jonathan touboul

Title:  When randomness creates order: synchronization of random systems, from neurons to hipsters.  

Time:  Friday,  3:15 PM - 4:15 PM

Abstract: Random fluctuations are observed in every system, from electrical currents to electoral choices, fashion tastes and neuron’s behavior. Through better materials, better sensors and technological progress, engineers have worked to reduce, as much as possible, the impact of random fluctuations on the systems they are conceiving. Living systems, that did not have some of these options, had to adapt to fluctuations and learn to produce reliable, rapid, reproducible, appropriate and accurate behaviors in the face of uncertainty. This talk will present mathematical theories relative to how this robustness has emerged, with a particular focus on synchronized activity, from neurons to fireflies to hipster fashion.

Bio:   Jonathan Touboul is Professor of Mathematics at Brandeis University and faculty in the Brandeis neuroscience graduate program. He graduated from École Polytechnique, Paris, performed his PhD at Inria and École Normale Supérieure in Paris, a postdoc at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Pittsburgh, and was group leader at Collège de France, Paris (France) for 7 years prior to joining Brandeis. His research deals with the theory of dynamical systems and stochastic processes, and he enthusiastically applies these to biological problems, mostly in the domain of neurosciences, ecology and embryonic development.