Fri 30 May 13:00: Gravitational Wave Signatures of Dark Matter in Neutron Star Mergers
Binary neutron star mergers provide insights into strong-field gravity and the properties of ultra-dense nuclear matter. These events offer the potential to search for signatures of physics beyond the standard model, including dark matter. We present the first numerical-relativity simulations of binary neutron star mergers admixed with dark matter, based on constraint-solved initial data. Modeling dark matter as a non-interacting fermionic gas, we investigate the impact of varying dark matter fractions and particle masses on the merger dynamics, ejecta mass, post-merger remnant properties, and the emitted gravitational waves. Our simulations suggest that the dark matter morphology – a dense core or a diluted halo – may alter the merger outcome. Scenarios with a dark matter core tend to exhibit a higher probability of prompt collapse, while those with a dark matter halo develop a common envelope, embedding the whole binary. Furthermore, gravitational wave signals from mergers with dark matter halo configurations exhibit significant deviations from standard models when the tidal deformability is calculated in a two-fluid framework neglecting the dilute and extended nature of the halo. This highlights the need for refined models in calculating the tidal deformability when considering mergers with extended dark matter structures. These initial results provide a basis for further exploration of dark matter’s role in binary neutron star mergers and their associated gravitational wave emission and can serve as a benchmark for future observations from advanced detectors and multi-messenger astrophysics.
- Speaker: Violetta Sagun, University of Southampton
- Friday 30 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room/Zoom.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Xi Tong.
Tue 27 May 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Giovanna Maria Dimitri, University of Siena (Italy)
- Tuesday 27 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building.
- Series: Artificial Intelligence Research Group Talks (Computer Laboratory); organiser: Mateja Jamnik.
Tue 13 May 13:00: Explainable AI in Neuroscience: From Interpretability to Biomarker Discovery
Explainability plays a pivotal role in building trust and fostering the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, particularly in high-stakes domains like neuroscience where decisions directly affect patient outcomes. While progress in AI interpretability has been substantial, there remains a lack of clear, domain-specific guidelines for constructing meaningful and clinically relevant explanations. In this talk, I will explore how explainable AI (XAI) can be effectively integrated into neuroscience applications. I will outline practical strategies for leveraging interpretability methods to uncover novel patterns in neural data, and discuss how these insights can inform the identification of emerging biomarkers. Drawing on recent developments, I will highlight adaptable XAI frameworks that enhance transparency and support data-driven discovery. To validate these concepts, I will present illustrative case studies involving large language models (LLMs) and vision transformers applied to neuroscience. These examples serve as proof of concept, showcasing how explainable AI can not only translate complex model behavior into human-understandable insights, but also support the discovery of novel patterns and potential biomarkers relevant to clinical and research applications.
- Speaker: Mike Mamalakis (University of Cambridge)
- Tuesday 13 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building.
- Series: Artificial Intelligence Research Group Talks (Computer Laboratory); organiser: Mateja Jamnik.
Fri 30 May 12:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Pietro Lesci (University of Cambridge)
- Friday 30 May 2025, 12:00-13:00
- Venue: Room FW26 with Hybrid Format. Here is the Zoom link for those that wish to join online: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/4751389294?pwd=Z2ZOSDk0eG1wZldVWG1GVVhrTzFIZz09.
- Series: NLIP Seminar Series; organiser: Suchir Salhan.
Tue 13 May 14:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Marco Badran (ETH Zurich)
- Tuesday 13 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: MR13.
- Series: Partial Differential Equations seminar; organiser: Giacomo Ageno.
Mon 19 May 14:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Tej-eddine Ghoul (NYU Abu Dhabi)
- Monday 19 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: MR13.
- Series: Partial Differential Equations seminar; organiser: Giacomo Ageno.
Fri 23 May 16:30: Brain Mechanisms of Attention: Sensory Selection to Free Will The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
The Host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
ABSTRACT : Selective attention relies on intricate neural mechanisms that shape how the brain processes information. In this lecture, I will present findings from our research on the neural underpinnings of voluntary spatial, feature, and object attention, utilizing EEG , fMRI and eye-tracking methods. I will highlight key findings related to attentional control within the frontal and parietal cortices, as well as how these mechanisms influence sensory and perceptual processing. In addition, I will present studies investigating voluntary attention in free-choice conditions, where individuals exert their free will to direct attention without external guidance. This presentation is framed by our Specificity of Control (SpoC) model of attention, which emphasizes the microstructural organization
The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Speaker: Professor Ron Mangun,Center for Mind and Brain 267 Cousteau Place Davis, CA
- Friday 23 May 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Department of Psychology.
- Series: Zangwill Club; organiser: Sara Seddon.
Tue 13 May 13:10: Government intervention in linguistic heritage projects in Belfast
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Seamus Branch
- Tuesday 13 May 2025, 13:10-14:00
- Venue: Richard King room, Darwin College.
- Series: Darwin College Humanities and Social Sciences Seminars; organiser: Matthew Jones.
