Speaker: Sanath Devalapurkar (Harvard University)

Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025 Location: 46-3002 (Singleton Auditorium)Speaker: Oliver Rollins, Ph.D. Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Society (STS), MITHosts: Dr. Mriganka Sur, Dr. Rebecca SaxeTalk title: What Antiracism means for (Neuro)science Today Abstract: Historically, race—especially its erroneous interpretation as a biological reality—has played a key role in shaping scientific research about the brain. Today, neuroscience, like other related fields of biological inquiry, not only rejects its racist past but also seeks to clarify that race holds little scientific relevance in the present. In response to the Summer of 2020, for example, major scientific journals (e.g., Nature, Science, and JAMA) and institutions issued calls to better recognize and combat the underlying harms of scientific racism. However, our current sociopolitical environment raises questions about whether and how neuroscience can genuinely confront its past and contemporary interactions with race. By emphasizing how racial inequality can be perpetuated and confronted through everyday technological practices involving the brain, I aim to provide evidence of the necessity for neuroscientists and social scientists to think more collectively, critically, and creatively about the intersections between (neuro)science and the politics of social difference.

Time: 3:30 PMLocation: Cambridge, MA

Speaker: Ulrich Jentshura (Missouri S&T)Title: Resurgent Expansions and TransseriesAbstract:Traditionally, the divergent perturbation series of a quartic anharmonic oscillator has been used as an example of a factorially divergent, alternating perturbation series describing an energy level of a quantum mechanical system. The Bender-Wu formulas have been used in order to connect the "stable" domain of positive coupling, where the resonance energy eigenvalues are real rather than complex, with the "unstable" domain of negative coupling, where the resonance energy eigenvalues are complex; the latter describe unstable states whose resonance energy has a nonvanishing imaginary part. The imaginary part of the resonance energy describes the decay width. In recent years, the concept of a perturbation series has been generalized to include series with perturbative (power) terms and nonperturbative exponential factors of the form exp(-A/g), where A is the so-called instanton action and g is the coupling parameter. These generalized perturbation series ("transseries") are able to describe, analytically, the manifestly complex resonance energies in the unstable domain. Such generalized perturbation series are even able to describe anharmonic oscillator energies in cases where the perturbation series vanishes to all orders, but the ground-state energy is manifestly nonzero.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion hosted by Dugald C. Jackson Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, John Guttag, featuring brief presentations by leading experts in the field:Jacob Andreas, Associate Professor, EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)Philip Isola, Class of Career Development Professor; Associate Professor, EECSLeslie Kaelbling, Panasonic Professor, EECSFollowing these presentations, there will be a conversation and Q&A with Es Devlin, the 2025 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT recipient. Devlin will discuss her work at the intersection of AI and the arts, including her groundbreaking Poem Pavilion project, which explores the fusion of technology and human expression.Don’t miss the chance to explore the exciting developments in AI and hear from one of the most innovative designers of our time. Space is limited—register by April 18 to secure your spot!

Earth Day ColloquiumWhere do we go from here? Pathways to a clean energy transitionThis event is for the MIT Community. Please register with an MIT.edu email.Please join us to hear from Manish Bapna, the president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council.Transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy provides significant benefits to the economy, public health, and the environment. Bapna will discuss opportunities and challenges to advance this transition in the coming years with a particular focus on what it will take to reinvigorate momentum for clean energy and climate action in the United States.Light refreshments to follow co-hosted by the MIT Energy & Climate ClubAbout the speakerManish Bapna became president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 2021. With more than 700 attorneys, scientists, advocates, and policy experts on staff, as well as three million members, NRDC is confronting the interlocking climate, health, nature, and inequity crises facing the world today. Prior to joining NRDC, Bapna held leadership roles at the World Bank, the Bank Information Center, and the World Resources Institute, focusing on scaling solutions at the intersection of the environment and human development. Bapna was born outside of Chicago and holds master’s degrees in business and political and economic development from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT.About the MITEI Presents: Advancing the Energy Transition speaker seriesWe are in the midst of a major global shift in the types of energy we use and the ways we use them. We know that if we are to stabilize the planet’s climate and eliminate harmful emissions, we must transform our energy systems. This speaker series will connect you with energy experts and leaders who are actively working on the scientific, technological, and policy solutions we urgently need, and will explore how we must work together to accelerate this complicated process.