See the calendar below for future seminars and events.
Following every Thursday seminar, attendees are welcome to come to one of our SMRI Afternoon Teas which take place on Thursday afternoons at 2pm on the Quadrangle Terrace, accessed through the entry in Quadrangle Lobby P and via the SMRI Common Room on level 4.
Upcoming and current events: seminars, workshops and course
SMRI Seminar, ‘Periods and Irrationality’
Thursday 4th June 2026 at 1 pm (Part 1) and 3 pm (Part 2), SMRI Seminar Room (A12 Macleay Room 301)
Speaker: Frank Calegari, The University of Chicago
Abstract: We give a broad introduction to methods (old and new) to understand the arithmetic properties of “periods”, a broad class of numbers (which we will define in the talk) including many of the most familiar constants in mathematics.
Seminar on Canonical Bases in Representation Theory
Dates and times: Wednesdays from 10 am –12 pm for the seminar, followed by a weekly exercise session from 1 pm – 2 pm, starting from Wednesday 4th March, 2026
Location: SMRI Seminar Room (A12 Macleay Room 301)
Details: In this seminar, we aim to study the answers of the following motivating questions regarding irreducible representations of semisimple Lie algebras and related structures:
- How can we compute their characters?
- How can we compute tensor product decompositions?
- What are “canonical bases” for these modules?
A powerful tool introduced in the early 1990s, known as the canonical basis (Lusztig) or crystal basis (Kashiwara), provides a model to answer these questions.
We will start by learning about prototypical constructions that serve as motivation, before proceeding to the construction and properties of these modern bases: first studying Lusztig’s approach, and then Kashiwara’s approach.
This seminar will focus on the main ingredients and recipes used to motivate, construct and describe these bases: Kazhdan-Lusztig bases, Gelfand-Tsetlin bases, Lusztig’s algebraic construction, Lusztig’s geometric/topological construction, and Kashiwara’s crystal/global bases. More information on the Canonical Bases in Representation Theory website.
Optimal Transport: Mini-course and Mini-workshop
Dates: Monday August 3 – Wednesday August 5
Location: SMRI Seminar Room (A12 Macleay Room 301)
The three-day research event combines a mini-course and a min-workshop on optimal transport. It aims to provide a welcoming and inclusive platform for presenting research, fostering collaboration, and inspiring new research directions among participants.
The event is supported by the School of Mathematics and Statistics and the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute (SMRI)
All staff, students, and anyone interested in optimal transport are warmly invited to attend, with a particular emphasis on encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration. Registration is free; however, for catering purposes, please complete the registration form.