Events

  • Seminar: Prof. Andries Engelbrecht

    Thursday, September 14, 2017 | By

    When: Wednesday, September 20, 2017 – 11:00am – 12:00pm

    Brock University Computer Science Department Seminar Series

    presents

    Prof. Andries Engelbrecht

    University of Pretoria

    Pretoria, South Africa

    Heterogeneous Particle Swarm Optimizers: Scalability,
    Self-Adaptive Behaviors, and Dynamic Environments

    Abstract: Particles in the standard particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, and most of its modifications, follow the same behaviours. That is, particles implement the same velocity and position update rules. This means that particles exhibit the same search characteristics. Heterogeneous PSO (HPSO), on the other hand, allow particles to follow different search behaviours selected from a behaviour pool, thereby efficiently addressing the exploration–exploitation trade-off problem.

    This talk will provide an overview of very simple HPSO algorithms, and will provide empirical results to show that they are more efficient than the homogeneous PSO algorithms making up the behaviour pool of the HPSO algorithm. The talk will also discuss the HPSO scalability properties, and will present approaches to self-adaptive behaviour selection. The talk will end with an illustration of the performance of simple HPSO algorithms in dynamic environments.

    Professor Andries Engelbrecht is the South African Research Chair of Artificial Intelligence in the Computer Science Department, University of Pretoria

    Location of your event: H313
    Cost: $0.00

    Categories: Events

  • Mahsa Daneshmandmehrabani thesis defense

    Saturday, July 01, 2017 | By

    When: July 17, 2017 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm

    Ms. Mahsa Daneshmandmehrabani will defend her M.Sc. on Monday July 17, 2017 at 1:00 PM in Mackenzie Chown C206.

    Abstract: We develop a recommendation algorithm for a local entertainment and ticket pro-vider company. The recommender system predicts the score of items, i.e. event, for each user. The special feature of these events, which makes them very differ-ent from similar settings, is that they are perishable: each event has a relatively short and specific lifespan. Therefore there is no explicit feedback available for a future event. Moreover, there is a very short description provided for each event and thus the keywords play a more than usual important role in categorizing each event. Moreover, we provide a hybrid algorithm that utilizes content-based and col-laborative filtering recommendations. We also present an axiomatic analysis of our model. These axioms are mostly derived from social choice theory.

    Location of your event: MCC206
    Cost: $0.00

    Categories: Events

  • Physics and Mathematics Seminar: Are there trajectories in phase space of quantum systems?

    Wednesday, March 01, 2017 | By

    When: March 28, 2017 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm

    Ole Steuernagel (University of Hertfordshire and Brock University) will be giving a seminar entitled Are there trajectories in phase space of quantum systems? The talk will take place at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 in Mackenzie-Chown H-block room 313.

    Abstract:

    Phase-space dynamics in classical mechanics is described by transport along trajectories. It is thought by some that Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle does not allow for trajectories in phase space: that is incorrect. Here, I will explain what a phase space trajectory is.  Then I show that e.g. harmonic oscillator dynamics can be described with trajectories.But anharmonic quantum mechanical systems do not allow for a trajectory-based description of their phase-space dynamics. This invalidates some approaches to quantum phase-space studies.

    An abstract plausibility argument against phase space trajectories in general is given. Then an explicit proof for all quantum phase-space distributions with negative values follows. This proof shows that the generation of coherences in anharmonic quantum mechanical systems is responsible for the occurrence of singularities in their phase-space velocity fields, explaining the numerical problems repeatedly reported in the literature. Our investigation provides deeper insight into the nature of quantum phase-space dynamics.

    Location of your event: MCH 313
    Cost: $0.00

     

    Categories: Events

  • Jeffrey Regier defends Chemistry Thesis

    Sunday, January 01, 2017 | By

    When: January 10, 2017 – 9:00am – 12:00pm

    The Faculty of Math & Science announces Mr. Jeffrey Regier (Chemistry) Master of Science video conference thesis defence. Mr. Regier’s defence is scheduled for Tuesday, January 10th, 2017; at 9:00; in WH147. His thesis is titled Ligand Design for Metal-Organic Frameworks and Single-Molecule Magnets. His examination committee members are: Dr. Michael Bidochka, Chair; Dr. Stephen Loeb (University of Windsor), External Examiner; Dr. Melanie Pilkington, Supervisor; Dr. Theocharis Stamatatos and Dr. Paul Zelisko, Committee Members.

    Cost: $0.00
    Sponsor: Faculty of Mathematics and Science
    Contact: Beulah Alexander, 3115

    Categories: Events