[Theory] REMINDER: 7/11 TTIC Colloquium: Ravi Kannan, Microsoft Research India

[Mary Marre]

*When:*        Monday, July 11th at* 11:30 am CT*


*Where:       *Talk will be given *live, in-person* at

                   TTIC, 6045 S. Kenwood Avenue

                   5th Floor, Room 530


*Virtually:*  via Panopto  (*livestream*
<https://uchicago.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=3950ffda-b320-4a2f-93d2-aec5012ca9f2>
)


*Who: *         Ravi Kannan, Microsoft Research India


------------------------------

*Title:  * Random Separating Hyperplanes and Applications
*Abstract: *The Separating Hyperplane Theorem from convex geometry asserts
that if a point does not belong to a convex set, there is a hyperplane
separating them. This fundamental theorem has many applications. We prove
here that if a point does not belong to a polytope, a random hyperplane
separates them with a certain probability. One application of the theorem
is a new algorithm for Clustering which yields interpretable clusters. We
also show applications to learning latent variable models including mixture
models, topic models and mixed membership community models.

Joint work with Chiranjib Bhattacharyya and Amit Kumar

*Bio: *Ravi Kannan is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research India,
where he leads the algorithms research group. He also holds an adjunct
faculty position in the computer science and automation department at the
Indian Institute of Science. Before joining Microsoft, Kannan was the
William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Computer Science and Applied
Mathematics at Yale University. He has also taught at MIT and CMU.

Kannan's research interests include algorithms, theoretical computer
science and discrete mathematics, as well as optimization. His work has
mainly focused on efficient algorithms for problems of a mathematical
(often geometric) flavor that arise in computer science. He has worked on
algorithms for integer programming and the geometry of numbers,
random walks in n-space, randomized algorithms for linear algebra, and
learning algorithms for convex sets.

He was awarded the Knuth Prize in 2011 for developing influential
algorithmic techniques aimed at solving long-standing computational
problems, the Fulkerson Prize in 1991 for his work on estimating the volume
of convex sets, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian
Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1999.
*Host:* *Avrim Blum* <avrim at ttic.edu>
***********************************************************************************

For more information on the colloquium series or to subscribe to the
mailing list, please see http://www.ttic.edu/colloquium.php




Mary C. Marre
Faculty Administrative Support
*Toyota Technological Institute*
*6045 S. Kenwood Avenue*
*Chicago, IL  60637*
*mmarre at ttic.edu <mmarre at ttic.edu>*


On Tue, Jul 5, 2022 at 10:44 AM Mary Marre <mmarre at ttic.edu> wrote:

> *When:*        Monday, July 11th at* 11:30 am CT*
>
>
> *Where:       *Talk will be given *live, in-person* at
>
>                    TTIC, 6045 S. Kenwood Avenue
>
>                    5th Floor, Room 530
>
>
> *Virtually:*  via Panopto  (*livestream*
> <https://uchicago.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=3950ffda-b320-4a2f-93d2-aec5012ca9f2>
> )
>
>
> *Who: *         Ravi Kannan, Microsoft Research India
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *Title:  * Random Separating Hyperplanes and Applications
> *Abstract: *The Separating Hyperplane Theorem from convex geometry
> asserts that if a point does not belong to a convex set, there is a
> hyperplane separating them. This fundamental theorem has many applications.
> We prove here that if a point does not belong to a polytope, a random
> hyperplane separates them with a certain probability. One application of
> the theorem is a new algorithm for Clustering which yields interpretable
> clusters. We also show applications to learning latent variable models
> including mixture models, topic models and mixed membership community
> models.
>
> Joint work with Chiranjib Bhattacharyya and Amit Kumar
>
> *Bio: *Ravi Kannan is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research India,
> where he leads the algorithms research group. He also holds an adjunct
> faculty position in the computer science and automation department at the
> Indian Institute of Science. Before joining Microsoft, Kannan was the
> William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Computer Science and Applied
> Mathematics at Yale University. He has also taught at MIT and CMU.
>
> Kannan's research interests include algorithms, theoretical computer
> science and discrete mathematics, as well as optimization. His work has
> mainly focused on efficient algorithms for problems of a mathematical
> (often geometric) flavor that arise in computer science. He has worked on
> algorithms for integer programming and the geometry of numbers,
> random walks in n-space, randomized algorithms for linear algebra, and
> learning algorithms for convex sets.
>
> He was awarded the Knuth Prize in 2011 for developing influential
> algorithmic techniques aimed at solving long-standing computational
> problems, the Fulkerson Prize in 1991 for his work on estimating the volume
> of convex sets, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian
> Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1999.
> *Host:* *Avrim Blum* <avrim at ttic.edu>
>
> ***********************************************************************************
>
> For more information on the colloquium series or to subscribe to the
> mailing list, please see http://www.ttic.edu/colloquium.php
>
>
> Mary C. Marre
> Faculty Administrative Support
> *Toyota Technological Institute*
> *6045 S. Kenwood Avenue*
> *Chicago, IL  60637*
> *mmarre at ttic.edu <mmarre at ttic.edu>*
>
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