Local limit theorems slides

I gave today a lecture in the conference in honor of F. Delbaen at ETH, and since the rooms were not suitable for blackboard talks, I prepared a beamer talk. I’ve put up the slides on the web for any interested reader; the topic was a survey of the general ideas surrounding my papers with A. Nikeghbali, J. Jacod, A. Barbour, and F. Delbaen on mod-gaussian convergence, mod-Poisson convergence, and related limiting behavior of sequences of random variables. I have posted about this a few times before, but not about all of the results. All the corresponding papers and preprints can be found on my home page.

Lecture notes list

Just a note to mention that I’ve just created a web page with links to the notes I’ve written for various courses at ETH over the years (though most of them are not as complete as I would like).

Number Theory Days 2012

Since 2005, the number theorists at ETH Zürich and at EPF Lausanne organize every year the Number Theory Days, which present five talks, in all areas of number theory, over two days. (Actually, I’ve seen one web page claim that the tradition started in 2004, but I didn’t find any other reference for it…)

The 2012 edition will be held in Zürich on March 30 and 31, co-organized by Philippe Michel and myself, with the support of the FIM. Here is the official web page and the beautiful poster:

We especially encourage your researchers interested in attending (PhD students, postdocs, in particular) to write to the FIM coordinator, as indicated on the web page, to register, and to indicate if they wish to request funding for travel and local expenses.

The Hermann Weyl Zimmer, renovated

The first time I came to Zürich, I gave a lecture in the Number Theory Seminar. Like most seminars at ETH, it was held in the room named “Hermann Weyl Zimmer”. I learnt there the ETH blackboard-erasing technique, which is by far the best I’ve ever seen. Later, I had many occasions to enjoy the pleasant old-fashioned chairs in the back row, which are perfect when attending seminars for pleasure (in particular, when one doesn’t take notes).

Last summer, the room was renovated, and it was formally inaugurated yesterday with a nice apéro. I took a few pictures…

The quote over the statue reads

In meiner Arbeit habe ich immer versucht, das Wahre mit dem Schönen zu vereinen; wenn ich mich über das Eine oder das Andere entscheiden musste, habe ich stets das Schöne gewählt.

which means (translation mine):

In my work, I have always tried to unite the True with the Beautiful; when I had to decide between one of them, I have always chosen what was Beautiful.

or

Dans mes travaux, j’ai toujours cherché à unir le Vrai avec le Beau ; lorsque j’ai dû décider entre l’un et l’autre, j’ai toujours choisi le Beau.

(I will not attempt an Italian translation…)

Here one can see the secret ETH tool for cleaning the blackboard:

And here are the chairs:

Finally, courtesy of my new phone, a panoramic view…