Ten minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu

Speaker: Alexander Mramor (University of Oklahoma)Title: On the long-term behavior of the mean curvature flow in 3-manifoldsAbstract:In this talk I’ll discuss recent joint work with Ao Sun where we consider the fate of the mean curvature flow in closed 3-manifolds. Employing many important recent advances on the mean curvature flow we can show that almost regular flows, as introduced by Bamler and Kleiner, will either go extinct in finite time or converge, possibly with multiplicity, to a minimal surface; by a perturbation argument one can go on to construct piecewise almost regular flows where the limit, if nonempty, must be stable. Using this we can use the flow to construct minimal surfaces in 3-manifolds in a variety of circumstances, mainly novel from the point of view that the arguments are via parabolic methods.

Speaker: Sam Raskin (Yale University)Title: Unramified automorphic forms over function fieldsAbstract: I will discuss joint work with Gaitsgory and V. Lafforgue on the structure and spectral theory of unramified automorphic forms over function fields. In particular, we will explain how the Arthur-Ramanujan conjecture can be proved using the general theory.

Speaker: Darij Grinberg (Drexel University)Title: Shuffles in the symmetric group algebraAbstract:Ever since the famous 1992 work of Bayer and Diaconis, it has been known that random shuffles of a deck of cards (with the back side up) can be modelled as elements of the group algebra R[S_n] of the symmetric group S_n. This viewpoint has spawned progress in both card shuffling and the representation theory of the symmetric group. In this talk, I will focus on two projects in the latter: one focusing on the "somewhere-to-below shuffles" t_i := (i) + (i,i+1) + (i,i+1,i+2) + ... + (i,i+1,...,n) in R[S_n] for 1 <= i <= n (where the parenthesized expressions mean cycles; the 1-cycle (i) is the identity), and one focusing on the "k-random-to-random shuffles" R_k := \sum_{1 <= i_1 < i_2 < ... < i_k <= n} \sum_{w in S_n such that w(i_1) < w(i_2) < ... < w(i_k)} w in R[S_n] for 0 <= k <= n. Both families have revealed a variety of unexpected properties. For instance, the R_0, R_1, ..., R_n commute, whereas the t_1, t_2,..., t_n are simultaneously triangularizable (i.e., there is an -- explicitly describable -- basis of R[S_n] on which right multiplication by each t_i acts as a triangular matrix). In both cases, all eigenvalues are integers and can be explicitly described and assigned to Specht modules (irreducible representations of S_n). Many of these properties furthermore generalize to the (type-A) Iwahori-Hecke algebra.Due to the amount of results, this talk will be an overview with no proofs.Some of the above is joint work with Nadia Lafrenière, Sarah Brauner, Patricia Commins and Franco Saliola.

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On Wednesday nights you are invited to come to The Table for peaceful Christian worship in the Chapel at 5:15 pm and dinner in the Main Dining Room of W11 at around 6:30 pm.We worship with beautiful songs, open conversation about the Scriptures, prayers and a simple sharing of communion around the altar. Then we enjoy dinner together and good company together. Whether you come every week or just drop by once in a while, there is a caring community for you at the Table.You are truly welcome to come as you are: undergrad, grad, or post-doc; sure of your faith or wondering what it is all about; gay, straight, bi, trans, questioning. Please join us for no-pressure worship and fellowship.Hosted by the Lutheran Epsicopal Ministry @ MIT. For more information, or to verify gathering times during holiday and vacation periods, please contact chaplains Andrew Heisen (heisen@mit.edu) and Kevin Vetiac (kvet246@mit.edu).Please note that we will not meet during the week of Thanksgiving nor between Christmas and New Year's Day. Please see our website (le-ministry.mit.edu) for updates on meeting times and locations as well as additional details.