Fri 02 May 13:00: The Black Hole Threshold
Numerical evolutions show that, in spherical symmetry, as we move through the solution space of GR to the threshold of black hole formation, the resulting spacetimes tend to display a surprising degree of simplicity. A heuristic description of this behavior, called critical collapse, has been built around this empirical fact. Less is known when symmetry is dropped. In this presentation I will review the current status of the topic, focusing in particular on the struggle to understand the situation in axisymmetry.
- Speaker: David Hilditch, IST Lisbon
- Friday 02 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room/Zoom https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87235967698.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Daniela Cors.
Thu 01 May 13:00: Opening the Box of Chocolates: a Tasting Introduction to Studies of Cacao and Chocolate
Taking the form of a guided tasting, this talk will explore some of the key questions around the science and history of cacao cultivation and chocolate production.
- Speaker: Mika Hyman, History and Philosophy of Science
- Thursday 01 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: 1 Newnham Terrace, Darwin College.
- Series: Darwin College Science Seminars; organiser: Alexander R Epstein.
Thu 19 Jun 14:00: Four Generations of High-Dimensional Neural Network Potentials
Machine learning potentials (MLPs) have become an important tool for atomistic simulations in many fields, from chemistry to materials science. The reason for the popularity of MLPs is their ability to provide very accurate energies and forces, which are essentially indistinguishable from the underlying reference electronic structure calculations. Still, the computational costs are much reduced enabling large-scale simulations of complex systems. Almost two decades ago, in 2007, the introduction of high-dimensional neural network potentials (HDNNP) by Behler and Parrinello paved the way for the application of MLPs to condensed systems containing a large number of atoms. Still, the original second-generation HDNN Ps, like most current MLPs, are based on a locality approximation of the atomic interactions that are truncated at some finite distance. Third-generation MLPs contain long-range electrostatic interactions up to infinite distance and overcome this restriction to short-range energies. Still, there are surprisingly many systems in which long-range electrostatic interactions are insufficient for a physically correct description, since non-local phenomena like long-range charge transfer are essential. Such global effects can be considered in fourth-generation HDNN Ps. In this talk the evolution of HDNN Ps will be discussed along with some key systems illustrating their applicability.
- Speaker: Prof. Jörg Behler (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)
- Thursday 19 June 2025, 14:00-15:30
- Venue: Seminar Room 3, RDC.
- Series: Theory of Condensed Matter; organiser: Bo Peng.
Tue 29 Apr 11:00: Axion dark matter - The Good, Bad and New ways to detect it
Axion dark matter is an interesting candidate for several reasons. Axions or axion-like particles appear in many theories beyond the standard model and there is a theoretical motivation for them to be light. They have many desirable properties, but also predict effects that are challenging for heavier, cold dark matter. I will discuss how there are observables connected to these effects that could be observed in the lab with a focus on quantum sensors, as well as novel approaches at colliders.
- Speaker: Martin Bauer: Durham University, IPPP
- Tuesday 29 April 2025, 11:00-12:00
- Venue: Seminar Room -- RDC D2.002 .
- Series: Cavendish HEP Seminars; organiser: Dr Paul Swallow.
Thu 08 May 13:00: Machine Learning for Building-Level Heat Risk Mapping
Title
Machine Learning for Building-Level Heat Risk Mapping
Abstract
Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of heat waves, increasing risks to public health and energy systems worldwide. However, many existing heat vulnerability assessments focus primarily on outdoor temperatures, overlooking indoor conditions that directly affect occupants. Although building simulations can reveal the types of buildings whose occupants are most at risk, they rarely pinpoint the exact locations of these vulnerable buildings. In this presentation, I will present a data-driven workflow that locates high-risk buildings and discuss the labeling strategies we have explored for classifying real-world structures using satellite imagery.
Bio
Andrea is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge. She is supervised by Prof Srinivasan Keshav. Her research bridges machine learning with civil and environmental engineering, focusing particularly on its applications within the built environment.
- Speaker: Andrea Domiter, University of Cambridge
- Thursday 08 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Room SS03 at the William Gates Building. Zoom link: https://cl-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/4361570789?pwd=Nkl2T3ZLaTZwRm05bzRTOUUxY3Q4QT09&from=addon .
- Series: Energy and Environment Group, Department of CST; organiser: lyr24.
Thu 01 May 13:00: Opening the Box of Chocolates: a Tasting Introduction to Studies of Cacao and Chocolate
Taking the form of a guided tasting, this talk will explore some of the key questions around the science and history of cacao cultivation and chocolate production.
- Speaker: Mika Hyman, History and Philosophy of Science
- Thursday 01 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: 1 Newnham Terrace, Darwin College.
- Series: Darwin College Science Seminars; organiser: Alexander R Epstein.
Thu 08 May 13:00: Autonomous Robots That Operate in Human Environments
This talk explores the challenges faced by autonomous robots operating in human environments, focusing on our efforts to help them understand and clarify ambiguous instructions and act in socially appropriate ways while carrying out complex tasks.
- Speaker: Fethiye Irmak Dogan (University of Cambridge, Department of Computer Science and Technology)
- Thursday 08 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Richard King room, Darwin College.
