI
Speaker: Manuel Blum (Carnegie Mellon University)
Apr. 21, 2018
Open Lecture — The Deep Learning Revolution: What Does It Tell Us About Our Understanding of Intelligence?
Speaker: Naftali Tishby (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Apr. 9, 2018
Theoretically Speaking — Can the Brain's Structure Reveal its Function, Theoretically Speaking?
Speaker: Jeff Lichtman (Harvard University)
Apr. 4, 2018
Open Lecture — Circuitry and Mathematical Codes for Navigation in the Brain
Speaker: Ila Fiete (University of Texas at Austin)
Mar. 5, 2018
The Bowen Lectures
Speaker: Avi Wigderson (Institute for Advanced Study)
Feb. 9, 2018
Words, Pictures, Programs: Communicating Computational Science
Speaker: Brian Hayes, Simons Institute Journalist in Residence 
Feb. 1, 2018
Open Lecture — Safety-Critical Autonomous Systems: What is Possible? What is Required?
Speaker: Richard Murray (California Institute of Technology)
Jan. 30, 2018
Reinforcement Learning: Hidden Theory and New Super-Fast Algorithms
Speaker: Sean Meyn, University of Florida
Mar. 9, 2018
Reinforcement Learning: Hidden Theory and New Super-Fast Algorithms
Speaker: Sean Meyn, University of Florida
Mar. 7, 2018
Communicating Theoretical Computer Science to the Public
Speaker: Erica Klarreich
Nov. 29, 2016
Communicating Theoretical Computer Science to the Public
Speaker: Erica Klarreich
Sep. 30, 2016
Communicating Theoretical Computer Science to the Public
Speaker: Erica Klarreich
Sep. 7, 2016
Bay Area Optimization Meeting
Apr. 29, 2016

Fall 2017

Open Lecture — Gradient Descent: The Mother of All Algorithms?
Speaker: Aleksander Mądry (MIT)
Dec. 11, 2017
Fireside Chat with Simons Institute Director Dick Karp
Nov. 29, 2017
Open Lecture — Finding Low-Rank Matrices: From Matrix Completion to Recent Trends
Speaker: Maryam Fazel (University of Washington)
Nov. 20, 2017
Fireside Chats
Speaker: Christoph Drösser
Nov. 1, 2017
Open Lecture — Lower Bounds on the Size of Linear Programs
Speaker: Thomas Rothvoß (University of Washington)
Oct. 30, 2017
Theoretically Speaking — Black Holes, Firewalls, and the Limits of Quantum Computers
Speaker: Scott Aaronson (University of Texas at Austin)
Oct. 18, 2017
The Media Crisis and New Hopes for Science Journalism
Speaker: Christoph Drösser, Simons Institute Journalist in Residence
Sep. 19, 2017
Open Lecture — Across the Watershed: Unifying Perspectives on Optimization
Speaker: Pablo Parrilo (MIT)
Sep. 18, 2017

Spring 2017

Open Lecture — Does Computational Complexity Restrict Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning?
Speaker: Sanjeev Arora (Princeton University)
May 3, 2017
How the Web Has Transformed Science and Technology Reporting
Speaker: John Markoff, Simons Institute Journalist in Residence and Christoph Drösser, independent science writer and editor
Apr. 26, 2017
Machine Learning Today and Tomorrow: A Panel Discussion
Apr. 22, 2017
Open Lecture — In Pursuit of Structure: Why a Little Randomness (Almost) Always Helps
Speaker: Julia Wolf (University of Bristol)
Apr. 3, 2017
Open Lecture — The Contextual Bandits Problem
Speaker: Robert Schapire (Microsoft Research)
Mar. 13, 2017
Understanding Silicon Valley
Speaker: John Markoff, Simons Institute Journalist in Residence 
Feb. 27, 2017
Theoretically Speaking — Finding Hay in Haystacks: The Power and Limits of Randomness
Speaker: Avi Wigderson (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
Feb. 22, 2017
Open Lecture — Does Randomness Solve Problems?
Speaker: Russell Impagliazzo (UC San Diego)
Feb. 6, 2017

Fall 2016

Open Lecture — Logic and Automata and Beyond
Speaker: Mikołaj Bojańczyk (University of Warsaw) 
Nov. 28, 2016
Open Lecture — Application-Specific Algorithm Selection
Speaker: Tim Roughgarden (Stanford University) 
Oct. 24, 2016
A Meta-Mathematical Framework for Integrating Indian Classical and Western Music
Speaker: Purnaprajna Bangere (The University of Kansas) and David Balakrishnan (Turtle Island Quartet)
Oct. 21, 2016
Theoretically Speaking — Error error error correcting correcting correcting codes codes codes
Speaker: Mary Wootters (Stanford University)
Oct. 19, 2016
Open Lecture — Number-Theoretic Methods in Quantum Computing
Speaker: Peter Selinger (Dalhousie University) 
Sep. 26, 2016
Open Lecture — Algorithm Design in the Modern Era: Dealing with Uncertainty and Incentives
Speaker: Anna Karlin (University of Washington)
Sep. 12, 2016

Spring 2016

Open Lecture — Recovering Biological Networks, and the Ubiquitous Inverse of the Variance-Covariance Matrix
Speaker: Martin Vingron (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin)
Apr. 26, 2016
Genes, Networks and the Immune System
Speaker: Nir Yosef (UC Berkeley)
Apr. 16, 2016
Theoretically Speaking — Mapping the Online World: Social Connectedness in the Digital Age
Speaker: Jon Kleinberg (Cornell University)
Apr. 6, 2016
Open Lecture — The Complexity of Computing Quantities
Speaker: Leslie Valiant (Harvard University)
Mar. 28, 2016

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