UBC Mathematics Colloquium
UBC
(CRM-Fields-PIMS
prize lecture)
The Self-Avoiding Walk
Fri., March. 26, 2010, 3:00pm, MATX 1100
Abstract:
Simple random walk is well understood. However, if we condition a
random walk not to intersect itself, so that it is a self-avoiding
walk, then it is much more difficult to analyze and many of the
important mathematical problems remain unsolved. This
lecture will give an overview of some of what is known about the
self-avoiding walk, including some old and some more recent results,
using methods that touch on combinatorics, probability, and statistical
mechanics.
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There will be a special reception at 2:30 pm in Math 125.