STOR Colloquium: Nicolas Fraiman, Harvard University

Effects of limited choice and cooperation in network formation, epidemics and evolution.

How does having structural or dynamical constraints affect the outcomes of stochastic models? In this talk I will discuss changes obtained from the addition of limited choice, cooperation or competition into processes that describe the evolution of networks and populations. I will analyze three models motivated by applications in communication networks, spread of epidemics, and evolutionary biology. The focus is on asymptotic behavior and phase transitions.

Based on joint works with Luc Devroye, Gabor Lugosi and Martin Nowak.