Project Grant 2154029

This three-year, $260,000 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) supports research at Duke University on large deviations and extremes for random matrices, tensors, and fields. The grant aims to advance understanding of rare events and extreme values through analysis of nonlinear functions of random hypergraphs and matrices, with a focus on applications to social networks and reaction-diffusion systems modeling invasive species propagation. Specifically, the grant will further develop recent approaches to large deviations theory for random hypergraphs and matrices, extending tools to study a broader class of random matrix models. It also aims to probabilistically study coupled systems of partial differential equations describing interacting species. In addition to supporting this research, the grant provides training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.