- Series: Darwin College Science Seminars; organiser: Alexander R Epstein.
Fri 02 May 15:00: Toward Mechanically Adaptive and Multi-functional Structures
Most natural organisms show fascinating mechanical adaptability when interacting with their environments. Stiffness tuning in nature is used as a powerful tool to combine the load carrying functionality of rigid structures with compliance and adaptability. Human-made structures, however, do not possess this mechanical adaptability and are often designed to meet a specific load carrying requirement. This causes limitations in performance, efficiency and safety. Often to add other functionalities, additional components are needed, which increases the total weight and cost of the structures.
In this talk, I will present the latest research in our group on a variety of structures including multi-material cellular and multi-layered structures that employed active stiffness tuning based on thermoplastic softening. We use a combined experimental and numerical approach to investigate the electro-thermo-mechanical response of these structures. Understanding the main physical obstacles that limit the response time and the fundamental parameters controlling the stability and the failure under harsh electro-thermal loading will help us to better engineer the structures to meet the fast response and low power requirements. This new understanding will accelerate the technology readiness level of active structural control technology to be used in future multi-functional and smart structures. This technology has a wide range of application in robotics, morphing and deployable structures, active damping and active impact protection.
- Speaker: Iman Mohagheghian, University of Surrey
- Friday 02 May 2025, 15:00-16:00
- Venue: CivEng Seminar Room (1-33) (Civil Engineering Building).
- Series: Engineering Department Structures Research Seminars; organiser: Shehara Perera.
Fri 02 May 14:00: Frontiers in Embodied AI for Autonomous Driving
Over the last decade, we’ve seen unprecedented progress in AI across many disciplines and applications. However, autonomous vehicles are still far from mainstream even after billions of dollars of investment. In this talk we’ll explore what’s been holding progress back, and how by adopting a modern embodied AI approach to the problem, Wayve is finally unlocking the potential of scalable autonomous driving across the globe.
We’ll also explore some of our latest research in multimodal learning to combine the power of large language models with the driving problem, and in controllable generative world models as learned simulators.
Bio: Jamie leads Wayve’s Science department, where he guides our research teams to unlock new research breakthroughs, to enable those breakthroughs to have meaningful impact for the business, and to disrupt both our technical and business strategy to ensure Wayve stays at the forefront of innovation. Jamie has been at the forefront of applied AI research for the past 20 years. Before joining Wayve, Jamie was Partner Director of Science at Microsoft and Head of the Mixed Reality & AI Labs. While at Microsoft, Jamie shipped foundational features for Microsoft’s Kinect (Microsoft’s line of motion sensing input devices) and the hand- and eye-tracking that enable HoloLens 2’s interaction model (smart glasses). Jamie has a PhD in computer vision from the University of Cambridge and has received multiple Best Paper and Best Demo Awards at top-tier academic conferences. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2021.
- Speaker: Jamie Shotton, Wayve
- Friday 02 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: Computer Lab, LT1.
- Series: Cambridge ML Systems Seminar Series; organiser: Sally Matthews.
Fri 30 May 16:30: Animal Consciousness: Evidence Models and Clues
The Hosts for this talk are Nicky Clayton and Max Knowles
- Speaker: Peter Godfrey Smith
- Friday 30 May 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Department of Psychology.
- Series: Zangwill Club; organiser: Sara Seddon.
Fri 23 May 16:30: To be confirmed The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
The Host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Speaker: Professor Ron Mangun,Center for Mind and Brain 267 Cousteau Place Davis, CA
- Friday 23 May 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Department of Psychology.
- Series: Zangwill Club; organiser: Sara Seddon.
Fri 02 May 16:30: How the Built Environment Affects Spatial Behavior, Brain Activity and Aesthetics
The host for this talk is Nicky Clayton
Abstract: The talk will present research from our research team where we have explored how the structure of the environment affects wayfinding behaviour. It will cover our research with Sea Hero Quest in which we found growing up in griddy cities has a negative impact on navigation behaviour, as well as well as research with London taxi drivers how the environment affects how they plan. In the second part I will cover our recent research in neuroarchitecture exploring brain responses (fMRI) during watching movies of pleasant or unpleasant built environment and crowd dynamics in a study of 100 people navigating and exploring a fabricated large-scale art gallery (The 100 Minds in Motion Project).
Bio: Hugo Spiers is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, and a Vice Dean for Enterprise, at University College London (UCL). He has over 25 years of research experience in neuroscience and psychology studying how our brain recalls the past, navigates the present and imagines the future. He has published over 100 academic articles and received numerous awards including the Charles Darwin Award from the British Science Association and a James McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award. He is co-director of the International Centre for NeuroArchitecture and NeuroDesign, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, a Lighthouse Fellow of the Centre for Conscious Design and the Vice Chair of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture in the UK. His research project Sea Hero Quest has tested over 4 million people in 195 nations on their navigation ability, providing a powerful benchmark for assessment in Alzheimer’s disease and global insight into cognition.
- Speaker: Professor Hugo Spiers
- Friday 02 May 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Department of Psychology.
- Series: Zangwill Club; organiser: Sara Seddon.