[Theory] NOW: 3/26 TTIC Distinguished Lecture Series: Lenka Zdeborova, EPFL

[Brandie Jones via Theory]

*When:    * Wednesday, March 26th at *11 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=4e79af52-0073-4179-b390-b26e01169c46>
)



*Who:         *Lenka Zdeborova, EPFL

*Title:        *Statistical Physics Perspective on Understanding Learning
with Neural Networks

*Abstract:  *For over four decades, statistical physics has studied exactly
solvable models of artificial neural networks. In this talk, we will
explore how these models offer insights into deep learning and large
language models. Specifically, we will examine a research strategy that
trades distributional assumptions about data for precise control over
learning behavior in high-dimensional settings. We will discuss several
types of phase transitions that emerge in this limit, particularly as a
function of data quantity. In particular, we will highlight how
discontinuous phase transitions are linked to algorithmic hardness,
impacting the behavior of gradient-based learning algorithms. Finally, we
will review recent progress in learning from sequences and advances in
understanding generalization in modern architectures, including the role of
dot-product attention layers in transformers.


*Bio:* Lenka Zdeborová is a professor of physics and of computer science in
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, where she leads
the Statistical Physics of Computation Laboratory. Her expertise is in
applications of concepts from statistical physics, such as advanced mean
field methods, replica method and related message-passing algorithms, to
problems in machine learning, signal processing, inference and
optimization. She has said that she “enjoys erasing the boundaries between
theoretical physics, mathematics and computer science.”

Zdeborová received a Ph.D. in physics from University Paris-Sud and from
Charles University in Prague in 2008. She spent two years in the Los Alamos
National Laboratory as the Director's Postdoctoral Fellow; she then spent
ten years as a researcher at Centre national de la recherche scientifique
(CNRS) working in the Institute of Theoretical Physics in CEA Saclay,
France. She served as an editorial board member for Journal of Physics A,
Physical Review E, Physical Review X, SIMODS, Machine Learning: Science and
Technology, and Information and Inference. Her honors include the CNRS
bronze medal in 2014; the Philippe Meyer prize in theoretical physics in
2016; the Irène Joliot-Curie prize in 2018; and the Gibbs lectureship of
AMS and the Neuron Fund award in 2021.


Hos*t:  <avrim at ttic.edu>Nati Srebro <nati at ttic.edu>*


-- 
*Brandie Jones *
*Executive **Administrative Assistant*
Toyota Technological Institute
6045 S. Kenwood Avenue
Chicago, IL  60637
www.ttic.edu
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