Math

Fall 2025

• September 21 – Eric Marland

  Eric Marland – University of Montana

  Communicating Science: Patterns and Practice

  September 28, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Math 103

• September 28 – Patrick Kreitzberg

  Patrick Kreitzberg – University of Montana, PhD Candidate

  September 28, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Math 103

• October 12 – Katia Smirnova

  Katia Smirnova –

  October 12, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Math 103

• October 19 – Atish Mitra

  Atish Mitra – Montana Tech

  October 19, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Math 103

• October 26 – Faculty Evaluation Committee

  Faculty Evaluation Committee meeting

  October 26, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Math 103

Spring 2027

• January 25 – Matthias Morzfeld

  Matthias Morzfeld – Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography

  Randomized blocky Occam: A practical algorithm for generating blocky models and associated uncertainties

  We present new numerical tools for geophysical inversion and uncertainty quantification (UQ), with an emphasis on blocky (piecewise-constant) layered models that can reproduce sharp contrasts in geophysical or geological properties. The new tools are inspired by an ‘old’ and very successful inversion tool: regularized, nonlinear inversion. We combine Occam’s inversion with total variation regularization and a split Bregman method to obtain an inversion algorithm that we call blocky Occam, because it determines the blockiest model that fits the data adequately. To generate an UQ, we use a modified randomize-then-optimize approach (RTO) and call the resulting algorithm RamBO (randomized blocky Occam), because it essentially amounts to running blocky Occam in a randomized parallel for-loop. Blocky Occam and RamBO inherit computational advantages and stability from the combination of Occam’s inversion, split Bregman and RTO, and, therefore, can be expected to be robustly applicable across geophysics. I will illustrate the use of RamBO and blocky Occam on several electromagnetic (EM) inversions and show some progress towards 2D EM inversions as well. This is joint work with Eliana Vargas-Huitzil and Steven C. Constable (both at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego). 

  January 25, 2027 at 3:00 p.m. Math 103

• Instructions for Changing the MathJax Output Format

  If mathematical formulas are not correctly displayed in your browser, try changing the output format of MathJax.
  
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