As part of the AMSI-ANZIAM lecture tour, Professor Konstantin Avrachenkov (INRIA, France) presents this public lecture at The University of Queensland.

Visiting Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Newcastle and Brisbane, the lecture tour runs from 13-22 February.

Event Information:

Lecture: Aesthetics and ubiquitous applications of Markov chains
Date: Wednesday 22 February
Venue: Building 7 (Parnell) room 222, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia campus, Brisbane
Time: 4pm-5.30pm AEST
Register: https://rhed.amsi.org.au/public-lectures/anziam-lecturer-2023/

Abstract: Markov chains, mathematical models that describe sequences of dependent events, were created to make a point in a philosophical discussion and to explain the beauty of the poetry. Even though we may debate the practicality of explanations of aesthetics, it is generally accepted that Andrey Markov (1856-1922) contributed to this philosophical dispute and, in the process, originated one of the most powerful tools of applied mathematics, physics and data science.

In this talk, I first give an accessible introduction to Markov chains and in particular to singularly perturbed Markov chains. These are stochastic dynamical models with several time scales and, as such, are well suited to represent many natural and technological phenomena. In particular, I discuss the application of Markov chains and singularly perturbed Markov chains in linguistics, linked data analysis and reinforcement learning.

For more information please visit https://rhed.amsi.org.au/public-lectures/anziam-lecturer-2023/