To sign up for this working group, enroll for 3 credits in 693 (Linda Chen).

This is an announcement for a Seminar/Reading Group on Algebraic Statistics (with Applications to Math Biology) for Autumn 2007. The first meeting will be Tuesday, September 25, 2007.

Tuesdays 1:30-2:20pm,  Location: MW 154

If you are a graduate student interested in Reading Course (and Working Group) credit, please contact me. Email lchen@math.ohio-state.edu if you would like to be added to the mailing list. Please pass on this announcement to others who might be interested!

Description:

Algebraic Statistics is concerned with problems that lie at the intersection of algebra, geometry, combinatorics, and statistics. Methods from algebra and geometry can be used to make statistical inferences; many statistical models for discrete random variables can be represented by classical algebraic varieties, e.g. secant varieties and toric varieties.

The goal of this seminar will be to understand this connection and its statistical consequences, such as in maximum likelihood estimation. We will also discuss applications to computational biology, in particular to genome sequence analysis. Further topics will be determined by the interests of the participants.

Graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members of all fields are welcome. No expertise in algebraic geometry, statistics, or math biology will be assumed. See http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~lchen/algstats for more information, including a partial list of references.

Linda Chen, lchen@math.ohio-state.edu