Speaker: Brendan Pass (University of Alberta)
Abstract: This course introduces the basic theory of the Monge-Kantorovich optimal transport problem. Topics to be covered include the formulation of the problem, Kantorovich duality, existence and uniqueness theory, and characterization of solutions. Selected additional topics may be presented if time permits. The focus will be on ideas and building intuition, and we will try to avoid getting bogged down with too many technical details.
Biography: Brendan Pass is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). He works primarily on optimal transport, and is in particular an expert on multi-marginal problems. Pass is one of the founders of the Kantorovich Initiative, a nascent organization focused on interdisciplinary optimal transport research and supported by the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF). Pass' 2011 PhD thesis at the University of Toronto garnered him the 2012 Cecil Graham Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society (CAIMS), and he was the 2021 recipient of the CAIMS - PIMS Early Career Award, in recognition of his contributions to optimal transport theory.