The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics cordially invites you to attend the inaugural lecture by Prof. Dr. Karin Binder and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jonas Jalowny on Monday, 17 November 2025, at 4:15 p.m. in Lecture Hall O2.
The title of Prof. Dr. Karin Binder's lecture is:
Promoting stochastic thinking: The benefits of visualisations in situations with two dichotomous characteristics and a simulation-based introduction to hypothesis testing
Abstract:
‘Two-thirds of women diagnosed with breast cancer are over 70 years old.’ Confusion often arises in the media, medicine and politics when it comes to conditional probabilities. This presentation will introduce empirical findings that show which visualisations and other strategies can improve the handling of conditional probabilities. It will also show how simulation-based hypothesis testing can be introduced to improve conceptual knowledge of hypothesis testing and thus prevent typical misconceptions.
The title of the lecture by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jonas Jalowy is:
Evolution of zeros of (random) polynomials under the heat flow
Abstract:
We all learned in school how to find the zeros of a quadratic polynomial, but for a general polynomial of large degree n, this remains a challenging task. This lecture explores the limiting behavior of the empirical zero distribution of such polynomials as nand aims to answer the question: "How do the zeros of polynomials evolve under the action of differential operators?"
For example, if we apply the (holomorphic) heat flow to random "Weyl" polynomials, then the limiting (complex) zero distribution evolves from the circular law into the elliptic law until it collapses to the Wigner semicircle law. In this talk, I present an overview on results of this type. We determine various limiting zero distributions and describe the dynamics of the roots via remarkable connections to other fields of mathematics such as (optimal) transport, differential equations, point processes, free probability and potential theory. I will aim to make the talk as accessible as possible, focus on the case of the heat flow, and accompany the results with illustrative simulations.
Afterwards, you are cordially invited to a small reception in the foyer of the lecture hall.